I am blessed!

I woke up this morning and headed over to 30A to meet up with one of the greatest woman ever, Kelly. She is one of those training partners who you can call and say 'I'm running 20 miles today, and I really don't want to go by myself.' and with no thought at all, Kelly is all over it. She is an amazing ultra marathoner - and I am so blessed to have her in my life.

ANYWAY - as I'm dropping off the water stash at a trail head to the state park, I'm pulling out and see a BLACK BEAR crossing the road. A BIG black bear. Needless to say, we decided to stay out of the state park for this run. So I met up with Kelly and got in a stellar 10 miles at an 8:49 avg. Met up with Karen (who did IMFL in a Sub 13!!) and we ran the last 7 miles ending up with an 8:53 avg. I really did not know I had that in me. My running is feeling so amazing, I can't help but have a huge grin on my face.

When we came back to Seaside and I ran into my good friend Em that I have not seen in awhile. So we ate an amazing breakfast of black beans, plantains, and an egg - which was amazing:


After that - we cruised the farmers market and got WONDERFUL fresh veggies. Ahhh..could this day get any better? YES! Phone call from a friend that her boyfriend (finally!!) proposed. So congrats to Dawn and Brian!
Halloween 2009 -


I have Will's number for IM Cozumel!!! 1931!! So, if you feel like stalking tomorrow - please do!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!

Wedding fotos make me cry..in a good way!

One of my best friends was married over the summer - here are a few 'professional' fotos - hope they put a smile on your face! I don't know what it is about fotos of great times, with amazing friends and making wonderful memories that seem to bring a tear to my eye. Give a good friend a call today. :)

Happy Sunday!

Yule Log on demand? Who would have thought?

Good luck to everyone racing IMAZ on Sunday! If you are stalking people online - check out some fellow training partners:

Missy: 2598
Lisa: 2664
Burk: 1326
Michael: 1044 (1st one!!!)
Kent: 1709

IMAZ Crew:



We decided to have a 'tri' training girls night the other night (aka - eat good food and drink a ton of wine) and Kelly decided to make some posters for us to post on The Face for our friends:





And in other IM news - as everyone knows, my homestay Will was not able to compete in IMFL due to being sick. Well, he did get into IM Cozumel! I do not have his number yet - but I will post it as soon as Will forwards it on. (side note - Bree Wee is racing (my FAV pro!!) I told Will to tell her hi for me!)



Random News:

So I ran Draggin' Tail 18 mile race today. It's held in the ONLY part of Northern Florida that has massive hills. No lie. But it's a great training run and put on by a very fun group of people. My whole goal was to keep with a 9 min pace and then the last four miles pick it up to 8:30. I was rocking out about an 8:50 pace until mile 11. When my tummy said STOP! YOU WILL NOT GO ANY FURTHER! Well, when the tummy talks, I have no choice but to listen. And this run it literally in the middle of no where. No 'emergency' stopping areas. Needless to say - I only completed 12 miles. So my focus the new few weeks will be my DIET so I don't run into that issue again!

Yule log - I found that channel today. For some reason it's on demand. So starting next Friday - I know what our big tv will be on!

Yet there is another 'Little Chloe' out there - (who would have thought!) and she raced in the regional cross country meet today! Stop by her mom's BLOG check out her season!

Good luck to everyone else who is racing this weekend!

Chloe vs. the Treadmill

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. But I do have to travel. So once a week or so I'm in a constant battle with this guy:


The treadmill.

Why is it that I can run 20 miles on the road with no problem - but it's like pulling teeth to get a measly 4 miles on the treadmill. All I can say is thank goodness for my Ipod. And why is it that hotels seem to think it's an excellent idea to put the treadmill right in front of a full length mirror? I really don't want to stare at myself while I'm going through this torture!! Well, I can check four miles off of that big guy last night.

Right now I'm watching the Today show and I noticed two things:

1. On Al's weather map of the West Coast - Forks, WA is listed. Is he secretly hooked on the Twilight series? Is he a closet addict? Why else would that small town be listed?? Hmmm...

2. Crazies holding 20 hostages at a TJ Maxx in Florida? Why does all of this crazy stuff seem to happen in the sunshine state?

Happy hump day everyone!

Florida IRONMAN!

Wow! What an AMAZING weekend! I freaking love when IM is in town. Hot guys everywhere along with people who enjoy (or obsess - whatever you want to call it)running, biking, and swimming.

Drafting was not as bad as it was last year - but people STILL complain about it. Seriously people - ride your own race. But we did see some pretty awesome things on the course such as this guy:

Yes, he is on an BMX with bottle cages on the back. We just HAD to talk to him. We chatted for a bit and he had the BEST attitude. That bike was actually sent to him a few days before the race - and he MADE THE CUTOFF! I was so excited to see that when I got home - that he did complete the whole race.

I need to brag a bit for my awesome training partners who rocked out the race:

Karen - beat her goal of sub 13 hours by 9 min with a 12:51:08! One of the BEST training partners ever. I'm so blessed to have her (and her family) in my life.



Jeff - he calls himself a 'B' triathlete since he likes to drink :) but he's been swimming, biking, and running for over 20 years. This year he jumped to the IM race distance - did IMKY and raced in IMFL. Finished with a 12:21:44 on his birthday. And yes, he wore that hat the WHOLE marathon.



Alan who has been having knee problems the week prior to the race - still had a great time of 12:44:05



And Brett - who is a prostate cancer survivor. He was diagnosed last December and is now doing IMFL in 11:39:10! He's a huge inspiration to anyone he talks to. And after the race - he looked like he just finished up a 5 mile run!



And a few more random pictures...






A huge congrats to everyone who raced! Everyone is so inspirational!

FINALLY back in town!

It's Ironman time! I've been in Orlando since Monday for work and just DYING to be home! I'm back today and SO exicted to go with my friends today to help them check in their bikes as well as check out all of the 'stuff' at the expo. Oh yeah - check out the smoking hot guys as well wondering around!

Sad news about Will, our homestay. He's sick. He went to the doctor yesterday - got some meds and ordered not to do any training for 10 days!! BUT being the awesome person that he is, he's already signed up for Cozumel which is Nov 29th to reach for that Kona spot. AND it just so happens that Big J knows a ton of people down there what Will is able to stay with. I'll keep you posted on how this rolls out. I am SO bummed he's not racing - but if he's not 100% he made the right decision to opt out. But other then that - Will is awesome. If for those of you that are reading and have an IM in your area - DO A HOMESTAY! It was such a great experience and I can't WAIT to do it again next year.

I'll no doubt be stelthy with my photography skills the next few days - hopefully I will get some interesting pictures :)

Happy Friday everyone!!