Do you have the guts to try?

Steve "Pre" Prefontaine was a runner from a small town, who with one leg shorter then the other, ran track for the University of Oregon in the 1970s.

He is known for a saying,"I run not to see who is the fastest, but to see who has the most guts."

Well. it didn't hurt that Pre WAS the fastest, having over 7 American speed records, but you get his point.

As some of you know and some of you don't, my beautiful, funny, smart, and creative daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed as having High Functioning Austism. And YES, I know she doesnt LOOK like she has autism. She looks like Lauren.

A year and a half ago, Lauren was found to have developmental delay (speech and gross motor/physical) We started therapy and then the day after her 3rd birthday she started a developmental preschool through the school district. I could not have had picked a better classroom for her. The creativity in her classroom is such a perfect match for Lauren. Oh, and they do a cooking project every Thursday. Can you say fun? She has made such huges gains that her hard to notice Autism is now even harder to notice.

"so what does this have to do with running?" you may be asking. I'm getting there.

To "qualify" for Lauren's school you need to have moderate to significant delays in one or more areas of development (speech, gross motor, fine motor, adaptive, self help, ect).

Lauren's school had their school walkathon yesterday. I am so glad I wore sunglasses.

It was a small little course around their playground. Nothing huge but for some of these kids a single lap was HUGE.

There were kids with leg braces, kids with walker, kids in wheelchairs, kids with feeding tubes, kids with trach/breathing tubes, kids with neurodevelopmental challenges. ALL of them out there on the black top giving it their all. Some did one lap. Some ran for 20 minutes straight. So many of them digging deep and giving it their all.

There was the cutest little 3yr old with pigtails who ran, yep, 3 laps with the biggest smile. She didn't let her down-syndrome stop her.

There was a 5year old girl who walked hand in hand with me. She kept looking at me, her eyes saying "tell me I can do this." And she did! She beamed when she finished her last lap.

There was a 4yr old girl from Lauren's class who rode a custom made trike. She has a severe form of dwarfism that makes walking long distances pretty much impossible. So she rode and rode and rode.

Inspiration and determination was overflowing from that school yard.
With each hand I held, each high-five I gave, I learned it isn't about how fast you run or how far you go. It's about just going. It's about showing up to that starting line. Some days you may race like a champion. Other day you struggle from the word go. All that matters is you TRY.

Do you have the guts to try?

"My mommy is going running"

You know how they say running is 10% physical 90% mental. I am really finding that to be true. The mental part is kicking my ass. As the miles come easier, the more I struggle.

I look at all the other runners and all I see are lean physiques and I feel like an elephant running with a bunch of zebras. My hydration belt I use to carry water on my runs only accentuates my muffin to even more. Making me feel even more out of place. I huff and I puff. I chaff in places I didn't know you could chaff. I finish long after everyone one else.

But I do it. I may say a few choice words but I do it. I lace up my shoes and I go. I trudge. Putting one foot in front of the other. I keep going knowing that the pain is only temporary and that there is an ending out there somewhere. And I do this while exclusively breastfeeding a 6month old who is up 4-5 times during the night.

I am doing this because I want to be a heather person. I do this because there is no "real" reason why I can't. I'm doing this to feel that feeling of accomplishment. I'm doing this to show my girls that with hard work even lofty goals are possible. I do this because I want something that is just mine.

As I was driving away tonight, I heard my 4 yr old little girl say to another little girl "my mommy is going running." Yes your mommy is.

"I may not run far. I may not run fast. But I run. And that makes me a runner." - John Bingham

A new journey

WOW! I can not believe it's been nearly a year since I blogged!!!

Well, my "fitness" journey has taken a bit of a detour as I am currently "cooking" our second daughter. After working so hard to lose weight, but more importantly being a healthier mommy, I was determined not to let my pregnancy be an excuse to "let it all go." I made the decision that I was going to be active. And i have continued to workout with my awesome trainer, Laurie. We made adjustments in the first trimester for my nausea and now at 30 weeks, my growing belly, but for the most part I have done the same workouts that I did pre-pregnancy; lunges, bench press, squats, plank, ect. I have been blessed that with a bit of hard work and very little cravings I have been able to keep my weight gain to nearly none. As of 28weeks, I've gained a grand total of 1.8lbs. I don't think I can "stop" the weight gain much longer, as baby herself is starting to pack on the pounds, but I am hoping to gain just baby weigh and no "fluff weight." I can only do what I can do, right?


