Category Archives: Family

2013 Ironman Brasil – The Run

Posted on June 15, 2013 by goSonja| 9 Comments

Getting off the bike I felt that I was in the lead for the amateur race but I wanted to make sure. The course is 1 long loop of about 13 miles, and then two shorter loops of about 10.5K. When I put together my race plan I really wanted to run the long hilly loop conservative and then throw down the hammer on the short flat loops.

Did it go down like that?

No, of course not. Negative splitting the Ironman marathon always seems like an awesome plan on paper but never really comes together in reality. I’m not sure if everyone feels this way, but I almost always feel great getting off the bike (Kona being the exception). This time I felt better than usual, my nutrition was sitting super well. I felt great getting out running and 7:30 pace felt easy. I ran that pace all the way until we hit the hills.

There was a short out an back around mile 3 and I didn’t see anyone ahead. I checked my watch and started looking for AGers behind me to get a time split. I was almost out of the out and back and saw two of them. I had 7:30 on the second AGer. I felt pretty darn good about that. Knowing I was aiming for a 3:30 marathon, that meant either of those girls had to run 3:23, on a hilly course. Okay Sonja, now, don’t screw this up. You still have like 23 miles to run.

What can I say, I loved the hilly section of the course. I ran the first long one up and down. Then the second steep one, I had to walk that! It was short and walking felt just as hard as running. At the top I got back at it. The third one I ran. On the big descent down to the ocean I saw Haley Chura (you have to read her Brazil blog, it’s hilarious) and had to give her a high 5. She looked really solid!

I hit the ocean road and we ran along that, past our hotel, and out to another out and back. I was feeling good, but was just barely keeping things under 8min miles in this section, maybe 7:45-7:50 range. Those hills really take a bite out of your mojo. I turned at the out and back and was happy to have that part of the course done.

I took another time split and now saw that I had a 12 minute lead over the second AGer. That was when I breathed a big sigh of relief. I just felt confident that I could hold onto that lead until the end. I still had like 18 miles to run, but my nutrition was going so well, and I felt really in control of my tempo and emotional state. My self talk was 100% positive, I was having a great day.

At mile 11 my liquid nutrition had run out. I had decided to run with a waist pack for this race. I have had trouble in past races on the run with nutrition. If you read this blog often, you’ve heard it all from me. After my bonk at Oceanside this year, I am more into being prepared and having what I know works with me, than being light. Duh…that only took 9 Ironmans to figure out. So I had 2×10 ounce bottles in my waist pack with Osmo in them and I had 2 packs of chews in what I call my Kangaroo pouch. At the aid stations I had been taking water at each one and drinking it or pouring it over my head.

Speaking of water. I need to talk about the WATER! North American Ironmans HAVE to adopt the Ironman Brasil water situation. Do you remember the cups of orange juice you used to get in Kindergarten with the foil lids? Well, thats what they handed out on the run but in water form. So it was a cup of water, with a foil lid. This was the most genius thing I’ve ever seen. No more losing half the water during the handoff. You could carry it and use it later, you could poke a little hole in the top and pour it over your head. It WAS GENIUS. Best EVER!

See the water in the cups on the right. This is a different brand, but it’s the same container.

Okay, so after my Osmo ran out, I tried some Pepsi. Boy, immediately it made me feel very up and down emotionally. So I knew I had to get into my special needs and get more Osmo. At mile 14 I finally hit special needs, and grabbed a spare bottle of Osmo and refilled my waist pack bottles.

So one thing that was really different for me during this Ironman was my sense of being alone. I knew there was zero chance of anyone out there knowing me, so I really just focused on taking care of me. It was truly an independent day and in some ways, I think that actually helped. Now I don’t get outside assistance from people, but just running by your family on the course is always such a huge boost. I was without that, and nobody around me spoke English. Even telling volunteers my number at the turn arounds, I quit doing that because I didn’t know how to say my number in Portugese. So it was a quiet day.

Now I’m on the short loops and it’s time to boogy. Crap. Where is my boogy? I’ve got no boogy. 8min miles was where it was at. Not a lot of urgency, just running strong. I passed Claire and we had a little conversation. IN ENGLISH, oh how that felt good! On the first shorty loop when I was going into the out and back I heard this huge booming voice screaming for me on the other side of the road. It was Troy headed out on his long loop. It was so good to hear his voice. And to be honest, I felt this huge sense of relief because I knew he would finish, and that he was safe and alive.

The Brazilians don’t really cheer for people they don’t know, and they don’t own cow bells. So it was oddly quiet out there and I hadn’t actually heard my name all day. But I knew from day 1 that this race was about tucking into my own head and getting it done.

At the end of long lap 1 we got the coolest arm band to mark our completion of the lap. I was so excited about that, and then at the end of shorty lap 1 we got another one. The excitment to get the arm band was unbearable. I looked forward to it for miles and wondered what color it would be. You could use the arm bands to tell what loop other people were on and it helped the course volunteers direct people.

Finishing my second shorty loop I was headed to the finish. I was feeling so great, so happy, and I just kept running. The finish didn’t come…kept running…still not there. I checked my watch and it read 3:31 at 26.2 miles. No finish in sight. It wasn’t until 26.6ish that I hit the chute and in a blink of an eye it was all over. The chute was way too short.

I did a jump at the line. I felt really really good. They didn’t catch my jump, and the race photos are so funny, prejump, and post jump, but no actual jump. First jump I’ve done that didn’t get caught. Oh well, the face on this photo is pretty classic.

I turned around and saw 9:51 on the clock and just started crying. I felt really alone, but really happy, and I felt a little foolish for being so emotional. There were all these people staring at me, and the announcer was talking to me, but I had no idea what he was saying (theme of the trip). There aren’t any finish line catchers in Brazil, you just sort of walk off like after a 70.3. They put a dry towel around my shoulder and I soaked it with tears.

I made my way into the post race food area, grabbed some pizza (they had a pizza oven in the finisher tent and they were hand making pizzas and they were AMAZING) and sat down at a table by myself. I just cried for awhile there, there were happy emotional tears. I felt really dumb, but I couldn’t stop. So many thoughts were swirling through my head. It was mostly a loop of “Did that really just happen?”

I must say, I want to thank Hillary Biscay. She was in the tent and she was the only person that talked to me, not that I expected anyone else to or anything. She asked me how I did and if it was my first time under 10. It was really nice of her. Ken Glah was in the tent too and he looked tired. He won his AG, and was about a minute ahead of me. Amazing.

