Category Archives: Living Simply

Le Poudre

Posted on September 25, 2011 by goSonja| 2 Comments

Yesterday was one of the best all around days I’ve had in a long time. PIC Michelle and I went on a riding adventure. We headed out with Troy and Annie for SAG support and aimed for the Poudre River. It was so neat to go from point to point on a 4 hour ride. It was hot and we were overdressed so Annie was super busy handing out new bottles. The final 20 miles of our ride were downright nasty with multiple 12% grade climbs. We were in the middle of nowhere, it was super rad.

Annie trying to tell PIC where to go, and about to miss a bottle toss

It’s a great time to be in Colorado, warm temps this week in the 80s and yet the leaves are changing on the trees. I’m always amazed at all the great roads we have to ride around here and Buckhorn Canyon did not disappoint!

When PIC and I made it to the Poudre River we were pretty jazzed. We did our run off the bike down the canyon with the wide green/blue river rumbling over the rocks to our left. We even had to skirt through a tunnel dug out of the rock. It was an adventure.

The best thing about riding to a river is the post race ice bath. Never have I had an ice bath is such a serene, calm, blissful location. After the initial shock (and it was shocking) my legs numbed up and we just sat in the river…happy…contented.

It’s not the first time I’ve dragged Michelle into freezing cold water all in the name of icing our legs. I secretly have an obsession with really cold water. I love it!

At the end of this ride, I looked at Michelle and I said “We’re ready.” I think we are. As long as we continue to do the right things these next two weeks I think Chuckie has really guided us to putting the right work in. There is still the whole matter of execution, and it matters, a lot. However, I think I will have that pretty ironed out by the time race day rolls around.

After grub and dropping off Annie at grandparents house, and dropping PIC off at here car, I had a great surprise planned for Troy.

I had purchased (on the sly) tickets to TEDxBoulder. Sadly I can’t actually remember the last time Troy and I had a date night, but I knew he would love this since he watches TED videos all the time. Do you know abut TED?? If not, you have to watch some. After intermission he leaned over and whispered in my ear “this is the best gift I’ve ever been given” and my heart melted just a little bit.

I walked out of Mackey Auditorium 4 hours later inspired, uplifted, challenged, and excited. The speakers were amazing, stunning, and thought provoking. It was awesome, and we will go every year, hands down. It was great to see a spark in Troys blue eyes, to see a genuine smile on his face. Such a great night!

Now, go watch some TED and tell me what you think!

Posted in Family, Giving, health, Living Simply, Mental Training, Triathlon

My Top 10 Tricks for Crunch Time

Posted on August 12, 2011 by goSonja| 18 Comments

If you train for Ironman distance races (or maybe for your first half Ironman) there seems to be a tipping point in the training where if you don’t have your act together, things start to fall apart! A friend told me a couple weeks ago “Where I think you are strong is your ability to buckle down and execute when you need to.”

Ahh, if only she knew! It’s not necesarily my abilty to buckle down, but more my ability to plan and clear the schedule so that when training load turns upwards, I have space, and I have a plan. For me, this is all about: Stockpiling, and Planning.

Today I will share my top ten tricks for surviving crunch time. These aren’t year-round habits, although you may keep a few of them around. These are part of my master preparedness plan for success.

#10: Put your schedule on the fridge. Chuckie taught me this one. It seems like a little thing, but when you are in crunch time it’s surprising how easily you can forget the details of your workout. Stop checking training Peaks 100 times, just print that bad boy out and pin it up to the fridge. Chuckie sends us our work in email, sometimes PIC and I’s are combined, I print that too, so I know what she is doing and therefore what we can get together for. Chuckie often puts in tidbits of inspiration, so I like to have that visible too.

#9: Stockpile the inevitable. My mom used to say, always buy the biggest package of toilet paper, you’ll eventually go through it. Well run shoes, tire tubes, goggles, water bottles, gels, etc. These are all things we go through as an athlete. Buy 2 or 4 of everything and create your own tri shop in your closet. I have 4 pairs of goggles just waiting for me to wear out my current pair.

