Love, Love, lots of Love.

Sending out lots of shameless love...

 A bit about some sponsors and a bit about me! :) Cause holy smokes, I've been blessed lately with the best gear!

For my super safe night running, I have these tattoo running tights from Relax Reflect that are soft, and super shiny! I  top them off with this super cute shrug that is covered in stars. Cars must think I'm nuts with how bright I shine in their headlights as i run through Los Alamitos and Naples. *smile* When it gets warmer at night I'll try out my running shirts they made me, pics will follow, their fabric makes me happy.

 Then I got a super special package from Orca in the mail. Yowza, its purdy.
The *new* Alpha. Holy Mole' is it cool! Solid 40 cell Yamamoto stretchy rubber, in pretty much every spot you need it, and buoyancy panels covering the back and booty to 'pop' you up perfectly in the water. Speedy fast. I had the pleasure of testing it out today! Best part? Its half the cost of the competition! :)  Check it out, it's worth the time. Amazing suit. More Love.

boys needed a swim, i tagged along...

nerdy girl! freezin water!

Me....hmmm...well, I Race(d) on the Base at the end of Feb...pretty cool. A reverse sprint tri, what a concept! Won...well we all thought i won!

 Learned a big lesson here. Do not underestimate the next wave. There will be fast people in it. Don't lay off on your hammer sesh on the bike just because you are in front of your wave. (There were only two waves afterall!!!)

I ended up getting 2nd overall female that day, I lost to a very speedy 50-something lady. What a nice gal too, I wanna be like her when I'm 50-ish. She was a true gem. All in all, a damn good day. 

Got on our local news station, kinda funny, I am so glad they edited my rambling...I can only imagine what they were thinking. Ha! Anywho, still won my age group by like 4 minutes, that was cool.

channel 3...hee hee....

Headed out to Palm Desert for the second time in a week, to check on my grandpa. Tough guy got a new aortic valve replacement. 5 days after surgery, he's ready to take the new cow valve home. So crazy. My grams is doing a great job taking care of him, but its nice to get her car washed and do both of their hair--and create a sense of normalcy. Having us underfoot drives her a bit crazy, so we took off after one overnight, to get our selves back to normal--well its been batty here too--more on that to come when I know more.

Amazing Palm Desert city pool!! 

Bummed I couldn't make it out to the desert for a 3rd time in a week and a half to watch my team mates race and Rock the W,  but hopefully I will hook up with them sooner than later! Congrats to all the success and podiums the Watties had to date...theres more to come! Way to go peeps, you are amazing and a inspiration! Heres to a super fun march! Less crazy for me and much more fun!

Busy bee!

Ahhhhh running....never been my favorite. However, this year has come a long way already!!! I don't feel like a flopping fish dying for air (last season I was a wreck, with a long recovery!). 

 It's awesome, between the road, track, and the treadmill workouts I am holding a dang good pace and my form is stronger! Bout dang time I'll say!

Doesn't come without pain. No pain no gain right? Yeah, we'll "god give me strength" has been my latest prayer. Over and over and over. Heh, I want a faster half marry so bad! 

So....whenever I read all my new teammates inspiring tweets and fb posts, and drop my jaw with jealousy! ;) 

I refer to my second favorite quote, "never, never, never give up"!

Running so much has my calves begging for forgiveness, and I'm that nerdy girl who wears her Orca compression sleeves for nearly every run! maybe this year it will look like I have calves since I've been using them so much, whoop whoop! 3 cheers for calves and wimpy skinny ankles!

Well...my Zoot sneakers keep me zoom zoomin! Off to go play some more and Rock the W! Maybe I'll figure out a post for my awkward fun with the trx adventures. Any suggestions for a inspiring mantra to get thru trx pain? :)

Ninja says, what?! ummm.....Happy New Year! That's what!!!!

I love January! Not only is it a gorgeous month to start training(and my birthday month!), but everyone gets to solidify their relationships with their sponsors!

I get to play everyday in gear I'm madly in love with, and do exactly what I love to do. Swim, ride, run...does life get any better?

Oh wait...can't forget ElliptiGo-ing! Husbands' new job as western rep, lets us play so much!

Just a quickie ride to the LBG.....

So this year I'm stoked to play with the Wattie Ink Elite Team! They have such a innovative and fresh feel they are bringing to the sport, along with super incredible sponsors!

I am also crazy lucky enough to be working with Orca!

They have truly stepped onto a whole new level when it comes to wetsuit technology, and the quality is stellar. Super flexible, with fab-u-lous buoyancy panels in back and legs to 'pop' you into the perfect swimming position! They also make compression arm and calf sleeves, and boy do they ever work! Living in them is chilling out my very angry calves....building the run, big superstar goals and shoes to fill!

Honey Stinger is stocking up my pantry this year...num num num...gluten free gels, electrolyte chews, bars...lemme tell ya, the best food ever...and it doesn't make my guts cry foul! proud to be a hive member! Try it, you'll like it!

...some of my personal favs! not icky-sticky, no weird after taste, delish...and they more than get the job done!

