Happy New Year From the W8s!

Surprise! Let’s call this a New Year’s letter and practice non-judgment, ok? Haha!  Looking at our 2010 in hindsight is comically full of upheaval but filled with good times and lots of memories.  Now that we’ve completely obliterated the “W” section of your address book, the biggest news of 2010 was of course our move. 

Although we both loved Madison, Wisconsin and our friends and family nearby, us gypsies felt a bit stale being there for 4 years, and so Sarah began looking for positions still with Northwestern Mutual anywhere in the country.  In March we were lucky enough to receive 3 job offers and we chose the one in Denver just for the adventure of it.  And off we went!  Sarah moved out April 13^th and stayed with some friends in the suburbs for a month.  Doug continued to work in Madison until something panned out here in CO for him.  Doug & his brother Matt drove the moving truck out May 15^th & moved us into our new downtown apartment, then Doug flew back to WI.  Sarah & Frank were watching a movie one Saturday night in late June, 3 days before Doug was supposed to arrive, when there was banging on the interior apartment door.  A barking pup & a scrambling-to-get-decent Sarah ran to the door, and it was Doug!  He had driven cross country secretly and in all our phone conversations that day hadn’t let on that he was on the road.  Our family was together again!

Sarah works as an Associate Financial Representative for a team of two financial representatives in downtown Denver, one being a Wealth Management Advisor & the other being a Business & Estate Planning Specialist.  She loves working with the two other associates on the team and is pushed to grow by the constant challenge to squeeze 15 hours of work a day into a 8-9 hour day.  Sarah specializes in the underwriting/case prep side of things, while one colleague handles the investment/advisory side of things, and another handles the marketing / planning side of things.  Doug works for the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank as an Ocular Tissue Recovery Technician and speaks with the next of kin, recovers corneas from recently deceased donors for use in cornea transplant surgeries, and recovers whole globes for use in ophthalmology research.  He enjoys the constant change of scenery in flirting with the nurses at all of Denver’s hospitals.   They do all his medical chart copying and most of his paper work for him in exchange for chocolate-covered pretzels and a handsome smile.  100% Dougyness.

Frank….well, Frank the dog doesn’t do much, who are we kidding.  But he does a fantastic job of loving us and filling our lives with laughter.

This year we’ve kept active and accomplished some more milestones.  Doug’s at his healthiest ever and is a beast of a cyclist in the summer.  Sarah began the year running a lot but mid-year replaced that for the most part with yoga.  We did a P90X fitness program January through March with a big group of friends & family members.  Sarah ran a 50k race in January at a state park in Wisconsin and a Sprint Triathlon in June at a reservoir in Boulder, Colorado.  Doug rode the Trek 100 Century bike ride again with his dad in Wisconsin in June.  Together we rode the Tour de St. George Century bike ride with friends & family in Utah in October- Sarah’s first Century ride- Doug was a patient and amazing coach the whole way.

Sarah did a 200-hour yoga teacher training program this summer and has had a busy autumn building up and teaching yoga around Denver on the weekends.  She is now up to teaching 5 regularly scheduled yoga classes a weekend and subbing as needed.  It has been such an amazing journey.  Every class leaves her happier than the last, more fulfilled and excited about life.  If you’re ever in Denver, you’ll have to come see the smiley, redheaded, hot yogini!   

We made fast friends with some other new couples in our very “eclectic” J Capitol Hill ward in church here, as well as just people we’ve met along the way in our daily endeavors.  Together we love checking out new restaurants and new fun Denver-must-do’s.  On Memorial Day, Sarah swam and had a cookout with friends in Castle Rock.  We had a cookout with friends at our place for the 4^th of July, and celebrated our 7^th wedding anniversary in August.  Living 30 minutes away from the mountains has been so wonderful; we’ve stolen away on quite a few day hikes and attempted our first 14-er.  Labor Day weekend we spent camping at the Flat Tops with a friend’s family, hiking & mountain biking.  We enjoyed a weekend in Breckenridge in October.  This summer we sold the Porsche & this fall we traded in the Land Rover for a new 2011 Subaru; officially Coloradans now.  Being a one-car family for the first time in our marriage hasn’t been too bad as Sarah enjoys the 1 mile bike ride to work (and fingers-crossed, the city winter’s been really mild so far).  Sarah’s grandfather passed away and despite the sadness, we enjoyed gathering with almost all of Sarah’s immediate & extended family in Kansas the first weekend in November- the silver lining of life’s hard moments.  For Doug’s birthday in November we did away with the white gold and got wedding ring tattoos, black Hebrew lettering of our wedding date.   With how active we both are (and considering Doug was on his 5^th wedding ring), Doug had wanted this for a long time and we absolutely love them.  Although we’ve had 2 full years now of infertility frustrations, we have been very healthy and extremely blessed, not waiting passively by for life to just happen to us, but instead creating our own adventures and happiness.   We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas this year just lying low and maximizing time together.   We are very excited for a January 2^nd-7^th cruise with Doug’s family.  We’re overdue for some sandy beaches & time with the W8s!