#8: Make laundry easy. I tend to send the laundry straight to the washer. You are doing more loads than the rest of the family so forget about the laundry basket, go straight to the washer, when it’s full, do the load. Embrace nudity between the laundry room and your bedroom, you’ve worked hard on your body!! Also, I did away with folding and putting away things. It’s all about bins. Run shorts bin, cycle shorts bin, sock bin, etc etc. It’s just going to end up right back in the washer, why waste the time to fold and put away? Sort and be done with it.

#7: Adopt he Food Purse. You may think it’s a purse, but hidden within are snacks/nutrition that I take with me everywhere I go. It doubles for a purse carrying my phone, camera, and wallet too. I always have a tupperware full of EFS and one with Ultragen in it as well. This thing is always full. For the ladies check out Sachi, for the dudes, maybe an Igloo or something will work for you?

#6: Get organics delivered to your door. I use Door to Door Organics and I am in love with their service. Just today they sent me a “local box” full of organic veggies that were locally sourced.

When fresh veggies are delivered to our door every week we eat them. Sometimes its all that is in our fridge. If you are in Colorado, the Kansas City area, Michigan,or the Chicago area check out their service. I find that food shopping is one of the first things to go out the door when training kicks up. Usually it gets replaced with eating out, and eating out means you tap your tri budget, you overeat, and you have no control over oil, fat, and sneaky cooking methods. When I get the box off the porch, I immediately pull everything out and cut it up for storage. The leafy greens all go in a HUGE tupperware in the fridge. If you eat your greens (which you should) you need a huge tupperware. They stay fresh this way.

#5: Stock the freezer: It’s amazing what $250 at Costco can do to your freezer. Before crunch time I do one big shop for protein that will last 8-10 weeks. I alert Troy that this is “training food” and needs to last and he helps me dole it out sparingly. I also get organic frozen berries for smoothies. Now, a stocked freezer, Door to Door organics, and a slightly stocked up pantry, and honestly, we don’t have to go to the store but once a week if that. This is just in crunch time mind you. Think of how free you would feel if you only had to visit the grocery store for a few little things once a week?

#4: Consistent charging center: We have iphones, ipods, garmins, heart rate straps, bike computers, cameras. Before I figured this out I was always forgetting a heart rate strap, or a garmin, or my garmin wasn’t charged. Now I plug it all into a power strip and it all gets put there every night. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to be functional, this is for crunch time…you can forget to charge your garmin in the off season.

#3: Make a list of success. Since I train in Boulder several days a week, I am always packing a bag for 2-3 workouts. I have one swim bag, and one bike/run bag. Chuckie suggested that we have a “Boulder bag” but that didn’t work for me since I was always stealing stuff from the bag. So I have a “Boulder list”. I go through it every time I pack for Boulder and don’t even think about it any more. It’s all on the list, and if I have it all, I will have a successful training day (next to the Boulder list is my travel race list). The list sits in my closet, so I pull everything from my bins and throw it in my bags.

#2: A plan a day keeps failure away. Every night before I go to bed I write out the next day in calendar form. This scrap of paper lives on the kitchen counter for all to see. I keep a separate scrap for “chores” that need doing. The beauty of the scrap is you can lay out the perfect day, and then when you wake up you just have to hit play. Last night Annie showed signs of a cold so Troy and I wrote up two plans, one for if she was sick and couldn’t go to camp, and another for if she was well. That way sickness wouldn’t get in the way of success. When we woke up, she was sick, I threw away one plan, and we launched into the other one.

#1: The answer is probably “no.” This one is the most important. If you are making all these preparations to simply life while the crunch is on, then the icing on the cake is learning the word “no.”  It’s time to chase your goals, it’s not time to be superwoman or superman, it’s time to get really good at one thing…training. When you have extra time use it to chill or prep food. Relax on the couch with feet up. Replace “let’s go to lunch” with “why don’t you bring me a healthy picnic lunch at the end of my run.” If your friends aren’t willing to do that, then….

But honestly, making the time to relax and not adding too much into my life is what has allowed me to train at a higher level. It’s my “not so fancy” way of eliminating stress (good stress, bad stress, any stress that isn’t training stress).

