When there’s snow outside, get out & try to enjoy it.
First, we tried on his snowsuit. Inside.
He’s happy.
Then, we tried the snowsuit in the snow. Outside.
Not so happy.
But he did make a great first miniature snow angel.
It was time to venture out a little farther. Enter the Ergo.
We walked to the park near our house to check out the downed branches…
…cold water…
…and otherworldly terrain.
I’m pretty sure someone had a good time.
Bring it Old Man Winter. We’re ready.
It’s not often that you get to run through waist-high water, climb over walls and crawl through mud.
Unless you’re a Marine.
Or escaping from prison.
Which is why the Muddy Buddy is such an awesome race. It’s 6.2 miles of running, riding a bike and random obstacles that finishes in a mud pit.
And you get to do it all with a friend.
Hell yes, I’ll pay for that.
The Muddy Buddy did not disappoint.
Being a team race, one person is running while the other is riding a bike. Then, at the end of each leg, there is a transition area where the biker drops off the bike for his/her teammate. It’s in these transition areas where the physical challenges take place.
Right out of the gate, we had to run through muddy water. Nothing like starting off a race with heavy wet shoes that squish with each step. In addition to that one, there were two other water crossings, one just for runners with water up to my belly and another at the end of the race.
The first obstacle was a wall covered with rock holds that you used to climb up with some netting on the back side of the wall to help you get down. Think typical movie military boot camp scenes and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
I thought the obstacles were fantastic because they introduced something different between those miles of running and biking. A great reminder to have fun, each obstacle made me feel like a big kid. When you’re sliding down a huge inflatable slide into a bowl of noodles…well, there’s just something so Double Dare about the whole thing.
In terms of the rest of the race, the running and biking were fairly flat, non-eventful and hot.
The biggest lesson I learned during the race happened at the very end. Fortunately, my husband was able to capture it in pictures.
This race was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for those who don’t take them too seriously. If you’re uber-competitive, this is probably not the event for you. But if you like having fun, getting dirty and drinking beer before 10 am, I’ll see you out there next year!
(Many thanks to Shelly for the suggestion and for being a great partner.)
My almost six-week old son exhibits a weak suck.
(I’m pretending like I didn’t see the Urban Dictionary’s “definition”.)
This basically means that he loves hanging out on my boob but doesn’t always like to actively eat while there. He feeds here and there, but it’s definitely on his schedule and he enjoys taking his time.
Looks like he’s already part of the slow food movement.
Le sigh.
At least he’s not asking for non-GMO soy.
Yet.
Oh hello there.
I had a baby two weeks ago and am just now remembering what my blog dashboard looks like.
And what sleep feels like.
Elijah Cole is a perfect little being who entered our lives in a dramatic way. Here is part one of the birth story, in pictures. Consider it a highlight reel of the entire experience. I thought it best to start with the positive stuff.
(Don’t worry…no pictures of my nether regions are included in this part of the story, although I most definitely classify them under positive stuff.)
My husband. He was by my side during the entire 33-hour ordeal, holding my hand, reminding me to breathe and cheering me on. He even cleaned up my puke. Turns out spicy Indian food does not make for the best last supper.
My saucy birthing gown. I bought this at Bundle, an eco-friendly and very Boulder-esque maternity store. Although a little doubtful at first about how it would perform during the event, this dress turned out to be worth every penny. First of all, I didn’t have to wear a hospital gown. Those things suck. Plus, this number was made out of super-soft cotton, had a cute sushi design on the front and was accessible from every angle. It also worked like a charm post-delivery, when I started breastfeeding. In fact, I didn’t take it off for five days in a row and was getting compliments on it from all the nurses in the recovery ward.
My friend Jess. We met in massage school and have been friends ever since. She moved back to the East coast this past summer and I’ve missed her. Before leaving, we had a conversation about having her involved in my labor and delivery. The universe complied and I was fortunate enough to hang out with Jess for a week before Eli arrived. She also was with me during my entire birthing experience, providing me with massage, support and much-needed laughter. I can never thank her enough. (If you’re in Rhode Island, be sure to give her a call.)