All in all, 2010 found us pretty blessed and happy, uncovering life’s adventures in a new place and growing together!  We would love for any of you to come visit us!  Please make Denver a stop on your 2011 Summer Tour. 

With Lots of Love & Continued Desecration of your “W” Section,

Doug & Sarah Weight

P.S. Keep an eye out in early 2011 for the launch of Prana Fitness (Sarah’s new non-profit) and the location of the new fitness blog (formerly the Ten in Six Challenge): www.pranafitness.org.   Jump on the 2^nd annual W8 Family & Friends P90X journey January 10^th-March 13^th 2011 at the support blog: www.w8p90x.blogspot.com (it’s private, so email us & we’ll grant you access). 

My Passion, My Dream, My Time-Gobbler, & My Nemesis

Hey, all!  It's been too long, I know.  Every waking moment (and every sleeping moment, too) is occupied with the advancement of my dream to start a business helping people train for running/cycling races, lose weight in bootcamps & support groups, & do one-on-one personal training & nutrition counseling.  I've decided on the non-profit format (thanks to LOTS of assistance in the planning stages from my sis-in-law Erianne), offering the race training groups for free, just an unitimidating setting for the average Joe and Jane to train for amazing accomlishments in a friendly and supportive environment w/ yoga warm up pre-run/ride and cool downs post-run/ride.  Then I will charge for the strength training bootcamps, one-on-one personal training, one-on-one nutrition counseling, and restorative yoga for athletes classes, hot yoga classes, & strength training yoga classes.  It will start initially being all outdoors on the trails & in the parks around Denver.  If the first and maybe second years go well, then that third year will involve building an actual year-round facility inside a downtown industrial space for yoga classes to be held, for the support groups to meet & lounge around, for the meeting location for rides/runs, and for indoor running/cycling when the weather is harsh in the winter.  After that point, triathlon training will start up w/ open water swimming for all tri distances, add in a wetsuit rental portion of the biz, a small retail section, and epanding our health/fitness/training library for participants to check out books for free.  After that point, I'd add in hypnobirthing/doula classes taught by outside licensed professionals to be held at the studio, and massage therapy, accupuncture, healthy cooking demos, etc.  Everything at every level will be very minimalistic, very low-expense, very approachable and unitimidating for the average person, and teaching a healthy holistic lifestyle to last a lifetime, that you don't need to be a gym rat, but that you can get fit and stay fit with very little equipment. 
I am in week 7 of my 9 week Hot Yoga & Hot Power Fusion yoga teacher training program w/ Corepower Yoga.  That's 7 1/2 hours a week of just learning in a group setting, not to mention the TONS of classes, a cadaver lab, outside documentaries, outside books, etc. to get me up to the 200 hours to get my Registered Yoga Teacher certificate w/ Yoga Alliance.  Pretty much I'm on track w/ my 30+ hours a  week of yoga-related stuff I am involved in.
Then I get to do my 2 evening Red Cross CPR/AED/First Aid training class.
Then I wrap up studying for & I take my ACSM Personal Trainer exam.
Interspersed with all of that is my continued business plan tweaking, website development (the 10 in 6 blog will move to be a part of this site w/ hopefully RSS feed capablity), legal liability waiver fine-tuning, continued processing of my non-profit set up ppwk (3-6 months for it to be recognized by the IRS).
The $$ aspect of it will be a slowing factor that I have to deal with, but my excitement about this is so huge, that hopefully things will all work out just fine due to optimism & dreaming big :)

Home Sweet Home- Our Chic Shoebox- Sprint Tri

Ignore my obnoxious commentary :)  But here's our new home sweet home!

