Mary Mary Why Ya' Buggin'

My friend Ed Cortas, the man behind Ardor Adventures on the Central Oregon Coast is in the process of selecting ambassadors for 2017. I am excited to be named an Ardor Adventures ambassador for 2017 to help Ed grow his races and connect local runners. If you are interested in learning more about Ardor Adventures please visit the website and like Ardor Adventures on Facebook. Ardor Adventures already has races planned for 2017. My goal in the new year is to be more active on my blog, writing about training, races and life in general.  The next upcoming race is Arctic Circle Turkey Trot November 24th at 8:30am at Port of Newport South Beach Marina.  There is a 15k, 10k, 5k and a 1 mile kids run. Proceeds of this event will go to support two local elementary schools in Newport, Oregon. http://www.ardoradventures.com/ambassadors.html

My youngest daughter goes through my running and triathlon medals often. I have about fifteen hanging on my curtain rod in my kitchen from various races the past few years. My youngest daughter isn't into running. When she had shared with me a few months ago that she wanted to do a running race and get her own medal I was excited for find a race for us to do.  When I saw the race announcement from Ardor Adventures for the Dia de los Muertos 5k and saw the beautiful medal design and t-shirt I knew that my younger daughter would love it. I signed both my daughters and myself up.  As the race neared I was prepared for rain and darkness but amazingly the weather turned out to be perfect~cool and sunny! The start/finish line was the the Yaquina Bay Bridge in the parking lot of the Rogue Brewery. There was plenty of parking. Ed Cortes, Race Director put a lot of time and detail into the race from the beautiful design of the medal and to the post race entertainment.

When I was training for my first half Ironman last spring, my friends Alycia and Miranda were my biggest supporters. Miranda and I would bike together for my long bike rides. Alycia traveled with me to Victoria and served as my Race Logistics Coordinator when I completed my half Ironman in June. During the last few months of training the three of met weekly at a local Mexican restaurant were we discussed life, training and counted down the days till IMCHOO over tacos. I remember when Miranda excitedly announced 100 days till race day.  The Universe created the right and perfect conditions for me to join my friends for this epic conclusion to a year of training. It was the perfect scenario, they had an extra room in the house and I had enough airline miles for an airline ticket. Then BOOM, before we knew it we were landing in Chattanooga, with race day only a few days away.  Chattanooga was more diverse than I thought it would be. I never thought in a million years that I w