Mary Mary Why Ya' Buggin'

Life has been crazy busy since I returned from Santa Rosa. I am just now sitting down do a re-cap of my fun whirlwind of a trip. Some mom's get ugly Pandora jewelry, flowers that die and candy. I got a weekend away in wine country, a sweet medal and a day at the spa.  My brother-in-law Jake called me in October with an idea to do Santa Rosa. I jumped at the opportunity. As with all great adventures I had never met Jim, our cyclist for our team until the ride down to Santa Rosa. I know Jim's wife, Ingrid through my sister-in-law Paige. By the time we picked Ingrid up from the airport in Santa Rosa we were fast friends and then realized that we had a pretty fast team! Our race logistics team was missing a member. My sister-in-law Paige was sick and was not able to make it, which was a huge bummer. The show must go on.... This is my third time doing an Ironman race. It's comforting knowing exactly how packet pick up will go. Different location same pre-race logi...

A few months ago my brother-in-law, Jake called me out of the blue. He never calls me. I knew something was up. He had an idea about doing a relay. My answer was an immediate yes! I get all the glory...I get to cross the finish line running 13.1 miles! Today begins my training for the 2017 triathlon season. It's fitting that yesterday was the celebration of the Chinese New Year, year of the rooster. Jake named our team: Two Cocks and a Hen.  My brother-in-law Jake is doing the swim. My brother-in-law's friend Jim is doing the bike. As you can tell my brother-in-law has a great sense of humor!  Santa Rosa is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my little spot here on the edge of the world. I love Northern California. This is a newer race for Ironman. There is also a full Ironman which I tentatively have on my wishlist. The idea of doing a race that does not involve me having to ship my bike always has my interest. When Jake suggested doing this as a relay I thought ...

Left to right: Megan, Gail, Clayton, Erin, Preston, Holly, Kara, Me, Alycia, Jillian, Feather & Miranda Team Carrion-On at the start of 2016 Elkhorn Relay at Hilgard State Park  Last year my friend Gail, a local triathlon and running legend in our community and also my girls' cross country and track coach asked me if I would be interested in participating in doing the Elkhorn Relay in Eastern Oregon, a 204 mile relay put on by Doomsday Racing. She was putting together a team of 12 ladies to do the inaugural race. She told me to visit the website, where I read that each person would run a total of three times, each leg between 3-7 miles over a 24 hour period. The relay climbs the backside of Anthony Lakes reaching 7,100 ft. altitude then then down through the Grand Ronde Valley ending at River Side Park. Unfortunately it was the same weekend as the girls' annual Missoula Children's Theatre and I was not able to do it.  I was secretively thankful at that ti...

Last year my friend Gway and I put together a team to do our very first relay, Barrel to Keg. We both had never done a relay before but both had it on our running bucket list. She recruited a few friends. I recruited a few friends. None of our friends knew each other, at the end of the relay we were all fast friends. We had a fabulous time and agreed that we must do it again. The year flew by and as in the way relays work a few of the ladies from last year were unable to do it. We scrambled a bit to find enough people but as fate works, the right and perfect ladies presented themselves  just a few days before the relay. Gway and I both agree that we are not competitive when it comes to this relay. We are all about having fun and encouraging each other. It's okay if you don't like Jack Black, but absolutely NO divas allowed.  Last year our team was the Chuggin' Mommas. As we were trying to decided a theme and costume ideas for this year we decided upon Nacho Momma's. How...