So besides loving our place, I also love the common areas and courtyard at our building.  I grilled last week while Frank watched the game & asked for another root brewski....

And I love that a block away from us is the Platte River Trail that goes along the river on both sides, is paved, and avoids traffic.  It goes 12ish miles north from our place, and really far south from our place, but I just haven't gotten to its southern end yet :)  Frank and I have an hour long walk loop that we like, that has a midway relaxation spot on the rocks at the tiny sandy beach at a fork in the river.  Lots of parks along the trail. 

I just feel right here.  It's the perfect place not only for the Rover and my Chacos.  It's the perfect place for someone who loves to run, someone who loves to bike, someone who can't stand commutes, someone who likes adventures, and someone who likes clean modernity. The ward is a perfect small little ward with lots of wonderful young couples -an extremely supportive, diverse, & friendly group of urbanites.  Memorial Day weekend was fun.  I went over to a new friend's house Sunday night for a BBQ- I had met Jamieson at a boxing class I took.  She & her husband moved here almost a year ago from Michigan.  Had a great time, met more people, the California Turkey Burgers were a hit, sunned a bit, hung out & relaxed. 

Monday mid-day I went with two couples from my ward Brandon & Stephanie and Rick & Rachel to Stephanie's parents' house in Castle Rock for a BBQ and pool party then hike in Castlewood Canyon.  I got to chill poolside in my SPF 100 :)

Monday night Frank and I went to a friend Molly's house, a girl I who used to be in our ward but just moved out of the ward boundaries and who teaches yoga at the studio I go to.  Frank & their viszla puppy Penny had a play date, but Frank mostly spent the evening running from her while she (she's only a few months old) flopped and pounced around trying to get him to play.  Sadly, this is the only picture I took of the awesome weekend- oops- but it happened, I promise.

Miss you, Doug!!!!  Can't wait til you're out here & we get to do fun adventures, hikes, parties, & BBQs together!  Until then, Frank still struts around claiming to be man of the house.  He needs some humbling.... I apologize if this post seems a big discombobulated, but it was composed as various drafts over the last few weeks.  On Saturday June 5th I completed my first sprint triathlon, the Boulder Sunrise!  It was sad b/c Doug wasn't there to support me, but it was still a lot of fun.  Friends Joe & Tiffany came out to cheer for me and I met a new friend Morgan there, with whom we've planned to do more races.  I completed the sprint tri in 2 hours 6 minutes.  Middle of the pack-ish.  I'm cool with that.  I didn't do too well on the swim portion (open water swim in the Boulder Reservoir) but I made up for it by passing tons of people in the bike portion (even passing some men who had a 5 minute head start over all the women b/c of the different heats).  It was a fun new adventure!  Tagline of my life this year, right? :)

Here's a link to more pictures, of which I'll probably order one of the running ones.  I'm sad I can't find any of me on my bike!

The last session of the Ten in Six ended on Monday June 7th & the next one will begin on Monday June 14th.  All you ladies who want to jump on are more than welcome!  Check it out.  The last month or so, I've had a small but persistent little pain in my right foot, towards the outside middle.  It has gotten worse and kills when I twist or stretch my foot, but is ok when I'm just relaxing or moving around without much foot flex.  Therefore, running will be on a backburner for me for probably a month while that heals (probably a tiny little fracture), but stiff-soled bike shoes & biking don't hurt it at all, so I'll be hitting that workout up a lot more in the coming months!  Speaking of which, Doug's riding in the Trek 100 century bike ride tomorrow in Waterloo, Wisconsin.  Wish him good luck on Facebook!!  Good luck, Doug! 

And in the news department.....I have a new business in the works- hopefully I'll be posting more annoucements, website, etc. soon!  It's all I can think about. It's so awesome having a little spark of something to daydream about, watching that spark consume you in a huge blaze.  It's a personal training, boot camp, and race training business.  But yeah, details being worked out.  I mean, more details than my pages and pages of sketches, and 4 year business plan all typed out :)  But wait & be patient!  It'll be awesome......

Welcome to Colorado!