After a few minutes I got out of there and made my way to the hospitality house that Ken Glah has on the race course for all the athletes and families of the athletes. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and went out to the course to wait for Troy to come through. Sure enough, he came running through with 1 shorty lap to go. I got to see him twice and he asked me how I did. I told him and he did this big fist pump as he ran away from me. One lap later I got to run through the finish line with Troy (they allow 2 guests down the chute with you) and that was so so so awesome. Except I had to ask him to slow down, that was a little embarrassing. He jumped up and touched the Timex sign, a 1 hour PR for him in his 3rd triathlon ever.

Run Time: 3:34:15

Overall Time: 9:50:49 says the results.

Final Placing: 1st in AG, 1st Amateur, 11th woman, 123th overall in the race.

Tomorrow, some thoughts and reflections….

Posted in Family, Race Report, Running, Travel, Triathlon, Uncategorized

2013 Ironman Brasil Pre Race

Posted on June 12, 2013 by goSonja| 6 Comments

Man, I have started this post so many times. I really want to blog about Ironman Brazil and I’ve struggled with writing a short blog, or a long blog, or 5 blogs, or what not. After going back and forth a million times, I just decided, heck…I’m verbose. Anyone who knows me, knows I can’t shut up. So, why should this be any different. I blog so that I can read back about my experiences after I forget about them, so I don’t want to leave anything out, because this one was too special.

So, Part 1 of what will be a 4, maybe 5 part series. IRONMAN BRASIL…everything you’ve ever wanted to know…and then some. Let’s get this party started!

Getting to Brazil is no small feat. Just preparing to get to Brazil is crazy. However, if you are going to go for it, I suggest Ken Glah’s Endurance Travel. It’s well worth the money and I will use his company again in the future. In fact, it’s made me more confident to travel internationally to Ironman, because I know Ken Glah will take care of me, and I can focus on the fun.

After leaving Annabelle in the capable hands of my mom, complete with power of attorney and a notarized will, we took a plane from Denver to Dallas and boarded a large half full plane to Sao Paulo. This flight was perfect, it left at 9pm, arrived a 7am and was about 9 hours of flight time. They fed us, turned down the lights and I slept on Troys shoulder for a solid 7+ hours.

Taking my toothbrush, contact case, blanky, and pillow made things easy peasy. Once in Sao Paulo we had to clear customs and recheck our bags to Florianopolis. Our bags were the last ones to show up, and we met Claire (who was american and spoke english) in the customs line. Finding the airline to recheck our bags was our first hurdle. There isn’t a lot of English spoken in the Sao Paulo airport. We would show our itinerary to someone and they would point us down the hall. We kept doing that until they pointed us back the other direction. Then we got in a line, they made us go to another line, then they made us go to a third line. Finally, we got in front of the right person. We literally needed help from 15 people to make that happen. They were good to go with the bike box (no fee) and bags and we were were left to wait out our 8 hour layover that was now down to 5.5 hours (yes, that’s how long it took).

At the advice of Jocelyn Cornman we used a double bike box on this trip, and let me say, it was awesome. My KE teammate Jordan Sher loaned us his and we only paid one $150 fee the whole trip (American leaving Denver). Our box weighed about 65 pounds with both bikes and all 4 wheels and it was SO easy to pull around the airports. Major bike box success.

The fight from Sao Paulo to Florianopolis was probably the most low budget airline I’ve ever been on. There was like 6 inches of leg room. Troy’s legs didn’t even remotely fit so he spent that flight pretty uncomfortable with his knees in his chest…which just happened to make the BEST pillow for me. I slept from take off to landing.

Suddenly here we are in beautiful Florianopolis! We got our bags, again, our bike box (the monster) was last off the plane and we almost missed the Endurance Travel folks because the door out of baggage claim got blocked when three nuns ran their bag cart into the wall and couldn’t get it unstuck. Literally, I couldn’t make this shit up.

Once united with Endurance Travel, just as they were about to leave us behind, and as a result, we got to ride in the front seat of the shuttle. That was a total highlight. We got a great view of the city during the 45 minute drive to the hotel which was mostly along the Ironman course.

Our hotel, Al Mare, was the cheapest that Ken Glah offered, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We like to keep things basic and we both let out a huge sigh when we walked into the room, it was basic, but clean and comfortable. The first night was full of barking dogs and we kept the windows open and the cool breeze flowing.

Our hotel had breakfast and dinner every night and that was a nice perk. To know that you only had to hunt down lunch everyday while getting in all your Ironman preparation was a good thing.

Thursday we loaded up and headed to the Ironman practice swim. They did a mass start which we did not participate in. The beach was amazing, white sand, so beautiful with little islands off in the distance we just had permagrin. We got in to swim and there was a buoy out there we wanted to swim to. I thought the buoy was a normal sized buoy but after 30 minutes of swimming and finally arriving at the thing, it was like 3 stories high! There are no sighting buoys in this IM course, just turn buoys.

The return trip was quicker, and we encountered a lot of small jellyfish along the way. At times it felt like you were swimming in a sea of corks, and you could grab handfuls of them. They didn’t sting, so it was more awkward than anything. Our swim to the FIRST (of 4) turn buoy and back took 50 minutes and hence I started worrying about the Ironman swim. Also there is a current dragging you left, and I was pretty worried about how to handle that.

After seeing the swim Troy and I decided to go on a course tour that Endurance Travel offered on Friday because we heard that Ken Glah leads them and we knew we would get good beta. I got a massage Friday before the bus tour and then we parked ourselves up front on the bus and asked lots of questions. Ken was great, answered every one of my (and others) questions and I totally understood the course after that. The good tips I got, which of course I will share are the following.

#1 – You can get messed up in the swim. You have to determine the current on race morning by watching the boats. It can change from day to day. If it’s right to left (common) you have to aim to the right of the turn buoy (1000M out). Start right, stay right, and aim right.

#2 – Brazilians know how to swim. There are fast swim times because of fast Brazilians, not necessarily because the course is fast. Also, they don’t really believe in the concept of the “Bucket List” so most people in the race are serious about Ironman racing, not a lot of one and done types.

#3 – Special needs is not so good for this race. Nobody hands you your bag, and you have to hunt for it. It’s also like 20+ miles into the loop so you aren’t getting it at 56, but more like 76ish. Ken said he always uses special needs, but not at this race.