I hope you have pulled a few nuggets of wisdom out of this post, maybe you have some of your own tactics that you want to share? Feel free to post them in the comments. Happy training!!!

 

Posted in Living Simply, Triathlon

I’m Intense

Posted on December 5, 2010 by goSonja| 10 Comments

I just am. I’m intense. When I do something, I go all in. I push all my chips forward and say “double down”. It’s not that I’m risky. I’m just intense.

So, in 2010 I unleashed my intensity on a rather daunting race schedule: 100 miler (because I wanted to) and 3 Ironmans. And when I qualified for Kona I focused (all) my intensity on training to do well there.


Nothing more intense than red Jellyfish! Annie, Mom and I viewed these at the San Francisco Academy of Sciences, can’t really tell that they are jellys, can you?.

After IMAZ I got really sick. I had warded off several colds towards the end of 2010 with Zicam, and Chuckie tea. So when I got sick after IMAZ I just let myself get sick. I said “Body, go to town, just get as sick as you want and I won’t even try to mask your symptoms, I will just let you do what you want for once”.

So I focused (intensely) my efforts into the couch. I didn’t really leave the couch. There were a few days I didn’t leave my parents house. Sometimes I went from couch, to hot tub, to bath tub, and back to couch. I was focused in my lack of activity. Thank goodness for grandparents to entertain Annie. Although we did get in lots of mommy/daughter snuggle time.


More cool jellys from the Academy of Sciences

By the time 10 days of that rolled around I was healed up and ready to delve into “the next thing”. Where could I heave my intensity into next? I totally knew what it would be.

FOOD! I love food. I love good food. By the end of last season I was getting very basic in the food department. Troy was doing a lot of dinner duty, and I was doing a lot of Whole Foods salad bar duty. I was craving good food. Being that it is the offseason, I am taking this opportunity to explore some aspects of FOOD that intrigue me. For once I’m not going to need to worry that my daily eating will impact my training adversely. I can explore for once.


Holiday Mixed Grain Pilaf with Red Chard from Rich Rolls cookbook Jai Seed

You may be thinking cookies, and baking here, but it’s quite the opposite. I love healthy, fresh, good, clean food. I’ve been intrigued by athletes like Rich Roll, and Scott Jurek who are bad asses and are vegan (even though I eat meat regularly). I’m intrigued by the term macrobiotic, and I don’t even really know what that means.


Deep Dish Greens with Millet Crust from Terry Walters book Clean Start

So, I’m taking the Type A, intense, individual that I am, and I doing some dabbling into food. So what if I don’t get “adequate protien” for a few days, so what if I don’t get all my B12 in. I’m learning the way I like to learn, which is “hands on”. I ask questions, I seek answers.

Seek first to understand.
-Stephen Covey

I really love learning new things. I like to broaden my horizons. I don’t like to make long term changes unless I am convinced that they are the right path, but I sure like to dabble, to learn, to get my hands dirty. I don’t pretend to know anything, I just endeavor to learn, to ask questions, that’s all.


Lemon Coconut Breakfast Bars from Julliemorris.net

So, this week I went plant based. It’s fun to monitor how I feel without trying to process the training stress along with it. It’s a bit easier to eat something and see if it’s enough, or not enough, makes me feel good, or not good when I’m not logging 22+ hours of swimbikerun. It’s a fun outlet, I’m learning things…like what “complete protein” means.

wikipedia: a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the dietary needs of humans or other animals. Some incomplete protein sources may contain all essential amino acids, but a complete protein contains them in correct proportions for supporting biological functions in the human body.


Vegan Mashed potatoes, again from Jai Seed

The offseason is about lots of things, detraining being one of them. But I would hope that I can use my off-seasons to set myself up for good on-seasons without contributing to burn out. Food is a good start I think. Learning some new healthy recipes, learning more about nutrition, feeding my body some absolutely marvelous vegetables, those are all good things right now.

Oh, and lastly, I just signed up for Door to Door Organics and received my first box of veggies (delivered to my doorstep). Oh my goodness. I had signed up with them about 4 years ago for several months, and wow was I surprised at the quality of veggies this go around. They have really stepped up their game, and I was super duper jazzed to get my box on Friday. If you are interested (and live in Colorado) and want a referral email that is good for 50% off your first box, let me know. I’m not affiliated with them, it’s just something they let you do once you sign up.