So the "Farewell, Wisconsin" and the "Welcome to Colorado" posts overlap chronologically, and we're technichally still in this transition, but not after this Friday! What what! :)

I already mentioned Doug and I got to play out here in Colorado April 14th-19th, before Doug flew back to Madison.  While we were here, we explored downtown, apartment hunted, checked out our new church (we tried to attend but doors were locked and a sign on the door said it was Stake Conference Sunday at the stake center-a different building), checked out my office, and hiked all day at the Garden of the Gods.  Here are pics from Garden, pic of my new office, pic of our new ward building, pic of our new loft building, pic of our new neighborhood, and pic of a cool run I did around Barr Lake in Brighton.

How have I been filling my time without my hubby, my puppy, or a place to call my own?  Lots and lots of hot yoga, running, cycling, and swimming :)  I am registered for my first sprint triathlon (750 meter swim, 17 mile bike ride, 5k run) on Saturday June 5th in Boulder, CO.  I  have been taking coached swim lessons twice a week in preparation for that.  I have been doing a bunch of hot yoga. I've been developing friendships with new people in the ward- including having gone to yoga w/ one ;) Yay!  Still haven't found a running buddy here, but I'm hoping I will soon.  I checked out 3 different running clubs.  I am just finishing up the second week of another awesome 10 in 6 challenge (http://www.teninsix.blogspot.com/).  I am trying to keep my mind off of spending tons of $ on decorating our new apartment :)  I am commuting into work 45 mins each way.  I am hanging out w/ Joe & Tiffany & their 15 mo old daughter Madison- the AWESOME people I've been staying with the last few weeks- gone to a family shin dig w/ them, walks, playgrounds, shopping, etc.  And I've been working LOTS of hours at my new job.  Let's just say, I should be wearing a firefighter uniform for how many fires I'm putting out in the office!  Cleaning up a lot of messes from former AFRs on the team.  Learning a lot.  One of the Wealth Management Advisors I work for told me the other day, "Da*#, Sarah, you know your sh*#!"  Which made me crack up.  Yup, I'm awesome :)  and I got told I was "fantastic" by the other WMA I work for.  Glad to see I'm being totally utilized and appreciated!  Definitely a million times faster paced than my old job- but I'm still afloat!

Farewell, Wisconsin!

Here's the story.  I'd been feeling a bit stale and rooted in Madison having been there for almost 4 years, a little frustrated with having hit the ceiling at work, and Doug and I are just gypsies by nature. Always up for the next big adventure.  Upon one such session of complaining to Doug, he did what Martians do to Venusians, but this convo all took place during a sacrament meeting at church.
Martian: "Ok, so quit your job and let's move." 
Me: "Really?" 
Martian: "Sure, why not?" 
Me: "Where?"
Martian: "Anywhere"
Me: "Hmm, hadn't thought of that before."

Thus the bedraggled, worn out, stale, infertile, frustrated, me began the adventure!  Funktown instantly became Excitementown!  Something adventurous to dream about every waking moment!

Now, let me give a disclaimer.  My funk was not with regards to the incredible, awesome, amazing friends and family in Wisconsin.  You guys will forever be remembered and I know we'll stay in touch.  What it was in regards to is just life.  Does that make sense?  Probably not.  But pretend you understand.

At work that next day, I looked up on my company's intranet site all the postings for Associate Financial Representatives (AFRs), my role, across the country.  I spent first couple weeks of March interviewing over the phone like crazy.  Even took a personal day down in Chicago to interview downtown.  It was so exciting! And I was in high demand! What a blessing to know that my expertise, my hard studying, my impeccable performance, my OCD perfectionism, it was all coming together in a divine event! 

Friday night, March 12th I received an offer from the downtown Chicago office, with the deadline that they needed to know by noon Tuesday because they needed to run on this quickly.  I told Denver & Akron this deadline to light a fire under their butts.  Monday night March 16th I received an offer from Denver.  Tuesday morning I received an offer from Akron, Ohio.  And then I had a few hours to make my decision! Ah!

Doug and I had talked a TON about pros and cons of different locations for weeks preceding this, during the interviewing processes.  We looked at apartment costs in each location.  We figured out cost of living data to be able to accurately compare apples to apples with the salary offers.  We factored in our lifestyles and our personalities.

