Countdown

13 weeks until Sunburst Half Marathon

22 weeks until Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon

My training plan is written. My goals are written. I know the exact hours that I will be putting in each week. My motivation is finally up. I am ready for another year of racing.

(my kids still think I am a crazy triathlete) :0)

Ski Bums

Yes, we are back from our Colorado ski trip. It was fantastic.

It was a busy travel weekend due to the holiday, but we eventually got to Colorado and then spent two days hitting the slopes. We stayed at my parents cabin in Frisco and the first day we skied at Copper Mountain. The snow was fresh with several inches of new powder, but the lines were really long. It was, after all, the biggest ski weekend of the year....it was the only time we could go....so we braved the lines and still had a great time. The second day we decided to head toward Leadville to check out Ski Cooper. This is a smaller mom and pop operation situated in the middle of national forest land. The powder was even better and the lines....none! We really had a blast and by the afternoon our legs were burning by the time we got down the mountain! We even got Arianna to do a couple of black diamond runs. Afterwards she would say "ok, now lets go back to the blue" and we did. This was the first ski trip that she has not done ski school the whole time. She was a trooper putting up with her kamakazee brothers and actually trying some of those jumps too!

The Pier

Scott and I went to the pier the other day and took some photos.

As you can see, the river is frozen and so is a good portion of the lake.

In the picture above, Scott is standing on the left side pier. The right side pier with the lighthouse is where triathletes jump into the water to begin Steelhead. In the middle is the St. Joseph River.

The lake is frozen so far out that we cannot see waves anymore. We haven't been above freezing in over three weeks now. I am starting to wonder when the thaw will come. As we were on the pier we laughed...in just three months time there will be kids jumping off the pier into the still fridged water. Last year we saw some kids from the Catholic school come down to the pier and jump, it must have been some rite of passage, they jumped with all their clothes on and had no towels to dry off with. In the end, they were freezing and running around laughing and playing. Oh, the joys of spring....soon.

..we will be out in that lake soon thereafter (with wetsuits) to begin getting used to open water swims again. It's hard to imagine right now with all the ice and snow, but I can't wait to get those open water swims going again.

I pounded out 4+ miles on the treadmill today. I keep thinking more and more about Steelhead and what I want to accomplish. First and foremost, I want to finish. Secondly, I want to finish sub-7. I've got plenty of work to do to make that second goal, but that's half the fun....training.

I think I have finally chosen a half marathon to do. It's the Sunburst down in South Bend, Indiana in June. Close to home and two months from my A race.

We are off to Colorado tomorrow to visit my mom and then two days of sking. It's been four years since I skied last. I cannot wait! I'll post pics when we get back.

Lake Effect

It stopped snowing yesterday for a few hours....then it started again last night.

It all began on Saturday. The snow started coming down and my kids and I were pretty excited. We had not gotten any snow at all in December and come on, we live in Michigan, so we like the snow. So, like I said, it started on Saturday. By Sunday morning we had 20 inches....did I just say we like snow?? Cuz that's a lot to like! But it never stopped on Sunday either. By Monday it was a no brainer that we had a snow day. The roads were impassable unless you had a four wheel drive. The plows could not keep up with falling snow. Tuesday - snow day - now I've got some really happy kids who aren't even setting their alarms for school. They spend most of the days out side sledding, building forts, throwing snow and then coming in and dumping heaps of sopping wet clothing on the floor. It snowed all day Tuesday. But thankfully Mother Nature in her infinate kindness decided that mother's all along Lake Michigan needed a reprive and the snow stopped at 9pm Tuesday night....and the kids went back to school :0)

It was actually a beautiful day yesterday, clear and unbelievably freaking cold. The roads got cleared pretty well and I saw pavement in some places too.

The kids have school again today, but as you know, all good things must come to an end. Yes, it is snowing again. A lot.

Here's the recap:

Sat-Sun: 20 inches

Mon: 8-10 inches- snow day

Tue: 4-6inches- snow day

Wed: none

Thur: Snowing again-I'm going back to bed

Fri: more snow likely, probably another snow day...I'm not getting out of bed.