Life with the Browns

So, Sun Valley, Idaho... huh?

2012-01-29T22:26:00.000-08:00

Last year Becky won a 'Heli Assist Ski Touring Adventure' (HASTA - I made up the last 'A' but it's gotta be close because it was an adventure!) in a silent auction for CAIC (Colorado Avalanche Information Center) .

She invited me and Tucker and away we went. We left town on Friday afternoon and returned tonight, Sunday. One day of backcountry and one day in resort.

We originally had a 6:45am pick up at the hotel on Saturday morning and got a call Friday night that they would be there at 7:30 (score!) so we met our guide, Marc, in the parking lot of our hotel at 7:30 on Saturday morning and made our way to the Sun Valley Gun Club - where the heli pad is. Our first (and only) heli ride was at 9am. We spent the time in between weighing in and checking avalanche beacons,etc. Then we were off! (Tucker took video and I took no still shots on the actual heli ride but it was beautiful!) We ended up in near Goat Peak. The heli dropped us off - and we took in the views (wow!)

Then we started on our adventure..... we skinned up
and skied down
And did it again, and again and again!

We told the guide about 2k-3k vertical feet in climbing and (according to my altimeter) we did 2966 vertical feet of climbing so perfectly accomodated our request! We also had 6500 vertical feet down (I appreciate that heli lift in the morning more and more as I write this)

Sunday - we skied in resort at Sun Valley resort. It was a perfect, bluebird day and we were tired from the day before so we enjoyed the (VERY steep) terrain and the views and went back to the hotel about 2:15pm to get ready for our flight home while leaving Russ and Becky to ski another day and come home tomorrow night! (lucky them!)

Here are some shots from the resort -

The key to purchasing a wedding dress...

2012-01-12T09:59:00.001-08:00

Is whether or not you can ski in it!

And how it looks when you are not skiing in it.... (check out the tri-top tan!)

Join us on February 14th, 2012 as we ski, renew our vows, celebrate our 5th anniversary and win the 'best dressed' contest at Loveland Ski Area's "Marry Me and Ski for Free"
http://www.skiloveland.com/events/wedding.aspx

Here are some of the dresses I tried on (and did NOT buy any of!!!)

(.... I had fun shopping!)

The (usually) annual cabin trip

2012-01-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

So, since the fall of 2001 (I think....) we have made a trip with friends to a cabin (not a 'hut') and this trip is VERY different than the others. We don't hike in... we may or may not put on skis... we usually do get out on snowshoes or hike around in hiking boots. This year, the snowpack is BAD (see the xmas hut trip blog) so we chose to hike around Michigan Lakes in State Forest State Park.

We almost always hike to the closest yurt... and this time was no exception but I did struggle with the timer function on my new camera that Tucker bought me for Christmas :)

All in all, a great time and I was sad to return home on Sunday afternoon.

Logged Day 20

2012-01-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

20 ski days this season...

It's a good way to start the new year, but we could really use some more snow!

At least i didn't leave Tucker at Keystone....

2012-01-01T12:59:00.001-08:00

I was going to leave earlier.... :)

Sunny day at Keystone!

2012-01-01T11:26:00.001-08:00

The snow is not worth mentioning but the weather and views are good today!

Skiing was Great today!

2011-12-31T14:22:00.000-08:00

We woke up to some wind and 26 degrees.

Before we left the condo deciding a few runs at Keystone was going to do the trick, the temp had dropped to 17, and kept heading south for the time we were out.

Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow showers. Areas of blowing snow. Very windy. West winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts in excess of 80 mph above timberline. Temperatures falling into the 5 to 15 degree range by 5 PM.

Frostbite warnings for us, we both had a couple white spots that we took care of fast enough. 2 runs, one warming stop, and back to the condo.

Hourly Forecast	6AM	12 Noon	6PM	12 Midnight
Temp. \| Dew Point	21 \| 12	20 \| 3	10 \| 3	7 \| -2
Wind	24 mph WSW	19 mph West	18 mph West	11 mph West
Humidity	64%	54%	70%	61%
Chance of Precip.	0%	70%	70%	10%
Cloud Cover	64%	51%	55%	13%
Conditions	Chance of Snow	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear
Sunrise & Sunset	7:24 AM 4:49 PM

Source: National Digital Forecast Database View Detailed Hourly Forecast

Calming for the evening:
Mostly clear. Very windy. Lows 2 below to 9 above zero. West winds 25 to 35 mph. Gusts up to 60 mph decreasing to 45 mph after midnight.

So Karyn and I headed for the Gym. She got her swim workout, and I went to the weight room. Just love that Copper Mountain req center.

Finally time for the red raspberry pie cookoff

2011-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

We've been listening to Barb and Dad heckle each other for years about how good their red raspberry pies are. So we finally got a chance to have a cook off!

We showed up last night at Russ, Becky and David's place in Dillon for the event. Russ' friend Brian showed with his chips in tote and BPR in hand...

Russ filled in the blanks with Swiss Chard, Spinach and Gruyere Gratin. Here he is hard at work in the kitchen.

Time for the Pie! The competition was for standard red raspberry pie. Both options came with French Vanilla ice cream to top. Both were full crust top pies both fresh from the oven that afternoon.

Karyn kicked in a third option but did not compete for the top spot. She offered up Avocado cheesecake with Walnut and red raspberry sauce.
The damage was done. Dad's pie, nothing but scraps.
Barb's pie, nothing but shrapnel.

It was a great feast! Thanks everyone for contributing and especially to the competitors in the cook off!

The Twin's First ski day!

2011-12-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

Sperry and Laura decided to take the twins out skiing.

I picked up some video, but didn't collect any from others for this clip.

Enjoy

Christmas dinner.... with the Smiths!

2011-12-26T07:05:00.001-08:00

Since the snow at the hut was so poor we decided to go home and crash Christmas dinner at the Smith's house!

The Browns and Smiths have been sharing Christmas dinner together since Tucker was in Junior High (20-ish years ago). They were neighbors in Michigan and now have moved to Boulder. I had my first Brown/Smith Christmas dinner in 2000 (in Michigan!). So.... 12 Christmases later we have managed Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner together for 11 of those!
In true Smith style the neighbors were invited and everyone welcome.

Tucker and Catherine plated the turkey.

Catherine made gravy in Bill Brown's absence.

And, as traditions go, we went home with 2 new xmas ornaments for our tree!

Photo Card

2011-12-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! If you haven't gotten the card... this is it!

Have a great holiday season!

Sparkling Snowflakes Christmas

Turn your favorite pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Xmas Hut 2011

2011-12-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

As most of you know (maybe?)... we go to a backcountry hut every year for Christmas. We have been doing this for several years now.

This year we went to Fowler Hilliard Hut - which burned down in 2009 so this is one of the newest in the 10th Mountain Hut system.
It was VERY cold but a fun trip in! There hasn't been much snow though so we came out a day early (12/25). Tucker couldn't get his sled into the hut due to lack of snow so he turned around about 2 miles into the hike in to return home to get a backpack, :(

To our surprise he put his Jeep to work and met us about 1.25miles up the trail from where he had left us! I had my 'hut buddy'!!

He left the Jeep on the trail where he met us

and skied in the rest of the way with us (plenty of snow up high). We had great meals

and laughs and a puzzle......

There were great views.....
We took some pictures and left the hut early on Christmas morning...

Pheasant hunt 2011

2011-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

Finally got some video editing working on my PC.

It has been cold...

2011-12-10T10:42:00.001-08:00

Handsome is trying to get warm on the floor register... it was 8 degrees outside.

Riding's not over!!!

2011-11-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhh

As traffic was building on I-70, Karyn and I had some different plans... We stayed around the house to catch up on some missed summer activity time.

The temps hit 60 at noon, so we hopped on our bikes.

You know with the solstice less than a month away, we've got to get home early. I tied this up in 2 hours.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

Yep, this started out with a quick ride home from the mountains, somewhere in the middle we bottled some home brew.

In the end, thanks Levi and Sarah, we ended up at the Browns for the turkey dinner.

Uneventful, but we did fry turkey. Perhaps one event was that this was the best cooked fried Turkey I've made. Hope everyone enjoyed!

Jeanie got all the pix, as you can imagine my hands were full with the turkey...

La Fondue?

2011-11-24T17:39:00.000-08:00

Monday Sacha and Jen showed up, visiting on a family trip.

I'm not sure how they got things sorted out to grab a hotel in Keystone for the few days they were here, but that didn't stop us from making some turns!

Wednesday after Karyn got off work we headed up to meet Jen who was managing the family.

Sacha, Karyn and I got a few runs from 4:00-5:30 before she got free to hang with us.

I'd say we took one more run, but we didn't... This run consisted of Gondola rides and some Fondue. A small surprise for Jen, but she loved it!

We had a short spell sitting in the stopped gondola on the ride up, but was recovered with free hot drink coupons. They told us we couldn't get 'hot apple pies' with the coupon... Somebody should have tried.

With this delay and the second bottle of wine, we didn't make it back to the front side for the ski down, but no one cared much.

Basin the old fashion way!

2011-11-14T17:37:00.001-08:00

Skiing at the Basin.

The storm rolled in while we were driving over, they didn't claim any snow yesterday morning, but you could tell the conditions had improved with the fresh snow. We showed up at noon after driving from Vail.

