The Long and Winding Road

Well, 2021.  What a three hundred and sixty five days of unexpected.  As I sit here, doing my bit to navel gaze on the year, I'm smiling, thinking of all the amazing things that happened this year - in terms of athletics, friendships, relationships, family, and personal development.  It's been such a year.  Last night at the dinner table, as is our tradition pre New Year's Eve- we all went around the table talking about the good things that happened in 2021.  Some of them were huge - we made some awesome family gains in the year, I had a few amazing big races, Greg hit a new milestone success in his business - Rob ran his first cross country race, Biz started gymnastics - but it was also scattered with the small, every day smiles of life, which are sometimes tough to realize during a pandemic, but so damned important.  

Like so many of us, I've struggled this year with the sheer inertia of life  - the past year and a half have been depressing, if left unattended.  But oddly enough, my resolution for 2019 still stays with me and serves me well - doing the "big scary things" idea.  I still stand by it.  If you don't like something about your life, you can either complain about it or change it.  I chose the latter, and its made all the difference.

Sometimes the road less traveled is a little tricky to navigate.  I always thought by 39, I'd have it all figured out and be living my best, if not predictable, life.  But...the concept of taking a risk and jumping in full force has been, hands down, one of the best things I've ever done.  I've failed spectacularly - both of my own accord and also because I trusted the path I was on - and the people that I was with - a little bit too much. 

That last bit has been the downfall of my 2021 - some of the things I've jumped into have just not panned out, and I have had to have the wherewithal to pick up the pieces quite a few times- whether its a failed attempt at a workout, a friendship, or something else.  And I question sometimes the wisdom of putting yourself on the line over and over again - is it worth it to walk the different paths, even if the dead end comes up so much more quickly than you expect? How do you know when to quit or give it one last try?  And if you fail, how do you put that failure behind you and keep moving forward toward your goal, especially if it seems ambiguous? 

It's something I'm still working on.  The idea that some things are just flat out lessons to be learned - whether its a shit race, a work experience, or people that come into your life for a reason or a "season" and don't stay.  Some things aren't meant to last.  And some things happen really just to give you a fresh perspective on something else, or provide a stepping stone to something else you never even knew was out there.

It's humbling.  But always about growing - and every time I'm pretty sure I've learned the lesson, life takes an odd twist with it, and I adapt and give it another shot. 

Some of the endings of 2021 I never saw coming.  I never realized it was the last time for some things -  it truly taught me to appreciate every moment as it came.  And to not be so afraid to say what I was thinking out loud, or to go in a direction that I never would have had the guts to do.  Sometimes that worked - and I've made some amazing friends and gone some amazing places - the concept of driving across country to do a half ironman in a bomb cyclone comes to mind!  Sometimes it didn't, and I fell flat on my face. But always - I get up, lick my wounds, and try again. 

As I did my long ride this morning, I watched Lionel Sanders year end recap - along with his lessons learned.  He's fast becoming one of my favorite pros - not only because he's so darn hard working and humble, but he's not afraid to try new things, admit when he's wrong, or flat out burst in to tears when he accomplishes the unthinkable.  He's about hard work, grit, and nose to the ground, but opening up to new possibilities (training with people can be fun! Why not fly in the face of science for training!) that might take him somewhere.  He flat out admitted he almost retired from pro racing this year and that it was a year of discovery - and laid his soul bare for his dreams, goals and ambitions.  That sort of naked honesty is so refreshing - and its got me so inspired for 2022. To go boldly for what I never thought was possible, and make that leap.  As I watched his Ironman Chattanooga recap - they did a close pan in of his flying dismount on the bike and I thought - hey, I can finally do that (thanks 2021!)!  It was gorgeous to watch - the grace of it all.  It made me realize how far I've come this year.

And then I remembered the other race in 2021 where I put my aero helmet on backwards in T1 and came out looking like a majestic narwhal. Sometimes, we fail.  (But that one was damned funny, am I right?)

Perspective, people.  

And that's my goal for 2022.  The ability to go forward confidently and say "Fuck it" - knowing that I might fail, or it might be something amazing.  And that all the people I meet along the way - they might become the most cherished life long friends, as I've met a few special people on this journey.  And some of them - are really just there to show me what not to do, or there for a very short time. Do I plan to change?  Heck no.  Sometimes you have to put your heart on the line and just go for what you believe in, or try things you never thought you'd do - it might work, it might not, but I'll be damned if I won't take that chance at everything life has to offer. 

Here's to an amazing 2022 - as always, I expect there will be some epic highs and some real learning experiences - but RAISING the bar - is always the goal.  Happy New Year - lets go for it!

ONE NY Half Marathon: Don't Stop Believin'

 I love how I write an end of season post, then go do two more races.  Famous last words, right?  So, the backstory on the ONE NY Half - as always, this was a combo of goals and bad decision making.  Someday, I'll write a novel on this stuff.  For now, it's race reports.  Thank you in advance for being my guinea pigs as I flex my muscle for this best seller.  As if you had a choice. 

As I alluded to earlier, back in October when I got grumpy, it was a combo of things.  Post big race let down.  Crappy weather.  Life.  But one of the big things was - I felt a little unfulfilled. After Eagleman, I felt like my two 70.3's were big, but not conducive to PR's because of the courses (Hilly AF).  So after the big cyclone dance in Utah, I felt great about the season, but like I had something left in me.  I also felt that because I hadn't really focused on the run, I had something to prove to myself.  About five weeks ago, I went out for an easy run that ended up being a 3 mile tempo at a 7:30 pace - which was my old mile repeat pace - and something began to percolate.

As always, this was aided by a new friend, Jeff, that I met at Cassadagaman.  Jeff did his first tri there (he's an idiot badass) and is quite the runner - he had just set a sweet 1:34 PR in October for a half marathon and seemed to at least tolerate my weirdness via text.  Seed planted.  

Somehow in the midst of a buddy run and a string of texts that encouraged bad decisions, we both signed up for the ONE NY Half marathon in Syracuse.  The goal?  To break that pesky 1:40 half marathon.  Which equated to roughly a 7:35 mile pace.  Scary. As. Shit.  I drew up a five week plan, and ran six days a week - three easy, one long, one tempo (3-6 miles @7:30) and one day of speed work as mile to two mile repeats.  Bam. Jeff agreed to get me to sub 1:40, and offered to pace me for the race.  He's a crazy man awesome friend. 

Here's the scary part.  I nailed every workout.  Every single. damned. one.  Which never happens.  Even leading up to race week, aside from one run post 5k that felt like death, I hit all my paces.  And....they felt good.  Like any neurotic athlete, I blew up Jeff's phone the week before the race - either I felt like death and was suspicious, or it was going entirely too well and I was suspicious.  Poor dude.  He handled it like a champ.  It's crazy how a tapering athlete gets - and this was honestly the worst case of taper I'd had all year.  And I knew why.