#4 – Two of the hills on the run course you need to walk up, and down. There is no point to run up or down them, you are faster walking, and they will hurt bad if you run down them.

#5 – They write a massive amount of penalties at this race. Last year about 150 of them, and there are only 2000 people in the race, so almost 10% get a drafting penalty. Drafting penalty is 10 minutes served in a tent in T2.

So I felt like that race course tour was well worth the money. Later that night we went to the PreRace Pasta party. The food was really good and we did not understand anything that was said over the loudspeaker. They did have a fruit boat though. That was pretty awesome, no dessert, just an awesome fruit boat!

Poor Jody was still hoping that his luggage would arrive, and in the nick of time it did. He had the most crazy adventure getting here, but handled it so well, I’m really proud of him for that. We actually thought he might have to beg/borrow/buy every single thing to race. Whew!

Saturday was GAME ON day. We got up, I got another massage, and we got in our training for the day. A super scary bike ride where we passed not once, but twice, the Passion Motel! It was a pretty scary ride, Brazil is not so safe. We had a run off where Jody was barely breathing and I felt like I was panting and out of shape. I always feel that way during my Ironman taper.

After training we hit up an awesome Brazilian steakhouse and had a little adventure down in the downtown area. By now I was feeling pretty at home and we were excited that race day was soon to be here.

We were required to drop our bikes off between 6-7pm so we loaded the busses and went through that hullabaloo. They had a sweet bag to cover each and every athletes bike. This was an AWESOME perk (note to North American races). Troy and I were racked right smack next to each other and Jody was just a few feet down. They walked us through transition and when we walked in and said “Hi”, they immediately screamed “English” and there appeared a guy who spoke English to explain everything to us. Back home, and it was bed time.

Recently I have been sleeping really well before my races. I was hoping for a great nights sleep, but I found out that when both Troy AND I are racing, and we both have pre Ironman nerves…there is double the tossing and turning. Neither of us slept great, but at 5am we were on that bus with Jody, ready to go!

Transition was awesome. We hung together with Jody, got the bikes ready, visited the portapotty, and headed to the swim start. I ate a white bread sandwich with jam and salt and finished off a bottle of Osmo. I ripped THREE new holes in my Freak because my nails were too long. I smiled because ripping a hole in my wetsuit means I’m going to swim fast, and I just ripped THREE. We got in the corral together, and Troy and I held hands while I peed in my wetsuit. I hugged Jody, he slipped a bit in front of us and Troy and I stood there together totally freaking nervous. We were all the way right and we had NO IDEA what the announcer was saying.

The last memory I have before the gun went off was staring at the beautiful sunrise off to my right, and just soaking in the pure beauty of the situation. I also looked around and could not find a single solitary woman. I was a in sea of men.

Posted in Family, Ironman, Race Report, Travel, Triathlon

IronFamily Observations

Posted on April 12, 2013 by goSonja| 1 Comment

Ironman training is in FULL EFFECT. This is the 9th time I’ve been through this and each time I learn a little more. This installment has required entirely new levels of efficiency since Troy is training too. I take the days, and he takes the morning and nights. I generally get Saturday, he generally gets Sunday. I train 2.5 hours to his every 1, he eats 2.5 calories, to my every 1.

So, a few observations this go around:

1.) We need huge amounts of training fuel. 18 bars will last about 5 days, and energy drink needs to be purchased in $100-$200 lots. We totally go through it. Chomps, blasts, gummies, etc… we need lots of different kinds so I’m pretty much buying these ANY time I see them. A LOT of them.

2.) Freezer Meal Parties. Thank you Michelle Ford for becoming a Wildtree rep and letting me crash most of her parties. At one point I had 37 frozen meals in the freezer (and I fit it all in the freezer side of our refrigerator). We are down to 8 meals left, and there are 6 weeks to go. I will need to crash more parties STAT. These have been the biggest lifesaver because most of them are done in the crock pot so we just put one in each day and there is food ready when we need it. Hot food. There is something about training that makes you want HOT food that smells good. Between these meals and our weekly door to door organics box we barely have to go to the store (usually only at 9pm for cookies and ice cream).

3.) Leftovers. I will admit that the biggest fight Troy and I have gotten into during this double Ironman situation is over leftovers. I thought it would be about who trains when, OH NO, that’s been fine. But if I come home from training and I’m hoping to eat the leftover fajitas and Troy has eaten them, and I’m starving…huge blowup! So we had to sit down and have a heartfelt conversation about leftovers. He was under the assumption that if it’s in the fridge it needs to all be eaten ASAP. I had to tell him that leaving me lunch is a sign of love. Now we are on the same page. He eats the leftovers, but always saves me some so I don’t lose it.

4.) Uncle! Sometimes we just have to call uncle. Troy and I have both experienced this. When it was just me training my training was priority and now that there are two of us, sometimes we can’t get everything we both need done. Sometimes, we have to bag it. I think this is what keeps triathlon marriages together. Both people need to be priority and sometimes training has to get ditched. In the long run, it all works out. It helps that Troys training schedule is rather loose, so he moves and shakes depending on his mojo. But I have lost my motivator. He used to really shove me out the door when I was stalling, and now he’s like “Maybe you should nap and I’ll go train.”

5.) Feelings! Troy totally knows how I’m feeling. He’s feeling the same way. I thought this would be a problem, but actually, this time around when I talk about being tired or just wanting to go to bed, I don’t feel bad anymore, because he is like “I totally agree.” His empathy for me and my empathy for him have really gone up and that’s been good for our marriage. I have felt less bad this go around than any other. We are both happy to be able to go to Brazil and being in it together just makes me smile.

6.) Sharing successes. This has been another awesome perk. We share our training successes so much more with each other. He had a breakthrough in the pool the other day and called me the minute he got out. I finished a big session and went straight to him for kudos. Also, we have really contributed to each others athletic success so much more than ever. Now we are in the pool with each other pushing one another, and it’s all for the same goal. The other day he wasn’t getting on his bike when he should have been and I told him “I don’t want to come back at midnight to pick you up, you better get on your bike.” We literally sat there and laughed for 5 minutes over that one.

7.) Laundry. Barely happens, and forget folding.

