What's up.

I realize I haven't posted anything new since Thanksgiving.  Honestly, it's not because nothing has happened in my life in the past 6 weeks, or because I have nothing to say.  It's just been busy, busy, busy.

Mom and dad on Christmas morning.

We had an amazing Christmas celebrating Christ's life with our family and friends!  Lyara has been home for two weeks, and we are absolutely loving her company. 

Skiing and snowboarding at Schweitzer with Lyara.

I'm happy to welcome the new year feeling energized and ready to embark on a more structured and focused training plan.  As a nice bonus, I've been sponsored by Brooks again for the upcoming tri season and I am so excited to represent the best running company in 2011!

Although I didn't officially take any time "off" from training, I did enjoy an unstructured training schedule from October through December.  I continued swim-bike-run workouts, but I also indulged in yoga, mountain biking, and snow shoeing.  In early October, I added in strength training for endurance.  Strength training is now a very regular and important part of my weekly plan, month after month.

We've also hosted several HLR's at our home that always prove to be spectacularly fun and social.

Virginia, Gingey, Mitch, Nate, Merissa, Kevin, Roger, Steve, Me, Matty, Jessie & Jessi.

Now I'm full swing into triathlon training again and trying to balance my life.  While swim-bike-run is important to me and a passion that my husband and I share, I remind myself NOT to let the numbers of training take over the other numbers of important people, and time shared with them, in my life.  Today, after I rode my bike for XX:XX and got ready to meet a friend to run for a while, I contemplated how much time I spend watching time go by, either in the water, on my bike or during a run.  Then I thought, what else would I be doing that is healthier, more entertaining or equally social, if not working out?  As long as I don't neglect my family or friends, work or domestic responsibilities - I'm glad this is what I put my extra energy and time into right now.

Do I have big triathlon plans this year?  No, not really - I just want to work super hard, stay healthy and do well.  After completing my first half-Ironman last year at Troika, I discovered (again) that endurance training and racing makes me really, really happy and satiated.  My first "A" race is at Oceanside, California 70.3, where I will get my ass handed to me by highly skilled and very tanned Californians!  Beyond that race in early April, I'd love to do the REV3 Half-Ironman in Oregon and a couple handfuls of local and other triathlons, along with a smattering of run races too. 

About fifteen months ago, me and two of my gorgeous friends, Jessi and Tiff, created our own "dinna club!"  We've been feeding each other's families week after week since last October with nothing but delicious, healthy, hearty recipes.  If you're interested in saving time and money and want to get creative plus enjoy the art of cooking...check out our blog at

I hope 2011 is filled with new memories made by family and friends, invigorating training sessions, delicious meals, and abundant love for you!

Thank-FULL

This is a pic of me and my AHMAZING daughter, Lyara.  She absolutely MADE Thanksgiving.  As my friend, Jessi would say, "I die."  BTW, those are not her glasses, nor do they contain lenses - that's just how she rollz.

Greg and I got up in the morning and ran our annual, traditional Turkey Trot at Manito Park with several other turkeys teammates in frigid 12 degree temps and also gobbled up a donut at Krispy Kreme (we had to, it's tradition ;). Then we cooked the green bean casserole, simmered the cranberries and baked the rolls.  But what I really cared about and obsessed over all day was the arrival of my daughter from Portland, where she moved two months ago.  Spokane was literally in the middle of a blizzard and I was nervous waiting and worrying that Lyara arrive safely to be with us for the holiday.

She arrived and I went into instant mom mode.  I cannot possibly explain how much a part of me Lyara is, but I feel as if I spent the long weekend with that "new mother glow."

Thanksgiving dinner with my husband, daughter and family was relaxing and cup-filling.  I don't see my sisters often enough, along with their five kids.  No matter, we fell into place with each other and picked up the jokes and hugs where we'd last left off.