Happy offseason, Happy eating, Happy learning!

Posted in Cooking, Family, health, Living Simply

Sacrifice

Posted on September 23, 2010 by goSonja| 14 Comments

As my training for Kona is winding down, I’m having more and more time to think about the experience thus far. I saw Chrissie Wellington out training yesterday. She was coming down the hill I was about to head up and she gave us a shaka. She was bundled up all warm, just like me, and it suddenly hit me. She and I, we are both training for the biggest race of our lives. She and I will be floating up to the same starting line, looking at the same coral, biking the same road, and running identical stretches of molten hot Kona asphalt. She and I are dressed warm to prepare our bodies for the heat, and she and I both have 16 days to go.

Last year representing Team USA and traveling to Australia to compete in the Olympic Distance World Championships was really awesome, and Clearwater 70.3 World Championships was a spectacular experience for me as well. But this, this has blown that out of the water. Kona really is the big dance of triathlon, and just the experience of training for it in Boulder, amongst lots of professionals who are headed to the same event as their numero uno race of the year has taken on a whole new level of coolness for me. I know Kona comes around once a year, as does every other race, but this year I feel like I am “involved” and “included” in what really is triathlon’s biggest TO DO. It’s the race that defines our sport, and year after year, it’s the race that shows us the depth of the human condition, of man and womans ability to excel and also their ability to simply continue moving forward. And this year, I am a part of that, and I feel so lucky.

Last night Troy and I were talking about the concept of sacrifice and you know, I think the best athletes don’t really have this word in their vocabulary.

sac·ri·fice? ?
[sak-ruh-fahys] noun, verb

the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.

Troy said something very Yoda (as he often does). He said that with everything in his life whether it’s work, family, or personal he tries to not make sacrifices, instead he makes lifestyle changes. To sacrifice something means it’s gone, you are doing away with it, in order to chase something else. I asked him if he thinks things like “Let’s just get through Kona, and then….”. His answer was “no”. He said that he takes every week and tries to get through it in a way that is repeatable.

And I really do agree. It makes me sad to think that Kona will come and go and that it may mean that I don’t get to train like a pro on Wednesdays anymore. I love my Wednesdays, I love the level of work and fun that I put into the sport and the training right now. I’m not “getting through” every day, I’m loving every day, and wishing that every week could be like these last weeks have been.

It’s become my lifestyle and I don’t see the changes that have been made as sacrifices. It’s just been a shift. Like going from a 2 car family to a 1 car family. It’s not like we sacrificed a car. We just decided to do away with it, so life would be better. And that’s “better” in our little view of life, not meant to judge others in any way. Everyone has to find their own “better”.

Troy brought up the example of taking actuary exams (about the same amount of study time is spent studying for an actuary exam as is spent training for Kona, 20-30hrs/wk). He said he knows a couple who sacrificed their communication with each other for the exam studying. She took care of exerything and he studied. And the problem was, after the test was over, the communication was still gone. If you sacrifice important things in the short term for long term success, you might not be able to get those things back…ever.

So, I guess my point here is that being successful at triathlon, or test taking, or whatever, I’ve learned that it’s important to create a life, and to sacrifice nothing that you may want back later. The way I see it, do not put things on the back burner that you aren’t willing to burn. Find a way to have everything you want in your life on the front burners.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
-Pre

As Pre said, don’t sacrifice your gifts in life. Don’t put aside the relationships and financial security that you have built. Create a life that looks how you would like it to and put aside the word “sacrifice”.

Just some thoughts. 16 more days!

Posted in Family, health, Ironman, Living Simply, Mental Training, Triathlon

33 Day NO SUGAR Challenge

Posted on May 11, 2009 by goSonja| 9 Comments

My friend Laurie over at “The Making of a Trophy Wife” blogged today about quitting sugar. I personally struggle with sugar and with indulgences, especially during training lulls, or stressful emotional times. When I am training extremely hard I tend to loose my appetite and don’t tend to indulge but when the volume decreases or the intensity is toned down I find myself hitting up sugar based desserts in the afternoon and evenings.