8.) Annie. Her life has really been minimally impacted in a negative way. She’s in swim school two nights a week and has lots of homework, so sometimes she’s busier than we are. This morning, Troy was traveling for business, and I meet with my trainer at the gym (Jen) at 7am. So I got up at 5 and packed everything up and then woke up Annie and she came and lifted with me. Jen gave her all these exercises and she had so much fun. Annie also gets lots of extra time in the swimming pool because most of Troy and I’s workouts are longer than her swim school, so she plays afterwards (just like she’s doing as I write this). So Annie doesn’t really see or notice any changes. I’m really happy with the lack of impact to her.

All in all, things are going really great. I am so darn happy this year. I’m having so so so so so much more fun. I’m enjoying my training to the n-th degree and I feel so much more well adjusted this year. Sure I still have my freak outs, but all in all this year is a 180 from last. I think a big part of that is having Troy in it with me. I’m so glad we are an Ironman family and that we teach our daughter daily to chase her dreams, to work hard, to have fun, and to be healthy.

Posted in Family, Ironman

All grown up

Posted on July 24, 2012 by goSonja| 5 Comments

I made her take this picture. It was right after she said to me “Just think, you are never going to see this face again.”

Sounds harsh, but she was right. Her front two teeth have been wiggly for sometime and then all of the sudden one of them got really loose. After she said that to me, I started crying. It had been a long day and I just wasn’t ready for my baby girl, my only baby to take that next step. So I made her pretend that tooth wasn’t about to come out and to let me take one last photo.

She’s a little doll. Especially recently, just so much fun to hang out with. Such a nut too. Here she is with the evil snaggle-tooth. It reminds me of that weird movie with the nanny and the tooth that sticks out. What one was that again? I kept tell Annie “Don’t lose it, I’m not ready” and she would say “Ohhh mom.” Am I that mom now? The one begging for time to stop.

She wiggled and wiggled and spent about 2 hours in the bathroom in front of the mirror admiring her snaggle-tooth. She pulled on it but it wouldn’t come out. At one point she got it all turned around and the sharp part was digging back into her gums and then it got stuck that way. She started screaming “Ouch” and I ran into the bathroom, got a piece of tissue and pulled it out. It was barely hanging on. She looked at me and said “That didn’t even hurt.” It’s true that the forethought of pain is usually worse than the actual pain. Not just with teeth, but in life.

And then I cried, and I cried, and I cried. I just can’t handle the fact that now a big tooth is going to grow in and she’s not going to look like a little girl anymore. Michelle has been preparing me for this and Troy tells me I’m silly, but I just can’t get over it. This tooth has made me want to have another baby more than I have wanted to in the last 6 years. I just lament the fact that I only get to go through this all once. Time please slow down. I beg you.

But it won’t. I’m screwed there.

While the munchkin is rip roaring around summer camp, I’m keeping myself busy with Kona training. I am challenging myself more, I am loving my training and I am doing lots of fun things, especially on “Friday Funday.” This past week PIC, J&J and I went to Glen Havn. Actually, half the J went to Estes and missed the cinnamon rolls, but us ladies are all about sweets and rewards, so we weren’t about to miss them.

We had one of those remarkable days where there was a tailwind going uphill and a headwind coming down. MY FAVORITE! If you are going to have wind, that’s the wind to have. And the cinnamon rolls did not disappoint. We had a good day and the fitness is coming along nicely. I’m so glad to have PIC back on the bike and I’m going to miss J&J when they go back to Pittsburgh, but they said I can come visit. I’ll have to take them up on that.

On the way back to Boulder jacked up on a sugar high I decided that a mid ride swim made a lot of sense. It was amazing to take a dip in the little lake on the Big Thompson river. I would do it again, hands down. Especially since the temps here in Colorado have been blistering. It’s been perfect Kona training, now if those temps can just last through October…I doubt that!!

This last weekend we said goodbye to the trusty VW. We beat that car to smithereens. Like bad! I’m pretty sure they are going to have to total it. We traded it in for a new one, something I’ve wanted for a long time, a Honda Element. This bad boy can fit both Troy and I’s bikes upright inside it without taking any wheels off, and can still fit Annie in the back seat. It’s awesome and I feel so lucky to be driving it around now. I’m going for 300,000 miles on it! that’s the goal….275,000 to go! I heard this guy on NPR, he hit 3,000,000 miles on his car recently. Insane!

Have a great week, I know mine will be. The end of the work week PIC, J&J and I are going on an epic adventure, and then this next weekend Troy has his first ever triathlon! The HITS “half ironman” in Sterling Colorado. It’s supposed to be like 100, I hope he doesn’t melt. I can’t wait, I’m so excited for him!!!

Posted in Cycling, Family

More On Hunger

Posted on July 19, 2012 by goSonja| 3 Comments

Last night I had dinner with one of my athletes, you might recognize her, she’s a breath of FRESH AIR. Ms.Ali as we call her, was the first woman to ever win the Biggest Loser. She’s this awesome mixture of smiles and strength, kindness and determination. She’s just rad, and it’s so much fun to be a part of her journey. It’s a win-win for both she and I.

After dinner Troy and I were talking about that fighting spirit. What is it in someone that makes a winner? Ali told us that when she was 4 weeks into the BL she made the decision to win. That decision was firm and she poured every ounce of herself into it. She said, when I decide to win, I win. I LOVED this. It’s speaks strongly to her ability to commit fully. How is it that some people have this innate ability and others don’t seem to, or don’t use it?

It goes beyond hope, beyond “setting realistic goals”. There’s just something in some people that allow them to throw caution to the wind, and get downright crazy about their goals. I respect that. It gives me goose bumps. Ali gives me goose bumps.

———–

I visited with the Kompetitive Edge guys this evening and we had some great conversations. I can’t say enough awesome things about this shop. They support me so well, but the truth is they support everyone that walks through their doors. They listen, they advise, they nurture…and when nothing can be done about your problems, they set you up with wonderful gear and services to get you back on the road training to be your best. (PS have you seen the Oakley women’s running line…KE carries it and I have every piece they put out, it’s the best running gear I’ve ever worn…hands down)

We have an insanely talented team. We are mostly Denver locals and yet, the podium positions just keep racking up. Grant and Kendra just won the overall amateur titles at Vineman. Katy won the top amateur swimmer and was 5th overall woman at CDA (including PROs) in her 2nd IM. These women are my teammates, but they are also the ladies I have watched come up and then pass me in the sport. They are both better than I am right now.

I was telling the guys at KE that I hope I’m still of value, now that we have faster, stronger women. It was a bit awkward to say it like that. The guys assured me that I’m still loved. I say that sarcastically, because these guys are just so supportive, but I know in my heart that others have passed me on their way up.