So since I hang out with badass ninjas, playing chase is becoming my favorite game ever....and so the season starts....(insert crazy evil laugh here.)

Will keep everyone posted on the insanely silly fun that is my life. This should be good. (more sarcasm, ha!) :)

La La La Las Vegas!!!!

I made it to World Championships. So so excited. Okay, I am still excited. One of the hardest races I've ever done, but truly a dang good time!

Thursday afternoon we packed up, and drove all the way out to Vegas....not such a bad road trip actually, hit a bit of traffic...but I think we scared everyone off the road with the crazy set up we had going on!

We drove Kevin's boss' car, with 3 ElliptiGos and my teeny B2 on the racks...with Interbike the week after the race, apparently it made sense to haul everything out at once? Totally wish I had a picture of this SUV packed to the max, with a hitch rack, and a couple trays on the roof rack on top. Seriously, I am quite sure we looked homeless. :) 5 hours later we hit Henderson, NV...unpacked and passed out!

Woke up Friday morning, with big agenda for the day! Put the feetsies up, absorb the heat and acclimatize, and go to check-in at the expo!

Check-in was so fun! Like always its incredibly organized so they shuffle you through each station fairly quickly while you sign your life away on any and every kind of waiver possible, then give you the tshirt to prove it. :)

The expo was steamy hot, and full of fun peeps to visit with! Love that Kev knows all the super awesome reps from like every brand, and its like one big reunion-so friendly!

Zoomed back to our home-stay (kev has a super awesome buddy who let us invade his home!), and rested up! Grabbed some dinner later, and enjoyed the heat and sun!

mmmm..... food...

Saturday morning we woke at the crack of dawn to take advantage of the lake being FINALLY open to swimming! Brought the bike, and run gear as well to spin out the legs, and see how they were doing.

Picked up our sweet friend Trish Diem (a adorable fast lady) and headed down to the resort. When we jumped in the water, I guess I was expecting it to be somewhat refreshing? Apparently, it is recycled water, that smells like eggs--kinda oddly warm...if that makes sense...

So we swam the loop they had all set up, trying to keep that water out of my mouth as much as possible. blech! I was feeling cheeky in my torque though, so had to keep that energy under wraps! Zoomed out of the resort on our bikes, and spun up the hills with a cool group of peeps we were lucky enough to hook up with! It was a nice overcast morning, and set us up for a great 40 minute spin with a quick

15 minute run. I couldn't believe how fast the morning went! (Isn't that always the way?)

saturday afternoon bike check-in

Race morning....dum dum dum da da da da da da dum....its here.

Up at the 4am to eat, put on my usual race day game face, grab my waffle, and we peace out. Had to put all my nutrition on my bike (omg Honey Stinger gels and Powerbar Endurance is the best!), hit the potties, and hurry up to wait wave start line. Our gun went off at 7am so waiting in line with Bridget Jones kept me completely entertained! Love finding sweet friends to keep the nerves at bay!

Overall the swim was challenging, it seemed as though we were swimming upstream the whole way, and no matter what fast feet I was on and how hard I pushed my efforts felt average, even though I was trying to pace myself to save energy for the day ahead. So when I saw my time, it was actually pretty unsurprising....35:00

Took about 1:30 to run around the lake from swim exit to transition, and like other athletes, it does run off the 'swim fog' and clears your head to get ready for the next leg. Ran my bike up the switchbacks out of the other end of transition, and thought 'dang, its going to be a hilly day, pace yourself lady!' And so it was....very hilly...up...down...through some of the most gorgeous scenery I've seen yet. I was constantly amazed at how gorgeous it was out there! (yes, I talk to myself alot...you know you do too!) The last 9 of the bike course was this long false flat with a bit of a headwind, that I was having trouble pushing myself through. yeesh. 'Is it over yet? I just wanna run. Wait. What? Me, wanna run?' Zoomed into transition right at the 3 hour mark, way faster than Kev and I both thought considering the course. I am happy, next year is redemption year. :)

Jumped off my bike, and shoot I love those bike catchers. Soooooo handy! Need those everywhere! I could hand off my keys and purse to a catcher at home and zoom back out the door for a fast transition to a run! Yeah!

Anyway, got shoes on, lubed with obsene amounts of sunscreen, and was on my way to hook up three of the worst laps ever! I was so surprised to see so many people from TNM out there!!! 

Holy cow, they cheered so loud--makes the run so much easier! Thank you so much to the bestest cheerleaders ever! Gotta say, Teresa has created a team so close knit with cameraderie, that is impossible to recreate down here.

 Run starts out on a downgrade for a mile, then jumps to climbing uphill for 2 miles...then back down for 2 miles...and repeat 2 more times. Kills the quads, hams, and tips of my toes! Each lap of the day felt better, since I knew I was challenged, hurting, but no quad issues (Ha! pacing the power!) and I was getting that much closer to the end. Best part of the day? Run ends on downhill portion....i.e. fast finish! Woo Hoo!

Time to celebrate! ooooh fun views from Flamingo (great renovation) and margs at Margaritaville were on the menu. Great weekend!