There was never an option to fail.  I had no fall back goals, no B goals, nothing.  It was sub 1:40 or bust.  Don't stop believin', baby. Bring it.

Race morning dawned early and cold - with temps in the mid thirties and gusty winds.  The course was a "round the lake" course - it looked pretty darn flat with the exception of a few rollers at miles 3 and 9, and mile 12 was uphill - but with a net elevation gain of 300.  I decided to aim for a 7:30 pace, which would give me wiggle room on the back half if need be.  When asked the day before the race about goals, I gave my never wavering answer - 1:39.  Ken (we all know Ken, he brings on all the tri bad decisions - I love my people) responded with - That's soft.  I'm going for 1:37.  WTF Ken.

All egging on aside, I travelled to the race, met up with some friends - Jeff, my main man, Jeremy (who was in from Florida for the weekend and in because of my bad decision encouragement!) Simon and Sean, fellow RATs, and Martha, from Roadkill.  Sweet! We chatted, shivered, and did a quick warm up.  Pre race start I shed my layers and froze my ass off while we waited for the gun and before I knew it...we were off!!

Miles 1-3.1: 21:56

This race had a neat feature of a timing mat at each 5k, which was a great way to break up the race.  Jeff and I started out a little fast (of course) and two minutes into the race, I realized that the spare stick of gum I always tuck in my handheld....was still in my shoe.  Yep, I ran 13 miles with a stick of gum in my instep.  I would inform  you I'm an idiot, but we know this already.  I was also freezing - I Asked Jeff if I could borrow his pants, and he wisely ignored me.  We hit mile 1 at 7:05 and mile 2 at 6:58.  Jeff was being an awesome pacer - he kept checking in and was determined to stick with me.  I felt fine, but also knew this was a hot pace that I didn't care to sustain, so at mile 3 (7:16) I told him to run ahead and do his thing.  He looked so comfortable at a 7 minute mile that I knew the guy had a PR in him - and - after checking with me a dozen times, he finally ran ahead and did his thing (and netted another huge PR in 1:31 - holy hell!)  I hit the 5 in 21:56, well ahead of my goal and feeling good.

Miles 3.1 - 6.2: 44:06 10k split

The second 5k actually felt amazing.  I kept checking in with my splits, and for every mile under 7:30, I would figure out how much time I had banked, but also checked in at an effort level.  At the 10k split I felt great, was running at an effort level of 6/10, and had a ton left in the tank.  At the 10k there was a sign saying we were (almost) halfway there, and I chuckled, thinking of our road trip to Utah and singing a little Bon Jovi in my head.  I hit a gel at mile 5 and chatted with a few runners along the way, but largely running solo and feeing fine with it.  Oh, and I also hit a 10k PR by 36 seconds.  This was either very good or very bad....TBD!

Miles 6.2-9.3 1:07:11 15k split

At mile 7, we turned into the bend of the lake and hit a massive headwind.  Like, blow you back headwind.  Oof.  My pace slowed from 7:15s to 7:20-7:30, which was totally fine but it was also starting to get a little tough.  We hit mile 8 and entered the Christmas displays along the lake, and there was a course sign that said "You WILL enjoy this pretty mile" and I laughed, thinking, well- if I must!  I realized at this point I had waited too long to fuel and hit another gel, and a few minutes later I felt much better.  There was a huge cheering section right before mile 9 which really helped out a ton, and at the 15k split Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas" was playing full blast.  If that wont get you to move the hell out of the way, I don't know what will!

Miles 10-13.1 (ish): 1:35:35

Once I escaped the fresh hell of the song that won't end, we hit another bridge and there was a race
photographer snapping pics - I joked with him that he was capturing our suffering uphill and he responded by getting a snap of my best side.  As we rounded the lake for he home stretch, I hit mile 10 in 1:13 by my watch (Which was always .1 off) and I did a little quick math.  The final 5k.....could I do it in 24 minutes?  Was Ken right??  OMG.  I had been stuck on 1:39 for so long, faster just did not compute to me.  But I felt good!  A little slower (was averaging 7:30-7:35 now) but well within 24 minutes.  LETS. DO. IT. Miles 11 and 12 went by with the same vein at 7:35 and 7:26, then the final mile hit with full force, with an 85 foot incline (this seems trivial, but was 1/4 of the elevation gain of the race).  I slowed, but didn't die (7:34 split).  At mile 12.9 I saw a woman retching on the ride of the road (Talk about leaving it all out there!) and glanced at my watch at mile 13, and saw 12.9 - decisions had to be made) Saw Jeff cheering me on and gunned it to the finish....and ran right through that sucker until I hit 13.1 on my watch.  I'm again, a moron, but I needed that 13.1 on my watch to feel legit about it!

Post Race

Post race, I caught up with Jeff, who was laughing his head off at my finishers antics - the course was 13.01 by my watch, so I needed to feel legit about my half PR - which is either 1:35 according to the race or 1:36 according to my Garmin. Either I'm a tangent wizard (I saw 13.03-13.3 from my friends) or the course was a little short, but either way - I wanted there to be no question on my PR!  I caught up with Greg, who texted all the love in the world and the news that I made the woman's leaderboard as top 10 - OMG! (10/421 women and 45/907 total).  I managed to snag 3rd place in my age group (the winner of my AG was the overall winner) as well! (PS - The gum in my shoe did not fare very well). 

I was completely overwhelmed.  Jeff and I hung around and waited for Sean, Jeremy, Simon, And Mike to finish, got our pics on the time board, and in general, grinned like goofy idiots. 

Five days post race, I'm still grinning.  My legs aren't quite right yet, I've had a slew of bad decision suggestions from friends like Marcus, Ryan and Bruce (what would I do without these people) and am still in complete awe that I managed to hold a 7:20 pace for 13.1 miles.  What's next??  Well, I'm done with 2021.  I can't top what I just did and I am completely over the moon with it. I'm so incredibly grateful for my circle that believes in me and helps me with these crazy goals - you know who you are - and I cannot wait to start working toward those 2022 goals!

First, we rest.  It's legit off season time for the next month.  I have a Turkey trot next week that's being run completely for fun, and in the meantime I'll be taking the time to prep my mind and body for 2022.  

The Grocery Run 5k: Bad Influence

 So, post tri season, I have all of these brilliant ideas.  BRILLIANT.  I started running more, signed up for a half marathon (what's off season?) and started re thinking my 2022 season and goals.  After such a shitty October, I realized that I needed to do one of two things - change my attitude or change my circumstances.  Bingo.