As I drove home I felt a bit like an underdog, but I also felt a little more fire in my belly than I have these past months. Do I want to be the girl who watches everyone get better, while I tread water? Or do I want to get busy? It’s the later. The pilot light has been lit deep down.

Dreams really do come true…but it takes a lot more than kissing a frog.

I have been spending some training time this week with Jocelyn and Jeremy. They are awesome. I really love the both of them. We have been having fun riding our bikes all over the place, some epic fun indeed. It’s been cool to show them Colorado. Unfortunately PIC is totally out of commission right now with a few lingering IM issues, so that’s the one thing I miss. Crime is not as fun without a partner!

I have deemed Friday as “Friday Funday” it’s my new thing. On Fridays I have fun. For now that means I go ride my bike somewhere cool. Mt Evans this week, hopefully Aspen next week. Wherever my heart is, that’s where I’m headed on Fridays. Last Friday it was Loveland Pass with J&J.

I figure with the amount I train, keeping one day set aside for fun day is a good call. Especially with the weather being so awesome right now, I’ve just got to get to some of these amazing places!

And, lastly, I can’t help but posting this one. Today PIC and I hit another milestone in our relationship, she got to witness my child projectile vomiting hot dog all over the back of my car. Just when you think parenting is getting a little easier….

Thank goodness for good friends and for being able to call in a “CODE RED” to Troy who biked home from work like he was in the TdF.

(PS dopers suck)

(PPS but sometimes they are still hawt…)

(sorry…bad tangent)

Without further rambling….sock hop Annie

Have a good week everyone. Challenge yourself, dream big, and go for it! There is no time like the present!

Posted in Family, Triathlon

10 years

Posted on July 11, 2012 by goSonja| 3 Comments

Last week Troy and I celebrated the 10 year mark of being married. 10 years! It’s gone by so fast. When I look at the photos I feel like we were so young, but I feel like the same girl that was in those photos. I guess I talk a bit nicer to myself nowadays, and I am a stronger woman, and thus able to be a better partner. I think the years have been kind to our marriage. Sure we have our gripes, but 95% of the time we are happy come home to each other after our days work.

He still looks at me like that every day. And also…I was plumper… hey..it happens.

In the last 10 years we really have been busy making this:

And we have done well. She is a doll and the best work we have done together has been to raise her and show her the world. So many wonderful years to come with this as well.

We decided the new anniversary tradition would be a timed mile in the pool together. Coach Nick counted our laps for us. I am so impressed with Troy, over the last 6 months he has basically caught up to me in swimming. What took me 5.5 years, has taken him 6 months. I get a little sore about this every once in awhile, but alas, I will just have to swim harder. You can see below I swam a 23:31 and he swam a 23:44. dang! Boy did he swim it “wrong” though. I can’t imagine how fast he’s going to be when he learns to pace. I wonder what our 11th anniversary will be…

After the TT in the pool we realized that with all the fire bans there would be no firework shows. It was the first year since our wedding day that we didn’t watch fireworks on the 4th. Therefore I headed out for a late long ride. I don’t know how I’ve never made it up Loveland Pass from Idaho Springs, what a mistake on my part. It’s my new favorite ride and I can’t wait to get back up there. Here are some photos, it’s just gorgeous, and with 4,500 feet of uninterrupted climbing in 47K, it’s no slouch!

I think you can do the entire descent…30ish miles, without pedaling…but you would have to have mad skills to do it. I pedaled…like 30 times…if that!

Well, Troy, we made it 10 years. What can I say that hasn’t been said? We work, we found that other person in the world that makes life fun and rewarding. We are in for the long haul and I’m really lucky to be your wife.

Happy Anniversary!

Posted in Cycling, Family

He’s Doing Ironman Too

Posted on May 26, 2012 by goSonja| 13 Comments

I get this email and it says “Congratulations, you have signed up for Ironman Wisconsin” and I think to myself…No I haven’t…

Then I scan down the email.

Troy Wieck has signed up for Ironman Wisconsin.

And I am shocked. The man has never done a triathlon.

Oh dear. We are now one of those couples. The kind where both do Ironman, competing for weekend space, and long ride time. The kind that shares race wheels and buys each other tri gear for Christmas.

I got a little flushed. After all, I like having my husband to pick me up off the pavement when I’m exhausted, and he’s heavy, I’m not sure if I can reciprocate!

But, I also think that triathlon is the fountain of youth, and why would I not be excited that my husband wants to dip his toes in it. It’s a sport focused on being healthy and we all want that for our spouses.

If you know Troy at all, you know that he has never done a triathlon. He did a duathlon once…and he did a 1/2 marathon once. Yet, if you know Troy you also know that he is probably going to do pretty well at the Ironman. He’s just like that. He’s always stayed relatively fit, and he looks more like a triathlete than I ever will. In fact when we go to Ironmans everyone always thinks it’s him that is competing, not me.

Well, after getting asked 4 billion times how many Ironmans he’s done, he can now say “I’m training for one”.

And good on him.

One small problem. No bike (just an old crappy road bike), No wetsuit, no tri gear, nada. It’s been an expensive last few months!

Troy is 6 foot 4 inches and he has a 36 inch inseam, but a shorter torso. We didn’t want to mess around with something that sorta fit but not really so we just went ahead and ordered a custom Guru frame that was built to his measurements. It took 6 weeks, but now we know that it fits him perfectly and we don’t have to make any compromises. It’s beautiful too.

Scott Geffre with Fit and Tri did all the measurements and helped with the Guru specs before they built it, and Ryan at Kompetitive Edge did all the color design and build up of it. Troy went from crap to tippy top of the line and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So here we go on another wild adventure together. I LIVE for the day that I get to hop into the water at Kona right next to him. Dream big and if you want it…go for it!!

Posted in Family, Ironman, Triathlon

2012 NOLA 67.3

Posted on April 24, 2012 by goSonja| 20 Comments

DUDE!!!! I don’t even know how I’m going to blog about this weekend. I think it was the most fun I have ever had at a race weekend. NOLA is freaking awesome, so much fun fun fun fun, I can’t even explain it. So many amazing stars aligned this weekend and it was more than just the ~~swimming~~ biking and running.

Mama Willis (my maiden name) came with Michelle and I on this trip, we shall call her mama PIC. We also enveloped M into the fold, she’s officially PIC 3 or Trouble 3 or my favorite…Dr.PIC.