My absolute favorite memory of Thanksgiving this year happened when I was in my mom's kitchen and I could hear the raw laughter from all the kids, and recognize the sheer and innocent joy they all felt just being together.  Gives me chills to think of it still.

We adults had some fun too, cooking and cleaning to the music - dancing with each other and embarrassing our babies by dancing with them.  Thanks, mom and dad for providing your home and hearts to share with us.  My family has an incredible gift of accepting and loving each other just the way we are.  This means the world to me because while I adore my sweet daughter and don't give a lick if she shaves her head or wears dreads, or conforms to the typical young adult norms, the rest of the world is not always so kind.  However, my people are a group of distinctly unique and wonderful humans, loving us unconditionally.

For the rest of the week, Lyara and I shopped (obvi), watched movies, went out to dinner, chatted endlessly, shared our favorite music with one another, decorated the house, talked about her future and I truly could not have felt any happier or more blessed.

There are SO, SO many people in my life to be thankful for - and the people are all that matter. I indulge in material "things" and I'm not denying it. I am simply acknowledging when it comes right down to the heart of gratefulness and Thanksgiving, it is only the people that make it so.  I hope your holiday was as memorable and lovely as mine.

Five Greats.

Recently I read a blog post about how this time of year can be really stressful.  You know when the tri season ends, The holiday rush begins ($ is spent), people get sick, days "grow?" shorter, motivation runs low.  The keys to remaining calm and sane are different for everyone.  What works for me, may not work to de-stress you.  But the blogger suggested that instead of focusing on stresses or negativity, focus on five greats.  Name five things that make your life great right now.  I liked this idea and making this list did make me feel better:
1)  Any correspondence with my daughter - texts, calls, emails, Facebook chats.
2)  Sunshine and warm afternoons; amazingly still making appearances daily.
3)  Espresso in the morning.  Now I'm making mine hot, with non-fat milk and caramel syrup, yum.
4)  Mountain biking...I said I'd never be into this, but since the first time... I am in love.
5)  Train's song, "Marry Me."  Sooooo sweet.  Seriously, I will listen to it at least one more time before I go tuck myself into bed.

(Sometimes, my greats combine and grow exponentially greater, as pictured above - sunshine, warmth and mountain biking :)

What are your five greats?

Schmuckleberries!

Last weekend Greg and I had a mini-vacay up at Schweitzer mountain with some super fun and adventurous friends...

Things on our "to do" list for the weekend: 

• go hiking, aka climb to the top of Schweitzer mountain (as we did, and it only took us 6 hours since we were also picking berries all the way to the top)
• ride the lift back down the mountain (check!)  it was gorgeous and there was a wedding in progress at the very top
• pick huckleberries (and how!)
• eat huckleberries  (can you say huckleberry pancakes and huckleberries on top of cream cheese icing on zucchini cake?)
• have a picnic on the mountain (breathtaking and delicious, WAY better than eating inside, anywhere!)
• relax, at night only! 
• laugh A LOT, many times laughing AT me, see below

I'm happy to say that we managed to do everything on our list and then some! 

A particular highlight for me was a little seemingly innocent conversation I had with Emma.  Here's the setting=> On Friday night we stopped at Arby's in Sandpoint, where the boys all ordered huckleberry shakes.  While chatting with the manager of Arby's, we learned that they received their huckleberry supply from a local picker, he charged between $30-40 per gallon.  Emma has been saving her money for the past 6 months to purchase her very own iPod Touch.  She has worked very hard to earn this money, including rubbing feet, stacking wood, saving birthday money, weeding and various other "jobs" around her home.  When Emma heard that huckleberries cost $30-40/gallon, a little lightbulb went off in her brain!  Both Saturday and Sunday we all spent some time picking mountain huckleberries.  At random times, Emma would ask how many "dollars" worth of huckleberries she had picked.  After we finished picking the last of our huckleberry crops, as we were walking down the mountain toward the condo, Emma and I enjoyed some chit-chat.  It went something like this...
Emma:   "How much do you think I should charge for a half-gallon of my huckleberries?"
Naive me:  "Well, maybe you start by telling me what you think is a fair price, then I'll tell you my opinion."
Emma:  "I was thinking between $20-25 dollars is fair."
Stupid me: "If you average it out, that equals $22.50."
Emma:  "That sounds perfect.  Thank you so much, Matalie!"
Dumb-ass me:  "Did I just BUY your huckleberries??"
Emma:  "Yes, and thank you so, so much!"  "I love you."
Jessi:  "Not to make you feel badly, but you just outbid me by $7.50.  Earlier I offered Emma $15 for the huckleberries."
Silly ho me:  "I'm a dumb-ass."  
Everyone, but me:  Unbridled fanatic laughter.