High winds had taken out the power. This was old school. The lifts were open running on Diesel, and they had 3 options for lunch.
Brats
Hot Dogs
Cold Sandwiches

The lady at the cash register was using one of those old school credit card slides. Chunk chunk...

I said, "it's a good thing we still have this old equipment around for times like this..."

She said "I've never seen one of these before today."

The bar was still open... CO2 still works when the power is out!!!
Karen and Tony joined us. Alex too, but the pic didn't.

This past weekend or Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Halloween was 'celebrated' once on Saturday night for a dress up party -

Saturday and Sunday mornings we got in our first ski runs of the season (well, mine... tucker went the previous weekend as well but thought that 2 weeks out of foot surgery would be pushing it and I, instead, waited for it to be THREE weeks out from foot surgery). The skiing went well but crowded.

We celebrated on Monday night for our 'anniversary' - before an actual signed document that meant we were 'married' (yes common law marriage doesn't lend itself well to anniversaries...) we had to pick a date. We chose Oct 31st. It was the first date that I remember thinking Tucker might actually like me - of course, I was on a date with another guy but that is a whole other story ;)

We walked up to our favorite neighborhood restaurant... had dinner and walked home. Good enough for us. We do tend to be low key, after all.

Bike trailer trip 2 to Irvine

2011-11-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

The trailer is working much better after the redesign.

In this pic the trailer is loaded with ~45 lbs of gear.

San Rafael Swell

2011-10-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth started talking to us about riding in the San Rafael Swell in Moab this spring.

Well we did some checking, and set up the trip for this fall. Turns out there really ended up being only three of us, and Karyn down with foot recovery, two riders.

We had a great time, Friday night in Green River. Late arrival for us due to travel from Denver after work. Elizabeth was out the day before and warmed up the hotel room for us.

We woke up to some rain, so we didn't hurry out of the hotel, but got to camp around lunch. Just north of the campground was a spot with some Rock Art, so we checked that out.

Elizabeth and I left Karyn in the tent, and rode up the jeep trail next to the river and checked out the great views. We stayed at the San Rafael Bridge campground. Not too many spots, but we were the first ones in, so we got the best spot.

only 3 more sites filled while we were there, one of which the group site.

Check out Window blind peak.

The morning views were spectacular as the sun rose.

Sunday we went north to check out "the wedge" some single track. More to come, These pix are on the gopro, that's going to take some work...

Dinner! Thanks Justin and Mom!!!

2011-10-04T19:26:00.001-07:00

Fish tacos (thanks Justin) with cherry salsa (thanks Mom!)!!

just cause I can..... the 'real' photo!

2011-10-04T18:59:00.001-07:00

This is all... I got the 'real' finish photo and still feeling great! Back at the gym, back on the bike and having foot surgery in the morning.... 7am is cut time. 6am is check-in. See ya online sometime tomorrow afternoon. Thanks to all that supported me on this journey. I REALLY could not have done it without you.

biking Kenosha pass

2011-10-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Kenosha pass ride.

Rebecca David Louisa and I rode Kenosha pass.
I borrowed a bike, 29er spearfish. Pretty nice bike. The crowd was up checking out the colors. That didn't suck...

Lunch break. I think everyone stops here...

Here we are on the summit of the Georgia pass. This was about 11,300.

We ran into Peter heading into breck from here, and later Drew Brown heading up the pass.

Here are some stats. I recorded 24 miles, I'm not sure how David ended up with more. Top speed around 35, again, not sure how I got going that fast anywhere on this trail!

I'll have to come back later to post the google earth trail. Pretty fun ride, highly recommended.

IMWI - the END/aftermath...

2011-09-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

So, I lost a toenail....

But... I finished!!!!

Race Day - photos

2011-09-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

Race morning.....
The swim (2.4 miles).... 2700 people all treading water and then starting at the SAME TIME!

Done with swim - time to bike (112 miles)
Great supporters along the way!

Done with the bike (now we are approximately 10 hours into this thing - 5pm, started at 7am)

Time to run (26.2 miles - yes, a full marathon)

And then we get to finish! -- 140.6 miles and no rest for 16 hours, 47 minutes and 12 seconds (don't think the seconds really count)

IMWI - the race report

2011-09-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ironman Wisconsin – September 11, 2011

Karyn Brown – Type 1 diabetic for 21 years

This was an amazing experience! From when I signed up to every minute until the race I kept track of how my body reacted to different heart rate zones, activities, weather, foods, etc. I have become more aware of my body and my diabetes than ever before. When I signed up and up until a month before the race I did not honestly believe that I could complete 140.6 miles in one day. On race day I believed my chances were as good as 60% (not great odds). KathyZ asked me, in July during my visit to Madison, 'why' I would even attempt if I didn't think I could do it. I didn't have a good answer then and I still do not. However, I am SO glad that I tried – even if I had not succeeded in completing the race I got more than a medal out of this experience with Team WILD!

The Saturday prior to the race I signed up for a timed 2.4 mile swim to get me prepared for the longest swim of my life. I got about 1/10 mile out from the shore, had a complete panic attack, and swam back to the start. My confidence was shattered. I called Carrie Cheadle (http://www.carriecheadle.com/) and we discussed strategies for erasing this bad memory and calming myself for a swim with 2700 other people. This Ironman race starts in the water. You (and EVERYONE else) goes out and treads water until the cannon fires and then everyone starts swimming, kicking and hitting each other all at the same time – quite intimidating.

Saturday (the day before the race): I went to the lake early in the morning with Jen Ahn and Heidi-Jane to see what the swim start would be like at 7am (race day conditions). I went for a quick 15 minute swim and then a 15 minute bike. All went well. I put in a new infustion site and a spare. I did plan on doing a test bolus through the spare but completely forgot. I decided that rather than have to mess with temp basals during the race that I would set a RACE basal pattern and not need to worry about it. I carefully sat down on Saturday afternoon and calculated my -40%(swim), +30%(bike) and +20%(run) basals and labeled the basal pattern as 'exercise'. I felt ready.

11:30pm – woke up to go to the bathroom and turned on the 'exercise' basal patter knowing that it was the same as my 'normal' pattern from midnight to 5:30am.

Sunday- Race Day

4:15am Woke up; blood glucose=231

4:35am Ate Breakfast – 2 pieces of whole wheat toast and 1 Tb of peanut butter (30 CHO). Typical food bolus = 1 unit, typical correction bolus = 2.4 units. My plan was to do 50% food bolus and 25% correction bolus – I wanted to have 200+ blood sugar going into the swim as my BG usually drops when I look at a body of water. I bolused 2.5 units – according to pump history. I have no idea what I was thinking......

5:15am BG=229, Arrive at the start, body marking, dropped nutrition and CGM at T1/bike and nutrition at T2.

6:25am Headed to get into the water, and checked my blood one last time, 271. Confident in my plan and the insulin on board (approx 1 unit) and knowing my usual habit of going low in the water but going high with stress (like race starts) I let it go and headed down.

Swim 2.4 miles= 2 hours 2 minutes (prediction was 2 hrs) I entered the water with KarenL and we chatted and watched the sun rise (beautiful!) and waited for the race to begin. Without paying much attention, the canon went off and away we went. I was relaxed and enjoyed most parts of the swim. I had planned on eating a Gu after the 1^st lap but 'felt high' so I did not eat the gel.

T1 (9:02-9:13) -Running up the helix was quite an experience. I saw KarenL's family as I ran up to it and they waved and smiled. KarenL ran out of transition as I ran in. A quick high five and she was on her way. They screamed my number and a volunteer picked up my bag, took me into the changing room and asked if I wanted her to dump it on the floor.... Of course I did. Next thing I knew my bike helmet was put on my head by someone else while I put on socks and tested blood sugar. Blood sugar 224, not bad coming out of the water within 50 points of going in. No carbs, a 1 unit correction bolus (normal correction – 2.25 – but I am for 50% corrections during races), I started 20 minute timer on watch (to remind me to consume my nutrition) and off I went!

Bike- My CGM showed that I was in the 300s almost the entire bike. I felt terrible. I was thirsty and tired with no energy. I 'blind' bolused 1 unit at 10:30am (1.5 hours into the bike). At 1:15pm I reach the special needs bike bags and I stop. BG=327, normal bolus – 4.3 – I bolus 1.5 units due to insulin on board from earlier bolus. I set a +10% basal rate and get back on my bike. I still feel AWFUL. My body is not processing the fuel I am giving it. I am slowing down. At 3:15pm I still feel terrible. I 'blind' bolus 1.5 units. I know that my +10% basal is active until 6:15pm (I set it for 5 hours when I stopped). I continue on.

My carb intake on the bike is 60 CHO/hr. This is done through a concentrated mixture of Carbo-Pro with TheRightStuff (electrolytes) mixed in. I take a drink every 20 minutes as my watch timer alerts me to. In the case that I need more carbs I have done many long workouts using the brand of gels provided at the aid stations – I did not need to do this.

Aid stations were every 12-15 miles, I was able to grab a water bottle at EVERY single one and consume it before the next aid station! I kept hydrated and my electrolytes were in my nutrition bottle so I was getting those as well!