I’ll admit, I got a long pep talk from the Dirkinator before the race and it rocked so hard core. I got off the phone feeling like a beast and I felt so ready to put it all out there. Also, since I chopped off my hair, my alter ego has come out. It’s mostly a Justin Bieber, 16 year old, teenager sort of attitude. I’m not sure Michelle is so fond of it, especially after a tweet from Mac that said “It looks like Michelle is dating a rapper” (best tweet ever).

I was really not taking things very seriously before this race, which is good for me, it’s definitely not my norm. Ususally I am sorta Type A planner, organizer Sonja, but this trip I was 16 year old, hat on backwards, whatevsssss, Sonja. The awesome part was that because my mom was there, there was no fallout from my lack of organization. I feel like I can be a kid when my mom is around, she is seriously the most nurturing woman you will every meet.

Friday morning and we woke up and ~~put our bikes together~~ caught a cab to get beignets. They were everything I always hoped them to be. Sugary, fried, dense, totally wonderful. I think I had 4, maybe 5 of them.

We visited the French Market after that and picked up souvineers for the kiddos. PIC and I also found shirts that we had to buy immediately. This PIC thing has really gotten out of hand. WAY out of hand. But that sort of thing is allowed in NOLA, believe me here! Everything is way out of hand, and I love it!

Packet pick up, race meeting (swim canceled and replaced with a 2 mile run), bikes put together, nap nap nap, eat eat eat, bikes dropped off at transition. It was so windy things were blowing around like crazy. This was one of my favorite transitions due to this awesome and photogenic lighthouse in the middle of it. It was a good marker to run to.

We were settling into bed and getting those last minute things taken care of when PIC realized that her heart rate strap didn’t seem to make it into her bag. Crapitty Crap Crap. I could tell she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone because heading out at 9pm to procure a heart rate strap in one of the most dangerous cities in America was not her idea of a fun time. No worries!! We all hopped in the car and went on a heart rate monitor hunt in our jammies. Luckily we were successful!

Race morning was cold, and windy, and cold, and I had to poo. We got that taken care of and then I was in a great mood. Michelle and I ran the 2 mile run course as our warm up and I think we were the only ones. I’m glad we did recognizance on it, it was good to see it. It was quite windy on one section and I’m glad I wasn’t surprised.

The really cool thing about the DU format was actually seeing all the Pros take off together in one group running. You never see that, and it was really cool. Hard to explain but it got me super hyped up. I got to see the PRO men come in and go out on the bike, and the women as well. I tried to cheer for every one that I knew. I saw Michelle go out on the run and she was right with Dr.PIC. With the AGers they were letting us off two at a time in a time trial format. So you started with a buddy.

When I got in line for my turn I found Hailey. I knew going into this race that Hailey and Libby would be the ladies to watch. Libby is coached by Dirk and is insanely strong. Hailey beat me in Kona by several minutes. See, the 30-34 women have this special bond. Twitter/blogging has really helped it, but we have this really cool thing going on. We are fierce competitors on the race course, but afterwards we follow each others blogs, we train with each other when we are in each others towns, and we have deep respect for each other. That’s why it was extra extra special when Sarah P. won the PRO race at NOLA, because she’s one of us, she raced 30-34 last year and we are really supportive of the ladies that were 30-34 and are now PRO. Might I mention we are so so glad they turned pro…

With the TT start Hailey and I just slipped in the front. We were the first two to go off in the AG, and we went off together. It was a bad idea on our part. We should have gone last, but we ended up racing off the front the whole day and then wondering if anyone snuck in there.

How do you run 2 miles before you know you have to bike 52 (course shortened due to storm debris) and run another 13? I don’t know, you just run your ass off. There’s no great way to put it other than…RUN!!!

Hailey and I came into T1 about :20 seconds apart. I was leaving as she was entering. I got on the bike and took off. Hailey caught me 10-15 minutes in and I just consider her a stronger rider than me. When she went by, a switch flipped in me. Usually I am very into “race your race” “don’t let others dictate your pace” “etc etc etc” but a switch flipped and I thought about the fact that this was a duathalon, and that none of it really mattered and I could take some risks. So I went with Hailey. I sat about 5-10 bike lengths back, and when I say “sat” what I mans is…”I biked so insanely hard I thought I was doing an olympic distance race”. But I figured, why not!? Go for broke. Hailey had me against the ropes for the better part of an hour before I got comfortable in the pain. The good thing was that my legs were 100% ready to go, and while they hurt, they also didn’t want to let up either.

If Hailey lost her focus and I saw my heart rate go down, I would pass her, and try to set a harder tempo until she passed me back with an even harder tempo where I would have to fight to hang on. Also, having never ridden like this I was concerned with the drafting. I wanted to make sure I was riding 100% legal because I usually spend most races continually passing people, not sitting behind. I was actually really stoked to be passed 4 times by course marshals and each time they had nothing to say about my position. I was like “Sweet, you are doing this right”.

Hailey set a hard tempo all the way back to T2, and we came into T2 together. Like literally we ran across the timing mat side by side. I could feel both of our competitive juices flowing. We had the fastest female T1+T2 of the day…pros included. We were racing!

Out on the run, we ran shoulder to shoulder for some time. The course was challenging with some causeway type hills, several on each loop. There were two turn arounds per loop and one roundy-round…you know, like in Europe. The “hot corner” was essentially the “hot circle”. I found a way to somehow slowly drift in front of Hailey, she was fierce, and tough, and it was such a highlight to race her neck and neck.

I made my way through the first lap getting passed by all sorts of PRO women, and age group men. I tried to go with all of them. I heard the announcer saying that Sarah P was winning and then I saw her race by on the other side of the road with the 1st place female lead biker. I was so jazzed and inspired! I saw Beth Shutt out there too, she looked so strong and solid, I was happy to see her in her element. My mom was all over the course and it was so great to have her there cheering, and cowbelling. The second loop I started looking for Michelle at the out and backs. I saw her once and she wasn’t too far ahead, but she wasn’t coming back to me very quickly either. She ended up running 2 minutes slower than her open 1/2 marathon PR that she set 3 weeks ago. PICs running is soooo BACK!