This hasn't been easy. The increased blood volume has made me short of breath just warming up. I now sweat, a lot. But the hardest thing has been the mental piece, something didn't expect. Things that had gotten easier for me are now hard. Like push ups. Even on my knees, I resemble a table top rather then a plank. And bending my arms is a joke. I forget that I'm pregnant and should be proud of just lacing up my Nike's.



Lunges at 5 months pregnant with Laurie at Ames2Bfit.

But, that competitive side of me is eager to roar; as are my achy hips. (oh, the joys of pregnancy!)

So I am making my post-pregnancy revolution/goals (which will actually start January 2012 if that isn't a coincidence or what).http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Through this journey, I have learned I can say i want to lose X amount of pounds. It doesn't work. So, instead, I am making fitness goals. Things I will need to work towards and in the process, lose weight.

Oh course, the obvious one is to do another triathlon. I LOVED my first one and am super anxious to do another.

But here is the crazy one. I want to complete a 1/2 marathon. I said it. Yep. big goal, especially as i sit here at 2pm in my pj's drinking a frappachino, but it is doable. I have to thank, Katy, another pregnant mom who mentioned this as her post-pregnancy goal. I was like if she can do it, i can do it! Thanks, Katy for the inspiration! Now of course to get to 12.1 miles there will most likely be mini runs (hahaha love how i call them mini already) along the way.

Here's to a continued healthy and active pregnancy and some kick-butt goals!!!!

I am a triathlete!!

It's official!!! I am a triathlete! And I LOVED every minute of it.

I want to thank all my family, friends, and coaches for their love and support.  You guys are awesome.


So many people want to hear how I did.
So, here is a brief recap of the race. I hope to get a more detail one with pics later this week.

I started our the day with 3 goals. Goal one was to have fun.Goal number two was to finish. Goal three was to finish in under two hours. Tada!!! Completed all 3!!!

Final time: 1:58:42

So Marc, the swim coach at the Y, said a 20 min swim time was a respectable time, when i told him i was doing Danskin he said I better add 5mins. Well, i didn't need the 5 mins i hit the swim 20 mins on the nose (20:00min)  Honestly, i could have picked up the pace but i had no way of gauging my swim pace. I thought I was swimming on the slower side and with the dang waves and weaving around some slow, I just wanted to finish and finish without having to breast stroke (again accomplished) But the swim was AWESOME!!! It was my favorite out of all three. I loved passing people!! Sighting was easy and I never had to redirect myself. I swam as straight as can be. It felt sooo good when I looked at my watch coming out of the water I had to do a double take!! Really? Oh and thanks to Joel's little tidbits of knowledge, I happened to notice that the inside lane was deserted!!! I was able to have a nice relaxed start with no one around me as well as a direct line to the buoy.

So T1 was one heck of a doozy. The 30-34 were racked in the absolute farthest corner of the transition station. Geez!! I jogged from the water and it took me 1:30 just to get to my bike!! Pretty smooth transition though once i got to my bike. I spent an extra 20-30 secs to put on bike gloves which came in handy when your all wet!!!Final T1 5:26.

Off on to the bike! I was told by a million people about the super steep hill on the bike to get onto 90. And you know me and hills? I HATE them!! We are not good friends. A lot of people have to walk it. So I made a mental note that I would just walk it. Honestly I really never planned to bike it.When I neared the hill I tried to increase my speed and and get ready to drop my gears on by one. Made it half way up on speed and planned the dropping of the gears perfectly. The last bit of the hill was hard (but super short) but I stayed on my bike!!!!! Hit 90 and found a good cadence. But my speed was so slow (11mpr) I found out on the way back that what I thought was flat was actually a slight incline. Loved flying on the hills!! Hit 30mpr! Such an adrenaline runs!! Bike goal was 45mins to 55min (heck anything under an hour. Final time Bike 48:27

Transition 2 was super smooth. But given my timbucktoo location T2 took me 2:18.

Off on the run! Ugh. The first 200yds were tough! But I made a joke (okay I think I groaned super loud) and she laughed and we made small talk. Turns out our running paces were a spot on match! So I had a running buddy (Tarra, 35, from Seattle, just finished her masters in nursing). Hehehe I know. I'm a chatty Cathy. We made a goal to only walk the water stations. Oh, thank you to who ever said grab a cup to dump on your head. I would have never thought of that!! It helped in the very toasty weather! (oh course Seattle was going to have a heat wave this weekend ;) chatted back and forth. It was a great way to pass the time put also track our exertion. Too easy to talk, step it up!! I had run a 5k in December in 40:41 so my goal was to be close to that. I
Ran a 42:29. SWEET!!!!  I actually could have gone another mile or two. I was feeling good on the run. Steady pace. Each mile within 10 seconds of the mile before.