I decided to do both, which means a slew of things for 2022 (oh just you wait) but it meant a few key things for the rest of 2021.  Namely, to stop pouting and eating all the chocolate.  Oof.  It also meant branching out in terms of some bad decision making, cause those usually make the best stories.  I've gotten involved with two pretty awesome local tri groups lately - Wolfpack (who I'll proudly represent in 2022 as an ambassador) and the Rochester Area Triathletes (RATs).  I was a RAT back in the day, from about 2008-2011, then fell off as the family stuff came along and I changed my multisport life a bit.  Last year, the President roped me into the fray, and I've met some pretty awesome RATs through all of it - they are fun, excited about the sport, and have a fantastic sense of humor.  I don't know how, but somehow I was voted into the board as the co marketing VP for 2022, so somehow my highly ridiculous awesome presence is appreciated in the club.  Huzzah!

With the involvement comes some pretty sweet friendships, partner runs, and group fun.  So when Mike (el preso), floated the idea of a group 5k three days before the event, I immediately said "WTF Mike" "I'm in!"

The race: East Ave Grocery 5k.  I've always eyed this race with a "maybe" - its flat, fast and not at a bad time.  I haven't legit raced an open 5k in years (I've paced some, done some for fun) and I wasn't in shape to race this one either - though my half marathon has included some speed work, its been mile repeats, which really don't do a ton for 5ks.  However, my old 5k PR of 21:45 was from a split of a 5 mile race in 2019 (what) and my open 5k PR was from four years ago - a 22:53.  Woah.  We probably needed to fix this!

With 3 days to prep, I dusted off my zoomie shoes, took one day off running, and ate a bagel.  Killer training, yo.  The morning of the race, I headed out to Mike's house to join him and seven other teammates for a nice 3 mile warm up to the race site from his house (he has awesome, terrible ideas).  This, of course, meant that there would be a 3 mile cool down, cause that's what the cool kids do.  I woke up race morning to find my favorite capris had a hole in an, um, unfortunate spot, so I brilliantly decided to wear brand new running tights.  What could possibly go wrong?

Mike and I had a bet riding on the race - he would buy lunch if I beat him, and vice versa.  He was hoping for a sub 23, I was hoping for a PR, but doubtful it would happen.  Sweet.  He very nicely volunteered to pick up everyone's race bibs, so when we got to the house, everyone was all set - except me.  He somehow forgot mine (ahem- sabotage?) which I of course, gave him crap for.  I threatened to wear my Reaper singlet and was immediately thrown a RAT's singlet (score) which made up for the bib snafu!  (I'm kidding.  It was hilarious and I will use any ammo for our highly ribbing style of friendship).  With business taken care of, we headed to the start - I got to meet a bunch of new RATs - Nancy, Mike, Carin, Kara, Bonnie, Hugo - and hang with Sue and Simon, two awesome peeps that are already aware of my insanity.

We got to the race start after a nice easy warm up and I went off in search of a bib.  There were roughly 700 people in pace to race (what a great turnout!) and the morning was clear, cold, and beautiful.  After saying hello to a zillion people that knew me that I knew um, some of, it was time to line up.  I went off on my own to get in race mode and debated how to line up.  I wanted a sub 22:45 and was super secretly hoping to run every mile at 6:59 - something about a six as the first number screamed FAST and also scared the  shit out of me.  With that in mind, I lined up about a quarter of the way back and called it good.  Before I knew it, the gun sounded and we were OFF!

Mile 1: 6:36

As we took off, I realized I seeded myself way the hell too slow and was passing people left and right.  I finally caught up to a good pace and felt like I was running hard but not too hard.  About a half mile in I realized I was, um, in the lead pack of women.  There was one woman out ahead (Melissa, a local runner that wins all the 5ks and is way speedier than me - she won and finished in 18 minutes!) and one more woman about 10 yards in front of me.  And then....me.  Wait, what??  I hate 5ks!  I'm not fast!  This was my first running race of the year!  Woah.  I reminded myself that we still had a ways to go and to run my own race.  Nonetheless, I hit the first mile marker in 6:36, my fastest mile...ever.  OMG.  

Mile 2: 6:48

I won't lie, for a hot second, I started to debate a sub 20.  But then realized I'd need to run sub 6:20s to accomplish that and...well....next time.  At this point, another woman zoomed by me, followed by one more.  Whew.  I felt a little let down but they were hauling ass and I was starting to hurt!  Hit the turnaround, kept my clip steady, and managed to pass one of the women back just before mile 2, which clocked in at 6:48. Holy shit

Mile 3: 6:44

At this point, I remembered why I hate 5ks.  They hurt!  I kept my eyes on the woman in front of me, the one I had stayed 10-5 yards behind the whole race.  I knew I couldn't catch her if she kept her pace up, but ya never know.  Rounding the final turn with half a mile to go, the lead biker was heading back down the course and almost plowed into me.  Whoops.  I'll admit, I didn't have many of my faculties left at that point - sorry dude!  Hit mile 3 in 6:44 and as I raced to the finish, I saw the clock ticking toward 21 minutes...holy shit.  I tried to accelerate to sneak in under 20 but ran out of time and crossed in at 21:01.

(PS - Check out that bad race photo.  Apparently I cant be cute and fast.  I'm totally okay with this)

OMG.  What the hell just happened???  At the finish, I saw #3 woman and thanked her for keeping me going (I totally stalked her later and had absolutely no business being anywhere near her - she's fast as hell!)  I missed her by 13 seconds, which haunts me about as much as missing going under 21 - not very much at all.  I blew every expectation I had for this race and am still in shock.  The final stats - 4th overall woman out of 325, and 22nd overall out of 575 people.  Holy shit.  At a pure running race where I struggle at the distance.  Totally unreal. My overall pace was a 6:43 mile, which also blew me away.  (Apparently my true 5k time was 20:52, but I need to learn to run tangents.  Duly noted!) Maybe I should actually train next time??

Post race we got the deets on our AG prizes (to be picked up later, I won my AG) and waited for the rest of the RATs to come in (Mike, you owe me lunch).  We trotted back to Mike's house for coffee and goodies, and made a pact to continue being a bad influence on each other.  After all, according to Mike, a pack of RATs is...a mischief.  Spot. On. 

Next up is the One Half Marathon in Syracuse on Sunday - fingers crossed its a good day!

Baby, Take a Bow

 And that's a wrap on the 2021 tri season.  Post St. George, I took a month off to play unstructured, and now, at the end of October, I'm focusing on running - its the perfect temperature to do so, and with a very bike focused season, its my way of playing in the "off" season!  I've also sprinkled in a little bit of biking, a once a week swim, some much needed lifting and core - and a few fun "what the hell" things like Mountain biking (dear god I am horrible at it, but it was fun!) a little hip hop dancing (same) and even a some legit yoga.  

  I'm also signed up for a half marathon next month - I realized that in my quest to get better on the bike, I haven't done one single running race this year at all.  Sure, I'm a triathlete, but I love running, so we had to fix that.   

