The big 2007 10K!

Well I finally did a race today! It was just a 10K, but that's big-time for me this year :-) The race was in Buena Vista, Colorado. One thing I learned about Buena Vista - the locals actually pronounce it BUNA (U is like YU) Vista - I still am not quite sure why!

The run was the 'Autumn Color Run' and I did it with Michelle. To start out, the website for the race wasn't very clear, I also didn't take a ton of time to try and figure out the details before race day. Turns out there are actually 4 different races that all start at the same time, but at different places - and they all have the same finish line: 1/2 marathon, 10K, 5K and a 1 mile fun run. The website talks up the 'race' saying it's a one-way, downhill course, people generally have their 'best times'....I assumed the 10K fell into that nice description...boy was I wrong! The website was speaking specifically on the 1/2 - whoops! The 10K was uphill for the first 3 miles...then rollers for about 1 mile....and the last 2 miles were relatively flat...oh and this is all at 8,000 feet!! It was rough - I'm trained for a 10k, but I hadn't really done much elevation training! Michelle was also having a hard time, especially during the first 3 miles. I got ahead of her during that time and we ran our own races the rest of the time. I am very happy and proud to say however - we both finished! and we were just 5 mins apart...my time was 64, hers was 69. And the best part - we weren't last! :-)

I've realized today no matter how big or small the race, there are 2 things I ALWAYS run through my head as I run, swim, bike, walk, etc: 1 - at some point in the race I will wonder if I can finish - will I bonk, will I be able to sustain the pace, will I meet my goal...I question if I can really do it. I have done a ton of races, and I'm happy to say I've never once quit! Still the question always pops into my head - and it's usually during the first 20% of the race. Then without a doubt -thought number 2 - there is a point (always after I've finished a big portion of the race) that I realize, I am actually going to finish this thing! Today, thought #1 came at about mile 2.5....thought #2 was just after mile 5. And of course, as I sit at home the night of the race - I am always sooooooooooo glad I did it !

The biggest race I've ever done was exactly one year ago this weekend - the Harvest Moon Half Ironman. I think back to that day, and I clearly remember the turnaround of the run - I realized my thought #2 exactly at that point...even if I crawled to that finish line, I was going to make it! I cannot believe that was 1 year ago - this year has flown by. A co-worker told me last week that time starts going faster as you get older - I AM almost 30 you know!

OK this old chick has to go to bed!

My Magic Winecake Party

Tonight Dan and I are going to a wine tasting party at the home of our friends Mike and Kate. Mike just opened a Pasquini's restaurant (Italian joint) near downtown denver - he has a wine selection on his menu but wants to add more, so he's having friends over to taste the new booze choices. Mike is a quirk and decided he also wants to have a magician at his party. And in case a wine-tasting magical party isn't enough, he requested that Dan and I bring a white sheet cake for dessert (his favorite).



Dan and I went on Sunday to order the cake from the grocery store, and our original idea was to get a cake that had a 'magic trick' theme...we had zero luck finding that. We then decided to try and find the funniest cake possible. You wouldn't believe some of the choices we had. I think you will be impressed with the cake we found (see picture).


This cake is funny on so many levels. First off, it is one of those iron-on cakes. I have no idea how it's done, but I do know it's super janky. Also, notice the bad frosting around the edges. Now for the actual picture - WHO on earth would actually order this cake...seriously? 'Congratulations on crashing your car' , 'Happy Birthday, don't crash your car like this guy did'. And look at the guy (Dan is calling him Al) - he gets out of his car and makes a face like 'oops I crapped my pants'. We put a very cheesy inscription 'hope your party is a smash', I can't wait for the party!

I need your help

My mom (and apparantly others) are having issues posting to my blog. If you read this, can you try to post? And if you cannot post, can you email me and let me know?

I've udpated settings and changed my layout, in hopes that will help!

The Wrath of the Cherry Picker

We just got back from our weekend in Vail with Dan's family, and we had a great time! We stayed in a 3BR condo at the 'Antlers' - great location, right on the river, next to the gondola...Missy brought Caley (her dog) and we brought Rylie - it was a houseful! We went to a great restaurant on Friday night, patio seating right along the river. Saturday Dan, Jon and I decided to rent mountain bikes and do the whole 'downhill mountain biking' experience....you rent the bikes and then take them up the gondola and ride down. This was all my bright idea (important note). We take the first half of our run 'easy' down the trails. Dan and Jon then decide to take me on a 'bike trail' which is VERY narrow and steep. Let me point out, I have never mountain biked...I road bike all of the time - so I thought I would figure out the mountain bike thing pretty easy. Let me tell you - the 2 are VERY different!!!! This first little challenge proved too hard for me....I was breaking at all of the wrong times, and I ended up taking a pretty bad fall on this little stretch. I decided I would stick to the 'easy' runs for the next 2 hours! I broke off from Dan and Jon - Jon ended up with a flat and we only got 2 full runs in. I am bruised and beat up from this experience!!