So, here it goes. Other than during training gels and bloks, no SUGAR…33 days.

I’m looking forward to the more even insulin levels, to the decrease in mood swings, and to the extra pep in my body. Not to mention the decrease in headaches that have started to become a little too common. How about you? Interested in joining me? You can do anything for 33 days right? Or…are you addicted too?

Here is a great blog about a lady who quit sugar for an entire year and blogged the entire way through called My Year Without Sugar.

Need another reason to join Laurie and I? How about here.

Posted in health, Living Simply

Beyond The Epic Run

Posted on April 11, 2009 by goSonja| 2 Comments

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Last Thursday I attended a pre-screening of the soon to hit theaters “Beyond the Epic Run”. Annie had come down with the sickies, so Troy agreed to stay home with her while I went. I was calling all my friends last minute to get some company and was ecstatic when my good friend Laura agreed to ditch her hubby and her kiddo to come watch the movie with me. Totally last minute, what are good friends for?

We arrived about 15 minutes before the start of the film and were treated amazingly well by Jennings PR and Advertising. We were taken to meet Serge who completed the running in the film, and Oh my, he was quite the character. I asked him what advise he would give to anyone wanting to incorporate more adventure into their lives, he said that “You Just have to be willing to pay the price for your dream. I was willing to die for mine”. Serge didn’t die, and neither did his wife Nicole who followed him around the world for 25,000 miles on a motorcycle with all their gear.

Laura and I with Serge
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After meeting Serge we ran into Simon from www.runcolo.com. I absolutely love his blog and read it religiously. He also has a super cool race forum, and his site is generally really top-notch, you should check it out. We hadn’t met in person, but we kinda know a lot about each other because we stalk each others blogs, so it was great to sit with him and chat for awhile before the movie started.

The movie was a bit late to start, and I forgot to get some popcorn, but other than that it was a pretty awesome night. The filming for the movie was done by Nicole and so it’s a bit home movieish, with a few fun shots. The editor did a good job of piecing together the clips into a story. What was caught on film that was a learning experience for me was the contrast of the different people around the world. All the shots of the couple with the children of the world were awesome. Serge, although he is an awesome and amazing athlete took care of himself a lot better than some of the other Epic running films I have seen recently. Despite a diet of pasta, coke, and his pipe, he seemed to barely fluctuate in weight, kept a very toned physique, and seemed to maintain a level of balance that I have yet to see in such Epic Adventure films. It was refreshing. Less suffering, and more travel. Less about the miles every day, and more about the total miles covered.

At one point Nicole said, “this movie is about a fast runner and a very slow motorcyclist”. I loved that. The feat Nicole completed was no small task and rather than it being a film about a supported runner, it was very much a film about a couple that traveled the world, one on foot, one on motorcycle. They both supported each other. They both got Malaria (still battle with) and they both ended up hospitalized at one point. But, they would put the motorcycle in storage, heal up, and push on. It took them 5 years to cover 25,000 miles. What an epic journey.

The audience asked Serge (pronounced “Surge”) if he still runs? He said “Just about 3 times a week for good health and good attitude, I have other things I want to do with my life”. He is an alpine guide in the Swiss Alps, and they own a Breakfast Cafe. He was also asked about his mileage during the trip and he mentioned never running over 40 in one day, and taking the 7th day to rest and let his body recuperate. He had a sustainable attitude about the whole thing. This film was all in all quite refreshing, and reminded me that I too can chase my dreams…I just have to be willing to pay the price.

Posted in Living Simply, Running, Travel, ultramarathon

100 Thing Challenge…errr 500??

Posted on April 6, 2009 by goSonja| 8 Comments

Have you heard of the 100 Thing Challenge? I was reading around on one of my new favorite blogs: ZenHabits, and was clicking on tons of different posts and somewhere in there I clicked over to a different blog called guynameddave and the 100 thing Challenge.

