Life on the Runn...

Though life is complicated, and moving is not for the faint of heart, it's a short work week and lots of family time awaits. I'm looking forward to several quality husband-wife days this week and next.  

In truth, my running journey began a long time ago. When I was little, I really enjoyed softball and especially loved basketball.  Then, however,  I didn't get 'big' and my love for those sports was definitely impacted. In middle school, I joined the track team, and though I was never a star, I did enjoy running...until I didn't.  By the end of high school, I had burned out.  I liked running more than some silly exercise classes I saw at my college gym, so I ran to stay/get healthy, but, unlike now, I didn't crave a good run at the end of a long day or first thing on a weekend morning (I had Badger games to attend, after all).  I ran on and off until I fell into climbing, and then, I ran even less.  In the summer of 2013, while I Colorado, I  really fell back into it, and when fall and Al's Run rolled around, my cousin Jenna, who had also taken up running, decided to tackle that event, an 8K, together. A simple scroll through this blog will show that t...

Brian has been talking about it for some time now, but it seemed that plans to get me to Joe's Valley, UT never quite worked out.  Last weekend finally put an end to that.  Thanks to a much needed long weekend, I was able to travel west on Thursday evening after work and met my favorite climbing partner at DIA.  We did part of the driving that night and planned to finish the drive to Utah in the morning.  Okay "we" isn't entirely fair when it comes to saying we were driving.  Let's be honest, I'm a terrible driving buddy.  Between making sad faces because of my car sick wooziness and never failing to fall asleep on a drive longer than an hour, I'm not great company in the car.  Regardless, we arrived in Joe's by lunchtime on Friday and I was all smiles.  There definitely is plenty of climbing everywhere, and Brian promised me a climbing day focused on me, so we got to work quickly.  Only a few boulders in, Brian asked what I thought.  He...

No matter how much I joke about him being "the chosen one" or how much I've claimed that I should have been an only child, I wouldn't trade being this guy's big sister for anything in the world! My little brother has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know.  He takes care of his friends as if they are family, and he protects those of us who are with unparalleled ferocity.  In short, you're lucky to have BD on your side.   Over the past 30 years, yep 30, we've shared millions of memories and still laugh until we can't breathe when we think of some of our most ridiculous antics (pretending Dad's badger was a horse; trying to hide the dent we put in the living room wall; anything that happened on any given trip to Madison). I've enjoyed every minute of being your sis - even if I once did try to sell you - and I cannot wait to see what the next 30 bring you, my dear brother.  I know lots of siblings are close, but we learned early on how imp...

I cannot believe that only three weeks -- 21 days, yikes!! - stand between me and the Rock and Roll Half Marathon.  When it was merely a hypothetical, my run buddy cousin, Jenna, and I laughed about just how ludicrous it would be to purposely set out to run 13.1 miles.  We thought about how nervous we were before our first run together, Al's Run 2013.  We thought about how two Mexican girls who can sparkle with the best of 'em when its 50 degrees would be downright bedazzled after a half marathon.  We thought about what else we could do with several hours of our time.  Then, however, we continued our trend of running 5Ks together, and our inner tough girls came out.  We realized that we could do a half marathon, and we decided we should  do it. I cannot wait until that day when I get to hop on a plane with my cousins, my auntie, and my mom, hop off that plane in Vegas, meet up with my husband, and accomplish a goal that I once considered an impossibi...

I spent two really great days with a really great guy this past weekend.  I made the trek west after work on Friday - I love gaining a weekend hour, but thanks to my ban on drinking until after my half-marathon, our traditional stops at the West End Tavern on our way home from DIA was a no-go.  Truthfully, I was happy just to get 'home' and settle into normal weekend life in BoCo. Saturday morning was a simply and perfect one.  We made breakfast, we sat at the table and talked about our trip to the Park later that morning, and we talked about how we are going to iron out this wrinkle in our life, this being in two states business.  When we left the condo just before 10am, the weather was great; it was sunny and crisp.  The rest of Saturday was particularly strange, however, as it alternated between sunny and warm and cold and hailing.  Numb fingers and toes aside, we made the most of our day.  We decided it was high time Brian actually made his way t...

Monday mornings are never fun, not for anyone, but this Monday morning was especially draining, and that was before the work day even commenced.  After a weekend away, a weekend in one of my favorite places with my favorite of all people, it's hard to get back to the grind of day-to-day, not-so-normal-anymore life. I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I started up the ol' fly-back-and-forth-to-Colorado grind. The more I thought about it this morning, though, the more I realized one thing: one more Monday means one less Monday until I get to have another fabulous weekend like the I one had this past weekend. This has been one of the most stressful personal and professional stretches of my life, and we're only a month into the school year.  Training for a half-marathon, planning new curriculum, selling a house, and navigating the ins and outs of a 'bi-costal' marriage take a lot out of a girl.  Nonetheless, I spent the first stretch of time at my western ...