Off season is weird. After Worlds, I fell into the predictable funk of  "Ok, what's next?".  I knew this was going to happen, it does every year.  Most triathletes remedy the situation by signing up for another race, which I almost did (North Carolina 70.3) but was talked out of it by cooler heads.  I then made a ton of fun plans with said activities above, some of which happened, some of which fell through. Work sucked me in and life got complicated on so many levels.  Ugh.  Predictable, predictable, predictable.  This was compounded by the fact that my last race - my "A race" according to my coach (I disagree with this - it was never an A race in terms of time goals, but apparently, an A race can have more than one meaning, so we will go with it) - was totally not what I wanted. if I'm honest.  Worlds was definitely an experience, but with the weather catastrophe, it really wasn't the race I was hoping for.  Which is totally ok, but it left me at loose ends.  

With quite a few things, it turns out.  I'm happy to report that I'm finally emerging from my yearly October funk (I didn't even realize this was a thing, to be honest, but when I look at the past two years, October has been just horrible for some of the reasons above - I'm actually really glad I deferred my October half marathon, as it probably would have sucked).  And as we exit October, the fun of November begins - where I lay out all of my 2022 hopes and dreams.  I've already gotten a start on this in the past week and there are some really big things coming.  Big Scary things if you will - and just like in 2019, I am so amped to tackle them, but with the benefit of being just a little older and wiser.  Right.  What was I thinking??

But before we move on to 2022, we have to put a wrap on 2021.  2021, while on paper not that impressive (maybe?) was really a big year for me.  It wasn't a year full of big sexy PR's like 2019 - even though I managed a PR in the Sprint, Olympic and Half Ironman distance by small margins - but it was 100% a stepping stone to 2022 in terms of skill and growth.

The huge factor is the year was undoubtedly the bike. Going into the year, I had definitely ditched the trainer for outdoor riding when I could, and gotten to where I wasn't a total liability riding outside.  But it was still touch and go.  During the year (okay, most of it in one week) I learned how to ride in aero, shift into the small ring without freaking out, take a bottle hand off, eat on the bike, ride one handed, and even flying dismount.  I know.  What the hell happened?  I have no idea how to explain it.  But this led to giant PR's on the bike - I shaved 12 minutes off of my 70.3 bike split, and in several local races, I won the bike segment.  Unreal.  

This level of confidence on the bike is something I can't wait to build in 2022 - I have goals and room for growth in several areas and I can't wait to tackle them.  It's gonna be great.  But 2021 was a big year for the bike - in my 15 years as a triathlete I have never ridden in aero.  Ever.  I still can't believe how much differently I feel about it, and its awesome.

While my run slightly suffered for work on the bike, I brought it back mid season and managed to place reasonably well on the run segment for my later season races.  I plan to focus on that during the off season and bring it back strong in 2022!  Post season I have finally found my zoomy legs and putting the two together in 2022 is the main goal.

In terms of races, looking back, I'm freaking amped about the season.  I hadn't thought about it until someone pointed it out to me, but every single local race I did - I placed overall in.  WHAT.  Yep.  All jokes aside about the podium, I technically hit it for every local race, finishing with the top women, and I even freaking WON a race this year.  You guys.  That's so beyond anything I can even imagine, I'm still looking around to make sure that's real.  It is.  And for my two Ironman branded races - one I qualified for World's and one WAS World's.  And while I didn't have the race I wanted there (hell, no one did) I still finished in the top half of the women's race.  Ya know, of the "best women" in the world.  (I know they didn't all go.  but it was a qualifier race!).

Amazing stuff.  I'm so glad I'm good at patting myself on the back, but I never could have done this cool stuff without some pretty awesome support from my crew.  This year has been truly humbling with the support I've had from both new friends and those that have been my mainstays. You guys are amazing.  Beyond amazing.  There aren't even words.  But I'm gonna try.

To those that I met in the new adventures of 2021 - thank you for all of the fun!  Your energy is infectious and I can't wait to play in 2022.  Mike, you brought me into the fold of the RATs family (did I have a choice??) and I can't wait to work together in 2022.  I'll try not to suck.  To Laura, my twin, who also doesn't suck - thanks for the laughs!  And Jeff - once you put up with my bullshit during Cassadagaman, I knew you were a keeper.  I can't wait to do zoomies for our runs and make epic bad

decisions in 2022.  To Joe - even though I didn't recognize you at the Roc tri (SMH) I appreciate the bike tips and for the patience as you took this train wreck on her first mountain bike ride - looking forward to more laughs (at my expense probably)!  Blair - you crack me up and even though I'll never catch you, I'll do my best to try!  And to Sue, Kate, Jill, Mindy  and all the amazing bad ass women I met on the course this year - I love you guys.  You made it fun.  

To my mainstays and returning fellow bad decision makers - thanks for keeping it real.  Lindz, you are such a  unicorn and you make everything so darn fun, I cant wait to road trip with ya, girl.  Tally - its on in 2022.  Ill actually try this time.  Jeremy - I miss you, boo - I cant wait to hang out when you get back and tear up the course in 2022.  You are the best!  To Bruce, who I didn't get to race with this year, but always pushes me to be my very best and hands it to me straight up, even when I could use a little less truth - I appreciate the hell out of you.

To Ryan AKA the Outlaw - dude.  You came into my life at exactly the right time and have stayed right there exactly where and when I need you most.  You are the best fellow bad decision maker, bad choice encourager, and friend a girl could ask for.  From our success at a century to all of the races we did together this year, to our late night "data pulls", and every ridiculous stunt between, you make me laugh when I need it and push me to be my best.  Love ya dude.

To my Worlds road trippers - Marcus and Ken - you guys.  That was a trip I will never ever forget.  I have no idea how one does 4800 miles in 8 days in a RAV 4 with 3 people and 3 bikes but....it was amazing.  Both of you are so supportive and the best friends a girl could ask for.  It's funny how things from a decade ago come back and are just so much better than ever.  I can't wait for Road trip 2022 - I hear Iowa looks nice....

To my coach.  It's been such a wild ride since you took a chance on this crazy athlete in 2019...looking

back, the person I was is so much different than who I am now.  Even though there have been plenty of um, growing opportunities this year, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me, both as an athlete and a person.  You not only rock as a coach and have helped me get to levels I never dreamed of, but you are a true friend through all of it and irreplaceable.  Who would have thought a random exchange at the Y would have changed my life so much....Thank you.  For everything.

To my family and family not by blood but family - you guys are just amazing.  Rob and Biz, you guys are such a wonderful cheerleaders (and task masters) to Mom!  Liz and John, thanks for all of your MP support and Ohh rah's.  "Miss" Kelly - what would I do without you helping critique my flying dismounts, calling me a Tigger, and watching my kiddos so Greg and I can play together!  As always - to my mom, who uses her Gramma duties judiciously so we can race and even though she doesn't really get this "crazy tri thing", supports my crazy.

