Saturday, July 26, 2008

AZ, Mountain Man, Broken Computer

I have not written in a couple weeks because my computer finally died :(
I am very upset because all my iTunes, photos and personal documents were saved on it. I guess I have learned my lesson to always back up my hard drive.

Last Thursday we left for Phoenix at around 5:40 p.m. We drove throught the night, taking the 70 West, through Moab, Flagstaff and Finally Phoenix. We arrived at Brian's dad's house around 5 a.m. Hannah was such a good road doggie and she hardly squeeled the whole way down. The drive was eventfull - filled with rain and stormy weather, and on my last driving shift I had to let Brian take back over because I was so tired I was worried I would fall asleep on the 17 between Flagstaff and Phoenix. All in all though, it was a nice, scenic, beautiful drive.

Of course it was hot in Phoenix. 110 I believe! On Friday after I took a nap I took Hannah to my old work, the Ahwatukee Foothills News, and showed her off to everyone! It was so fun! I ended up staying longer than I had planned and Brian was a little upset with me because we were late to our lunch at Pink Taco with Keith. Good thing Keith is such a nice guy and understood! Thanks Keith! There are SO many people in Phoenix. I have never noticed it before, but the Denver area is definately not as crowded as the Phoenix area. There were people everywhere in that hot a** oven!!! I couldn't believe it! After lunch, I went to visit Luanne at her condo in Tempe. It was so nice to be able to see her and her pregnant belly! :) Then we had dinner at Brian's mom's house and I brought Hannah over there as well. She was such a good girl! Saturday morning we had pancakes at Brian's dad's house with his little brother and cousins before we headed up to Flagstaff for the race. There were so many people at packet pick up at Lake Mary around 2 p.m. on Saturday when we arrived! We saw everyone we knew there! As soon as I got their I saw Keith in line with his cousins and Jorge and Laurie and Adam too! It was so fun and I think Hannah enjoyed meeting everyone too :)

Saturday night we ate at Olive Garden by our hotel with Adam. I had linguini with marinara sauce and salad and breadsticks... mmmmm!!!!! Then I rode my bike around the parking lots to make sure the chain wouldn't fall off. Luckily Adam fixed it for me and I was good to go! Thanks!!!

We got up on Sunday at 3:30 a.m.... early!!! I had my jelly and banana sandwich and packed everything up and we were outta there by 4:15. Setting up transition with Hannah in one hand and my bike and gigantic gear bag in the other was challenging until Laurie showed up to take her for me! Thanks Laurie! Without her I would have never even been able to do the race! At about 5:50 we walked over to the swim start. Now that was the toughest part of the race! The road was so rocky I thought my feet were going to fall off! The swim went fine, I swam 35 minutes, which is an improvement from my last half Ironman swim of 40 minutes. However, when I got into transition someone had thrown all my stuff everywhere and put a huge beach bag on top of my transition stuff! I had to search for my biking shoes, gels, sunglasses and helmet before I was off on the bike. I was pretty ticked off. I took the bike easy, it was a lot of hills and I just wanted to get through it so I had a good run. In the beginning of the bike I was with a guy who was riding the same bike as Brian, had the same Zipp wheels as Brian, was wearing the same top as Brian AND who's name was BRIAN! It was funny! When I left the transition area for the run (which again was annoying because someone had thrown my stuff around again and a gel was smooshed and open all over my running shoe) it was 3:49. I was going for a slower time than my last half! I was mad, so I took the run pretty hard. I ended up having a great run and crossed the finish line at 5:37 - EXACTLY the same time as my last half Ironman. However, the last race was 6,000 feet lower elevation and wasn't hilly at all, so over all it was a huge improvement and I am happy!

After I crossed the finish line it was pouring rain, so Brian and I got our awards (both first in our age groups) and packed up the car, got Hannah from Laurie and headed back up to Colorado! The drive was long and my legs were stiff... we arrived home around 1 in the morning on Monday. What a weekend!

Today Laura and I went biking around the foothills for about 3 1/2 hours and then did a 30 minute run. It was a good day and the weather was great! I really hope I am recovered and feeling good in 2 weeks for the 5430 race in Boulder!!! If not, I will take it slow and just have fun! It's all for Ironman training anyway!

So all in all, life is good right now. My sister moves out here August 12, that will be fun, and I start teaching boot camp down town in August as well. Things are starting to feel normal up here finally :)

XOXO
Cori

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunday Funday

I thought I'd post some new pictures of Hannah for everyone today. I took these when she was running around on the grass, before she ate my favorite Crocs sandal. I am so sad about that! I will have to get new ones.... dang it!

Today I did an hour bike and a 85 minute run. It was a good day and I felt really good so I am happy. We also went to the bike shop to get stuff for Mountain Man and to try to fix my bike. We tried changing the chain, and that didnt work, so we tried changing the big chain ring and that didn't work either. I still dont know why the chain doesn't catch on the ring every two revolutions. It's the weirdest thing and I am so sad! Brian also cut his hand really bad trying to get the chain ring off the bike and now he has a super deep cut on his hand. I feel so bad! This stupid bike! This is one reason why triathlon is annoying - because you have to use a machine for one of the segements and if it isn't working properly you are screwed. On the swim and the run it is all up to your body, but the bike depends on what condition your bike is in, as well as your body's fitness.