I had a glucose meter with me on the bike but did not use it. I trusted my CGM instead (which appeared to be correct)

Bike 112 miles = 8 hr (predicted 7 hours 45 minutes)

T2 (5:13pm-5:17pm)This was a much faster transition as I knew more what to expect (3:51). I had the volunteer dump my bag on the floor. I changed my socks and left. I did not check my blood sugar as I knew I could use the blood glucose meter in my race belt for that while I was moving and it was late, late in the day – I did not think I could complete the race (there are cut offs at various places with the final cut off being midnight – 17:00)

Run 26.2 miles = 6 hr 32 min (prediction 6 hr 37 min) I started the run and immediately checked my blood sugar – still confused as to why my 'normal' basals for exercise weren't working the way they normally do/did... but this is diabetes so I've learned not to question much or for too long. BG=225 (at 5:25pm). I do nothing and continue walking for the first 6 miles to keep my heart rate low. About 30 minutes later I do a 'blind' .5 unit bolus because I feel terrible and my CGM indicates that I'm still 200-ish. Ugh. At 7pm I set my basal to -20% as my CGM indicates my BG is dropping. At 9pm I have double arrows down on the CGM and set my basal to -30% until the end of the race (midnight). I had my Carbo-Pro/TheRightStuff mixture and intended to drink on the timer beeps for a total of 50g CHO/hr. I finally start feeling better around 6:30 but now my neuroma (in my right foot) is bothering me instead. I check at 7pm, BG=136 (FINALLY!!!). About mile 14 I take a demerol for the pain in my foot and don't remember the next mile or so but a woman starts talking to me and says I look like I could use some company – would I mind if it was her? Her name is Judy. She is 60 years old and her back is cramped so that she can't stand up straight. We walk the remainder of the race together. I stop at several aid stations and get cola, powerade and bananas! Ah, bananas, you are my friend. Judy asks me how the diabetes is doing.... I check at 9:20pm, BG=133! I am doing fantastic. She is getting more and more crippled/bent over but keeps up with my 14:00-15:00/mi walk. We HAVE to keep up the pace or we won't make the final cut off. As we round the capitol square some of her friends join her and I hurry along in front – I want my 'own' finish chute experience and she is slowing down as she can hear she is 'done'. The finish chute? AMAZING. I walked around the corner and then started a slow jog. I was the final Team WILD finisher so most of our team members and supporters were lining the chute. I got many high-fives and soaked in every minute of this experience – you can see it in my face in my photos.

11:47pm FINISHED! (16hr 47min 12sec)

About 5 minutes after finishing, I checked my blood, 132!

Mari tracked down Tucker to let him know where I was and he brought me my Endurox which I had brought from Colorado for just this – recovery drink! I drank it up and chatted with Jen Ahn and Eric (Jen had finished a few minutes before me).

Conclusions -

Follow the plan. Nutrition and racing plans (and diabetes, in this case). I had zero GI issues due to this and am thrilled.
Um, make sure your basal pattern you set (while nervous the day before) is correct and turned on (the morning of the race). Mine was NOT. I ran my 'normal' basal pattern that day which explains the HIGH BGs on the bike. I wish I would have double checked at T1 or T2, at the very least.
Anything really is possible.
Enjoy the finish chute – how often do you have that kind of a finish line??
It's almost ski season... I gotta get my gear out and wax my skis.

**did you really read that????** I'll post more soon. Promise. And a finish line photo too - soon!

Ironman Wisconsin 2011 - random pics (finish photo to come still....)

2011-09-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday - travel - always be safe!
Friday - not a lot going on....

The finish line - day and night

Team photos -

Saturday - bike and T1/T2 bag drop off

...she still doesn't have a name but I dressed her as well as I could for the event!

That's the helix that we must run up out of the water.... there's another on the other end that we must ride our bikes down and then up on our return....

The video is Tucker's doing... he'll have to fix it.

Ironman Wisconsin 2011

2011-09-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

I'll blog more later - or Tucker will or something....

For now - I AM AN IRONMAN! Nuff said. It was difficult and it hurts today (the day after). I'll post more soon.

That finish line photo - no matter how terrible it is - will be on the blog in a few days.

karynB (as known to the Team WILD women)

Rainier? I just had to post this!!!

2011-09-10T12:42:00.003-07:00

Some Monoski friends up on Rainier...

Can you open that window?!?!

2011-09-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

huh? Which one?

I'm not sure you knew what you were looking at when you glanced west from the top of the stairs....

I guess now I have to explain... The last original outside windows in the house were in the upstairs west dormer. Well what would you expect from windows 104 years old? They leaked, and were not what the average person would call secure...

If you haven't done this before, you take the window shown above. You cut off the new construction tabs. (the part that makes it easy to install...)

You get the fresh trimmed, perfect fit window:

install... and...

Today I can open those windows, and the cats can't get out!

Today was a big day for the house, and a bad day for those windows... We're working on some great ideas for making those stay part of our home.

Warning: Screen will not stop child from...

2011-09-04T19:26:00.001-07:00

Dinner Friday night?

2011-09-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

We caught up with some ski friends on Friday night. You know how that is... You have your seasonal activities friends. Not everyone all does the same stuff. Fellow Monoskiers Tim and Nicole invited us out for dinner, we tried to hit Hops and Pies, but the line was 90 minutes!?!?!

We hiked over to Cafe Brazil. This was a much nicer place than I thought. We tried to get in there one other time, but they happened to be closed that holiday.

We grabbed a pic of Karyn's meal. Prawns on Grouper. Check it out!

Date and Apricot Chutney

2011-09-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Date and Apricot Chutney

1/2 cup dried apricots, halved
1 cup chopped pitted dates (about 1 pound)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
Place dried apricots in a medium bowl. Cover with boiling water, and let stand 1 hour. Drain.

Combine apricots, dates, and next 8 ingredients (through onion) in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.

Pack chutney in clean jars. Cover and cool chutney completely; chill.

I often serve this with smoked goose and Goat cheese.

New Route to work

2011-08-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

I found a new route to work.

I feel like it's an easier route. It is ~5 miles longer 1 way, but I don't have to climb as many hills. Here is the profile. The identifier point is the work location.

Pro Cycling Challenge

2011-08-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

US Pro cycling challenge comes to Denver!

The leaders:
The first group.

The Peloton.

The Tour de Cure 2011

2011-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

It was a great tour this year. The temperature was a bit lower, which helped the later afternoon return. We rode pretty close together until the climb up to Estes Park.

There was quite a presence of Team Wild, this was a goal ride for many of them. Alex is also on the Ironman team. Tony just out there for support, he and I are going to get some quality time in Madison together.
Thanks to Alex, Becky and Suzy for joining the team.
Tony just out there for support, he and I are going to get some quality time in Madison together.

All in all, it was 101 miles. They were a little off in the route planning. Tony and I arrived back at camp at ~ 2pm.

catching up with Karyn

2011-08-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Crazy day of riding.

It started out with Karyn heading out for some hill climb intervals. She headed over to red rocks to capture some power data.

I headed out a bit later, and followed the bike path to golden, and down to redrocks.

I was planning on seeing her at the bottom of the climb, then heading down to cherry creek and home for ~82 miles.

Of course as luck has it, I didn't see her at the bottom, and started climbing up. And again as luck would have it, I closed in on her just as she was reaching the top...

After a brief visit, we parted ways and I headed over dinosaur ridge and down south. About 1/2 way to chatfield I noticed my rear tire leaking a bit. I stopped and pumped a few times, and decided to cut the ride short and head up the south platte. Another couple miles and I changed the tire. This was all caused by that flat I had a couple weeks back, I must have gotten some dirt in the hole left in the tire, and caused the slow leak. You can always find a good use for a shot block wrapper, I stuck that in, and headed home. I ended up with ~65 miles.

With the tour coming up, I replace my tires with Gatorskins. Wow... those are quire some tires.

there was Branson and then there was Boulder...

2011-08-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

hmmm... Last year's 70.3 (half Ironman distance) triathlon in Branson did not end well. It ended with a big DNF (Did NOT FINISH). This season I have been battling injuries and have only raced one triathlon and did not meet my expectations for it - other than I got to race, finally!

Yesterday was the Boulder 70.3. My goal for the race was under 8 hours - they say that you can estimate your full Ironman distance time by multiplying your 70.3 X2 and adding one hour. So, 8X2 + 1 = 17 hours -- the time limit on an Ironman distance race (140.6 miles). My finish time?

or did I finish? Oh yes I did! I made my under 8 hour goal - 7:59:13 - talk about cutting it close!

My diabetes strategy was a full, epic fail but I'll work on that!

In the meantime, I threatened to sleep in my medal but I didn't.... here it is for you to enjoy too!

Copper Triangle

2011-08-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

Karyn couldn't join us for the copper triangle this year. Becky and some friends joined me.

We started out at the copper parking lot at 6:55. A little behind schedule. We did run into several people we knew going into the ride.

I was about 30 minutes behind Peter, and took the ride easy. Training up for the Tour de Cure century ride in 2 weeks.

Almost at the top of Tennessee pass. The view was spectacular. I wound up riding with a friend that I used to work with. One of those guys that was always willing to help teach you what you needed to know. Bryan Jordan: I haven't seen him in 10 years. He was riding with his mother in law.

That's him on my left. You can see I've already raised enough for the tour that I had on this year's tour jersey.

The group split after the rest stop at the bottom of Vail pass on the west side. I droned it all the way to the finish on my own. Crossing the finish right at 2pm.

I measured it out, I had spent over 2 hours in rest stops that day. Riding with a group, it takes a while to keep everyone together.

Dude

2011-07-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

I think 'the Dude' was here...

