Woot!

My visitor count just clicked to 1000 today!  I'm sure I'm about 990 of the hits, but that 1000 just looks so shiny!


What's new?

House for sale
Selling a house in a slooooooow market (aka buyer's market) is a lot more stressful and frustrating than selling a house in a seller's market.

Traveling for work
It used to be that I 'got to travel for work'.  Now, sometimes I 'have to travel for work'.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind traveling when it's to a place I've never been before or to a place like San Fransisco, but when I 'get' to go Regina for the third time in one year?  Well, that's not as much fun!

Making babies
Not yet knocked up.  See previous item for why not.

School
Presently in my last course for CGA.  I can't wait to finish so that I can... stay doing the same thing I am now?

Wine
I love you.  Oh, wait.  That's not new!

{insert clever title here}

Back to school.  Procrastinating already by posting on my blog!

This summer was a busy one but somehow we managed to spend most of it at home.  Now that fall is almost here, our busy travel schedules are resuming.  As usual, I'm trying to pile too many things onto my schedule and that just leads to me doing nothing productive!  Only 5 weeks til the Thanksgiving 10k run.  As usual, I've been doing more run planning than run running.  I know I can finish the run; I just might not like the time I finish in.

Run for your life.
Run for those who can't.
Run for those who are gone.
Run for those who are still here.
Run for your life.

CALIFOOOORRRNIAAAAA

The Beach Boys' song comes to mind every time.

We're in Napa tasting wines today. I must say that I'm awfully disappointed with the experience. Exorbidant tasting fees, expensive wines, crowded tasting rooms... need I go on? It seems that we have been spoiled by the wine tours that we like to do in the Okanagan.

If you were to go on a wine tour in the USA, there are plenty of regions that can offer you tasty wines for a lot less $$ and pretentiousness. We really enjoyed the wineries in Yakima, Washington area and in the Anderson Valley (Navarro region) of California. All seemed to have tasting fees as well, but the wines were not priced as extravegantly.

Maybe my palate isn't as 'developed' as some wine enthusiasts, but other than a few wines, there weren't too many that caught my attention.

I <3 BC wine.

Plate is full!

I won't be signing up for Toastmasters until my course is done in early June. With the golf season starting (now!), and my running and triathlon goals, my calendar is filling up fast. I don't think it would be a good idea to add anything that requires a weekly time commitment or 3-4 hours.

I went to the pool yesterday for the first time since probably last August. I swam for 12.5 minutes and it felt good but I didn't have much more in my than that. I think I'm finally getting my ego under control, training-wise. Just because I did Ironman 2.5 years ago, doesn't mean I can just go out and swim for an hour or bike (at all!) or run a half marathon without putting any training in. This year's goals are small and reasonable; just the way they should be! 8k race in May, sprint triathlon in August, reducing my golf handicap from double-bogey to single-bogey, and a 10k race in October.

I dropped off my tri bike at the local bike shop to have it appraised for sale. It was harder than I thought it would be. I have a lot of emotional attachment to that bike but I don't think I'll be riding it again any time soon. In fact, I don't think I've been on it since the few weeks after IMC 2008! I still have my road bike for my race this summer and that's good enough for me! :)

Being brave means taking action even though you're scared.

I'm 2/3rds through a public speaking course and I am starting to feel that I might be sorry when it ends. I still don't find it very comfortable speaking in front of a group but yesterday, I volunteered to go first and that was SO much easier than waiting!

That feeling of dread that builds and builds as your turn creeps closer and closer? Gone when you go first! Our own perceptions of how we look and sound when up on the podium can be very different from what other people see and hear. I didn't think I did a good job but people said that I did well. I was easy to understand and took my time. In my mind, I was tongue-trippin' and rushing! Everyone's experience was rather similar to mine (no one felt good about their performance but the audience thought they did a great job!)

I am considering joining Toastmasters after this class is done but I'm not sure I want to make a weekly commitment to do that because golf season is starting shortly!

I always wait just long enough...

for all my followers to get really bored before making a new post.





Recap of the last month:


- Honeymoon in Hawaii was fun

- Going back to work was less fun

Picture of me pondering what it would be like to be in Ironman World Championships in Kona. I'm standing at the start line.

I eat old soap

Sometimes, I feel like people view me like this consultant. Especially when I'm consulting at a customer site and they show me this cartoon...

Fall down 7 times, get up 8 times

I'm back and ready to start kicking some ass again.



Figuratively!



It's like the sun poking out from behind the clouds. Light is shining on me again.



I'm feeling good and looking forward to running the half marathon in May. I starting off the year the right way and sticking to my running plan so far. While I would like to break my record of 2:17, I may have to save that for next time. I will be very happy with a time under 2:30 at this point. I have run approximately eight half marathons (let me check the number of race shirts in my closet) but the last time I ran one was May 2008. After Ironman, I have done almost nothing, race-wise. While I don't plan on getting into long-distance triathlons any time soon, I do want to run a half marathon this year! It's a long enough distance that you can't really fake it but not so long that the training takes up all your free time.



My training plan consists of running several times per week to start. After we get back from Hawaii, I will add hot yoga and biking into the mix for flexibility and additional conditioning. A slow and steady distance increase, combined with cross-training, will help to reduce the chances of injury.



I'm happy to be running again.



I'll be even happier when it's golf season again. :)