Here we are again (Part 2)

I started this post last week, intent on getting it done while at work in San Diego. Here I am though, one week later and no further than I was a week ago. Let's see where I left off.....

Wisconsin Rapids
Joe invited me to join him in Wisconsin Rapids for a weekend of fun in the snow and sun with some of his firefighter buddies. The weather was perfect, the food was awesome and the drinks were flowing. All in all, it was a really fun weekend.

Joe showed off his snowboarding skills as he was pulled around the lake by Chris and his 4-wheeler. Then we took a turn at tubing behind the 4 wheeler together. It didn't last long though because the snow was blowing up into our faces and was pretty chilly. The rest of our time there was spent eating an awesome dinner and playing a board game called Apples to Apples.

On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Mirror Lake to go XC-skiing. The weather was nice and the snow conditions were perfect. After about an hour though, we were both tired.

Bowling with the Firefighters

The following weekend involved more fun times with the Janesville FD. This time we spent our time indoors bowling and drinking our brains out. The night before the big tournament I became the proud owner of a new bowling ball, shoes and a bag. Of course we had to try it out and bowled 5 games the night before the tournament. Needless to say, I was a little sore going into Saturday.

I was expecting to bowl only 3 games in the 9-pin Tap tournament that was intended for spouses/significant others. 2 of Joe's teammates didn't show up so I got to bowl in the regular tournament as well. 6 more games of bowling. It was lots of fun. My bowling was so-so, but that's ok, I'm still learning. There was plenty of drinking going on which added an element of fun to the day.

So, you are pretty much caught up now, short of talking about my work trip to San Diego last week. All I can about that is that the weather was amazing. It was great to be in t-shirt weather for 5 days, especially after the winter we've had. Now I'm back and trying to get back into the swing of things - training, time with Joe, work, etc...

I promise to get into the blogging a little more often. I know, I've been a slacker.

Here we are again....

So, here we are again. As I attempt to get back into more regular blogging, I am sitting in a hotel in sunny(not snowy, cloudy or cold) San Diego. This is the third time in 4 months that I have been to San Diego, but this time it's for work and not pleasure. I'll admit, I'm not at all thrilled to be traveling for work this week. But, after a day of sunshine, comfortable temps and not a drop of snow or ice in sight, it may be worth it. Before I go on and on about that though, it's catch-up time. Here's the highlights of the last 3 weeks.

Valentine's Day
This was a special Valentine's Day this year. I am in a new relationship and couldn't be happier. Joe is absolutely wonderful. I have a ton of fun with him and as he puts it 'he's a good boy'. He's definitely holding up to the things he says. (I think I'll keep him around awhile longer ;))

It was a Thursday this year and both Joe/I agreed to keep it low key. We didn't want to deal with reservations or getting dressed up. We just decided to cook together and relax. Sounds perfect to me! It's always tricky when deciding what to get someone in a new relationship for Valentine's Day. I settled on the 'Planet Earth' DVD set for Joe and a cute card.

Unfortunately for Joe he was pretty sick on Valentine's Day. But he was a trooper. He still came over to my house to spend the evening with me. When I arrived home, a dozen beautiful red roses were waiting for me along with a bag full of dark chocolates and my favorite body lotions. The gift was incredibly thoughtful, sweet and romantic. Joe knocked this one outta the park. The best part was the card - very funny and sweet :) If you want to know what it says, you'll have to come over and take a look at it.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Joe was asleep by 8pm. Poor guy was sick for several more days before he turned the corner. Fortunately, I never ended up catching whatever he had.

Skiing in Kettle Morraine
Several days later, Joe and I made a trek out to Kettle Morraine to work on our skate skiing. We've had a very snowy winter and conditions were perfect the day we went. We had some fresh new snow, temps were in the high 20's and the sun was shining. Joe was still recovering from his illness, but we made it for just over an hour of skiing.

It was a beautiful day, the trees were gorgeous and covered with snow. Some of the trails were pretty hilly, but overall not too bad. Joe and I took turns leading. Joe would lead on the downhills and I'd take over on the uphills. I had a couple of good spills which led to a few good laughs for Joe.

After we finished up, we went to a small sandwich shop in La Grange. It was delicious and filled with skiers. We picked out a bottle of wine and headed home. Since skiing wasn't enough, we decided to shovel several feet of snow off of Joe's deck. It was a great day - lots of fun, lots of activity, great company.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of 'Here we are again'.....More to come!

Training Slump

Before I get back to catching you all up on my life, I thought I'd ramble a bit about training. I'm in a slump. I'm still pretty diligent about getting in 2-3 swims a week and 3 bikes...but my runs....well let's just say it's been a fight to get me out doing those.

First I have to say 'It's not all my fault'. I know, it sounds like an excuse, but it is so difficult to feel motivated to run when it's snowy, icy, freezing, pouring rain with huge puddles, etc...This winter has been tough for runners in WI. The weather has made it challenging and a bit unsafe at times. Yes, I could certainly head for a treadmill, but that is so boring I can't even begin to describe the monotony of running in one place for 45 minutes or longer. I've been lucky to run 10 miles in one week lately.

Second, everyone around me has been sick lately. I've been trying to avoid getting sick and every time I have a single symptom I take time off and rest. This has worked for me so far, but has also gotten me into a position where I don't feel like running much. It's frustrating and makes me anxious about what will happen with my running once the weather turns the corner. I definitely feel slow and probably am slower than I was a few months ago since my running has cut back a bit.

Swimming is going well. I did have my Time Trial last week and I knew during the warm-up that I was going to have a less than ideal TT. I swam a 5:55 for 400 yards. That's an official personal best for me, but I know I'm capable of much more than that. Just a few days ago at practice I was swimming my 200's in 2:48 or 2:50. The nice part about those was they didn't feel like Time Trial pace, but were quite a bit faster than my TT pace last Friday. That's the way it goes though, some days you have it and some days you don't. It's just the nature of training. You accept the bad days because you can't always have good days. It doesn't work like that.

Biking is also going well. I'm really anxious to get my bike out on the road this spring and see how my training over the winter has affected my road riding. I've worked hard on the bike and am hoping that translates into some good bike splits this summer.

I need to get back to days of long bike rides and runs...blue skies, warm temperatures, carrying water or gatorade on a hot summer day. I'll just say it, I'm sick of winter. Spring and Summer can't come soon enough....