Then after the offers all flooded in during that 5 day whirlwind time span, it solidified the decision our guts had made, that Colorado was the right place.  Colorado was our top pic of the 3 for lifestyle/adventure/fitness.  And Colorado was the top salary/benefits offer!  Chicago would have been a second, but their offer would had to have been quite a bit higher than the other places due to the cost of living in Wicker Park (where the office is).

Then to further solidfy and confirm our decision we had studied and worked out, everything just started falling into place like it was orchestrated by divine intervention- and I know it was.  Within 6 hours of officially accepting the Colorado job, we had friends in Denver offering a place to stay as long as we needed to.  Doug's bosses at his job have connections with a different company, same field, in Denver.  His educational director even lives in Denver and travels around the country training.  (As of now, job not landed yet, but he's had a few interviews & we're keeping our fingers crossed).  Denver even gave a moving bonus as part of the negotiations (go me!).  Our landlords in Madison let us out of our lease a couple months early, at the end of April.

So April 13th we packed up my Rover with a few suitcases of clothes, dropped off pugly with Aunt Bethany & Uncle Adam, then drove cross-country!  We got to stop in Des Moines, Iowa to see my friend Carly that I hadn't seen since high school, meet her sweet little baby Rose.  So precious!  We drove straight through in one day, getting to our friends Joe & Tiffany's house in Henderson, Colorado around mid-night.  Doug and I spent the next afternoon on the 14th apartment hunting- looked at 5 lofts downtown (all had to have parking garage, washer/dryer, allow 2 pups (yes, we're planning on getting another this year sometime!)).  The first one we saw was actually the one we signed a lease on!  Then I started my new job on Thursday, April 15th! 

The "Welcome to Colorado" pics will be on the next post, but here's a pic of my awesome coworkers from Wisconsin at a farewell lunch for me at Claddagh on my last day.  Miss you guys!

And here's my best running buddies in the whole wide world- I miss running with you guys so much!!!!!  This was our final run together :( Thanks mostly for the friendship & group therapy- running & fitness was just secondary :)

The awesome book club gals threw a going away dinner shin dig for me & Abrey (she was moving to Iowa a few weeks after I was leaving) that final Friday night in Madison at the fatabulous restaurant, Bluephies.  I didn't snag a picture of that night! Sad!  But thanks for all the fun times & memories!

The Wisconsin chapter of our lives will wrap up this weekend.  Doug & Frank packed up the rest of our stuff (I'm sure Frank was no help whatsoever actually, so scratch that), cleaned the apartment, moved our stuff down to storage in Janesville, and Frank & Doug are bunking at my parents' house in Janesville May 1st-13th.  Thanks, Mom & Dad!  It's a 20 min commute for him to get to his school from there as opposed to a 45 min commute from our old place in Madison.  Doug's finishing up his finals week this week and then it's westaward bound!  I pick up the keys to our new place this Friday after work, May 14th.  Then Doug, Frank, & Matt (Doug's brother is amazingly flying in from Ohio to do the drive with Doug!) will arrive late Friday night in Denver, and I've got a whole slew of people from our new ward to help us unload here on Saturday morning the 15th.  I miss my hubby & puppy!!! 

John Dick Memorial FiftyK

On Saturday, February 6th, 2010, I ran my first 50K- the John Dick Memorial Run in the Kettle Morraine State Forest. It was 5 loops on a hilly trail route in the snow. Mountain Dew and M&Ms at the aid

station?!? That's MY kinda race! Took me 7 hours but I did the whole beautiful 31 miles like a champ. I LOVED it!!!

Indoor Team Marathon Relay

On January 23rd, I did the InStep Indoor Team Marathon at the Petit Ice Arena in Milwaukee w/ some friends.  Amy, Meghan, & Abrey are all on the Ten in Six blog, & Emily is Amy's co-worker.  We had 2 teams: Team Ten in Six Divas was me (19.65 miles) & Amy (6.55 miles).  Team Shrinking Hot Divas was Emily (6.55 miles), Meghan (6.55 miles), & Abrey (13.1 miles). 