If you know Emma Thompson, you also know that one never messes with his/her commitments to her.  So, when we got back to Spokane that evening, Emma gently reminded me that I owed her money for the huckleberries I had redeemed from her.  She even reminded her mom, Jessi, to text me her credit union account number so I could DIRECT DEPOSIT her cash!  You bet I did too :).  Love her!!!

Today, Emma and I had a play date to bake a huckleberry crisp.  We will share the crisp with her family, the Byrds and my family, since it's my turn to make dinner for the Dinna Club.  She's a champ and made the crisp by herself, with very little help from me.  YUM! 

My First Half.

At the end of last season, after racing several sprint and Olympic distance tri's for a few years, I decided I wanted to train for my first go at the half-Ironman distance.  I had been working hard at riding stronger and consequently my running fitness had improved.  My swim; however, was still far too slow.  I was not spending enough time swimming.  So, I swam right on through off-season for once.  In April, when our masters swim schedule changed to Mon-Fri in the very early morning, I committed to swim everysingleday at masters until open-water season began, then I switched to alternating masters practice with OWS.  I kept my promise to myself and never once swam less than 5 days/week leading up to the race.  I went to work from the first of April through the end of June with my hair in a wet, sloppy bun.  Believe me, I sacrificed ;).

In April, I still hadn't decided which race would be my first half.  I was toying with Boise, Troika and Lake Stevens.  As luck would have it, the decision was left to luck.  At our Tri Fusion meeting in mid-April, a race entry for Troika was raffled off.  I did not win that raffle.  Instead, I won another prize, a product that I am very well supplied with already.  The Troika entry kept getting turned down.  Finally, when one of my teammates was hedging on accepting the entry, I offered to trade her prize for my prize.  She gladly accepted my offer and I was finally committed to an half IM race!

I'm one of those people that needs to be VERY prepared when doing something unknown, challenging or extremely important.  Because of this, I was already following a training plan that was somewhat aggressive on mileage/time spent training, to get myself ready.  I worked my way through three different training tables from the beginning of the season until race day: a sprint plan until March, then onto the Olympic plan through April; to finish with the half IM plan.  I also left myself room to participate in random longer training sessions with teammates and friends and race some fun, local venues.  I wanted to enjoy training and learn from athletes with experience.  I needed lots of solid swims, rides, and runs.

All of the preparation proved to be very physically and mentally helpful.  I'm not saying I never had a "downer" day/week of training or that I felt 100% confident I would finish the race.  I will say that on the last day of training before the week of taper began, when I finished a triathlon followed by a long ride, I finally felt like I just might make it.  Waves of built-up doubt left my mind.

Taper week seemed so boring.  I felt like a person without a purpose.  Absolutely lame, I know.  But I kept my nutrition in check, followed my plan and waited patiently.  The day before the race, I listened to the advice of my experienced (and successful!) husband and focused on a specific race plan.  Nerves eventually crept up on me again about 15 hours before the race.

I managed to sleep almost 7 hours that night and woke up thinking, "I should be excited, this is going to be an amazing adventure, no matter what!"  And so I was.