My favorite snack. I love Justin’s Nut Butter. This is well-documented on my blog. In hour eleven of labor, when I needed something to help power me through…you can see what I chose. The nurse was only recommending I eat ice chips and popsicles. Fortunately, my midwife was okay with bending the rules a bit in my favor. Thanks Justin’s!
My midwives. Speaking of…they rock.
My nurses. They were amazingly helpful and I can’t thank them enough for their breastfeeding help, parenting wisdom and good humor. I think it helped that word had already spread around the ward about my pregnant standup routine. I may have been semi-famous on the third floor for a few days.
My hospital room views. Not bad, Boulder Community Hospital, not bad.
My family. Amazing. Enough said.
My baby. Elijah Cole came into the world on March 27th, 2011. Obviously, the best part of what I will always call the longest endurance event of my life.
Until I do an Ironman, that is.
Which hopefully won’t end in surgery like this one.
(Part Two coming soon. Or whenever Elijah dictates.)
I never usually write race reports. But then again, my goal for the usual race is just to finish. This year, I had an actual goal with time involved. And I had posted about it on the internets. Twice.
Since I don’t run that many races anymore, I’ve decided that when I do, I’m going to take them a bit more seriously. Not that much more seriously, because let’s remember it is me, after all…
But enough about my serious running goals, let’s talk about the Bolder Boulder as it happened almost a week ago…
–It was the first race that no carb-loading took place the night before…maybe ever? The hubby made me spaghetti squash and fried eggplant, with plantains and a salad fresh out of garden. I wasn’t missing carbs one bit and didn’t have that heavy feeling the night before the race.
–Race morning: Got up early to stretch, drink coffee and eat a banana w/ almond butter. Felt like a champ.
–Ended up in same wave as a friend and had someone to chat with for the first mile. Before I dropped her. Although, in her defense, she was suffering through a sinus infection. (Hi Robin!)
–After parting ways with Robin, I ran the race by myself. Well, me and my watch. It’s the first time in three years that I haven’t had my husband running the race with me. I think the solo effort helped me to keep an eye on my mile splits and to push myself harder than usual. Not that he slows me down or anything, but without my husband there, I was able to fully focus on my performance. And it showed in my time.
–No water until mile 5. It felt good to keep running through the early water stations and since I rarely train with much water, I was okay not getting any until later in the race.
–After I got home and checked my results online, I realized I pulled off a negative split. Meaning that I ran the second half of the race faster than the first. This has been a goal of mine for a long time and it’s the first time I’ve actually pulled it off.
–Shaved three minutes off last year’s time, which was the very public goal that I made sure to tell everyone about. Also? I was *this close* to coming in under an hour. Like 21 seconds close. Can you guess what my goal is going to be for next year?
–Felt strong the entire time. I was passing people in the last couple of miles and that’s something I really enjoy doing. Because in years past, it wasn’t something I was doing much of.
–I did the whole thing with a busted lip. It’s a long story but suffice it to say, I’ve had prettier years running this race. (You can see a little something on my chin in the first picture and yes, it’s a big gnarly scab.)
–I honestly think that CrossFit had a lot to do with my success in this run. I didn’t do that many training runs before the race but because my core is just generally stronger, I had more power overall, less soreness in my legs and the ability to push myself when necessary. Not to mention the fact that I’ve done way more sprinting with CrossFit than ever before by myself. Sometimes I just need someone yelling at me to insure that I run short distances.
This race just gets better by the year and is the perfect start to my summer racing season. I plan to continue running this one for as long as I live in Boulder.
And because it’s apparent that I stole borrowed the photos above from Brightroom event photography, let me just say thank you to Brightroom event photography for capturing this year’s race.
(Maybe next year I’ll actually buy one? But only if you get pics of me looking good. Deal?)