Tomorrow I am going to head to Trifecta Multisport in Littleton because the Newton Running website says they sell their shoes there. I hope so! I checked out the store's sight and they didn't have the brand listed, but it is worth a shot so I don't have to drive all the way to Boulder or pay for shipping. I'll probably call first.

Man, I am really mad about that sandal! :(

OK time to run to Safeway and go to bed!

<3>

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Work, training, racing and more!

So my first week of work at Bladium went well. I love working at a gym; it is so awesome being able to wear comfortable clothes in a comfortable atmosphere, helping people pursue healthy lifestyles and working around cool people. I really hope I can build a nice client base and really enjoy my job there!

I looked at the results from the Freedom Run 5K I did on July 4 and found out I placed first in the 20-29 age group out of 50 people. I also got 9th female overall out of 350, which is awesome. I am happy that my run is finally feeling better at elevation! On Thursday Brian and I will leave for the drive down to Phoenix. We will be doing the Mountain Man Triathlon in Flagstaff on Sunday, but want to stop and see our friends and family in Phoenix before the race. I'm pretty sure I will do the half Ironman distance, but I am apprehensive because I am doing the 5430 half Iroman three weeks later, and then a sprint distance in Steamboat Springs two weeks after that. I have quite a busy schedule coming up, but I am excited for it. It will all help my training for Ironman Arizona.

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday! Although I was alone for the majority of the day I had a great time! Fridays are my off day from training, so I had the whole day to do whatever I want! In the morning I took Hannah to Wag N Wash and she got a nice bath and her nails clipped. We also got a new toy for $3. Hannah got pampered on my birthday - haha - but it was so fun! Then I dropped her off to nap and I headed to the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver. I shopped at Nordstrom with a gift card, bought a purple tank top and some new make-up. I talked to the Estee Lauder girl about my Aunt Marla forever... everytime I go to Nordstrom I just cant help but think of her the whole time! We love Nordstrom, it's the BEST! Anyway, then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and used another gift card. I got a new running outfit, new biking outfit, new goggles and some gels. It felt so awesome to be able to buy new stuff. I don't remember the last time I went shopping and actually bought things I WANT and don't necessarily NEED! It was great! Brian and I went to dinner at Elephant Bar later on in the night and lot s and lots of friends and family called me all day. All in all, it was a great birthday considering the lonely circumstances!

Today I finally met Laura, the girl who found my blog a couple months ago and contacted me by e-mail. She just moved to the Denver area as well and is also doing Ironman Arizona. I'm so glad I will have someone to train on the bike with. It will make me get out there and get some miles in since we all know biking is not my favorite thing! So, thanks Laura and I look forward to training with you some more! Today Laura met us at our apartment in Lakewood and followed us up to Boulder to meet Jane and George and their friend, Patrick, for a bike and run. I felt so much better than last weekend, when I crashed on a road that was under construction and really just felt like crap all day! Today was great. It was fun and some good training, so I am really excited to get out there for all my upcoming races!

Something is wrong with my Felt since I fell on it last weekend and I am pretty sad about it. Hopefully I can get it fixed this weekend (Brian will help me) so I can use it at Mountain Man. Otherwise I will be stuck with my training bike at the race. So much for riding my race bike on training rides... I'm not going to do that as much anymore!

Well, it's time to get some sleep! I am planning shorter bike and long run tomorrow morning, after I take Hannah on her morning walk of course!

<3
Cori

Friday, July 4, 2008


First and foremost... I GOT A JOB! I will be working in Denver at Bladium Sports and Fitness Club as a personal trainer! I am so excited and I think it will work out well. They are just starting up personal training, so me and Tony (the other trainer) will be first to start out fresh. Of course I am a little nervous as I am new to PT, but I think it will be awesome. I am so happy and relieved that I will be working! My schedule is from about 2-9 Monday though Friday, which is awesome because Brian is usually home by 6 on week nights and Hannah will only be alone for about 4 hours each day. I start on Monday and I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!

Last weekend we did the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon in Loveland, which is about 50 miles north of Denver. It was amazing! The distance was 1500 meter swim, 30 mile bike and 10K run. The weather was great. It was cloudy and not too hot. I had a good swim for the first time ever, so I am happy! I have been swimming Monday - Thursday every week and I try to swim at least 2,000 meters every workout. From doing this I have seen much improvement and I feel so much better about the swim. Now I have to start concentrating on the bike! I averaged around 19-20 mph on the 30-mile rolling bike course. I really want to work on that and get faster. I ran a 44-minute 10K, which is still slow for me for a 10K but OK with the elevation and considering it was a triathlon. It was also 1 minute faster than my Bolder Boulder time, which means I am getting used to the elevation slowly but surly.

Today is the fourth of July and we did the Freedom Run 5K in Evergreen this morning. It was really high elevation (9-10,000 feet) and I ran about 21 minutes. I don't know my official time yet, but I think it is high 20's or exactly 21 minutes. The course was VERY hilly, so I am OK with that time. As I get used to the elevation I should get faster!

In two weeks we are heading back to AZ (driving) for the Mountain Man half Ironman triathlon. Our plan right now is to leave on Thursday and spend Friday and Saturday in Phoenix, and Sunday racing in Flagstaff. I am excited to go back and see everyone, especially Luanne's pregnant belly! We are also planning on bringing Hannah, so I am excited for everyone to meet her too. Hopefully she can stand the long drive! We will be making lots of potty stops!

Well, Happy Independence Day to all. I am going to try to get to Golden and enjoy some fireworks tonight :)