Race Day (I know, finally, right?)

Publicly, I had NO time goals for Troika.  My only real expectation for myself was to finish the damn thing already.   Get it over with, please.


Swim:  I figured logically that the swim would take me 45 minutes.  In previous Olympic distance races I had completed the swim within 36-38 minutes, but I had made some improvement.  I really wanted to avoid feeling overly anxious at the swim start and swim steady throughout.  I was able to do that.  Before starting, Greg had suggested that I begin kicking harder and really push it in at the last buoy before shore.  Right about then, I got this horrible feeling that I had already been out there for 52 minutes and my time was gonna suck.  But when I got out of the water, I checked my HR monitor and it read 42 minutes!  I gave a little fist-pump as I ran to T1 and let my family/friends know that I had exceeded my private goal.  Just then a smile on my face appeared and remained for the duration of my entire race :)))). 

I have to mention that I had the most incredible and loving support crew beyond belief at this race!  SERIOUSLY.  My husband, Greg, had every.little.thing. dialed in for me for race day.  He had a ton of confidence in me.  He loved me up all day long, with unexpected sightings of him throughout the course and whoo-hooing I've never heard from him before!  Carrying me from the swim all through the bike to finish my run, with hooting and hollering, making me look like a rockstar by encouraging me and cheering with all their might at the race were:  Tiff, Eric, Steve, my mother-in-law, Trish, John, Jessi, Rog, Emma, my mom, step-dad, Rosi, Barb, Tim, Andy, Elise :), Nate, Merissa, Jenn, Adam, Gg, Dd, Craig, Kathy, Eric, Brynn, Teri, Laura, Phaedra, Amy, Jeff, and Rodger. 

Bike:  My plan on the bike was to ride in HR zones high 3-low 4.  I'd used my label-maker to post stickers on my handlebars with those 2 zones only, to keep me totally focused.  I was able to maintain exactly what I planned.  Since I had ridden between 56-70 miles at least a half-dozen times during training, I expected the ride, at my target HR zones, to take 3:05-3:15. There were times when I wanted to pedal harder, go faster and stand up on the hills, but I heeded the advice I'd been given and stuck to the plan. I really only felt a lull in the ride from miles 45-finish, because basically everyone out cheering had gone into town to get ready for the run leg of the race.   I finished the mileage in 3:02 and I was still smiling!


Run:  Typically, the run of any triathlon is the part I am most looking forward to racing.  The run is where I have the most experience. I did not feel the same about the half IM distance.  Running a 5K or 10K after biking your legs off for 30 minutes or an hour is not comparable to running a half-marathon after 56 miles of riding and 1.2 miles of swimming.  While training recently, I'd run 13.1 miles in 1:47 and 15 miles in a bit more than 2 hours.  To put the run into perspective at the end of an endurance race, I wanted to finish in 2 hours or less.  Greg, Jessi and Erica had advised me to start out running conservatively, take in all the nutrition I had planned, and stay steady until about mile 10.  With 3 miles to go, I was to pick up my pace (if I could) and finish strong.  I ran mostly in HR zone 4 and had no idea my pace whatsoever.  I didn't even care.  I just smiled my way up and down the run course, congratulating every racer that I ran by, coming and going.


Again, I followed my plan and felt pretty good the whole run.  In the last three miles, I picked up the pace and ran with my heart, so happy to accomplish a goal that I'd prepared diligently to finish.  I'd pictured the finish line only a zillion times before, but I didn't expect to feel so happy and loved as I did.  An entire hillside was loaded with my family, friends and teammates as I approached the finish chute.  The sound of cheering was ENORMOUS and unbelievable!

 As I de-briefed the race, I checked my run split...1:59:59!  My secret, told-no-one, overall finish goal was to not exceed 6 hours.  Total time = 5:50.  It's good enough for me!