I shuffled my workouts around.... to make time for date night and a fun ride!

2011-07-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

I got new socks! -no, not what the blog is really about... Handsome managed to walk by as I was taking the photo, apparently.....

So, I moved today's swim to Wed.... Wednesday's run to Friday, blah, blah.... the point is I don't HAVE to do any biking, running or swimming today - a weekend day OFF! So excited! Tucker and I went out to dinner to Black Pearl on Friday night - I highly recommend this place - everything is fresh and delicious! They have an inviting front patio to eat on which was perfect in the summer air last night!

Today we got up and prepared for our Red Rider 'training' ride - it's more about community than an actual training ride. Tucker and I rode our bikes to REI (2 miles from the house) where we met 3 other Red Riders and one Type 3 supporter (a non-diabetic dealing with one of us!). We set out down the Cherry Creek bike path and ended up doing 14 miles round trip (with the group - 18 total for the two of us) with a stop at Illegal Pete's to people watch, talk, eat and drink! It was a rough ride for me. my BG was 44 when we arrived at REI and I never saw anything more than 103 the entire ride - ate 88 grams of carbs and took no insulin - and arrived for lunch with BG of 84!!! woot! diabetes success, I think.

Tomorrow I have a 65 mile bicycle ride followed by a 13 mile run. I am hoping to go to boulder VERY early in the morning and ride on the half ironman course that I will be racing on next weekend! I would like to be there about 6:30 and hope to be done in time to get home, have a shower and make dinner.

We'll see how it goes though!

That's about all I know right now. I'm very tired.... but still LOVE every minute on my bike - even the 3 rides up to the top of Red Rocks Amphitheater on Thursday!

Ah... Wisconsin!

2011-07-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend in Wisconsin with most of Team WILD, riding, running and swimming. The riding and swimming were done on the ACTUAL IRONMAN courses and the run was back to Kathy's house after the swim with a little getting lost.

All in all, the Garmin GPS watch reports - 101 miles of biking, 9 miles of running and 1.8 miles of swimming (it's WAY off in the water.... our estimate is 1.4mi).

Not bad and all to get me ready for the big race in, GULP, 6.5 weeks!

Work on a Saturday?

2011-07-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

I had to head into work today, so I might as well have a good time right?

I headed up and bought lunch for those who were working with me on a Saturday, headed out around 3. Karyn was riding the Ironman course in Madison today. I hope she had a better day than I did.

Heading back home, I decided I would make the trip a little longer and head over to Boulder. I needed a re-fill, so I stopped at the gas station outside Eldorado springs. For those of you who know it, it's at the base of the climb out of Boulder on 93, it was a good place to stop.

Filling up the water bottles and picking up some gatoraide it was over 95 degrees. I started to head out, and found I had a flat tire. Some inspection, I found a .25 inch metal object in the tire. I patched it and borrowed 75 cents to fill the tire at the station.

I climbed the hill out of town, and found another guy replacing his tire. He was set, so I headed south. After a while the tire began to leak, I used a CO2 on it, and headed on my way. A short while later, I stopped to change the tire. I put on a patched tire I had been carrying for a while, using the second CO2, I found that was leaky.... worse than the first...

I put back in the first patch and luckily someone stopped. I asked if they had a pump. She gave me a ride to her place just a little way down the road, and even loaned me a tire.

Homeward bound arriving after 7pm. Thanks for the help Pam.

All in all ~80 miles.

Tucker has been doing all the posting.... why?

2011-07-11T18:17:00.001-07:00

Well, Karyn is NINE weeks from the start line at Ironman Wisconsin so been busy swimming, biking, running and nursing injuries (somewhere between 20 and 35 hours per week! yikes!!!!!).
First, surgery for frozen shoulder in March that started refreezing!  There seems to be thawing and a whole lot less pain so I attempted my race yesterday which was 1500m swim/ 40k bike / 10k run - .9ish mi swim/ 26 mi bike / 6 mi run. The swim was very slow but I have only been swimming for about 3 weeks because of the shoulder.

I wanted a 4 hour finish and expected a 4:30 finish. My actual time? 4:10. My swim was 3 min slower than I expected even though it felt faster..... my bike was faster than I figured although not as fast as I thought. My run? what a disaster. sooo slow. I have a neuroma in my foot - an irritated nerve, essentially. Feels like shards of glass being shoved through the ball of my foot with every footstrike. argh! So, all things considered - shoulder and foot. I am more than happy and my first Boulder Peak = PR!!!! I was also much faster than my Olympic distance swim, bike and run last year - 4:3...something.

Now I have a new bike and I'm ready to kick some a$$! Look out for me in a month at the Boulder 70.3 (half Ironman for those that don't know - 70.3 miles)!!! I can't wait and just want to have fun - seriously, this whole thing is about having fun.

Diabetes? Race day was a disaster and I don't know why and neither do my teammates (all of whom have type 1 diabetes). The three of us that did this race - all different diabetes strategies and different results! argh! This disease is soooo frustrating!

Hope to have more postings - and more that are about non-triathlon stuff.....

karyn

4th of July!!!

2011-07-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I (Karyn) have been skiing for 10 years now and this is the first time I have EVER skied on the 4th of July! The day started out early with a couple of triathletes (me and Becky) getting in our swimming at the Copper Recreation Center at Copper Mountain Ski Resort! We put in our yardage and time, got showered, drove home and hit the slopes!

Tucker and I ended up in different cars but both of us got into the lower lot, very close to the slope and our other friends. Becky and Russ? Not so fortunate and ended up not getting a parking spot at all - although they were only about 10 minutes behind us. Weird. But it was certainly busy.... this was the lift line at the upper lift!

Weird? Skiing on the 4th of July -and it was GREAT skiing!!! At least until it warmed up and the rocks came right through. Really.... it was GREAT snow! Absolutely amazing and so happy that I got my 95 mile bike and 2 mile run out of the way on Sunday so I could swim and ski on Monday!

HEre are more pix.

Vail Pass with Becky

2011-07-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Training for the copper triangle. And just getting out for a ride.
65 miles

Bike to Work Day was a success

2011-06-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Bike to work day in Denver was today.

I had a great ride to work and home. It started a little chilly on my way out the door, so I took the long sleeve Jersey, but when the clock struck 7, I was hot!

As on most bike to work days, I end up riding a little off course, but always find my way to the office.

This year I tried a new trail, it runs along 36 between Sheridan and Wadsworth. I saved upwards of .2 miles each direction.

Interestingly enough I did run across at least one friend of mine on the ride. There were many fewer riders on 287 this year. Just before the highway 7 intersection on my way home, I saw a rider, I think it might have been Russ. I'll ask tomorrow, but as I approached the light, I saw Jake. I probably startled him as I rode less than 4 feet away "JAAKEE!!" from which he returned "TUCKER!", and I was on my way.

The next part is for the geeks.

Northbound
Temp 50
Departure time 5:50
Miles: 31.91
Avg speed 17.5
Time 1:50

Nice 9.5 hour rest at work.

Southbound
Temp 80? Hot
departure time 5:20
Miles 63.9
Avg speed 16.6
Time 3:50

ah, the Tridge!

2011-06-03T12:20:00.001-07:00

So, we are in Michigan for a few days and the sun is shining and birds are chirping (although the rain is promised to start tomorrow). While it is nice we decided to visit the famous Midland Tridge!!! the Tridge is a 3-way bridge over the confluence of three different rivers.
We thought we would go onto the Tridge and take a few photos but that wasn't allowed today....

So, a self portrait on the banks...

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Moab

2011-05-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Always a great time in Moab. This trip was dead horse point. Here is a route we rode.

We also hit the moab branded trails.

Thanks for setting this up Elizabeth

Closing weekend

2011-04-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, Great weekend.
There is always a powder day in April.

The past week has been great for skiing, too bad I spent most of it in the office.

The week into Saturday morning reports were:
18 inches at Winter Park
22 inches at Vail

with 1" reported Saturday, we checked the mountain cams, and headed over. Gus got all the pix, I'll have to post a few later.

The skiing was excellent, we headed back to blue sky, and caught some great runs on lovers leap!

Back for lunch at the Blue Moose, then back on the mountain, I remember why I don't ski out of Lion's head any more. We took Eagle Bahn, Avanti, and 4 to get to the top of the mountain.

We only had time for 1 run down Sun Up Bowl, before heading back to meet Karyn. Great day! I'd say the logged over 10 inches during the day and the skiing was great!

Sunday we headed to Copper to close the mt up for the season. They reported 10", several were fresh after close Saturday.

Karyn had a quick visit at the Copper Mountain Req, she loves the pool there.

First run I took them up to hike from Sierra chair to Union bowl.

Gus is a bit creative when it came to carrying the ski.

The snow was great, but I heard about the hike all day!

Scott joined us at lunch, and we got some great runs in after. Not the whole
After lunch we stopped in to check on some of the folks that didn't ski the afternoon, and about 3:45, the snow came in again.

How often do you see three Monos and a pair of teles in one place?
Tim came up to join us despite a little collarbone repair on Wednesday. Thanks for holding down the table!

I don't know what these jagarmeister ladies were doing in this weather:

Thanks for swinging out for a visit Gus. Glad to see you, Steff and Sarah. And Love the jacket!

In order to deal with a problem, you must admit in public that there is a problem.....

