Merry Christmas

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Boise is surrounded with this white stuff which is really fun to drive in....NOT SO MUCH! This Southern California Gal who is used to wearing shorts all year round and temperatures that barely drop below 55 degrees is being buried by snow. It is okay though, because having a white Christmas is pretty cool.

I'm starting to get in the Christmas spirit...sort of? Officially mailed off the Christmas Cards on Monday. All of the gifts are bought and wraped. There are some decorations up....certainly not all of them. Baking...not gonna happen this year. I am going on my last day of 10 in a row at work and baking was not a priority. Of course, my last day before 12 days off is a 24 hour OB call. I don't think it will be too busy on Christmas Eve day or even Christmas Day. Anyway, I will get to do labor epidurals for all of those who are suffering from the pains of child birth. It sounds difficult, but it really is not and I enjoy it.

Workouts have suffered this past week. I've been consumed with work, family, and holiday stuff. To top it off, I'm putting a video of pictures for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. Why do I offer to do these things? Because I don't say "no" when asked and none of my other 4 siblings will make it happen. I'm the Type A person who is very detail oriented. Great when you want something really cool put together....cuz not to pat myself on the back...but I do a good job. Bad, when I'm pressed for time. Wanting perfection means that other areas in my life suffer...ie: workouts and sleep. Need more sleep...but I guess I can sleep when I die. Although after reading about triathlon training, I should not only be getting a good night sleep, but should also be taking a nap during the day. Who can do that in the real world? I guess I will just work on more sleep at night.

Packing up my stuff for morning and 24 hours in the hospital.

Merry Christmas! Eat...Drink...and be Merry!

Boise 70.3 - Only 6 months away...

So I watched the Ford Championships from Kona, Hawaii earlier tonight. I did the DVR thing and watched with my oldest son, after the other two were in bed. It got me totally fired up! My son was funny though because he told me... "I'm never going to do that Mommy because I don't want to get the leg cramps." I told him that it sometimes happens but that there were things that could be done to help with the cramps.
Bottom line is that if the 72 year old lady can go out there and do a full Ironman...strong work girl, so can I. (Oh yeah she has done it 17 times.)

With that being said, I officially registered for the Boise 70.3 on June 13th, 2009. I'm mental about dates and things, it is exactly 6 months away to the day. So I figured it would be cool to register on the 13th, the same day and date that the event would occur on. Mental yes, but that is such a big part of the Triathlon game. I've got my game face on now....got the books, have an awesome swim coach, planning my 2009 training calendar, so I'm committed, hook, line, and sinker. Hopefully no sinker during the swim though. LOL

I was in the pool today for about 20minutes and on the stationary bike for about 30minutes. Not bad for my post 24 hour call. I was busy during the night and didn't get a ton of sleep, so figured 50minutes of a workout was good. Feel great tonight, planning on some weights tomorrow.

BTW: still don't have any Christmas Decorations up yet. Sunday...Sunday...Sunday. I did start working on my Christmas cards and am happy to say that I am about half way finished with those...YEAH! Gifts...not so much. The kids are done and we have a few others bought. My husband assures me that he will work on them next week after he takes his GRE. He is working on getting into Graduate school and be a Nurse Anesthetist like myself. I'm so very proud of him!

The yawning starts, time to crawl into bed. I think I might read a little bit more in the Bible...that is Triathlon Training Bible. Gotta learn what I gotta do to get out there and do well. hee hee.

outta here....

"Failure is not an option!"

Santa please bring me a bike?

First of all, holy crap Christmas is only 15 days away! I have been consumed with everything other than gifts, decorations, holiday cards, basically anything holiday related. Bah humbug! Not to mention that the busiest days in the Operating Room are those in the month of December and I work the next 12 of 15 days before Christmas. Okay I'm better now that I got that off my chest....oh by the way...I do a ton of laundry everyday and I'm tired of laundry!

In addition, my liver is seriously recovering, 4 days status post alcohol intoxication self inflicted of course. We went to our outrageous work Christmas party. It is not your typical Christmas party, the food is incredible and never ending as well as a fully stocked premium alcohol bar. I had the brillant idea of drinking "chilli bombers" for those non drinkers, Crown with Red Bull (I like the sugar free=less calories). They are easy to drink and go down fast...kind of an upper with a downer. Well after the first couple of hours, I added Patron Tequila shots. I stopped counting after 4 or 5??? Needless to say I had a little bit of a headache while my husband and I walked the 4 miles uphill to get the car. (Sidenote: I'm not into the drinking and driving, so we played it safe and took a cab to the hotel.) It was good to get the blood flowing though. After some water and drugs, the headache was tolerable to face the 3 kids under six years of age and their loud voices and obnoxious toys. There was a photographer there to capture the evening in film....maybe not a great idea. Anyway little plug for her http://www.ashkiphoto.blogspot.com/. This is her blog and she did a great job. My husband and I are the 8th picture down. I totally dig the feather boa...it is so me. LOL