The general concept…can you limit your personal items to 100 things? The blog post author came up with his own set of rules…he’s married and so certain things he designated as community items. I read several of the posts out loud to Troy and he was ready to go. I barely finished reading and he was in his closet tossing out all sorts of things. He’s minimalist at heart.

I LOVE the idea, and then I got into my closet and the idea got a lot harder. Spring is here and it’s time for spring cleaning, and also time to reassess all the stuff I have accumulated in the last year. But…..I just procurred two new bikes.

So, here I am throwing things outside of the closet and all along I’m asking Troy “Can I count 2 bikes, helmet, bike shoes, bike tools, aerobars, bike pumps, CO2 cartridges, and spare tubs ALL as one thing?” He just laughed.

I have so many hobbies. I do triathlon, which is like 6 hobbies all in one: running, swimming, biking, ultra running, winter running, weight lifting. Then there is the skiing, the camping, the hiking, the rock climbing. I have a set of AT ski gear, two pairs of mountaineering boots, 3 pairs of gaiters, and 4 ice tools (ice ax for climbers). “TROY, can all these count as one item?”

Don’t forget the crafts…I sew, I crochet, I knit, I’ve dabbled in needlepoint and hemstitcing. From that comes copious amounts of yarn, fabric, batting, stuffing, thread, notions, and patterns. “Ahh, Troy, we have a problem”.

Books? Ekk. DVDs, and CDs, rah-roh.

BUT, thank goodness we are a low tech family. We don’t even have a TV. HAH!! I have not one, but TWO iPods, THREE if you count the iPhone. I’ve got 2 digital cameras, a broken GPS, and a SPOT transmitter, and an iMac, complete with a printer and all that comes with that. Oh yea, and Troy and I both have Nintendo Gameboys. Ooh, and don’t forget the portable DVD player. Yea, we are soooo low tech.

Man, I really want to do this 100 Thing Challenge. I just need to come up with the right rules so that I can keep all the stuff I want to keep. Well, I figured I had to start and maybe it would all just come together.

So, I started spewing stuff out of my closet. 4 hours later…

Our spare room is FULL of stuff that I am done with!

Suddenly, our house looks VERY clean (minus the spare room). My closet? Immaculate!

Did I get down to 100 things? Um no, did I get down to 500 things? Maybe. 1000? Definitely. I still have to do my final itemized list.

However, if you are looking for clothes, or craft supplies, or some electronics, It’s time to come over for tea. You can visit the spare room and go yard sale-ing…for free. In fact, need something? There is so much stuff I wanted to get rid of, but would rather give it to a good home, rather than just Goodwill it. So, if you’re in need, let me know!

Did Troy hit 100 things? With a few rules (clothes counts as 1, books count as 1, and collections count as 1), he hit it easy. Stinker.

Does this sound crazy to you? Could you do it? Would it make you feel relieved? Sad? Broke? Rich?

Posted in Family, Giving, Living Simply

Core Concepts Sale

Posted on February 12, 2009 by goSonja| 4 Comments

It just so happens that the same day I received my most recent Core Concepts order, they issued a fancy email with a 40% off sale on base layers. the coupon code for their online store is: BASE0209

I ordered the Firefly Long Sleeve in blue and it’s super cute.
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I have been drooling over the Full Tilt Zip Neck for some time, so I ordered myself up one in Plum. I love love love the off center zippered neck. It’s cute zipped up or down. The fit is really similar to the Cadence Hoodie.
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Lastly, I thought their Bamboo shirts were super adorable, so I grabbed the one with the fancy little bike on it.
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Interested in some Core layers for yourself? 40% off is pretty sweet, the online store is here, the coupon code is: BASE0209

Posted in Camping, climbing, Core Concepts, Hiking, Living Simply, Running, Snowshoeing, Travel

Brenna Claire

Posted on February 9, 2009 by goSonja| 2 Comments

Saturday night troy was up in Breck partying so Annie and I headed to dinner with friends Hillary, Ben, little Tana, and “the grandmas”. Hillary’s due date was the day before and we were trying to get her relaxed enough to bring on labor. We all had a margarita in her honor and laughed and talked while enjoying great food at Tahona. Hil is a rock star, you see, she is no ordinary mom. She had decided to have her second baby at home. She’s one of those women who doesn’t make things harder than they need to be. She’s the type of friend that someone like me needs, she keeps me balanced.