I officially met Elaine in 2008. And for the life of me, I can’t remember where we were…probably at some meetup or another. But that doesn’t really matter since it wasn’t until this year that we became good friends.
From my bachelorette party in February…
To my wedding reception in June…
Elaine Eleanor Ellis rocked my world this year.
With her charmingly awkward ways and her ability to pierce ear drums with a high-pitched “Ummmmm…”, Elaine made me laugh a lot.
She also helped me pick out a wedding dress. Without hitting anything in her car.
Thanks to Chicks who Click, Elaine and I shared hotel rooms in two different states. In one, I drifted off to sleep making fun of the fact that she had to check Twitter before she could go to sleep.
“Goodnight @ElaineEllis.”
In the other hotel room we shared, Elaine promptly fell asleep within two minutes of scoring us a free movie from hotel management.
Of course, she was probably really tired from all that chalk-art drawing she had done earlier that evening.
The highlight of my friendship with Elaine this year was sharing the stage with her at Ignite 5. The beauty of doing a presentation about beer is that you have to hang out and drink beer while planning your talk. Our hard work paid off and we schooled the geeks with our knowledge of Colorado microbrews.
But the thing I love most about Elaine is that two months ago she did something most of us only dream about: she quit her job to travel. And on top of that, she did it all by herself.
I couldn’t be prouder of my friend. Judging from her blog posts and tweets, Elaine is doing a wonderful job of traveling solo and seems to be succeeding in the goal of spreading her special brand of awkward all over Europe.
Thanks for all the fun this year Elaine. Here’s to more Rio margs together in 2010! 1
Photo credits: highfireDANGER, greeblemonkey, and kitseeborg
This is Day 18 of a 21-Day Salute ™. Obviously, this was not a consecutive 21-Day salute and obviously I have some issues when it comes to time management. Sorry cute innocent blog series–real life got busy there for a bit.
I’m in Boulder because of the beer. Not just because I love drinking it, but because my ex got a job brewing beer here. We moved from Houston so he could brew and that was six years ago. My life has changed in many ways since then but my love of Boulder beer has not.
In all honesty, one of the many things that has kept me from posting here was a little event called Ignite Boulder. Along with my good friend Elaine*, I was able to present about beer in Colorado to over seven hundred people at the Boulder Theater. For five minutes, we educated and entertained the crowd. It was awesome. I had so much fun preparing for the presentation (and I don’t mean the pints that were consumed for inspiration), I thought it only best to share.
(You’ll have to imagine the audio for now. But we were funny, have no doubt.)
If you haven’t checked out an Ignite event in your area, I strongly suggest it. It’s a night of creativity, humor and education. And if you haven’t checked out any of the beer that Colorado produces, then you should definitely get on that.
Photo courtesy of Stepan Mazurov
Whether you’re enjoying a pint of Avery, Mt. Sun or Boulder beer, it should taste even better since you’re supporting the local economy, drinking a beverage brewed with passion and keeping my ex off the streets. I’ll drink to all those things.
*Elaine was the genius behind the idea for our preso and you can read her take on local beer here. Also? Elaine was the impetus behind getting me out of my posting funk. She dropped the words “baited breath” in a blog comment…fully knowing that I would be worried and waiting for her to exhale. Are you happy now Elaine?
This is Day 17 of a 21-Day Salute ™, an attempt to share a little bit of what I love about living in Boulder. After slacking off for a couple few err, four days, I’m back and ready to finish this biatch. While I’m at it, you should know that this post is about a product that was *mostly* made in a town not far from Boulder. I’m not perfect but hey, at least I’m honest.
I wanted to throw a party.
And I also wanted to work with BirdDog Press, aka Allison Bozeman, aka super sweet self-described “momecopreneur” with an amazing portfolio of design work and an even better Southern accent.
So I decided to outsource my wedding party invitations to Lyons, Colorado.
