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"It's just a thing"...

I confided with a friend of mine the other day of my anxiety going into 2014 and the goal of taking on the challenge of completing my first Ironman, Ironman Boulder, August 3, 2014.  Her candid reply:  "its just a thing." I know she didn't mean much deeper than those words and in truth, it is just a thing.  For me, the race itself will hopefully be about 12 hours of my life... 1 day in the grand scheme of things.  My goal for the race specifically is not to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii - if I wanted to do that, I certainly would not have picked a location like Boulder where the best triathletes, pros, former pro's, want to be pro's, and top age groupers, flock to live and train.  My goal for the race day is to stay calm in the water, not panic as I enter with a couple thousand other athletes, ride strong on the bike, and take in the run and all the beauty that makes Boulder an athete's paradise... and of course, do the best I can do

Above the Pines

A cabin nestled in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia.  A retreat.  A life that I have always treasured where I can be myself, wear old sweats, hair in a ponytail, trail running shoes, yet never feel out of place.  A place where my heart just reaches out and connects with God, where I can test my very core of strength and perseverence with each run or mountain I climb.  A place of the happiest memories of connecting with my husband, faithful dog Tucker, and sweet adventurous daughter, Hailey.  A place of dreams to come - a wish that our children will grow up here laughing, sharing secrets, building forts for Barbie dolls, hunting for sticks to create a campfire, and long hikes to distant fire towers. Our cabin has been all that to me and so much more.  It is not a mere house in the woods, made of wood and stone, a rental property or weekend escape.  For me, it makes me who I am.  Sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, I dream of being a bird, soaring up the valley before me.  Vie

Snickers 2013...a marathon??

For years I have said I am a runner, but not a marathoner.  I love running.  It is part of my very being, but marathons?  Not me!  I ran one 13 years ago, The Flying Pig Marathon, in Cincinnati, OH - and vowed to not revisit that again.  It was painful, I was injured, and mile 20-26.2, the "final 10K" felt more like a death march, weaving side to side, slowing from a 7 min/mile pace to a 9:45 min/mile pace.  It wasn't pretty.  I went into it injured after training with a coach who had me running 60-70 mile/weeks, did not know the first thing about nutrition, taking only half a Gu the entire race, and barely drinking water (my silly fear was that I was going to have to stop to use the port-a-potty, forget dehydration and bonking!), and as a result, didn't run for almost 2 months following that day. Fast forward 13 years to now.  I signed up for the Snickers Marathon in Albany, GA last fall after peer pressure got the better of me.  It wasn't really the peer press

Running Fast for F.A.S.T.

Cheesy title, huh?  I must say, I couldn't agree more.  I have been wanting to write about our trip up to Chicago for the F.A.S.T. (Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics) Gala, the Santa Hustle 5K and the Scientific Advisory Panel meeting we participated in the weekend of December 1, 2012, but have been struggling though amazing post Gala/race highs - and the crashing lows - that follow highly anticipated, memorable events such as these. Gino's East Pizza & Beer! I joke that the race is the easy part for me.  Getting to the starting line, well, that is the toughest challenge.  This trip to Chicago was no exception to that.  I will skip on the details because I don't want to clutter the post with jumbled words and thoughts, but lets just say I somehow made it through security at the airport (including taking off shoes, belt, etc. to go through the metal detector), a 2 hour airplane ride, an adventure on the L (Chicago's rail system), walking up and dow