2011-04-20T09:21:00.001-07:00

Pink. Triathlon. Nuff said. :)

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Stuffed Pork Loin

2011-04-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh...

This is a great recipe. Some random items in the house, but came together excellently.

1/2 lb pork loin
1 TBs sun dried tomatoes
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried chipotle
1/8 c fresh Parmesan
1/2 c Figs canned with Brandy (thanks Becky and Russ. Another great meal with the Christmas Gift!)

Cut pork loin to make 1/2 inch thick roll.
Tenderize slightly
Sprinkle oregano and Chipotle on one side
Arrange Figs sliced on one end
sprinkle with Parmesan
Top with Sun dried tomatoes
Roll the Loin
Sprinkle with Oregano and Chipotle

Bake 375 for 20-30 minutes stop at temperature.
Top with 1t Brandy juice from the can

I served this with mixed vegetables.

This turned out really well. For some of you readers I overdid the Chipotle, but for me it was perfect. The cook time varies. I pulled it at about 27 minutes.

Sorry no pix for this meal..

A real beach day!

2011-04-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday Pat and Heather invited us out for a birthday beach party! We had a great time. The beach was packed!

Check out these retro onzies.

Zany Sunday!!!

2011-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2011

Another Zany Sunday! Always a fun day at the beach and always good friends. But this time proves. Not always good beach weather.

Even the balloons were a little tired.

The beach didn't fill up until 9:30. We got a great spot down by Pali chair. After parking and setting up the balloons, we headed up for our warm breakfast in the lodge. $12 dollars later we had our skier breakfast and our biscuits and gravy.

I'm glad we brought the tent this year, we got a lot of quality time in the tent.
The crowd wasn't large, but it was Zany! We had a visit from the Tele-tubby again this year.

And some frozen snot-sickles. As usual we warmed up the grill for some great eats. Brats and Italian sausage.

Nobody should forget the Yellow Mustard. (Dad, this one's for you.)

All in all, by the end of the day we were having great runs on great snow. Looking forward to next year. Zany Sunday is going to be April 1!

The Fritz Hut

2011-03-28T17:11:00.001-07:00

I'm home. A little tired from my travels, but a great weekend at the Fritz Hut.

The roads on the drive over to Aspen was a bit crazy, in fact a couple of our crew slid off the road, and decided not to continue on the trip.

The sun was out for the trek in. 5.8 miles or so 2500 vertical feet or so. This turned out to be a pretty big hike in. Most of the vertical gain was in about 3 of those miles.

We met a nice couple from Florida with a dog that were jogging up to the hut for a day trip. They enjoyed a nice tour and refreshed their water before heading down.

Of course we had to celebrate David's big 40! After all this is David's birthday hut trip.

Day 1 skiing was fantastic. We hiked North from the hut and skied a few runs to the west before making it to the target north facing runs. (Someone was a little too excited about the skiing to make it all the way to the north facing slopes before skiing!)

e

The laps were short, but the snow was worth it. 200 feet per run.

After lunch we found some terrain in front of the hut which was a more gentle angle (better for skinning up but not as good for skiing down) about 320 feet per lap.

I've caught David tending to the fire:

Of course I had to step away from the game of Rummy to make dinner, but there is always time for a deck of cards.

The skis left patiently waiting for the next set of turns to be had.

We took a couple laps in front of the hut before heading back to the cars for the ride home. We had another 8" or so for the morning laps.

The trek out was about 2 hours as expected. Breaking trail, and pulling the sled. (let me clarify. someone else broke the trail, I just widened it. ;)

The $12 Margarita @ El Camino

2011-03-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad, and Tim!
Wow, The Marg was good, but really for $12 I get this much ice?

The Tooth Fairy!!!

2011-03-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

hopefully you still believe in the tooth fairy? hopefully the owner of this beauty does!

But... is there a kitty cat tooth fairy? We'll put it out tonight and see what happens :)

I am surprised they saved it for us - was very loose when Handsome went for his cleaning so they just pulled and it came right out. A few stiches and a few hours later and he/they got to come home. Handsome and booger have clean teeth now!

Monopalooza! - 5 days of monoskiers and monoskiing!

2011-03-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

First? A snowball fight - how did I get into this????

So, this year Monopalooza was held at North Lake Tahoe. We skied Mt. Rose, Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl. We were there skiing for 5 days and got face shots for 4 of those. The other day was a great day of sun and fun! Here are some pictures of the madness!

There were reindeer shoes...
Not quite your size Boomer - but you should steal the label 'race like a girl' - might make you faster!

Boomer spends A LOT of time in this position when skiing....

Breakfast!

Supposed to leave Canada.... but snow and avalanches didn't allow

2011-03-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

So, we were scheduled to ski on 2/12 in the morning and then hop on a 6.5 hour bus ride back to calgary. We planned a later departure on Sunday, 2/13, so that we could see Sarah and Chris one more time.

We got the skiing in that morning....

but avalanches along the highway from the TransCanadian Hwy 1 to our lodge had closed 'our' highway. But by the time our highway had cleared... the TransCanadian Hwy was closed in two different places. They had us stay the night and the next morning... nothing was really better so they put us on the helicopters and flew us to Golden. Then we had to go South and South again... and although we started our day at 8am we didn't get to Calgary until 7pm (30 minutes after the last flight to Denver). ARGH!! **but we did get to have dinner with Chris and Sarah!

So, 2/14, we woke up and had breakfast to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary and then had dinner to celebrate back in the US!

still in Canada - 2/5-2/14 (supposed to leave on 2/13)

2011-03-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

So, Bill, Dave, Tucker and I all headed up to BC for some more skiing (face shots of fresh powder every day)!!!

Bill was NOT caught in an avalanche this trip but did manage to fall into a fire pit!

We had wonderful views.... and snow... and company!

The snow was deep and the people... well..... take a look!

Where to begin.... 2/3/2011?

2011-03-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have been quite lazy with our blogs lately so beware of BLOG OVERLOAD.

On 2/2/2011 we got on a plane to Calgary where we skied and stayed with our friends, Chris and Sarah. We had a BLAST!!! I cannot wait for them to move back to the US (they can't wait either) -

Tucker helped Sarah hem her pants in the hotel lobby in BANFF while Chris and I... well.... we watched and tried to snap pics!

We then met up with Bill Brown and Dave Wolff for some good food before we got on a bus the next day to go to BC and said goodbye to Chris and Sarah - at least until we returned to Calgary. :)

yes... You get an entry in the blog

2011-03-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks Liz. Great shot!

um. What is going on there?

A HAT BOX!!!!

2011-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a Looooong time since we have blogged and there is lots to report but we have been so busy that we hadn't had time to blog! which is really a good thing for us!

So..... I have been getting stuff for triathlon season... new running shoes, bike tires for the trainer (i.e. CHEAP - $7!)

But, the other day I got a package in the mail.... I'll just let the pictures unfold....

First, a HAT BOX!!! - with luggage tag - check the upper, right-hand corner of the photo....

I open the box....

And open it further!

but all I see is a receipt.... weird. WHAT did I order!!?!?!?!?
It looks like a bike helmet but what the heck?!?!? no way did that arrive in a HAT BOX!!!

but it did - complete with a separate bag which resembles the bags that come with motorcycle helmets.... I am totally psyched about my new helmet and while I promised to wear it on the bike trainer yesterday, I didn't. *sigh*

Please be patient, we will have more blog postings soon!!!!

enjoy! I know I will!!!

karyn

A great time to use the Winch

2011-01-30T06:13:00.000-08:00

Some guys appeared to be looking for fresh tracks off the pass, and they got a little too close to the edge.

We swung around to help out where we could.

We got 3 more offers for help by passer byes.

He was up to his axles in soft snow.

The removal angle wasn't great since there was a lot of traffic heading down from the basin.

13" pow day at Vail

2011-01-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

The snow came in on Saturday. The drive up was horrible. We ended up on 285 through Breckenridge. But Sunday the skiing was great.
Everyone else thought so too.
Blue Sky Basin had been closed all day Saturday, so everyone was heading that way.
Becky and I found some great snow off Highline lift.

skiing with the Winders

2011-01-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

Tim finally moved back to Colorado after too long of a tour in Texas.

We met up with him for dinner and drinks Saturday night, followed by some runs on Sunday morning. Noah was pretty tired after a long night with some altitude problems...
Eli was ready to go!

Sweet Car!

2011-01-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

Is that a civic with Lamborghini doors?

how many vegis?

2011-01-05T06:03:00.000-08:00

Last day.... sunday, Jan 2nd

2011-01-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

So, we left Telluride and went to Vail. I found awesome snow and so did Tucker - although not in the same place, apparently. We arrived about 1:30 and left about 3:30. 2 hours home and here we are. *sigh* I go to work tomorrow and I think that Tucker will ski. *sigh, again*

Love my job though so no complaints!!!!

Today was great and I can't thank my lovely hubby enough for carrying my sh!t into the hut and driving as the doc thought shifting the car/truck would bother my shoulder.

sleeepy time is sooooon!

Telluride, Tucker's Birthday and the drive home?

2011-01-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

Negative temps to ski.... what happens first? ALL METAL COMES OUT OF EARS!!!!!

So, after 2 days of EPIC powder at Purgatory we headed over the pass to Telluride where we had 2 nights of hotel booked. We arrived about 5:30 and headed out for dinner.... a brewery in Telluride - yuck! If you like beer DO NOT go to this pub.

