Sugar River Triathlon

Today I completed my second sprint triathlon of the season.  Caught up in the excitement of my last triathlon I signed up for another.  This triathlon was held in Belleville, WI.  When I read the description I thought it would be fun "A bike course of rolling hills is followed by a run on gravel trails and quiet neighborhood streets."  However when I received the race update I was concerned. "The bike course is fun, challenging and scenic."  Well, today was challenging. The swim was pleasant, the challenging portion of the bike was not exaggerated,  once I got my legs back the run was nice.  I finished a bit slower than my first tri, but that was not the goal.  As always I wanted to finish and eventually complete another tri.  It has been a fun season.  Now to relax and take a bit of time off!

Goodbye

A piece of me has gone today,

A friend of mine has gone away.

Once clumsy and youthful

Now loyal and wise.

There is no mistaking the pain in your eyes.

Asleep on the bed

Waiting for me to arrive

An animated greeting only you could contrive.

Silent and strong

You lick away my tears

Believing your job is to alleviate my fears.

Today as you leave you take part of me too

Thank you for your years of friendship
There is no more for you to do.

Triathlon

Completed my first triathlon yesterday.  A friend and I have been training for about 8 weeks.  At the beginning of training I thought the toughest part for me was going to be the 1/4 mile swim in murky lake water, but after yesterday I could have swam forever.  Even though there were a few weeks of light training :)  we managed to finish the race.  Not only did we finish but once we cooled down we started looking at when we could do the next one.  I need to improve on the bike.  There is always something to improve upon.  Had such a great time and the weather was amazing compared to the previous days.  I think my next triathlon will be September 2nd in Belleville.  Why not!

Indianapolis Half Marathon

For those of you who noticed the count down is finished for the half marathon.  On May 5th we traveled to Indianapolis and ran in the 500 Festival Half Marathon.  We got the opportunity to run around the Indianapolis track and "Kiss the Bricks."  Neither of us actually took the time to do this although it might have been worth it (when will I get another opportunity)! Maybe next year.  We had a ton of fun visiting the city and many of our friends.

Today was my first day of my sprint triathlon training.  I will be completing my first triathlon in July.  I am looking forward to a new challenge - and a challenge it will be!

Birthday

Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes! I hate to pick a favorite but I received the funniest wishes from a 4 yr old. She very convincingly got her mom to purchase not one but two cupcakes for me as my special treat. She however then spent a good amount of time justifying why I only needed one cupcake. The result: one delivered cupcake and one very happy 4yr old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Knife Class

I have been enjoying cooking more in the past year than ever before. I enjoy the grocery shopping, spending time in the kitchen and of coarse eating. I lack many skills (and sometimes proper equipment) in the kitchen but always seem to make the best of it. Last week I tried to make spaetzle without a spaetzle maker. Disaster - no, proper technique - of coarse not, edible and even delicious dinner - yes.

A friend of mine wanted to take a class to learn how to utilize her knife set. As any good friend would I got excited and decided to join also. Last night from about 7-10pm we spend cutting everything from apples to onions, carrots and strawberries at Wisconsin Cutlery and Kitchen Supply. It was so much fun. The best part is we learned proper technique and neat tips and tricks to make our food cook more evenly and look aesthetically pleasing.

Nothing Says Love . . .

Valentine's Day is not a holiday that we tend to celebrate. However 2 years ago on Valentine's Day P and I got engaged. I do not believe it was the holiday it was the fact that Marquette Mens Basketball was playing and we had tickets. We were spending the weekend in Milwaukee. This Valentine's day we spend the evening eating delicious German food (brats) and I was surprised with flowers in a growler. It doesn't get anymore romantic than that!