And to my better half....I love you.  Without even looking at the fact that without you, I would never have even done a tri....your unending support of my dreams for not only multi sport but life are absolutely beyond anything I could have ever asked for.  You believe in me even when I don't, and do everything in your power to help me achieve my dreams.  The World Champ, Lucy Charles-Barclay, in her award speech, talked about her husband Reece and his support for her World's prep.  She explained how when she packed for St. George, she packed an "ok" blue dress for the awards ceremony in case she didn't win and a fabulous red dress in case she won.  Her husband, looking at the dresses, told her to leave the blue dress at home.  And she did.  And having you for a partner in life is the exact same way - you always have a firm belief in my ability to "wear the red dress".  I am so lucky to have you in every single way, and I love you!

To the rest of the wonderful people that have been there for me, I thank you.  I am so incredibly lucky to know such love and support!!

So, after that love fest - what's next?  November means prep for the upcoming season - stay tuned for the off season goals (as well as some new content for those just getting started!) and the ramp up for 2022 - there are some pretty big goals to crush!

70.3 Worlds Part 3: Highway to Hell

 First of all, congrats if you've made it this far!  Welcome to the conclusion of a long, drawn out race report on the adventures of World's 70.3 2021 - in case you missed it, here's my arm chairing on the swim and the bike.  TLDR - the swim was warm, wet, and the easy part (TWSS?).  The bike included every element known to man except calm and cloudy conditions.  We left part 2 in a massive downpour, where I created a giant mess in T2 with my crap, grabbed a quick potty break, and then headed off for the RUN!

A few notes about this run - in consistent St. George fashion, nothing about this course was flat.  It was divided into 2 6.6 mile loops of fun - the first three miles included 2 major climbs, the next 3 were rolling to downhill, and the last half mile was a screaming, quad busting downhill that was so steep it was deemed almost unrunnable. Total elevation gain in 13.1 miles - 1260.  Piece of cake, right?

This is worlds people, what did you expect?  Pancake flat and 60 degrees with cloud cover?

Well, yes, that would have been sweet, but we were playing a different game today!

As I took off on the run I multi tasked by throwing on my visor and race belt and securing my handheld.  My goal was to fill up with water at the first stop and hang on to the handheld - ya know, for the 100 degree sunshine we were supposed to have.  Oh, wait...

I cruised up the first few minutes of the first hill and saw a woman ahead of me that was struggling.  As I passed her, I joked "Did you remember your sunscreen re-application?" and she busted out laughing and thanked me for making her smile.  We chatted for a bit - this was her second ever 70.3 after she qualified in Florida - she confessed that she was not used to these hills!  I told her I was from NY but qualified at pancake flat Eagleman and we had a good laugh.  We slowed to a walk at the first aid station and I refilled and took back off after she encouraged me to go ahead.  

I actually felt pretty good - the roads were flooded and my shoes were already wet, but this was sort of pleasant on the run.  I had already decided to adapt my Cassadagaman strategy and walk the major hills - I developed a decent run walk back during my Ironman man days - I would count to 100 with my right foot strike, 100 with my left, then walk for 100 paces.  Don't knock it till you try it - it has always served me well!  This came into play about mile 2.5, when the major hill happened.  I had already thrown out my sub 6 about 3 hours ago, so I was solely looking for a strong half marathon, goal pace being 9:00/mile.  

The first two miles clocked respectably in at 8:23 and 8:50, and we started run/walk at mile 3, which, incidentally is when it stopped raining and the sun came out full force.  Blazing sun during the run?  WHY THE HELL NOT??  At this point in the course there were at least a couple of dudes dancing around rockin' skimpy speedos, so I sped up to um, get past them as quickly as possible (I didnt ogle.  I am a total liar professional.  C'mon).  Mile 3 - with elevation gain of 226 - netted a 9:53, then the fun began.  Mile 4 was slight uphill but not as bad - 8:46, then I began a cruise for the next 3 miles, hovering from a 7:46 mile to an 8:15.  The rollers weren't too bad, I got a high five from a hot dog and a frog prince (I cant make this up) and even made it through the downhill of death without killing my quads.  I finished the first loop in 57 minutes, which left me a nice padding for my sub 2 goal.  Except....did I want to rethink that? 

I looked at my watch and did some quick math - if I did the next loop in 53 minutes I could go under 6 - I could totally do 6 miles in 53 minutes, right?  Even though we were on the highway to hell via hills?  YES!

Oh wait - no.  It was 6.5 miles, not 6. So, I guess 8:00/mi wasn't reasonable with the hill of death ahead.  I reset my goal to a 6:05, and headed back up the first hill.  As I tried to keep a decent clip, I realized that final coup de grace of the course was that obviously they made the hills bigger on the second loop - WTF was this?  I slowed to a walk, took a gel, and speedo man ahead yelled out at the top of his lungs "GIRL GET YO BUTT IN GEAR! YOU DIDNT COME HERE TO WALK!"  Who me?  Oh yes, me lol.  I started running, high fived him, slapped off some vaguely flirty comment that made him laugh, and went after it. 

 The rest of loop two was about the same - walk/run at the major hills, then keep a decent clip otherwise.  I actually felt pretty good - a few twinges in my right knee that were probably from the bike, but the one bonus to biking conservatively was that my legs were good for the run (I passed SO. MANY. PEOPLE.  I suspect they blew it on the bike - which - while I felt my bike split could have been better, maybe it was  blessing I took it easier). 

When I hit mile 12, the tingles began to take over - I finally realized that after the last 6 hours - the last week - the last 3 months - the last 3 years - that OMG I was going to finish this thing....and I got super emotional.  This was the downhill clip from hell, but I didn't care.  I was flying.  I was smiling.  I could not believe I was AT. WORLDS.  OMG.

With half a mile to go, I heard someone yell out "Go Reaper!" (I got this quite a bit during the race, which is a reason I love my freaking team) and I looked over to see a petite woman on the sidelines cheering out.  OMFG It's HEATHER F'ING JACKSON.  SHE JUST YELLED TO ME.  I reached out for a high five and she gave me one, all grins.  And guys.  I FLEW after that.  (Full disclosure, I have a huge crush on Heather Jackson - she is my tri idol and I absolutely adore her.  I am never washing my high five hand.  Ever).

With that race ending high, I sprinted to the finish and threw my hands up, the biggest grin on my face, walking on air.  

Run time: 1:55:14 - 8:49/mi

Total Race Time: 6:05:27

Post race, I was sherpaed by the coolest kiddo ever who got me my medal, t shirt, towel and made sure I was okay (Thanks Cory!).  Got my pic snapped, handed out a few high fives, and caught up with Marcus and Ken - who had equally tough days but were so thrilled to finish!  We hung around waiting for Kim to finish (who pronounced the race the hardest thing she'd ever done and vowed that giving birth was easier - now if that's not an assessment of the day, I don't know what was!)

