Ruby Elite

Meet my new bike...

I am registered for a sprint distance triathlon next month and finally got around to buying a road bike. I picked the one above because it is named the "Ruby Elite" who can resist a name like that...brilliant marketing. Seriously I got it because it was the '09 version and consequently on sale. As I flipped through the pages of the Specialized catalog during shopping I could picture myself riding. It was much harder to picture myself once I actually got on the bike. Let's just say that getting back in the saddle hurts.

Which brings me to my second purchase this week... padded shorts. Yes the blue pad is actually sewn into the bottom of the shorts, I hope it makes this hobby a little less painful.

I also picked up a cute gray and pink helmet this week.





Now all I have to do is start riding. Wish me luck...I will definitely need it. My first triathlon was back in 2006. I had not been on a bike for over 10 years. I didn't train on a bike at all and it showed. I forgot how to turn in addition to how to use the breaks...let's just say I ended up crashing in a field right in front of a police officer directing traffic.

Dating Max and Ben

Max and Ben have been asking to go on a date with me for months. We finally got one scheduled. I picked them up and they were both wearing blue button up t-shirts. Benny had his hair gelled into a cute little Mohawk. Our first stop was McDonald's for a gourmet meal. I'm confident that Max and Ben loved the toys from their kids meal and the play land far more than the food. It seriously took the staff at McDonald's over 10 minutes to get our food on the tray. I finally had to go up to the counter and give them some hints on how to complete the order.

We went to the Gateway after and watched How to Train Your Dragon in 3D. Max and Ben both started out in a booster seat, Benny ended up on my lap. It wasn't easy to keep the 3D glasses on his head. There were a few scary parts but these boys were true Vikings and remained courageous. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Seriously I have no idea how JB and Mary ever get both boys to look in the same direction and smile at the same time. This isn't the most flattering picture of me because I am saying "cheese" in hopes that Max and Ben will catch onto the concept.

After the movie we walked down to the fountain. It was a little to cold to let them play in it but they did have fun pretending like they were going to. I warned the boys that I expected kisses at the end of the date. Max was hesitant but eventually gave in. Benny does not have a hesitant bone in his body. Thanks for the date!

Self Talk

I heard yesterday that 300-1,000 wpm of self talk go through our brains and I believe it. I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon on Saturday and the hardest race that I have done to date. I was physically the more prepared for this race than I have ever been before. For the last 3-4 weeks I have completed a 2 hour run each week. This race should have been like any other training day but it was much harder. My body was run but I was hearing 300-1,000 wpm of doubt, fear, etc. I was trying to push that doubt and fear out, I was trying to prove to myself that I could keep going. It was much easier to push it out when I saw people I love cheering me on. Thank you for waiting at the finish line for me and believing that I could do it.

Here are my stats from the day:
1:50:11 Official chip time
8:24 Pace
74 / 621 Division Place
793 /4621 Overall Place
273 /2882 Gender Place

It was my personal best race. I beat my previous best by 2 minutes and 34 seconds. I'm just hoping that on my next race I can push all 300-1,000 wpm of doubt and fear aside and believe in myself.

I zoomed in on this picture so you could see how crazy muscular my calf muscles look.

Spring Break 2010

I celebrated my Second Annual Spring Break in Phoenix. The weather was perfect (70-85 degrees). The tree in front of Jeff's house was in bloom. I apparently missed the best part of the bloom but it was still beautiful. Jeff's house is looking amazing. The roof is on, the stucco is on, and now thanks in part to me most of the insulation is up. I am in constant awe of Jeff. The fact that he has nearly doubled the size of his house doing most of the work on his own dumbfounds me. I honestly think there is nothing in life that Jeff couldn't do.



This is the view from Jeff's new master suite. The mountain in the background is Camelback.


We returned to La Piazza del Forno in Glendale. The pizza was even better than the first time that I visited. I hadn't noticed the sign below before.


The trip to Arizona wouldn't be complete without a hike. We hiked Camelback. I had only been up the West side in the past. This time we hiked from the East to the West side. We even met Camelback Jack on our way up. This guy has to be in his sixties or seventies and he hikes the East side (most difficult) three times each day. I hope that I am that agile when I am sixty.



Diesel joined us for the hike. He slowed Jeff down a little, otherwise I would have totally been left in the dust. Diesel is a total chick magnet for Jeff. Almost every girl that we saw on the trail commented on how cute Diesel was. Diesel has even learned to drink straight from Jeff's backpack.

The wildflowers were breathtaking. I couldn't resist getting lots of pictures. My favorite is of the pink flower in the midst of the spiky cactus thorns.











P.S. My eye twitch disappeared during my trip to Arizona. I think I was in desperate need of some R&R. Hopefully it does not make a reappearance anytime soon.

P.S.S. I continued with my training schedule while I was in Phoenix. I ran along the canal three days and visited a gym for my long 2 hour run one day. I must be crazy.

Michael Buble

I went to the Michael Buble concert at the E-Center on March 31st. I have been to a lot of concerts but this was definitely in my top 5 of all time. The stage was simple. The concert was about the music and Michael singing the music. It wasn't about dancing, a moving stage, or background graphics. There were no extreme costume changes. He came out in a tux and he stayed in it. The big band was at the center of the stage, not hidden to the side or below like you see with other artists. Michael Buble was one of the best entertainers I have ever seen. He was able to make every member of the audience feel like he was serenading them individually. If Michael was to come again I would go in a heart beat.




P.S. I hope that when Michael does come again that he doesn't come to the E-Center. It is possibly the worst venue in Salt Lake. Parking is an absolute joke. I had read online that parking would be $10. All of the signs driving up to the parking lot said $10. We get to the kid taking money and he asks for $15. We corrected him. He said we could pay $10 since we saw the sign. The 40 minutes it took to get out of the parking lot didn't make me feel any better about the situation either.

Coming soon...to City Creek

I was walking downtown the other day and caught a glimpse of sign that made me smile. The Blue Lemon is coming to the City Creek Project. Over the past few months the City Creek Project has really started to take a form. I love the design. I can definitely see myself spending more time downtown once it opens up. I am thrilled that the Blue Lemon is coming and that I won't have to drive all the way to Alpine for the scrumptious tastes the Blue Lemon offers.

Wing = (Winter +Spring)

Did you know that it is snaning today(snaning =snow + rain). The little tastes of Spring that I have been given make the in between days unbearable. Spring in Utah is just a big flirt, you get a little taste of Spring and then it is taken away from you. I am so ready for Spring to stop flirting and just stick around.

Saturday was a beautiful day. We had a Relief Society brunch up in Park City. The menu was amazing ...pesto tomato cheese croissant sandwiches and a blueberry mango and candied ginger salad. Roxy was the menu planner and she is seriously a rock star in my book.

When I got back to Salt Lake I went on a scooter ride down to Gateway to return a few items. I continued my journey to the downtown library where I picked up a classic to read in all my spare time. It is now sitting on the pile of books next to my bed. Then I visited 3-5 motorcycle shops on State Street in search of a helmet. It was quite the experience. I finally found this helmet at one of the least scandalous stores. I'm looking forward to using it all Spring and Summer if they ever decide to stop flirting and stick around.