On Saturday morning we woke up and it was -9 deg F. Yes, negative numbers. It had warmed up to -7 by the time we hit the slopes. On New Years Day with negative temps we had the mountain to ourselves - which was great! about an hour at a time because then I needed to go in and warm up! How do you dress for negative temps? LOTS of layers - I have on THREE down coats - grey, orange and blue.... wow!

We finished our ski day about 4 and got showers and went out for Mr. Brown's birthday!! WOOT! It was fantastic food!!!

Carrot Cake for dessert!

So then we went to Telluride.....

2011-01-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

So, we pulled out of the parking lot at Purgatory at 2:20 on Friday afternoon.... headed for Durango because the pass was closed between us and Telluride where our hotel was waiting......
ARGH! But the passes were treacherous......

We drove about 6 minutes towards Durango when my wonderful smartphone told me that the pass had opened at 2:21!!!! We saw almost no one on the pass except for the experts in snow removal.... but not driving - OMG!

We arrived in Telluride about 3 hours later and were happy and warm along the way with a stop at some natural hot springs (that allowed nudity although not much was seen!) 0---> note the high fences! :)

Tues through Friday....

2011-01-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm 'lumping' these days all together because. Tuesday was a bit uneventful. We skied at Copper which is a lovely mountain but early season conditions meant that my favorite trees were a bit, um, light in coverage. Still a great day though! no pics... hmmmm....

Wed we decided that this storm was going to hit SW Colorado so we jumped in the car and headed South to Durango/Pagosa Springs! We left the condo early in the morning (Keystone) and headed down to Wolf Creek where it was just DUMPING!!! We skied steeps and trees and didn't hit a single rock or root. It was just incredible!

After that the normal '1 hour' drive to Durango became 2.5 hours due to the snow/weather conditions! yikes!

Then came Thursday morning..... Durango Mountain, aka Purgatory, reported 20" of fresh, 8" after the lifts had closed the night before. We headed up there, no doubt in our minds of what we could expect. I think I had forgotten that the mountain was SO FLAT. Blech, but the goods were GOOD!

These cars are in Tucker's parents' neighborhood... not going anywhere, any time soon.

This guy? Parking lot at Purgatory.

sigh. Where to start? - December 25th.... Christmas Day

2011-01-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

I'll start with backcountry.... We left Denver about 8:30 on Saturday morning and went to the trailhead for our annual Xmas hut trip! The rest of the crew had planned on a much earlier start than us since they were closer but we arrived and they had just started out! Due to my bursitis in my shoulder, and recent cortizone shot, I wasn't allowed a pole in my right hand nor a pack.. my poor husband carried most of my gear as I got a fanny pack. :)

The snow was awesome on the way in... and the next day.... and STELLAR on the last day - lots of turns to be had, even without a pole! ;)

We had Christmas dinner - Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, quinoa, cookies, etc!

Again, we had an amazing Xmas hut trip and met new people that were just great to hang out with!

Ski week - 2010

2011-01-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I counted up all the ski days for 2010... SIXTY-FOUR of them! not bad, I say! So, I get Christmas to New Years off every year and this year Tucker's work is 'encouraging' them to take vacation every quarter so he joined me! We contacted friends in Utah and Southern Colorado with hopes that we could just hop in the truck and go where the snow is/was!

We didn't do tooooooo shabby.

Fri, December 24th - Xmas Eve dinner in Boulder with the Smiths! AWESOME!!!!
Sat, December 25th - ski into 10th Mountain Division Hut near Tennessee Pass
Sun, December 26th - ski around 10th Mountain Division Hut
Mon, December 27th - ski out of 10th Mtn Division hut (turns in the 6"-8" of fresh before the hike to the car though!)
Tues, December 28th - ski Copper Mountain
Wed, December 29th - drive down to Wolf Creek and ski while the snow is DUMPING!!!
Thurs, December 30th - Purgatory - 20" of fresh reported - AWESOME!!!
Fri, December 31st - Purgatory - 12" of fresh reported - another AWESOME ski day!!
Sat, January 1st - Tucker's birthday and NEGATIVE 8 degrees to start our ski day at Telluride.... however, NEGATIVE 22 reported in Durango so glad we left anyway.
Sun, Janurary 2nd - Leave Telluride and ski Vail for the afternoon - no new snow but I found some good stashes and so did Tucker.

all in all? 9 days off of work, 9 days of skiing with the love of my life, 3 backcountry days and 5 resorts? Doesn't suck! BEST Christmas/New Years/Birthday event EVER!

9 days... 1100 miles of driving.... 23 hours of driving... almost 84 gallons of gas.... 13 mpg.

Details to follow......

2010-12-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

Just in case you didn't get your card yet!!!

Boooger and Handsome are making the xmas tree right at home at our house this year as well....!

O Mod Tannenbaum Christmas

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

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Coffee maker troubles

2010-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

About 1.5 years ago we bought this coffee maker - burr grinder included!

It stopped heating the water at approx 11 months of age. I tore it apart and put it back together.... it magically started working again - keep in mind that I didn't actually DO anything to it, it just started working. Just took it apart.... sigh.

And it continued to work well until 2 weeks ago. I started searching on the internet for ways to fix it since we had bought a different brand of grind-and-brew coffee makers and hated it so much we sold it less than 3 days later on Craigslist. I found a couple of blog postings about fixing the coffee maker. It seems that there are some thermal fuses in the base of the thing - that are cheap-o and fail often. I purchased 3 of each temp rating (for $1.25/each). So, I can now fix our coffee maker two more times for less than $10 for all 3 repairs!) in case I damaged one or lost it or whatever.

I cut out the old ones, realized I had no butt splices to reassemble the dang thing, and ran off to Radio Shack. I returned quickly with the butt splices and went to town! 5 minutes later, everything was put back together with the new parts installed.

Now.... does it work or was this adventure futile...? I plugged it in, poured water in and listened (with glee) as the water started heating and pouring into the carafe! Our favorite coffee maker is repaired and we are, once again, pleased with it. AND, as one of the repair guides said "Can you smell that? That's the smell of delicious do-it-yourself satisfaction."

*I am still smiling*

Thanksgiving weekend

2010-11-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we stayed home and went to Boulder to Levi and Sarah's celebration at their house! It was great fun and was sad when the night came to an end but what a wonderful night of fun and friends... too bad we forgot our camera. oops!

Friday morning we got up early and headed to A-Basin to get in some skiing (shocked, aren't you?). Thursday had been SEVEN degrees up there so we were thankful for 20 degrees! We skied the morning and then headed in for some lunch. A few more runs and I was tired and cold so I went inside to wait for Tucker.... Where I ran into Kathy - who used to work out with me at Bonza Bodies a.k.a Fitness by Atlas - AND Jody, an ex-coworker from Lockheed AND our friends Pat and Heather who we hadn't seen in more than a year! They ended up kicking us out of the bar at the end of the day as we had gotten carried away chatting with everyone and catching up!
We left and didn't even stop at the condo - we headed straight to Russ and Becky's ski house! Where we had a wonderful dinner and met Alex's girlfriend, Andy! It was soooo much fun!

Saturday held much of the same activities. Ski, lunch, friends, dinner at Russ and Becky's house.... I even played hearts for the first time (that I remember)... I still like Euchre more! :)

Sunday was skiing and then home early to start cleaning the house in anticipation of Book Club next Sunday afternoon! We are reading A Year of Living Bibilically. I'll let ya know how it turns out.

It was a good thing we were set to clean. The cats have a new habit of taking things from closed cupboards (off the bottom shelves) so we have moved most things up from that area. Apparently we didn't get the shredded coconut.... Not only this.... (recycled because all of them used to live in Boulder and want to help the planet)

but it has now stopped up our glorious, automatic litterbox twice in the 24hours that we have been home.

The cats then had to be punished and I think we did a great job there! What do you think?

San Francisco!!!

2010-11-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to San Francisco - left early Friday morning and returned early Monday morning. Friday, we checked into our awesome hotel in DOWNTOWN - 4th and Market - which was a cute little place. And, by LITTLE, I MEAN LITTLE. But we had a beautiful view of the wall behind the building - hahaha. It was great though!
As you will see we had fantastic weather the WHOLE weekend! After we checked into our hotel my friend, and fellow future-Ironman/woman teammate, Kathleen picked us up for a little sightseeing! Whoo hooo! We all went down to the Golden Gate Bridge. This is where knowing a local came into play - she knew where to find FREE parking! She had warned me that we would walk between 8 and 12 miles and she DELIVERED!
We took LOTS of pics - but I'll limit it!

--The obligatory, self portrait --

Next it was back to the hotel - where Kathleen's friend, Al, had luggage awaiting him that had been lost on his travels to San Francisco the day before! We handed off the luggage and exchanged hugs - the next time I see Kathleen I suspect it won't be 'walking' for 8 miles but rather running or biking or swimming!

We met Drew and Liz for dinner! Drew was a neighbor of Tucker's in Michigan and I have fallen in love with them both. They recently got married and Liz was anticipating a big job interview on the Wed after we left so there was lots to talk about and the energy was HIGH!

Dinner was fantastic and so were the views off the roof of their building! Great to see all of our friends on Friday! But Saturday held more friends and a wedding! Saturday morning we got up early and headed for breakfast with no clue where we were going until we saw 'Chinatown' signs - so breakfast in Chinatown it was. It was not 'Chinese' but Chinatown, none-the-less. We then headed to the airport to pick up our rental car and went to the wedding!