We called home, checked in for all those that saw the storm via live feed and assured them we were alive, there were no mechanicals, and that the day was just that fucking crazy.  Over cheeseburgers, salty fries, alcohol, and Penn Sate football we celebrated the day - the day that would live on infamy not only for the four of us, but 3,500 of our comrades in the battle of World's 70.3 2021.

We all agreed that even though no one got close to their time goal, it was a race for the ages.  In the next few days, we shared videos, stories, and tried to explain what really happened out there.  But like most good adventures - what happens at St. George....stays in St. George.  I can't explain the day any better than that.  It was a race for the ages.  One I'll never forget. 

70.3 World's Part 2 - Rock You Like A Hurricane

Ready for Part 2?  Sure you are!  When we last left our hero (still me, guys), I was on my way out to the bike portion of World's after a decent wetsuit free swim and a little bit of a foreboding sky.  I rode with that black sky to my right for a bout a mile, then turned the heck away from that thing - with six miles to go in the opposite direction, it was totally going to go away, right?  RIGHT?  Well, either way, that wasn't mile 1 Rae's problem.  That was at least mile 10 Rae's problem, so we would address it then.

This bike course did one of two things - you were either climbing, or descending.  There might have been about 5 miles of flat road somewhere, but I doubt it.  The first half of the course offered three punchy climbs and one long one, with a few screaming descents.  The second half was rolling until mile 40, where there was a 7 mile climb up Snow Canyon, with over 1000 feet gain in 4 miles.  (Rumor had it some athletes walked this section.  We drove it Friday and were underwhelmed, but that was in a car).  Then the last 8 miles were another screaming descent that reminded me of Keene in Placid, just a little less windy.  I was hoping to redeem my crappy descending skills and not lose my shit like I did in 2018 at Placid.  But hey, I reasoned, we couldn't possibly have a day like that anyways - it doesn't hail in the desert!  (Rae, stop.  Foreshadowing is totally a thing).

Back to race day.  The first seven miles of the bike were pretty sweet - We had a few rollers, one decent climb I spun out, and a nice out section where I flew on the flats, going about 25.  Hell. Yeah.  I was smiling and totally enjoying myself, surprised to be rocking Aero with so many people around me (who's a badass? ME!).  The first turnaround was pretty tight, so I slowed down and took it conservatively, and started to head back toward the main highway.

Except OMFG what just happened.  As we turned, the wind slammed into us with a force I've never ridden in before.  I was on a flat, going 10, and feeling like I was going to be blown backwards.  The wind had turned on full force, and was whistling at us as those damned black clouds honed in.  Packs of women were struggling and going nowhere.  I tried valiantly to steer my bike without blowing over.  Tumbleweeds were whipping backwards and one got caught in my wheel, which I pulled over for and unstuck.  I checked to see if I had any brake rubbage but nope.  Nope.  The weather just sucked that much.  Then it started to rain  Not nice gentle, oh look, you're warm, let me cool you off rain either - crazy stupid cold rain.  As I headed up the ramp to veer right on the high way, I saw bunches of riders pulled over to the side of the road and thought....well, they are calling the race.  I was bitterly disappointed - but with the whipping rain, lightning in the distance, and insane wind, it was the right call.

But...no, they weren't.  People were just debating their life choices, which, I didn't blame them.  I looked down at my bike computer and had gone 3 miles in 15 minutes.  On. A. Flat. Section.  What the hell.  Then, two things happened - the headwind, now that we turned, was a cross wind (weather reports later stated 25-30 mph with up to 50mph gusts) which meant this little 125 pound rider was being blown all over the place.  And 2 - the rain - turned into hail.  Oh what in the mother ever loving hell was this!  

We were freezing.  The rain had nowhere to go in the desert, so it had collected on the road and we were now hydroplaning.  Decisions had to be made.  I was averaging about 12, hunkered over my bike, wondering if I could handle 42 more miles of this.  And then I said - NO.  RAE.  You are NOT going to have another Placid.  You can DO this.  DO IT.  And with that sort of bullshit out of the way, I then did the smartest thing I did all day - I released any expectation from the course and just was grateful to be doing it.  The race could be called any minute, lets just soldier through.  You ARE HERE FOR A REASON.

The next 10 miles or so was the same misery - hail, wind, rain (no earth or fire though) - thankfully weturned again after 5 miles and dealt with another headwind. The rain let up about mile 20, where we did another crazy climb, then finally a turn to calmer weather.  When you're dealing with wet and high winds, a less breezy 15mph cross wind seems...relaxed.  I hit the first screaming descent conservatively, but not scared.  And the next 20 miles of the ride followed suit - I hit aero where I could, took the climbs easy, and gave the descents all I felt comfortable giving with the wind and wet roads.

About mile 40, we got to Snow Canyon and the famed climb.  I was averaging about 17.5, which honestly, was my course goal, but who knew what the next 8 miles would bring.

As we turned into the canyon, I passed a woman and joked "Well, I didn't have hail on my bingo card, did you?" And she laughed, because, what else could we do?  I hit my little chain ring right off the bat - I knew I had burned a decent amount of mental matches early on, so honestly, I didnt give a crap about my speed at this point.  I hit a few nice rollers and stretched into aero (where apparently there was a race photographer timed perfectly, as I got one of the few aero pics in the canyon!  (I mean, uh, I was in aero the whole time.  duh)).  Then, without any warning, a woman about 6 feet in front of me, clearly not paying attention, plowed into the bike ahead of her and her disc wheel went flying in the air with her right after it.  OMG.  I managed to veer over in time and checked to see if she was okay, which, apparently her and the dude both were.  I hope they finished okay.

Snow Canyon was....definitely more intense outside the car.  I spun it out the whole time, but there were sections in the last 3 miles that saw us going about 5mph in the granny gear.  I was never at a place to walk it but I saw plenty of people doing so.  The worst part was the pack mentality - the course was really crowded (even with two hours of send off in the water, when you have 4,000 athletes, its a crowded course) and so when people got tired and started to weave, it was downright dangerous.  I tried to stay to the left and kept my line straight while riding defensively.  The last mile was brutal with 500 ft gain, but finally we turned right at mile 47, with only downhill left.  Huzzah!

I got to enjoy this bit for about five minutes then....it started to rain again and the wind picked up.  Oh what in the actual fuck, people.  This is what we are doing??  Ugh.  With that being said, I'm proud I never lost my shit here - I might have been descending a section where you could easily hit 40 at a paltry 25, but I was keeping my cool doing so.  I kept repeating my new race mantra to myself - stay calm, stay fluid, stay strong - and the last 20 minutes were just a mental hurdle to get over.  I also spent some healthy time cursing Ken out - apparently every race he's done in the last 3 years its rained. (Ken, I'm not racing with you ever. again.).  