Break down

Swim 20:00   953/3313 sweet!!!
T1 5:26
Bike 48:27 (avg 14.8 mpr) 1801/3313
T2 2:18
Run 42:29 (avg 13:42 per mile) 2557/3313

Total 1:58:42  finished overall 1813/3313 not half bad!!! And to think I was scared I'd be last!!

I loved it!! And surprise, surprise can't wait to do another one!!!

And another treat was running into Joel (one of my tri coaches from the Y) at the finish line! Thanks for the hug!!!

Thank you all again for everything! This has been such an amazing journey that I can't wait to do again. Maybe Olympic distance? ;) let's do it!!!

I think I'll try Defying gravity

You know how before a MLB player goes up to bat, they play a little song? Something to get him pumped up and in the mood? Well, I've been looking for "my" song. Something that encompass this journey and my emotions. Something to get my "motor running." Since the rules of the triathlon, ban the use of personal music players, I needed something to keep my mind "busy."

I've played around with a few songs, but none seemed to completely fit. But then the right song, just dropped in my lap. Okay, more like crossed my tv screen.

This week, I stumbled across the BEST show ever this week, Glee. If you haven't seen it, DVR it!!!

Well, during the episode untitled "Wheels." a certain song made my mouth drop.

(Note: I did not record this. It's the only version I can find.)



the words just hit me like a ton of bricks.


So this is my new "pump up" song. If you hear me humming this weekend (and you most likely will), it will be this song.

I'm through accepting limits cause someone says they're so. Some things I cannot change, but till I try, I'll never know

I think I'll try Defying gravity and you won't bring me down

Angels on the Sammamish RIver Trail

Do you remember that movie "Angel in the Outfield?" where a young boy witnesses angels helping the California Angels win? It even included a very young Matthew McConnaughey.

Well, I have been seeing angels lately. No, they don't look like Christopher Lloyd and no they don't have halos or wings, but they are angels none the less.

When I began this triathlon journey , I knew I would need a lot of support and encouragement. I knew my family and friends would be there for me and they have. You guys are the best!!!

But what I would have never have expected is all the angels that have appeared. First there are my tri angels. People who have taken the extra time to give me the much needed push from doing the hills in Bothell, to finding the motivation for a workout, to sending me some facebook lovin'. Thank you for sharing your love of tri with me!

But the angels that have surprised me the most are the anonymous ones. For these past few weeks, i have been getting words of encouragement from strangers while I bike and run on the Sammamish River Trail. "Looking good." "Keep it up."and my favorite "You go Girl!." At first I thought they were yelling at someone one else, but I slowly started to realize it was me they were yelling at.

Why me? I don't know but what I do know is those "shout outs" always seemed to come at the moments I needed them the most. Coincidence? I don't think so.

They are the angels on the Sammamish River Trail. My angels and I am thank for them and all the other angels in my life.

Now, I just hope all my angels are preparing for next weekend cuz I'm going to need them!!!!

THIS IS WHY I TRAIN

Its hard when you set a goal to not lose sight of the big picture and to not get wrapped up in the details especially when your milestones come so small that some times you don't recognize them happening. These past few weeks,I have been obsessing about the "What nots"." How I am NEVER going to get close to these other athletes times. How I hopefully won't be the last person to cross the finish line. How after 9 months on running, I run a 12 minute mile.

But I have to look back a year ago how I couldn't even run a block. How I went from a walk to a walk/run to a 15 min mile to a 13 min mile and now a 12 minute. How daily exercise was not even on my radar and now I get antsy if I don't work out for a day or two. How I am so much happier.

This past weekend put the icing on the cake for me. It brought to light the REAL reason I "tri" The reason I had started this journey in the first place. It was all for my little girl. I didn't want her to have a mommy that was too tired, too big, too weak, too out of shape to do the things she wanted to do. I trained to be the best Mommy I could be.

So this weekend, while we were at the water park in Chelan, as a lug a 30 pound toddler on my hip while I make numerous trips up the step hill so she can have the thrill of going down the "big" slides, it all hit me. THIS IS WHY I TRAIN. To watch my daughter beam with joy and giggle with delight. There is no way I'd would have been able to make all those trips up those hills last year by myself let along lugging an extra 30 pounds. but this year I could and this year I CONQUERED that water park.

I still may be the last person to cross that finish line next month. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I finished.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7



Here is a glimpse at the joy I got to experience this weekend. (My sister, Melissa is catching Lauren)