I wasn't the only one out there trying to either make peace with the half IM distance, set a new PR, or try it for the first time.  My good buddy, Matty accomplished a major PR at Troika, overcoming some demons that have chased him before, but no more!  Congrats to a much deserved solid race, long and strong :).  Erica (pictured with me far above), one of my fantastic friends and a fast lady that is crushing the field this season, also endured Troika for a solid PR and a first place in her AG!  She amazes me all the time.  Rene joined me in the first timers club and finished in a highly respectable time! Way to go, man.



Many friends commented on my permanent grin for the entirety of the race.  I was truly happy to have the health to participate at Troika on Sunday.  I value my life and what I have been given and the people God has blessed me with who make me who I am.

Ho Hum, Pig's Bum.

This is a mish-mash post:

We've been busy-busy lately, doing all the usual summertime activities.  However, this week I find myself a little bit bored.  I hate to admit this, because of course there are a zillion people that would love to have a teacher's summer schedule.  Additionally, I could probably better spend my time being productive instead of writing a blog post about being bored.  It's my time though, so I'll whine if I want to ;).

I think I'm bored for two reasons: 1) I'm on a training taper this week, and 2) my daughter is spending the summer in Portland.  Summers past we have always spent tons of time together.  I've only seen Lyara twice since June, and I miss her!  I visited with her today, but I missed her before she even left the car to go.  Oh, I do hope my sweet girl comes back to stay so soon!

Last weekend Greg and I got to participate at a triathlon in Coeur d' Alene.  Many of our teammates also competed at the race, making it a blast!  I only had one goal for the tri...to be faster than last year on the same course, and I was.  I'm not sure Greg had a goal, since he hadn't done this race previously.  Nonetheless, he raced fast and strong!  This season he's been more laid-back about his training than ever, yet he seems to garner terrific results and remain just as speedy as always.  My teammies raced very well too and sure added loads of excitement to the race!

Since last October, two darling friends of mine and I have been doing a weekly "Dinna Club."  Tiffany, Jessi and I take turns making dinner for each other one night each week.  When it's my night, I prepare the food with all its fixings and then deliver it in time for dinner.  Tiff and Jessi do the exact same.  And we make enough for at least two meals.  Meaning, I only really cook dinner three nights/week!  It's genius and has certainly simplified nightly meals for us all. The three of our families are athletic and health-conscience, so we make sure to provide meals of high-quality lean meats, whole-grains, fresh veggies, low-fat and low-cal food.  Participating in the club has caused me to become more creative and knowledgeable in the kitchen.  Greg and I definitely look forward to the dinner deliveries, because we know that Tiff and Jessi are fantastic cooks!

One meal that was a "Dinna Club" crowd pleaser is fish tacos.  I'm not a big fan of fishy tasting food, and it took me making my own tacos to like the idea.  So, please give this healthy, fresh dish a try!

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1 cup red wine vinegar

1 pound of white flaky fish (cod or mahi-mahi)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of ancho chili powder
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
salt
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese or crumbled feta
16 oz. bag of fresh coleslaw salad, undressed
1 lime, cut in wedges
8-10 corn tortillas
1/2 cup Mexican crema (homemade)

Preparation:

Marinate the Onion:  Put the onion in a small bowl and pour in enough red wine vinegar to cover well. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or up to several hours. 

Marinate the Fish:  Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and add the ancho chile powder, paprika, cumin, chopped cilantro, and a bit of salt. Mix well. Place the fish in a tupperware container and pour the marinade over it, making sure to coat the fish well on both sides. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes, I marinate mine for an hour or more. 

Cook the Fish:  Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade and place in the hot pan (I lightly spray the pan with olive oil). Cook the fish for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn over, and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and flake the fish in the pan with a fork, making sure to mix in all the marinade that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Set aside. 