As I coasted into T2, the rain turned into a legit downpour and I happily dismounted my bike - not throwing it at a volunteer like I did three years ago, but saying a silent prayer of thanks that I made it off that ride okay!  

Bike Split: 3:20 - 16.7 mph

I was actually shocked I was only 5 minutes off my time, to be honest.  My power was only 140w, which tells me that I did nowhere near race effort, which wasn't a shocker.  It also tells me that on a halfway decent (or normally lousy) day I could have killed it.  The course was hilly, but aside from miles 45-47 was totally doable.  That's what they get for having the damned bike course in a town called Hurricane, Utah, though.  Seriously, people?

Post race analysis of the bike ride really came down to one question - where were you at 10am?  For those riding with the storm, the damage was less.  For those STILL IN THE WATER, 100 people were pulled out and not allowed to finish the swim.  The pros - got none of this - they were almost done with the run at this point.  The women caught the brunt of the storms on the bike for sure - but everyone's experience was different.  Either way, for those of us that were dumb lucky enough to race Placid 2018 - we agreed that there was no comparison- this race was way the hell worse.  It was dubbed as the World Championships everyone will be talking about for years to come.  Sodus 2005, Placid 2018, Worlds 70.3 2021....Lucky. Freaking. Me.  

And with that, I found my run back, grabbed a chair at T2, kicked my crap across the changing area (dammit!) and got my shoes on.  I had been trying to pee since mile 40 of the bike unsuccessfully, so I hit the porta potty super quick - transition time 3:23 - and was off for a nice run in the rain! (To be continued....)

70.3 World's Part 1: Get it Hot

 So, in the interest of what's hot right now, I'm introducing a flashforward to the ole bloggie.  We have a 70.3 that happened in Cassadaga, but that's not the hot news right now.  Right now, its all about the crazy ass day at World's 70.3 on September 18th.  So, strike while the irons hot or whatever.  Buckle up kids, this is a multi parter and so full of WTF it'll either make you realize how crazy I am or nod with the realization that....you knew that.

Either way, our story really begins back at Eagleman, where I shocked the hell out of no one but myself by securing a slot for worlds.  A month later, my buddies Ken, Marcus and I were full fledged planning an asinine trip across the country.  Our friend Kim opted for the more sane flight and three night stay, rounding out the crew.

The whole thing was....surreal to me, to say the least.  Three years ago I almost quit being a triathlete.  And here I am.  Off to a worlds stage.  So much has happened since 2019, and I sometimes shake my head at where I'm at.  But, like most things, the strange twist of fate stepped in.  I was off to worlds with....a guy I met back in 2005 when I first started running (Marcus). And with two other friends that....I met while training for my first Ironman in 2010.  Sometimes things happen for odd reasons, but for whatever it was, it seemed right.  We spent six weeks discussing the weather (HOT - forecasted 100 race day) - what to do in Omaha Nebraska (Nothing - but Marcus was obsessed with our halfway point) and did we need swimmers itch cream, cooling sleeves, and a swimskin.  (Ken said yes to the first two and we all brought our swim skins - or borrowed them from um, the outlaw, who hopefully injected it with super swim speed, as it seemed this would be my first ever non wetsuit legal swim.  

Woah.  At 3am Monday morning pre race, we packed three triathletes, three bikes, about 12 bags, 10 pounds of powdered nutrition (thank god there was never a random pull over by the law) and enough snacks to last for a week.  In a RAV 4.  Thank god Marcus is an engineer and my back seat standards aren't high.  We were off!  2200 miles and 36 hours ahead of us - we totally had this.

And we did. For 3 people that really didn't know each other amazingly well prior to this - we had a kick ass time.  We found the benefit of short friends - 3 small bikes and seats and mirrors that never needed to be moved.  Ever. We discovered that Ken and Marcus are twins, down to the same orders at restaurants with "hold the onions".  That Iowa has nothing but corn and windmills (which I was obsessed with until night when they flashed red and looked more like matrix pods).  That Colorado sucks.  It rains, the gas is expensive, and Denver on the weekend is just...no.  (I felt sort of bad because its supposed to be awesome but OMG we hit every bad thing known to man in that state.  We were waiting for locusts).  We also decided (ok, I did) that Iowa and Ohio were interchangeable and that Ohio is now Iowa 2.0.  That Nebraska is the best state in the union (I might move).  And that sketchy diners make good stories.  2200 miles and 35 hours later, he hit the land of Utah - where it was unbelievably gorgeous and HOT AS HELL.  We started looking at every grade of hill as rideable or not - and if that 16% grade on the course for the race was accurate (hello nerves!).

We checked into the GORGEOUS Air BnB Tuesday and immediately went on a 3 mile run in the 95 degree heat to acclimate.  Cause, ya know, four days pre race would do it.  There is no flat land in Utah and the first mile netted a 200ft plus gain.  Fantastic.  

And that  was our week pre race.  Train, check out the course (hilly AF).  Get excited at check in and collect our worlds qualifier coin (OMG so cool).  Kim got in Wednesday night and joined us for a ride and swim Thursday (temp - 78 degrees - would they dump ice in the lake?).  We played with the weather app every five minutes - Ken reading us from two different apps and Kim and I requesting our preferred weather (Kim and Rae's app).  There was alot of chatter about the race format - it was originally supposed to be a two day event and now collapsed into one day, which meant 4000 athletes on teh course and the men starting first.  This, of course, screwed over the women who weren't starting until 9am or later and would be baking in the sun.  Some people bitched about this and I accepted it for what it was - something I couldn't change and DID I MENTION I WAS AT FREAKING WORLDS??  I hoped the heat would hold off, and as of Friday, it looked like there might be rain around noon, which I secretly hoped would hold off until 130 to get me off the bike (the last 8 miles were a screaming downhill and did NOT look like fun in the rain).

Pre race activities included carb loading.  A trip to Zion.  The totally overrated Athletes dinner.  And a fantastic brake failure Friday afternoon the sent me to the mechanics at 3pm the day before the race (Did I really need brakes?  I mean, those are optional, right??)  Freak outs (relatively) done, we got to bed by 9pm. 

Race morning dawned....not that early.  The boys were set to start at 8:22, me at 9:10 and Kim at 9:36.  We were up and out at 5:30am, which was basically 7:30 to us as we never time adjusted.  When I found out I qualified, I had the goal to break 6 hours.  My coach told me to have a blast and not worry about a goal - this was the Boston of marathoning.  The Kona of 70.3s.  AMAZING to be there.  I agreed.  But why not have some goals?  Since I had accounted for intense heat and a crazy hilly course (4000 ft on the bike and 1260 on the run) as well as a non wetsuit legal swim (called at 430am race day) - which is slower - I went for realism.