It was EXTREMELY mentally tough going in circles all the time, 96 times to be exact, with no cool scenery to look at, etc.  Most of the other teams were sprinters, too, not distance folks like us.  So.....I did the last 11 laps all out on the track by my lonesome, but it's ok.  The girls were great and the support was phenomenal.  Just don't think I'll do it net next year :) 

Feedback & Feedforward

2009 was pretty darn good to me.  I changed a lot for the better!  I lost 43 lbs, ran my first marathon, and finished my CLU journey.    According to Dr. Cooper, a neuroscientist turned Fortune-500 business coach, successful people are supposed to only do 10% of feedback (what went right or wrong?) and 90% of feedforward (what are we going to do from here on out?).  Focus forward.  Bring it on, 2010!  Show me whatcha workin' with!

Most of my goals for 2010 are pretty personal {much more so than usual :) }, and I created a lot fewer goals for this coming year than I did for 2009.  I've already posted my running and cycling race goals, as well as my P90X goal.  But one of the goals from my personal list, though, that I will share with you all, is pretty exciting.  I want to, on the side, start the training for becomming a certified Personal Trainer and then Life & Weight Management Consultant.  I figure I can get it accomplished by fall 2010.  There are some physiology, sports injury, & personal training courses I'm going to take, some certificiation training to take (CPR/AED), and then two big ACE exams to sit for.  It will be good motivation for me to keep active and sculpt more!  Then in the fall/winter, maybe I could have one or two clients who I work out with a couple nights a week & Saturdays...we'll have to see how it goes!   Shay from Biggest Loser was my inspiration on that one.  She has a personal trainer that she works out with for 4 hours every evening when she gets done working and 7 hours on Saturdays.  She likes the 6 different trainers (one for each day) because they all have a different style of working out that really pushes her.  And Abrey, Jen, & the Ten in Six girls planted the seed, too :)  I get such a high and personal fulfillment from helping others hit their goals and catch fire!

Race Line Up

I am so excited about these running & cycling races!  It's my dream list here for 2010- I'll train like I'm doing them all and hope I can do them all.  I don't know if I'll get up to the mileage I need to get up to, or if my body can handle it all, or if unforseen circumstances will render me unable to do them, but I'm going to try!  Anyone want to join me for any of them???????  My amazing hubby will be doing all the rides with me.  I plan on doing the full century in the Trek, but probably just the shortest distance options for the two challenge hilly bike rides.

1. InStep Indoor Team Marathon Relay- Sat Jan 23 (Doug's first half marathon! Girls from Running Group doing this, too)
2. John Dick Memorial 50K Run- Sat Feb 6 (I'm gonna get smoked by Valerie!)
3. Crazy Legs Classic 8K Run- Sat Apr 24 (Doug, Amy, Michele, & other girls from Running Group will be doing this, too)
4. Ice Age Trail 50k Run- Sat May 8
5. Trek 100 Ride- Sat June 5 (Amy & Doug's fam, too)
6. Insane Terrain Challenge Ride OR Dances With Dirt 50K or Marathon Run- Sat Jul 10
7. Dairyland Dare Ride- Sat Aug 14 (Doug's fam, too)
8. Lake Geneva Half Ironman Triathlon- Sat Sept 11
9. North Face Endurance Challenge 50k Run- Sat Oct 23

I dream about these runs & rides every day :)  Hard to keep my mind off them :) Me & Doug Ironman 2011???

Coyote Running Buddy

Check out my new running buddy in IL this weekend! He was big and I
wish the picture from my phone turned out better. It was like a
frustrating cat & mouse cartoon- he thought I was chasing him- he
would run ahead, then stop & wait for me to get close, then run ahead
more. But the genius would never turn off the trail! After a while,
he laid down in the middle of the trail looking at me. I got freaked
out and turned around to run the other way :)

Slackerrific Blogger

Hmmm, so how do you catch up on over a month of not posting updates for friends/family?  You bullet point and slack on creativity/humor:

• I passed my 7th CLU exam on Monday, the "Planning for Business Owners" course. I am so estatic!  Only one more left and this particular journey is done- I'll have achieved my Chartered Life Underwriter designation :)  I will test on the "Income Taxation" course around Dec 14th.  Then to finish pursuing the ChFC designation, I will do two courses/exams in February & March- I will have then achieved my Chartered Financial Consultant designation.  Yippee! Still working my way gingerly off the no-sleep-study-a-thon from Sunday night/Monday morning, though. Here are my completed courses, lined up in my office- sounds like riveting reading, eh?:

• Doug and Frank have been working their tails off running this past month.  They now can consistently do 4 mile runs out on the trail.  They're following the Hal Higdon half marathon training guide that I did for my first half.  I'm doing his intermediate II marathon training guide right now (modified the days, though, and I'm doing much longer, relaxed Saturday runs than specified).  It's just a schedule that helps you make great strides in improving your distance and keeping workouts mixed up.  Except this is how we feel most nights:

• 
  
  My thyroid biopsy turned out just fine, which was a relief. Doug was a supportive champ w/ me during it.  The Prolactinoma & Hashimoto's are under control, hormones leveled out, things going great.  Thanks to my personal nurse, my friend Carly, for always being my sounding board throughout everything this past year.  Makes me even more proud of my hard work & accomplishments in the weight loss department knowing I did it all despite a mild hypothyroid.  I have lost 39 lbs since the end of February!  Have to toot my own horn- isn't that what blogs are all about? Just working out really hard and couting calories, staying at a low-calorie, healthy, wholesome diet.  I am hoping to hit the final goal of 50 lbs total lost by December 31st.  I'll be at my goal weight then & plan on rewarding myself w/ a new pair of jeans from my sis-in-law's store.  It's all thanks to my wonderful group of friends on the 10 in 6 blog who I absolutely adore adore ADORE!  The most recent 10 in 6 challenge started up yesterday.  It's my 5th one participating in and my 3rd one running.  If you want to try and lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks (ladies only), then check it out.  Free support group of superheros.  It's pretty all-encompassing for my blogging outlet- so that's why I haven't been on this family blog very much lately.
  
  
  

• I have been caffeine free for 2 weeks
• All I can think about right now is a wonderful Thanksgiving break a head of me.  I can't wait to get in extra naps, extra workouts, & exra fun :)  We'll be with my family for a big Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night, then with Doug's family for the rest of the weekend.  Dear wonderful weekend, please carry me through the next two days!

Mauston Halfie

Last Saturday morning, 3 of us from our running group ran the Mauston Half Marathon.  The race is a small, low-support, small-town fun run, but had beautiful fall country scenery and a great route.  It was SOOOOO cold!  So cold that pre-race, the porta-potty interior felt warm and shielded from the wind- I may have extended my stay in there by a minute just to feel my fingers and toes warm up.  Gosh, that's pathetically cold :) 

We all did great, though, and I'm so proud, especially of Nicki!  It was her first race ever and she rocked a 2:24 with me, which was 6 minutes faster than my last halfie 2 and a half months ago, so thank you, Nicki! You did phenomenally and I can't believe you didn't even walk one bit!  Valerie was a machine, of course!  Even pushing Reed in the jogging stroller the whole way, she rocked a 2:02, probably even a 2:00 since she started a tiny bit late.  You are so unbelievable, Valerie!  2 minutes to race time and she's in the front seat of the mini-van nursing then changed a dirty diaper.  I can't even believe it. You blow my mind w/ how fit you are. 

Doug & Nicki's hubby Grant & their 4 kids rode up together and unfortunately didn't make it until 2 minutes after we finished.  Hence no pictures during the race, but got a couple afterwards, when we're the most glamorous :)  Chloe, the little girl in the pink hat is my competition for Doug's affection :) jk  Our belated support team was great- thanks for coming up!  This little town's fall festival was cute.  I did pass on the deep-fried oreos and deep-fried pickles, though....

The Marathon

This Saturday I ran my first ever marathon!  It was the Whistlestop in Northern Wisconsin, right on Lake Superior.  We ran from Iron River to Ashland.  Doug was the absolute best sag wagoner, cheerleader, sports announcer ever.  Thank you for the support!

I took Friday off work, rested up, did loaundry & packed, drove the pug down to Grandma & Grandpa T's house where he would stay the weekend, and met up w/ Doug after his classes.  Then Friday afternoon we drove 6 hours up north to where the four wheelers outnumber cars 10:1 at any given gas station.  Picked up the registration packet at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland, and decided not to wait in the mile long line for the pasta feed.  We dined instead at Ethel's in Bayfield, which is the little town where our condo was that we were renting for the weekend.  I may have carbo-loaded a bit much :) but it was oh so wonderful.  BTW- it was freakin' COLD outside. 