Heat the Tortillas:  Place four of the tortillas on a plate and sandwich them between two slightly dampened sheets of paper towel. Microwave on high for 45 seconds.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Assemble the Tacos:  Place a corn tortilla on a plate, add 1-2 ounces of fish, drizzle lime juice on the fish, top with cheese, marinated onion, coleslaw and avocado slices, then drizzle mexican crema over the top.  Bueno!

I may be "bored" this week, but I DO have a long list of things I'd like to accomplish around my home this summer.  And I'm not sure I've done any of them yet!

Humility.

I apologize.

Lately, it has occurred to me that I spend  entirely too much time talking about myself.  This blog included.  Ya, I know it's MY blog and that's what people do.  BUT.  My original intent for this space was to talk about my loved ones and what every one is up to, how THEY'RE doing, even how WE are all doing together perhaps.  Then, it became this thing where I posted all my triathlon training highlights and race results with an occasional, but heartfelt post regarding someone else in my life. 

That is NOT who I want to be.

Recently I've been around some amazing people, that do ridiculous things with their lives and they don't spend forever updating their status with their latest race stats, or blog about that superfluous info. either.  They use their time to BE.  With the people they like and love.  I respect that, a lot, because it's respectable.

Please understand that I am NOT in any way judging, outing, demeaning or condemning folks that do enjoy updating their status with their stats, or blogging about their accomplishments.  No. Not doing that.  Nor am I stating that I won't ever update on FB or write a new blog post.  I just won't be focusing on my exact training or racing statistics or newest accomplishments. 

I was chatting with a friend the other day and sort of jokingly said, "I still want to make my momma proud."  I wasn't really kidding though.  When I look at life and I think about what my purpose really is, I know that God's plan for me is to just care deeply for people, to be a positive presence wherever I am.  Not to go around showcasing my so-called "accomplishments."  Yes, doing triathlons and hitting new athletic milestones is part of my life, and of course I want to improve as long as I can.  But do you REALLY need to read or hear all the extraneous details about me?  Do I really expect you to care?  I'm sorry that I spent so much of your time writing about myself before. 

There are so many genuinely important events to talk about.  Like when my daughter came to town last week, after being away for three weeks to Portland, and we got to spend some glorious hours together.  Just chatting, catching up, loving on each other.  My daughter is an amazing young lady, with artistic talent and charisma galore.  She's beautiful inside and darling too.  She's nothing like me, but so much like me.  No one else makes my heart jump and start like her.  She's a tremendous gift.  I dropped everything to see her that day, I always will.  Lyara REALLY matters.

And when my mom went to Seattle with me for the weekend.  We live in the same city, twenty minutes apart.  She is always telling me how busy I am and she hates to call and interrupt me.  One day I realized she meant it.  So, we planned a trip together.  Drove to Seattle, shopped, visited her brother, talked endlessly and focused on each other.  We're planning a trip to New York for next summer.  My mom's a tough lady and someone I admire and adore.  Her life hasn't been an easy one, but she is vibrant, funny and lovely.  Oh, my mom, she matters.

As for my uncle, I hadn't seen him in a year and he just lives on the other side of the state.  He lives alone and my mom and our family are his only surviving relatives.   He has a memory so poignant that it shocks me sometimes.  He loves to reminisce about the past and can recall great stories about all of us.  His laugh is hysterical and infectious.  Uncle Eric matters.

My brother, Ernest.  I rarely talk about him.  He died over four years ago, so it's fairly painful to mention him.  I miss him terribly, he was my only brother.  We used to build forts and ride bikes together.  My dad would take us fishing at Seven Mile and then we'd enjoy donuts and hot chocolate at the Spud Nut.  He was an inventor and had patented and sold three different inventions before he left.  He loved cats, just like my mom.  He mattered to us all, he still does.

A list like that could go on and on.  I've got a husband, sisters, a step-father and endless others that matter in my life.  The point is, I spend an extraordinary amount of time DOING what I mean to be doing.  I don't need to go around and display it for you all.  I want to get this blog back to what it was intended to be.  About my people, not my self.