I first met Allison at the Chicks who Click after-party in January and it was somewhere after the third Rio margarita that we first talked business. I don’t know that either one of us remembers much about that conversation but a seed was planted.
On our second and more sober meeting, Alli brought samples of her work carried in these…
and she listened as I told her that I didn’t have a lot of time or money. I was having a laid-back wedding party and wasn’t looking for an invitation that was going to be too fancy for the event.
With some creativity, Alli made it happen, reusing scraps she had left over from other projects. I trusted in her completely and was not disappointed. The invitations turned out beautifully, handmade and printed by Alli on 100% recycled paper.
It’s easy to appreciate the source of all this inspiration when you check out Allison’s studio. She let me hang out and watch her work one afternoon. The space is almost as energetic as she is…
and the letterpress was a sight to behold. It was amazing to see Alli get that huge machine going. And the lovely paper magic she makes with that letterpress? Breath-taking. The finished product is a little bit vintage, with extra attention to detail, typography and lots of character. To drool over Allison’s creations, check out her blog. To make them yours, check out her Etsy store.
Allison’s work is wonderful but, more than that, she’s a fun lady to have collaborating on your side. I’m already scheming on what to have her make for me next, although I know she’s busy.*
*Word on the street is that she’s making business cards for a special Boulder someone…
[photo credit: theHandmaiden and Andrew Hyde.]
This is Day 16 of a 21-Day Salute ™, an attempt to share a little bit of what I love about living in Boulder. Thank you sir, may I have five more days?
Not chocolate again…
Yes actually. But not any chocolate. Artisan organic gourmet truffles made thirty blocks down the street from where I live.
These things are almost too beautiful to eat.
The famous blueberry truffle
Almost.
I had heard talk about Seth Ellis chocolates sometime last year but only started to pay attention when they were featured in an article about Foodzie in the NYT.
But the real magic happened when a lovely lady gifted me a box of these extraordinary delights as a thank-you.
Little pieces of melt-in-your-mouth delicious art
Um, no, thank you.
Let’s just say I spent some quality time with Seth Ellis in the Kansas City airport, savoring a box of his assorted truffles and waiting for a delayed flight.*
If the taste wasn’t good enough, the branding and design inspire as well. Heavy on the art-deco and as lovingly created as the chocolates, the packaging and artwork only add to the quality of the product.
When I go to check out Seth Ellis Chocolatier online, I’m greeted by this message…
and that’s totally what I’m doing.
To experience Seth Ellis truffles, you can buy them locally or order online through Foodzie.
*I didn’t eat the entire box. But I’ll admit that I did think about it. More than once.
[Photo credits: Seth Ellis Chocolatier, Foodzie and di.wineanddine]
This is Day 15 of a 21-Day Salute ™, an attempt to share a little bit of what I love about living in Boulder. Turns out I’m also a glutton for punishment and like undertaking random challenges.
I’m a dirty chai kind of a girl and I’m proud of that. When ordering at the coffee shop across the street from my office, the barista asks which variety of local chai I’d like.
That’s what life in Boulder is like…competing chai producers, both within city limits, are vying for my business. So I’m actually letting you know about two local companies in this post. (Don’t say I never went the extra mile for you…)
I offer you a Tuesday night match-up of Bhakti Chai vs. Third Street Chai.* To be honest, I’ve had both brands at local coffee shops but have never purchased a bottle of either. I think chai tastes better when someone else makes it.
After sampling both, I prefer Bhakti. It’s not as sweet as the Third Street variety and has a spicier flavor. Bhakti also scored points with me for coming out with a flavor last year that I fully support…
But that’s just my two cents.
Thing is–I don’t drink chai much and would like to ask those chai drinkers who know their stuff to shed some light on this topic for me.
Which one do you prefer? Bhakti or Third Street Chai?
[Photo by alykat]
*You should have seen the boxing poster I attempted to make with the companies logos. I ran out of time but it would have put many amateur boxing federation flyers to shame. I could have been a contender…