In the final mile I saw her in front of me and I picked it up. I wanted to run in with her. But with every step I realized I wasn’t catching her. I tried harder and harder to pick it up. My legs were beat, I tried to pump my arms faster and faster, and I made a small gain on her. As we were probably 100 feet before the finish shoot, I meekly yelled “Ford” and SHE PICKED IT UP. I was hoping for some mercy! I picked it up as hard as I could and coming into the chute we were side by side. I asked if she wanted to hold hands, and she said yea, and that’s how we crossed. What are the odds??? Time trial start, and yet we found each other in the finish chute. I will add that she was 3rd in her AG by 2 seconds…I’m going to go ahead and take credit for that one (just kidding Ford, that was all you honey).

I was really happy with my race. I didn’t know the result. I didn’t know if someone starting behind me had gone faster, but without knowing any of that I was happy. I RACED in the truest sense of the word. I took chances and I gained confidence and I surprised myself with those risks. I have more work to do, it’s April, but I learned that I can go a harder and still survive. I was really happy. I also had a lot of fun. Sure it hurt super bad, but it was really fun too!

Syd, PIC, Dr.PIC, me, Hailey

Mark, Brandon, PIC1, PIC2 = KE CREW!

My racing yielded an Age Group win and also and overall Amateur win. That was icing on the cake really. Or powdered sugar on the beignet! Mmmmm beignets! Oh, and my Kompetitive Edge teammate Mark Hillers, he won the amateur mens title. KE was in full force!

run: 13:29, bike: 2:18, run: 1:33, overall 4:07

Womens 30-34 podium, and the only girls that posed with their arms around each other. Mad respect for each of these ladies, Jocelyn, Libby, and Hailey.

That night we went out and CELEBRATED! We had a twitter/Womens 30-34 REUNION with lots of friends that involved food, drinks, jazz, Gelato, and awesome conversation with great people. I think there were like 13 of us, and we ate like champions! It was such a treat to celebrate Sarah Ps win that evening, so happy for her! After ice cream it was time for Bourbon street. Oh my lanta. There are no words. What happens in NOLA stays in NOLA, but here are a few photos….a la Hangover style!

Dr.PIC, SarahP, Hailey, Stephanie

gelato!!!

Hand Grenade!!

First off thank you MOM! Not every mom will hold your drink while you….what happens in NOLA stays in NOLA….

Thank you to my sponsors Kompetitive Edge, Punk Rock Racing, First Endurance, Quintana Roo, who are all probably a bit disappointed with some of those last photos!! Also, thank you Troy and Annie for being you… love you both!

Posted in 1/2 Marathon, Cycling, Duathlon, Family, Quintana Roo, Running, Travel, Triathlon

2012 Galveston 70.3

Posted on April 3, 2012 by goSonja| 11 Comments

I can officially say that the cobwebs have been cleared from the system. Galveston 70.3 was epic indeed. I traveled to this race with my athlete Audra, who is a complete hoot.

I got to meet her hubby Clint, who took the best care of us over the race weekend. His entire family came out to see us race and it was like having my own family on course cheering me on. Thank you to the Adair family for the support and for adopting me for the weekend!

The pre race rituals went very smoothly for the first race of the year. No real hiccups and before I knew it I was standing on the pier with a slew of other light blue capped women of the 30-34 years like myself. As we waited I could feel a little bit of tension and like peoples eyes were on me. It was the Freak. This wetsuit got a lot of exposure. It’s really fast, and it costs a lot of money, and I was wearing it. Suddenly I felt like it caused a bit too much attention, I felt like I was on show. I tried to puff up my chest a little, act like I had big shoulders, do the thing some justice. As you can imagine I was more than ready when they let us in the water. I “warmed up” for the 4 minutes that they gave us, and then got on the front line, ready to find fast feet.

Off went the cannon and a group of 4 of us went off the front. I wasn’t struggling to stay with them as much as usual. I thought to myself, this wetsuit is FAST. I got on the first ladies feet and usually I’m kinda gasping and talking nice to myself to stay on feet. But I wasn’t. I was actually hitting her feet and her calves, and really just generally being a nasty foot tapper, not on purpose. I kept thinking…this wetsuit is FAST. At the first turn buoy I decided the pace was too slow. I figured I would try to pass and if the pace was indeed fast I wouldn’t be able to do so, and would just get back on the feet.

Nope, I went past her and swam away, then I’m thinking…dang this wetsuit is really FAST! I am leading my AG in the swim for the first time in my life. Nobody was on my feet, I was off the front, and feeling fast. I veered right a few times too many. I’m not the best straight swimmer, but I made it to the finish happy, and feeling like I must have swam a 30 or something.

The results were particularly alarming when Troy told me later. I was 1st out of the water, but I swam a 32:10, and would have been 9th in the 35-39AG. I didn’t swim fast, more just an average swim time for me. We just didn’t seem to have any of those studly swimmers in the age group there to pull us (me) all along. Total buzz kill after the race, but during the race, I was like “yea…I led out of the water….boooyaaa…my Freak is so fast”.

Oy…

Onto the bike I saw HR numbers that had me wondering if I would survive 5 miles much less 56. Luckily I have my trusty “Perceived Exertion” scale in my pocket at all times and calmed down and told myself I wold not die. The way out had a headwind, but I wasn’t super sure what to make of it. I tried to ride as steady as I could. A few miles in Brooke passed me. She was 6th at Kona and biked a 5:12 there and she flys on the bike. Away she went. She had an additional 4 minutes on me at the turn around.

Somewhere around 45 minutes into the bike I saw a big slew of cars and cops and whatnot coming the other direction. And then, just like that, this black blur with a Livestrong disc wheel went by on the other side of the road. Lance. I wish I could say that I didn’t get goosebumps, and that I didn’t tell the girl next to me “That was Lance” like I was 11 and seeing New Kids on the Block in concert….but I would be lying. Apparently the Lance effect works on people who are not even super interested in “The Lance”. Then I felt bad for the second place guy because there were like 30 cars following Lance and I wondered what that guy would do if he wanted to try to pass Lance (gasp). Then I actually saw the 2nd place guy and he was riding right behind one of those said cars…and I realized…eh….smart guy. Drafting a car is far superior to drafting off Lance…don’t you think? Less TV coverage though…

When we made the turn, that was cool. Flying at 24 mph, finally I could get that cadence going, and was hoping I could make up some lost time. I rode hard. the heart rate came down like 2 beats…2 beats further away from death was how I was thinking about it. But all in all, my perceived exertion was about like I am used to…maybe a bit harder. The course is a simple out and back, and I honestly really dug it. There was this huge section where we were riding on this bridge sort of thingy, it was at water level almost, but it had water on both sides of it. That was seriously awesome.