We went to the pool yesterday afternoon, and we had another great dinner last night right along the river. This morning, Dan and I did a 5K. This was not just ANY old 5K....I actually had no idea what I had signed us up for, I had signed us up a few weeks ago just knowing we would be there and thinking a 5K would be fun. The race is called the 'cherry picker' race....come one, how hard can a race that involves picking cherries be?! I checked out the times from last year before we left on Friday, I should have known it might be trouble when the best time in my AG was 50 minutes, and the best time overall was 35 minutes. When we picked up our numbers this morning, we looked at the course map and saw that we would be climbing 2,200 feet in 3 miles - uh oh!! We got up there and the first 1/4 mile was STRAIGHT uphill - like I couldn't run it if I tried. Everyone started off walking. I told Dan to go ahead, and he started running as soon as he could...I ended up doing most of it as a hike - running on some of the flats and downs. For those of you who know Vail, the course was from the base of the mountain all the way to the top of the gondola (afterwards you have the choice to ride the gondola down - or run back .... if you are a total whacko!!). I finished in 69 minutes - Dan finished about 10 minutes before me....we are still awaiting the final results. Normally 69 minutes would be a shame of a time - today, I am quite happy that I was able to even finish this alive! I ate a big mexican lunch and we just made it back home after a 3 hour drive home. Great weekend, I cannot wait to go back, I think we are camping again next weekend.

Big Brother is tonight, I broke down and ordered Showtime so I can watch BB after dark...sad I know. It's such pointless television!!

I was tagged - info about me....

I was tagged by my mom - SWTrigal

Jobs I’ve Held pre-college:
Bus-girl at the Wild Plum, Cliff’s Amusement Park (Eco crew & ride operator), Hot Dog on a Stick

During College:
Hot Dog on a Stick (summertime, holidays), landscape work for UNC (Colorado), internship at Loveland Industries

After College:
Hewlett-Packard – Financial Analyst and Project Manager

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over:
Pretty Woman
Rudy
Shawshank Redemption
Devil Wears Prada (lame I know)

My Guilty Pleasures:
Dr Pepper
Cheesy Enchiladas
Reality TV
White Wine

Places I Have Lived (in order):
Albuquerque, NM
Greeley, CO
San Jose, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
Littleton, CO

Shows I Enjoy:
Big Brother
Grey's Anatomy
Project Runway
48 Hours Mystery
Top Chef
America’s Next Top Model

Places I Have Been on Vacation:
Various US – all over Colorado and California, NYC, Seattle, Portland, Nashville
Caribbean
Zurich
London (1 day only!)

Favorite Foods:
MEXICAN – what else is there

Websites I Visit Daily:
Yahoo.com
Myfamily.com
Cravingbagels.com
Myspace.com
Blogspot.com

Awards I’ve Won:
Gosh I have no idea – I guess someone needs to grant me an award here soon, I’m surely deserving of daughter or sister of the year or something!

Body Parts I Have Injured:
Broken nose - I was standing behind a kid who swung a golf club into my face
Eardrum burst – ear doctor visit gone bad
I have been lucky, no other broken bones!

Nicknames You’ve Been Called:
Reber, Bec, Becs, Rebs, Big Fish, B, Killer Tomato, Big Bec

Now, I guess I get to tag more people:
Allison – she’s always up for these
Davis – you are the only other person that might read this

Dan loves his waders!

This week is bu-sy! I can't believe it's already Wednesday. Last weekend's camping trip was great! We ended up leaving on Saturday morning, because of course the one weekend a year we go camping, it's RAINING cats and dogs!! We did NOT let that ruin our fun :-) We drove up to a campsite about 15 miles from Keystone, CO and we got a campsite right on the river. It was just gorgeous! We drove up with the Frame's and Ryan met us up there later that afternoon. The boys went off-roading in Ryan's SUV - Michelle and I went for a little hike! We came back, drank wine and the boys made us steak and corn on the grill - it was the BEST! Right before we left, we took all of the SUV's up to the peak (or nearly anyway) of the mountain, at just over 12,000 feet - it was like we were on top of the world. I just love Colorado! We stopped by Keystone on the way out for lunch, the jazz fest was there this weekend, so lots of people, shops, music and food. Took us 3 hours to get home, traffic was nuts - but got home with enough time to unload and clean everything up! I can't wait to go again :-)

I got my first bikini wax today - like the first ever - let me just say....OOOWWWWUUUCCH! The things women go through!

We are off to Vail this weekend with Dan's family - we got Dan's dad a 3BR condo for this weekend for Father's Day. We are all very excited, I am particularly looking forward to renting mountain bikes and doing some downhill biking!

Including some pics from Keystone.....rest are at this link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/19609529@N00/sets/72157601294823035

Camping here we come!

Tomorrow is Friday - yiippeee!!! Week has flown by and we are leaving for our camping trip tomorrow. I have a meeting early in the morning, but I have the rest of the day to pack and get ready to go. I had a big presentation today for work - it was an investigation presentation I led with a team of folks over the last month. Presentation was to a big set of high level managers within HP - by far the 'biggest' presentation of my hp career. My new job is great, I'm really starting to like it now that I sort of know what I'm doing ;-) Anyway, presentation went great, they liked my team's recommendation and decided to move ahead with it! I can now leave for the weekend without any work worries.

Now for camping - we are meeting our friends tonight and doing our food shopping. We decided to go easy and do sandwhiches, hot dogs, snacks, paper plates, etc. We haven't picked an exact campsite, we are actually driving to a random area and flying by the seat of our pants! Not exactly MY style, but I'm looking forward to the WILD streak. Dan hates camping, so I'm hoping we have a good experience, because I'm about 2 steps away from buying a pop up camper trailer. I need him to start liking the outdoors...and quick!