Okay so I have been bike shopping and I'm so overwhelmed with indecision? I've been to several bike shops around Boise and am just more confused. Would love to buy a really cool Cervelo tri-bike but just can't see spending my childrens college funds. So I have a budget and have been looking at some discounted 2008 road bikes that I can attach aero bars. Trek, Cannondale, & Specialized are the ones that I have looked at but I feel the best on the Specialized bikes. Specialized have several Womens Specific Bikes that feel really good, I really like the Ruby model. I do know that after riding lots of bikes, that I want an all carbon frame. Boise roads are chipsealed and can be very rough, so a smoother ride would be ideal! Considering that I will do my first triathlon here in town, probably a good idea to get a carbon frame. Components, Shimano 105's, Ultegra, Dura-ace....a new vocabulary for me....but I'm learning. So now I sit, debate, calculate and do more research on bikes. Any suggestions???? Please Advise!!! Santa would you please just bring me a bike, I think I have been good this year?

Well...it is that time to go to the bus stop to get the oldest from Kindergarten and then the other 2 from daycare. The craziness begins but I love it and wouldn't change a thing! I work hard so I can enjoy my three little angels. Mommy will probably start decorating tonight because Christmas is really for the children, plus the kids have been begging the past couple of days. Will leave you with a really cute picture of the kids, although I am a little biased!

Outta here.....

Di wants to tri a TRIATHLON!

Where do I start....My goals this year were to run a marathon and hike Half Dome in Yosemite. I accomplished both of those goals and now I'm searching for more. Is it that I will be 40 next year and want to check a few things off of my bucket list? or is it that I love the way I feel when I'm accomplishing my athletic goals. If you know me, then you know that I usually have several goals related to different avenues of my life whether it be professional goals, family goals, or personal goals.


One of my goals for 2008 was to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. It was awesome...17 miles round trip from the base of Yosemite Valley with an elevation change of 4,800 feet. It was a blast and I recommend it to anyone who loves the great outdoors. The backside of Half Dome was a steep climb up switchbacks prior to the infamous metal cables that are drilled into the rock. The climb was steep and easier going up than going down. The cables were a little scary but worth it when I was at the top with jaw-dropping views. The bottom line is that is was an incredible hike!

Second goal for 2008 was to run in a Marathon. 26.2 miles was something that I had never done until October 19th, 2008. I had fun and smiled a ton in the last 10 or so miles. Yeah I know marathon and fun shouldn't be in the same sentence...but I had a blast. Perhaps it was just watching all of the crazy San Francisco Spectators??? My goals for the marathon were to finish, run the course except for the water stations, and have fun. I accomplished all of my goals! More importantly, my husband and I raised $11,440 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We ran for a fellow CRNA who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. The entire experience of running a marathon and doing Team in Training to help accomplish those goals were an experience of a lifetime!

Goals for 2009, drum roll please.....to do a Triathlon. I have been thinking of doing one since September when I hiked Half Dome. I figured if I can train to run 26.2 miles, I can train to do 70.3 in 3 different sports. Since that time, I have bought a few Triathlon books, magazines, surfed the internet for info and basically been doing my homework before I register for the Boise 70.3 and charge $500.00 to my check card.

The biggest thing that happened to me to capture my attention occured in November in Florida. Well if you keep up with IM news, it was the FORD World championships in Clearwater, Florida. I was in St. Petersburg, Florida for a Nurse Anesthetist leadership conference and was intrigued by the triathletes. Of course, I was in a conference room with death by power point, while all of the triathletes were enjoying the beautiful course and weather...although I bet it could have been a little bit cooler in temperature. Well, I had the pleasure to fly back to Salt Lake City with some really fit triathletes. Needless to say...it got me motivated!

I came home and surfed the internet even more. I looked at the race results not only from the Clearwater IM but also for the IM Boise 70.3 that occured in June 2008. I also looked at many of the pictures of the triatheletes from both of the events. I'm so motivated! Since I am a newbie, I figured I would do a triathlon that is close to home so I wouldn't have to include the stress of a different location that I would have to ship my bike to and pack a zillion things with hopes that they would arrive safely. Yeah, I could do a sprint or olympic as my first...screw it...I'm gonna go the distance.

So....I am going to do the Boise 70.3 on June 13th, 2009. I hope to keep my blogs up to date. I guess it is time to buy a bike....ugh more homework to do and too many options. I loved the News post from the IM site about the bikes that were in Clearwater....but it made it that much more difficult to chose. Everyone tells me that now is the time to buy a bike, for many shops have 08 models marked down to make room for the 09s...wish me luck.

Oh yeah...my motto for 2008 will carry into 2009...
Failure is not an option!