Uy and Joanne got married! Don't worry about it but NONE of these women is the bride!

They released doves at the end of the ceremony.....

Which would have been awesome except Uy's dove wasn't very happy about it - note the mid-air flop on the right side of this photo.
We, again, did the self portrait -

And a timer shot of the two of us -

The view from the wedding site was great as well -

We left a little early from the wedding to return to some tight parking at the hotel

The next morning we went sight seeing - redwoods and San Francisco - it was great (and, again, the weather was PERFECT!)

Next we headed into town to see what we could see before returning the car -
LOTS of bridges

And some street with more turns... blah, blah, blah, I don't know but Tucker was driving and REALLY wanted to drive this one.
Trolleys and Alcatraz?!?!?! Awesome!
We got done early and returned the car, ate dinner at the hotel and flew home the next morning - where I brush SNOW off my car! I forgot, while enjoying the wonderful California weather, that it might even have the possibility of snowing in Colorado! Go figure!

Until the next one.....

Sperry, Laura, Agean and Cambria came to visit

2010-11-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Some pix from the Ventura-Browns visit:

Another weekend of skiing - I know that you are not surprised

2010-11-07T16:45:00.001-08:00

We headed up to Keystone Friday night and finally arrived about 8pm - an hour later than anticipated. We ate dinner with Bill, Marilyn, Sperry and Laura! Sperry and Laura (Tucker's brother and sister-in-law) are visiting from California for the week with their twins! I had never met Cambria and Agean before so this was exciting for me. Somehow in all the fun we never took a single photo....??? We'll get some and post soon.

We skied Arapahoe Basin on Saturday morning, then shopped at the outlet mall and then back to the condo to see and play with the kids and rest of the family! Then we were off to dinner at our friends' house. We arrived early. In fact, a little too early as they weren't even there. I quickly decided that a trip to the nearby Walmart would kill some time. I bought some essentials - like dental floss - and then we spotted some items that we wanted to take on our Christmas hut trip this year as well as a fashionable doggie sweater that was ONLY FIVE BUCKS!!!!

Oh, that's right, we don't have a dog. But we got home almost 6 hours ago and immediately put Handsome in the sweater.... he loves it, loves it, loves it. I can't even get over how ridiculous this is but also AWESOME!

This morning we skied A-basin and got some more time with the family before weather moved in and we moved out. Down to Denver so that I could run an hour before book club. This is the first time, EVER, that I have run 45 minutes continuously. No walk breaks, no water breaks, no bathroom breaks. no breaks! Maybe this off-season running program is just what I need to help me get across that finishline at Ironman Wisconsin in 2011?!?!

And for those of you paying attention - Sunday, 11/7/2010 - Day 4 of skiing for the 2010-11 season :) All at A-Basin so far.

Branson Photos

2010-11-03T05:25:00.001-07:00

I found a few pix of Branson. I'll work on some video

Music City? Like Radio City?
Ducks Ducks Ducks!

Macaroni Grille

Bike Friday folding bike in Branson

2010-11-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T16:20:00.000-07:00

Day 1!

2010-10-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

Monday was opening, but Saturday was our Day 1.

It was a little depressing to get a text from a ski bum friend of mine on Tuesday stating: "another powder day" while I was hard at work...

Check out the new lift!

We made it up again today. 2-3 over night made it a great 2 runs before it was skied off. People must have slept in, the lines didn't get long until 9:30.

Pheasant!!!!

2010-10-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

I joined Dad in South Dakota for some pheasant hunting...

If you don't know what that is... You end up doing a lot of walking. Hunters walk fields in parallel, with dogs usually running around chasing after birds. When you get to the end of the field the birds flush.

We had lunch out of the back of the truck every day.
Baily, one happy Dog.
On the way home we came across a storage facility for a new wind farm. In the picture below there are hundreds of wind mill blades.

Ski Season is HERE!!!!!

2010-10-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yup, A-Basin opens on Monday and I'm feeling a little 'cough' coming on... might be powder fever for which the only cure is a trip to the mountains with skis - weird. :)

We had dinner with the Summit crew last night and we were all pondering the start of ski season - guess we got our answer! We all even considered going up today for Loveland's opening day but changed our minds.

Karyn has bursitis...

2010-10-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well.... here it is..... I drove to Boulder this afternoon to see MY orthopedic doc after I didn't get an especially warm fuzzy from the doctor on Friday. I scheduled surgery with him after him telling me that the MRI showed a torn labrum (soft tissue that holds the 'ball' in the joint so that you don't dislocate your shoulder all the time) and frayed bicep tendon (likely torn).

So, one of the things that I like about Dr. Halbrecht is that she has performed surgery on my knee.... 3 times. Tucker's shoulder once and Tim's shoulder once. When I arrived at her office today she looked over the radiologist's report and then took off to her office to look at the digital MRI pics.

THEN, she invited me into her office to look at what she saw. An inflamed 'bursa'. BURSITIS! I have BURSITIS!!! So, what was that other doc talking about? She saw what he saw but said it appeared to have been a very old injury and that if my shoulder wasn't prone to dislocation that I shouldn't bother with the repairs. :)

Then she had me do some wall push-ups. Apparently, my right shoulder blade isn't tracking correctly and this is what is causing the bursa irritation.

The solution??? physical therapy. End of story. I still will be an Ironman in 2011. I will still be skiing and hut tripping in 2011. Life goes on, as normal, and hopefully my shoulder feels much better soon.

yikes! 2 weeks?!?!?

2010-10-16T22:08:00.001-07:00

TWO weeks since the last post? I'm sure that nothing too exciting has happened, right? well, today was a phenomenal day for me. My friend Mari, in the black jersey in the photo below, has been declared 'cancer free' (for the 2nd time) from breast cancer and she wanted to do a celebratory bicycle ride. What an awesome idea!!!! I rode my bicycle for the FIRST time since the race and had a GREAT time. 35 miles later, sweaty and cold - yes, that happens - I curled up in my bathtub and prepared for the evening activity.

ROLLER DERBY!!!!

where was Tucker for all of this adventure??? First things first. Do you know what a pheasant is?

Do you know what to do with one? Well, we do and Tucker is off hunting them in South Dakota with Dad and Tim. Hope that they are having fun and doing well!

More posts later? A visit to the orthopedic surgeon this week has a 2nd opinion scheduled for Monday and surgery scheduled for 10/29.... After I visit my usual doc on Monday I'll post more. AND, it's NOT a knee!

I just ordered new ski pants.... and went to Moab!

2010-10-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

What the heck was I thinking?!?!? But after all, none of my ski clothes fit - of course, neither does my motorcycle gear nor anything else. BUT, www.steapandcheap.com had a great deal. yeah!

This past weekend??? MOAB!!!! OMG, it was awesome! Yesterday I rode about 26 miles on my mtn bike and today only about 9 - I was a little bit tired. Here are some pics and maybe, just maybe, Tucker will chime in????

IT was a great shuttle ride up - in an expanded VW bus....

Elizabeth enjoying the view!

Branson 70.3 - Sept 19, 2010

2010-09-22T12:58:00.001-07:00

the day started out as you might expect, up at 4:30am to eat breakfast and then head down to the water and our bikes..... Karen (Happy Birthday - race day was her birthday!) and I look pretty relaxed.

Thank goodness for teammates - would've been a lot harder to get in that water without a pat on the back (and a hug!) from Susie!

Well, there were positives and negatives last Sunday during the race for sure -
the highlights? swim time and blood sugars
the lowlights? brutal bike course and not finishing the race

Highlights first!
I took almost 5.5 minutes off my last timed 1.2 mile swim race (2 weeks prior)! My last race was 1:00:04. Branson's 1.2 mile swim was 54:39!
My blood sugar going into the water was 124, out of the water was 160. An hour into the bike - 136. Two hours into the bike - 153. Three hours into the bike - 167. End of the bike was an expected 251. Correction made and down to 204 in an hour!

Now the lowlights....
The bike had 5000 vertical feet of climbing and took me FIVE hours. Which didn't leave enough time for me to slowly limp through the 'run' which was more of a walk, it appeared, for most of the participants. I 'quit' after mile 5 and headed back around and through the finish line.

My blood sugars after I cut my basal for after-race insulin sensitivity - 251 and finished at 204. I can't believe how good they were still! This gives me great confidence in the 140.6 mile distance of the full Ironman that I will be completing next fall! :)

The team did some teamy goodness events - like the old time photos!!

*A year from now you'll see a picture of me crossing the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin on September 11. 2011 (my niece's 21st birthday!)*

--but for now (I did go for a short bicycle ride this morning) I will NOT swim, bike or run competitively... only short, fun stints in those 3 sports as I now am preparing for ski season by taking out my mountain bike - will post pictures of blood from that soon enough (I'm guessing)

This past weekend... sorry for the 'late' post but that's how long the weekend lasted!

2010-09-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 11 - 7:10am - Karyn gets on a plane.... to Madison, WI! To visit Team WILD teammate Kathy!!! I get on the plane with Karen, also from Team WILD, because we are going there to see and experience IRONMAN Wisconsin. Yeah! We are going to be GREAT spectators - I promise... seriously, we were/are!

We ran around Madison. we see the run start, the transition area, the finish line....