Saturday morning when we woke up, it was 27 degrees with a light dusting of snow.  Doug dropped me off at the shuttle buses at the finish line and I rode an extremely long bus ride to the starting line, gulping along w/ the people I was sitting next to -who were also first time marathoners- at "Oh my gosh, we have to run this whooooole distance back."  The starting line was at Tri-Timbers Resort.  I had a half hour to shuffle around and not cramp.  Did I mention it was COLD?  At one point, a big wind came and swooshed a roof-full of snow off a cabin in one big sheet on some huddled racers.  It was kind of funny, but it took too much body heat to laugh. I was so nervous.  There were 1,000 people in the marathon category, and another 2,000+ spread among the half-marathon, 10k, 5k, and Toddler 1k categories that had started an hour earlier.  I had a big old yellow house-arrest looking timer velcro'd on my ankle.  Announcers were counting down, runners were stripping off their outer layers and tossing them into the bag truck, and we shivered over to the starting area.  I was about halfway back in the pack.  We started a little late b/c one of the buses was delayed due to a car having gone off the road on the ice and blocking its way.  The wind blew and snow fell from the tree branches over our heads onto us in a big crowd and we collectively shivered and gasped. 

Then we were off!  The first mile or so was on a hilly blacktop road w/ black ice on it.  There was a lot of shuffling of feet and arms outstretched going on.  I loved my Garmin and forced myself to stay back slow in between a 10 and 11 minute mile pace.  We turned left onto the Tri-Cty Corridor and that's what we were on for all but the last block of the race.  The trail was a mixture of sand, dirt, and crushed limestone.

I began to feel my feet again at mile 3.  Doug met me at the aid station around mile 8.  I felt fantastic.  The race support was great- they had water/powerade every 2 miles the whole route so I didn't have to wear my water belt.  Doug met me at all the aid stations toting a little soft cooler we had packed w/ whole dill pickles, quartered PB&J sandwiches, gum, water, etc.  The route was flat, the wind was nasty, and the cold just plain smarted.  I lost 20 lbs in an unlucky portapotty around mile 16 and then started running again a new woman {sorry, you didn't expect a marathon story to be glamorous, did you?}. 

I began hurting at mile 20.  I passed a family reunion's corridor of encouraging signs, jokes, balloons, and streamers around mile 21 and cried.  An 80-year-old man shuffled past me around mile 22, turned and looked at me, huge long drool stream hanging off his mouth, and gave me a thumbs up, "we can make it."  I cried again- both b/c an elderly man passed me and b/c he was sweetly encouraging me.  I was running on numb stumps.  I fought myself at mile 23, "Sarah, you are really going to regret this after the fact if you didn't give it your 100% while you were running this race."  I carried on strong.  The last couple blocks or so wound around a park in downtown Ashland, a huge stereo system blared Black Betty, I put on the steam and kicked it up, wound around the caution cone path, and into the finishing station.  Jo from Platteville Branch was there cheering at the final gauntlet.  I pumped my arms in the air, saw Doug w/ the camera, pushed it to pass an old guy so Doug could get a clear pic (:)) and finished!  "Sarah Weight from Madison, Wisconsin"  Tunnelled into the chute where someone took off my ankle timer, got my finishing medal put on my neck, looked around for Doug, gave him a HUGE hug, cried a bit, told him that was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life and how happy and proud I was, which he of course agreed to, and then I chugged two cups of powerade.  The end :)

Well, we walked around, soaked up the experience, got some gear, I sat on some ice packs on the way back to the condo, grabbed some grub, hobbled through a shower, and plopped down, clean and spent. What a wonderful feeling.  I was still icing the backs of my hamstrings and hips for quite a while.  Got a good foot massage from Doug. We grabbed some dinner at Hugo's Pizzeria in Washburn, got some marshmallows from the IGA, and when we got back to the condo, Doug built a fire in our fireplace and Doug made us s'mores. 

The next day we went hiking at the Apostle Islands State Park & came home {Next Post}

I RAN A FREAKIN' MARATHON!  SO PROUD!!!!  :)