 I hoped for a 40 minute swim, 3:15 bike and 2:00 run, which, with transitions, might be just under 6.  Transitions seemed long, so we would see - there wasn't much difference to me from a 5:55 and a 6:10, I was more interested in where I shook out overall in the world.  There were 200 women in my age group and about 1300 overall - so - lets dance!

Pre race, we got into transition about 630.  Since I had two hours to kill and basically nothing to do (this was a two transition race so all gear had been dropped off the day before - I had to pump up tires, put my nutrition on my bike, and pee a zillion times). I took care of business, grabbed my bagels for breakfast, and set out to watch the pros start at 650.  I saw Sam Long careen into a porta potty.  LCB exit the water super fast and take off right in front of me!  And Daniella Ryf and Holly Lawrence follow suit in chase.  SO. FREAKING. COOL.  With that done, I prepped myself to race, taking in every second around me.  It was electric.  The mecca of racing.  And I was so darned incredibly grateful to be there.  Before I left NY, Biz had given me an envelope for every day with a drawing that I could pick at random.  The ones I had opened so far read - I love you mom! - this one was a heart that read - GO GO GO!  I tucked it into my pocket and promised to do just that!

Swim - 40:28 1:56/100

As I said earlier, this was my first ever non wetsuit swim. 

  All my practice swims had felt good, but slow.  Usually my Garmin shorts a swim, and this time was no different - but in a race, everyone (roughly) swims the same!  They sent us off in waves of 10 every 5 seconds in the reservoir.  The water was great - a little choppy but not too bad, nice temp, and even though there were a ton of people in the water, it wasn't a boxing match.  I stayed in the same group throughout and felt really comfortable - aside from the fact that my butt kept sinking whenever I sighted, it was perfect.  The chop got a little stronger on the way in, but for someone used to swimming in a lake, it was no big deal.  I exited the water pretty much exactly as I had predicted, and ran up the dock to transition.  Transition was about .3 miles long and you had to stop halfway and ditch your swim gear in a bag and change out for bike gear (just like a full ironman).  I made the decision to ditch my HRM in my bike bag as it had rubbed my arm really badly during the swim.  Also opted for a non aero helmet - with the forecast calling for 100 degrees last week I didn't think it would be wise.  Race morning was only about 70 so far, but with the possible rain and/or heat, who knew.  I was outta transition in just under 5 minutes and cruising down the parkway to turn left on the highway when I looked up...and saw the black sky right in front of me.  With lightening.  

Well, this will be interesting, I thought...and I turned directly into the path of destruction....

(to be continued)

Biz's Sweet 6 - Six going on Sixteen!

Alright folks.  It's time to pause the whole race obsession and incorporate this whole "balance" portion of the blog.  It's been a big few weeks.  And the biggest thing is - my sweet girl turned six!  Guys, I know.  Ever since this little munchkin arrived in the world big fish style, she has barreled through life full speed ahead with her own bizzy ideas and charm.  Watch out world!

And here she is, the big six.  Every single year, having a front row to watching this kid experience the world is....unparalleled.  Parenting isn't easy by definition, but I wouldn't trade this kid for the whole world, and every single day I feel so incredibly lucky to be her mom!  So, what's our little bixa b up to this year?

Size: 46 pounds.  Right where you should be, and I'm not surprised!  You have a super healthy appetite and eat all the things!  You are 47 inches high - which is almost enough to be tall enough for the big rides - maybe next year!

Likes:  You adore dancing - you love to twirl, tumble, do anything active!  You also love coloring, chalking, creating - anything to make the world more beautiful, whether its a craft or, um, Mommy's walls.  We are working on this....  You adore singing (fave song is currently "Fight Song", you still love your girlfriends (we have to discuss those LOL dolls though...).  You are a little gamer - you love Minecraft, Roblox, and every game Rob plays.  You LOVE to swim  - the pool, the beach, anywhere! You have so many friends and make new ones wherever you go (including creating neighborhood parties without your parents LOL). You still have about four boyfriends at any time and Dad is

concerned about the next ten years.  Hell, I'm concerned about the next seventy LOL.

Dislikes:  Cooked carrots.  Salad.  Tomatoes. Most cookies (seriously, child?).  You tend to be pretty faithful to your favorite foods, but a random new dislike crops up very now and again reminding me that you have very definite opinions about things but that you change your ways based on the world around you and stay true to exactly what you are feeling at the moment.  And that's pretty cool, Biz!  (I'll just watch those veggies.  Oddly enough, you love broccoli, which is weird for a kid, but hey, you're a Biz!

Sleep:  You are pretty rockin with this!  You still come into our room when you have a bad dream, but you tend to sleep like a rock and are definitely not the early bird unless its a special day (like getting up at 4am on Mother's Day to wish me a happy day - awww).  The good news is, whenever you cant sleep you snuggle right up to me and never, ever move.  You are such an awesome little snuggle buddy and I absolutely adore our snugs time (please don't ever change, sweets). 

Eating:  You have such a healthy appetite.  You LOVE Ramen noodles (mmm noodles) and would eat them for every meal if I let you (a dollar a day? hmmm.)  You also adore chocolate cake, tacos (on Tuesdays) and soup!  New favorites happen regularly - sometimes it takes you quite a bit of time to warm up to a new food but we pivot as needed.  

Milestones/Firsts:  This year was such a fun year!  You learned how to do a cartwheel.  How to cannonball in the pool and jump in. You played in a soccer league for the first time.  You are learning right now how to ride a bike without training wheels and how to tie your shoes.  You have so many words, and are learning how to write beautifully (the spelling is fun, but we do what we can).  You have, dear god help me, learned how to do a tik tok video (no, you cant have an account) and how to do videos on lie hacks.  Oiy.  Every day, its a new adventure and how to do something new, and its always a blast!

Best Moment: I just cant pick.  I never can.  I loved watching you chase a soccer ball.  Do a little
dance.  Make a beautiful picture for me to hang.  Have a girls SPAAAWWW night with makeup and nails.  You are so infectious and bring joy to every place in your life, little love.  People are happier for being around you, and I still cannot believe how freaking lucky I am to be your mommy.  

Looking Forward to:  You just started gymnastics, and I can't wait to see you take that one by storm.  Watching you zoom around on your bike, and starting all the new fun school activities that come with being a big first grader.  We plan to go to Disney this year and that will be off the hook.  With you....the big things are always so amazing to watch, but its the little things that are the most special...watching you chalk a brand new drawing.  Seeing your artwork.  A new dance.  Or the beautiful breakfast you made mommy (I just wont ask whats in those waffles...)

         I LOVE YOU!