Also, another crazy thing I want to note since I talked to a few people about it. I did not see a single marshall, or a single drafting pack. Not one. I’m not sure why because this course is totally flat, but I can’t think of a single incident of drafting that I witnessed (aside from the dude drafting the Lance groupies). Strange…but nice..

Somewhere on the way back Ashley Johnson passed me. She was looking strong and I kept her in sight. Towards the end of the bike I was able to get back up to her and repass her in the final mile of the bike. Turns out…Ashley and I would have a nice long chat after the race, and I would find out that she is also under Dirkinator tutelage. Didn’t know that out there…wish I had…would have tried to team it up (legally)!

T2…uneventful…lickity split.

Off running and I felt okay….well sorta, except my heart was near internal combustion, but hey, I’m a diesel, right?

I thought I had a solid chance at running a considerable amount of sub 7 minute miles. Maybe on a straighter course, or one that lacked evil headwinds. But it wasn’t to be. I got 4 or 5 sub 7s but the rest hovered in that “Not good enough Sonja, pick it up” range. I will admit thought, I was completely lost 95% of the time on this course, and for someone who’s nickname is the Navigatress, that’s a tough feat. They wound us around and around and around, and they made us run up this random tarmac where Lance’s private jet was sitting there waiting to whisk him away after Jordan Jones pulled out the finishing kick of stardom and nipped him for 6th.

The run was hot, there were 2×180 degree turns on each loop. It took me 2 loops to figure out where the exit to the finish line was, and on loop 2 I was starting to get nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find the magical exit to the labyrinth. In fact, Ashley missed it entirely heading out for loop #4…her final run split is…well….a little long!

As far as how my age group race was going down, Brooke was long gone, never to be seen, schooled all of us like we were wee toddlers. Then Ashley was in front of me until mile 12 when she had a “kaboom” that lead to the aforementioned 4th loop…so I got back in front of her. Then not 5 seconds later, Adrienne Shields zoomed on by and I was back in 3rd for the AG. What a day, what a crazy crazy day. As Clint’s mom would say “Oh my heart”.

Oh, I didn’t tell you about the heat. Well, I’m sure if you read any other blogs about the race, it will be a prominent fixture. It was hot, real real hot, everything is bigger…and HOTTER in texas. Some sections actually had a breeze (headwind) and other sections were very muggy stale humid evil hot. I noticed on the tarmac that we had evil headwind, and then after the 180…evil hotness. I was expecting happy tailwind…but you never feel those, do you? “The wind at your back” is a silly phrase.

The three loop course made the aid stations crazy town. But I have been yelled at on this blog before for being an elitist when moaning about not being able to get aid because I was running through the stations and lots of people were walking. So I will not moan, and I will just mention that I wasn’t able to (because of my inability to stop at an aid station) grab any aid the last 3 aid stations. So I was a hot mess when I finished and I counted that I drank 8 water bottles of water in a row. I poured another 6 or so over my body. I was actually starting to get quite scared for my predicament, I had trouble walking, talking, or standing up. Again, not moaning, my fault, don’t hate me please.

So that was my day. It was a wonderful day. I loved nearly every part of it, and I just can’t say how much I love this sport. It’s fun, I had fun, it’s an adventure, every race, every course, every time I push my limits. A huge thanks to the women of 30-34 who push me so hard, and send me home wounded, blistered, sunburned, and inspired.

As the years roll by and I meet different people, I have to say that a few stuck out on this trip.

Audra Adair – the woman has her own blog, but if I had to get taken down by 58 seconds by any one of my own athletes, Audra would be the one I would choose, and thank goodness, because she did indeed take me down by 58 seconds. She had a great day, a 15 min PR, a slot to Vegas…but those are her stories to tell. Thanks for kicking your coach’s booty…no more speed work for you!

Mary Eggers - I’ve been wanting to meet the Eggers for so long and I actually got to! First time on race morning and then a pat on the ass as we crossed paths racing. If you haven’t heard, Mary Eggers challenged Lance Armstrong to a 50 kick off to raise $$ for Teens Living with Cancer, and he accepted. You can donate here.

Christine Kenney – Christine ran me down at Ironman Cozumel and I must say, I was waiting for her to run me down again. I saw her out there a few times on some of the out and back sections and we would always make eye contact and wave at each other. This further warmed my already warm heart. We may be racing against each other, but it doesn’t mean we don’t support each other out there. I look forward to being afraid of Christine running me down again in the future!

David Adame and Brandon too – Congratulations to David on his first 70.3!! It was very magical to see Brandon out there with his guide, but for him to know that his dad was racing out there with him too must have been awesome! Relentless Foreword Motion!!!

Ashley Johnson – Such a sweetheart, I can’t wait to race more with her and I’m so stoked she got that Vegas slot. Especially after the 3 IVs it took to bring her back!

The Adair Family – Mr. Clint, you have a wonderful family, and Audra, you are one lucky gal. Thanks for feeding me, housing me, and making me feel at home.

None of these races would be even half as sweet without the Kompetitive Edge boys, my Quintana Roo bike, First Endurance in my belly, and Punk Rock Racing. Thank you for the support.

And, to the love of my life, thank you for letting me live my dreams every darn day.

Oh, and one last thing. My Rev3 family is running across America right now. I thought about them so so much this weekend and I just want to post their fundraising page here. They are amazing, so proud to know them. Please donate if you can.

Posted in 1/2 Marathon, Cycling, Family, First Endurance, Ironman, Quintana Roo, Race Report, Running, Swimming, Travel, Triathlon

Nostalgia

Posted on January 31, 2012 by goSonja| 14 Comments

I have nothing prophetic to say. Not one thing. I was just looking through some old pictures this evening, and watching video footage that I took of Annie when she was little.

Every parent thinks their child is sooooo cute, and I guess I’m no exception.

I can’t believe the little girl that my baby is growing into. Have any of you been reading this blog since she was this little?

We had some difficult years in the beginning. I thought for sure I was going to have my hands full with this little one…can you tell by that last picture?!!

But I don’t. Instead I have this beautiful little girl, inside and out, who repeats with me every morning before she goes to school “I am smart, I am kind.” A child who doesn’t want to give her tooth to the tooth fairy because she wants to keep it (PIC thinks this is very odd). Annie is Annie. She’s an only child true and through, an empathetic little girl who loves to go on adventures, loves to travel, and is so extremely easy going.

I’m so lucky. In so many ways.

Posted in Family

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