I had a snowshoe race on Sunday, and Hil knew that because I had a race, and because I wanted to help in any way I could with the birth, that of COURSE, the baby would decide to come on Sunday. Sure enough Tyler, Paul and I had just rolled into Beaver Creek when I get the text that “Hil is in labor”. It’s 9am. Race is at 11. I call Hil and ask “Want me to turn around and come over right away”. Her response “No, go win your race and then get over here”.

I was so excited. I used my energy to score another dash for cash win. When I started the actual 10K, I felt really crappy. Like “Oh yea, maybe I feel crappy because I got my wings ripped off yesterday”. My quads had no go in them, they lost their MoJo. I kept thinking about Hil, and that she was working hard, so I should be too. At about the 3 mile mark I got into my groove and steadily passed people the rest of the race. All I could think about was the fact that this little baby was coming into the world soon.

After the race I checked my phone and saw “Healthy Baby Girl”.

Yes, little miss Brenna Claire was born at 10:40am, 9 pounds 8 oz, at home, in her mommy and daddys bed, in the most peaceful and relaxing way a child can enter this world.

I grabbed my stuff, I grabbed m $100 check, I grabbed my dad and Troy, and we took off. I wanted to see that baby ASAP. And sure enough. Here she is:

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So yes, there are race results, and there are pleanty of things I could write about the race, about the day, but really none of it matters much. This little girl is here now, and that, my friends is what happened yesterday.

Miss Hil, you rock the house. I am so in awe of you and what you did yesterday. Love you!

Posted in Family, Living Simply

Don’t Owe Nothin’

Posted on December 15, 2008 by goSonja| 9 Comments

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Wild times here at the Wieck house! So, the big news here is that we are DEBT free. We worked our tails off these last months in order to make it by the end of the year, and after counting every nickel, dime and quarter in the house, along with some serious pantry consumption, we don’t owe anyone, anything! Now we can continue to give back to all of you with a clean conscious! How may I be of service? Need someone to look at your running form, or to acompany you to a swim workout?? You found your girl!!

Triathlon, Skiing, Snowshoeing, Running, Ultras…they are expensive, especially when you are have some great success with them. I could break any households budget just attending “National Championships” in the sports I frequent. Troy and I knew that in order for me to continue to live my dreams in this sport we had to be debt free. We had to learn to budget, we had to be frugal with all other aspects of our lives. 2008 was the year we set out to learn how to do just that. The frugal living will continue for life, but because of that I will have the luxury of chasing my dreams outdoors, training and racing with you all, and (my favorite) staying home with Annie!

Being that it’s NEGATIVE degrees out today, and in celebration of our debt free-ness, here are my top 5 ways to stay warm for CHEEP! Don’t turn up the thermostat, heat the person, not the room:

Number 5 – Take a Bath: Better yet, take a bath with someone you love. I always hop in Annie’s bath when the water is filling the tub for a quick warm-up.

Number 4 – Do the Dishes: By hand! At least do the big pots and pans. You have no idea how warm you get by putting your hands in warm water for 10 minutes.

Number 3 – Wheat Bags: I spoke of these earlier in my blog. Take some wheat berries from Whole Foods (bulk section) or rice and make a heavy pillow with them using an old piece of clothing. Put it in the microwave 3-5 minutes at a time. Put it in your bed a couple minutes before you crawl in or stash it in your lap while hanging out. If you need more detailed instructions email me.

Number 2 – Sit Ups: Okay, this is an age-old mountaineering trick. It’s the “cheep mountaineers sleeping bag heater”. When you are laying awake and cold in your tent at 16,000 feet, you do sit ups. Try them at home when you are cold, 20-30 should suffice and the side effects are quite desirable.

Number 1 – Dancing: Yup, when you get desperate, close the blinds, turn up the tunes, and dance like it’s your freshman year of college. Dance with a kid, dance with your “other”, dance with your dog, doesn’t matter, just shake it like a Polaroid picture!

Posted in Family, Living Simply