Sunday, we got up at 5:30am and we watched the swim.....

Only in Wisconsin is this even close to okay.....

We have a teammate in Chicago and her team, TriMonsters, was hosting a tent and cheering section at mile 51 and mile 91 of the bike (same place) - so we went there and enjoyed what there was to enjoy....
And, apparently, IRONWOMEN are sexier - which we already knew!

Including my friend from college - Joanna~ at mile 91

But there were helpful signs along the way....

We waited until midnight (the cutoff) and saw all there was to see....... and still.....

and still...... ON MONDAY, we ALL signed up for IM WI 2011! Wow! Really?!?!?!? This silly group of diabetic women are going to do IM WI 2011?!?!? Oh yes we are, oh yes we are...... You all knew I was crazy all along, you just didn't know there were more like me ;) There will be 10 of us???? Here's the first FIVE -

That's all.... until after my FIRST 1/2 IRONMAN on Sunday, 9/19 - that's 70.3 miles by swimming, biking and running in ONE DAY..... update early next week when we get back from Branson!

GO WILD!!!!!!

Labor day Fun!

2010-09-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Labor day weekend was full of lots of different fun activities...

The Warburton/Shults came to town! We had some fun bumming around Sloan's lake park while Karyn spent the morning at a tri rehearsal at Boulder Res.

Saturday night we went up to the condo to visit with Mom and Dad. The night was pretty low key since we had so much fun Saturday!

Sunday morning lead to some excitement Russ joined us for a lot of fun with pigeons!
In the afternoon we jammed in two friends BBQs... You never want to miss out on those since first at Greg's house we had the famous smoked brisket, and I brought some Salmon to smoke. I met up with a few work friends, and we moved on to Erin and Jakes... Jake invited us on a 4x4 adventure with his Mother visiting.
We took a trip from Rollinsville to Alice and back. Google Maps sends you via the interstate, but trust me, we crossed both ways without hitting pavement!

As we hit Kennsington peak, we looked back to see the start of the 4mile file in Boulder. this was quite impressive. Several small communities west of Boulder were evacuated!

Steamboat Triathlon!

2010-08-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

We went to Steamboat, CO for my triathlon this weekend and right outside our hotel was this... I took about 5 pictures of it so I was definitely intrigued... or just avoiding worrying about my race?
Steamboat Triathlon - my THIRD triathlon and my first in the Team Kit!!!
(with my BAD KITTY socks)

So, today's race went well and bad - all at the same time! How is this possible?
My race plan was as follows:
8:05 - Swim wave start
8:55 - Swim wave end
9:00 - Bike start
10:30 - Bike end
10:35 - Run start
11:35 - Run end

Blood glucose goals = 100-180

Reality -
5:30 - Breakfast, BG=125, 54 Carbs, 3.25u bolus (60% of normal)
7:30 - Out of transition, BG=163, 1.6u IOB (50:1 ratio, so PERFECT!)
8:05 - swim start
8:45 - Swim end, T1 begin
**T1 ---- BG=277, 1.0 (cautious) correction bolus, 1/2 Nalgene Accelerade (10 CHO), 1 POWERADE GEL (17 CHO)
8:48 - T1 end, Bike begin
**1 fig newton every 25 minutes on the bike (3*15CHO=45 CHO) + 1 tall H2O bottle with Accelerade (20 CHO) + 1 regular H2O bottle, plain
10:11 - Bike end, T2, begin
**T2 --- BG=366 (yikes!), 2.5u correction bolus, 1/2 Nalgene Accelerade (10 CHO)
10:14 - T2 end, run begin, set temp basal (80% for 4 hours to prevent post exercise lows)
***4 cups of water on course (approx 4 oz per cup = 16 oz water), 2 at first mile and 1 at following 2 rest stops (each mile)
10:40 - during run, BG = 392
*** take 1 electrolyte capsule with H2O at mile 3
11:05 - FINISH!!! (30 minutes ahead of my outloud goal finish and 15 minutes ahead of my secret goal finish time!)
***BG = 374, 3.10u correction
11:20 - full Nalgene with Accelerade (20 CHO) + Builder Bar (20 PRO, 30 CHO), 2.5u insulin (50% of normal food bolus)
12:00 - BG=372
1:00 - BG=258, eat 'lunch', approx 25 CHO, bolus 'normal' 2.5u, 2.68 IOB (perfect for correction!)
2:00 - 235
4:00 - 60, .68 IOB ---> argh!

Carbs eaten during race/event = 102 CHO/3hours = 34 CHO/hr (30-60CHO/hr recommended)
H2O during race/event = 92 oz = 31oz/hr (yeah!)

Times:
Swim - 39:59.6
T1 - 3:23.7
Bike - 1:22:37.4
T2 - 2:49.6
Run - 51:19.6
Total Time - 3:00:09.8

Success! Tour de Cure....

2010-08-22T08:19:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Tour de Cure Colorado . There were rides ranging from 12 miles to 100 miles. I had a team of friends and family (yeah, Willie!) that joined me/us for this adventure. There were 15 of us in all and I was the only one that had ridden the event before! Jake and Becky turned their 100K (62 miles) into a brick by running when they returned. David, Tucker, Willie, Rick, Patrick and Karyn rode the 100 mile course. Elizabeth, Peter and Alex did the 100K - without a run after. Audra, Erin (3 mo preggo), Sarah, Levi all rode the 50K (32 miles)! We also raised over $9,000 for the American Diabetes Association! I, unfortunately, missed seeing some members of my team as Karen L (WILD teammate) and I were some of the last people in from the 100 mile ride at 3pm. I got to see some pics though! I jumped in an ice bath as soon as I returned and then some of my friends joined me..... pictures now -

Erin (3 months pregnant) and Xander!

Tony and Tucker supporting the WILD Team with their team jerseys during the 100 mile ride -

David, same photo op, 100 mile ride -

Alex's VERY professional photo on the 100K -

The Kareyns crossing the finish line -

Karyn's ice bath at the finish line -

My friends join me for a 'bath' - look at those WILD shorts!

2nd set of deck stairs - finally

2010-08-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

So, we started the deck LAST summer..... and are 'almost' finished this summer, but not quite.

This is today's progress -

Supper Club - August 2010

2010-08-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last night was supper club. What is Supper Club you ask? Well, about 5 years ago our college group of friends decided that it was going to take much more effort to see everyone on a more regular basis - some were married, some had kids, we live up to an hour apart, etc. So, Jen suggested 'Supper Club'. Approximately every 6-8 weeks one of the 'original' college crew would host Supper Club. They would select a theme and make the main dish. Everyone else would then sign up for a course that they would provide - side dish, appetizer, dessert, etc.

Last night these crazy Browns were hosting and our theme was 'COLORS'. As people RSVP'd we selected the color of their dish. I simply went in the order of the rainbow... Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. The first person selected dessert - and they got RED! Here's what we got -

RED - dessert - Red Velvet Cake with strawberries
ORANGE - appetizer - Sweet Potato Fries with aoli
YELLOW (the first person to rsvp picked our color.... yellow) - main course - saffron rice with yellow curry (shrimp and tofu)
GREEN - salad - well, salad
BLUE - salad - blueberry/walnut salad
PURPLE - side dish - mashed purple potatoes

They were all delicious and creative and fun! We also go to meet Josh, Mike and Amy's son, finally! What a cutie - all smiles and such a flirt!

Thanks everyone!

Another Triathlon

2010-08-14T15:43:00.001-07:00

So, today was my first Olympic triathlon (1.5 km swim, 40 km ride, 10 km run).... here are the stats...
155 carbs eaten
44 oz water (during race)
BG leaving transition area before closed - 179
BG at T1 - 159
BG at T2 - 181
BG at finish - 316

Overall finish... 471/482. Swim finish... 435/482, bike finish.... 463/482, run finish.... 472/482
(of course, only 475 people finished the race with 7 DNF so... my stats go down even further)

Total time = 4:30:39.

My goal (really) was simply to finish. Secret goal was to do it in under 4 hours but I really don't care..... really. And to have a working sensor for my CGM but fate had it's way with that one, I arrived at the race with no tail lights (yeah) and the dreaded '???' on my CGM receiver. Still trying to revive the sensor without luck. no CGM data sucks.

*Race Highlight - I met a woman on the run course who had gotten a hip replacement 3 years ago and could do no more than walk. I chose to walk with her rather than struggle to run, as I usually do. What a phenomenal person and experience. I would not trade 15 minutes off my race time to not have had the opportunity to talk to her for almost the entire run course.

What a GREAT day and my new transition towel(s) worked great! (THANKS MOM!!!)

August 7 - Copper Triangle

2010-08-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, last Saturday we got up and rode the Copper Triangle...at Copper Mountain at 6:15 am and proceeded up and over Freemont Pass, Leadville, Ski Cooper, 10th Mountain Camp, Minturn, Vail and back to Copper Mountain - all 6000 vertical feet of climbing (and descending) that we did!

I even 'rode' into a fellow Team WILDer - Karen L! I rode with her up to Freemont and think I lost her somewhere on the next downhill..... when my speedometer hit 52 I figured she was back there somewhere??

I finished at 2pm and Tucker was there an hour before me - fast riding, beautiful weather and no sunburn for me! It was a great day.... Here are what I imagine will be some tiny, tiny pics of us on the ride....

the mounted patrol

2010-08-03T05:26:00.000-07:00