Bike Haus MTB Night ride

Definitely miss this.  Cool place to work.  Cool people to be around.  Even though I broke my clavicle on this ride in April, I'll be back doing it again next year with flare!

American Fork Canyon Half Marathon

This what where we were last weekend.  My daughter Abby ran her first half marathon and I was right behind her!  This was a beautiful course, a well-organized event and a spectacularly beautiful day to run 13.1 miles.  What a great job organizers did for this event -- with 100 percent of proceeds going to cancer research in Utah county.   Awesome!  Can't wait to do this one again next year.

Ruby Red Slippers

These cycling shoes have captured my heart.  If you're going to spend over $400 on shoes, they might as well make a statement.  These shoes do just that.  Specialized S-Works Limited Edition Red Shoes. Selling out around the world -- with a few styles still available at Bicycle Haus in Scottsdale.  Absolutely dreamy.....

The FIRST Running Retreat May 2014

Greenville, South Carolina  home of cyclist George Hincapie, BMW North America, and Furman University, where doctors Pierce, Moss and Muir teach and preach running for life.  These men have perfected the ideal way to be faster on your feet as explained in their book,  Run Less Run Faster.  The book has sold well over 100,000 copies and a second edition was printed in 2011.  It's been my running bible and go-to book the past five years.  I use the track workouts and marathon training plans religiously.  

There is a small blurb in the book about the Furman FIRST Running Retreat that the authors host annually.  When I heard about the retreat, I knew I needed to go.  So off to Greenville, I went.  With two friends in tow.  And let me tell you, Greenville is amazing.  It's the type of place you want to raise a family.  It's straight out of a movie where kids climb trees and play in the river and maybe even find a dead body.  You did see Stand By Me, right? 

Football is King, even 

Over the next three days we met at mingled and picked the brains of these three amazing men:  Bill Pierce, the writer,  Scott Muir, the triathlete, and Ray Moss, the practical scientist.  We had three packed days of lectures, flexibility and strength skills, track workouts, cross training, trail running, gait analysis, nutrition analyzation, lactate threshold testing, delicious FOOD and friendly conversation.  And along the way, I gained new friendships with the other 13 participants from around the world.

The view from Paris Mountain.  We had dinner up here on our last night.

The gang, minus me.  

And what I learned during this long weekend, was that each of us had a passion for running that brought us to the retreat.  But our individual stories were unique and interesting and all our own.  In this solitary sport called running, we came together as strangers, but left as friends.  We all left Furman stronger mentally, physically and emotionally.  Our quest to be better was accomplished.

Driving down the mall of Furman University

Stretching our calves outside Bill's office 

An amazingly green and lush campus

Thank you for your Southern Hospitality Ray, Bill and Scott.  You retreat was an amazing experience. But thank you also to James, Alan, Robert, Brian, Steve, Luis, Luis, Paulina, Rose, Traci, Katharine and Signe.  The common bond of running brought us together.  But your individual stories of grit, determination and the desire to better yourselves unite us as friends for a lifetime.

I can't wait to return, Greenville.  See you VERY soon.

Practicing Patience And A Mother's Day Gift Idea

Three weeks post injury and here I am.

THIS is me.  No significant bone growth and perhaps WORSE after three weeks in a sling.   Apparently I am "moving" too much.  What a surprise.  In three weeks I'll return to my orthopedic surgeon for another X-ray and another update.  

In the meantime -- no running, no cycling, no swimming,  no....walking!  (I guess my doctor saw me walking too briskly with the neighborhood ladies).  And so I wait.   And practice patience.  

Patience.  What an underrated virtue.  A virtue I need to acquire.  I'm waking up in the morning with time on my hands.  Coaching on deck at the pool and just dying to jump in.  I want to stretch my arms far above my head as I dive in and reach my hands in front of me to find the solid water and push my body past it in beautiful, effortless strokes.  

Instead I scroll through Instagram double tapping as my friends cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon and the Whiskey 50 mountain bike race.  I "like" it when my pals post artsy photos of them trail running in the canyon or hiking to some unbelievable summit.  

But in the grand scheme of things, this is a blip on the radar.  Sometimes setbacks give you the umph you need to reaffirm your passion.  I'm coming back, better and stronger and more determined to be my best self.  

Segway that into another book recommendation.  

You know I am a fan of reading and this break has done wonders to renew that love.   If you are a mother, are married to a mother, have a mother or want to be a mother, THIS book is worth purchasing for that special woman in your life.  With Mother's Day around the corner, I'd suggest buying in bulk for gifts for every mother you love.  It's a motivator, a guidance counselor and a hug to moms of all walks of life.  My dear friend Janeen Wright is a contributor to this excellent little book of wisdom.  I applaud her and all the moms who shared their stories.   It will sit on my bedside for years to come, so I can reach for it if I am ever feeling inadequate or overwhelmed.  

Patience, now, while I read another chapter.  

A Painful Post

I got a little boo boo two weeks ago.

While this is not MY xray, it does show you what a broken clavicle looks like, which is exactly what happened to me on the Bicycle Haus night mountain bike ride on April 2.

Without going into painful detail, let's just say I (nearly 50) should maybe not try and ride as fast as the balls-to-the-wall boys half my age.  Also, it is a great idea for me to ride BEHIND said boys, not in the middle of the pack.  The BH boys are nice and they WILL wait for me at the appointed no-drop stops.  Bringing up the rear is my new mantra.  Why have the pressure of trying to keep up with the front and not slow down the back of the pack?  With age comes wisdom.  Another good mantra.  

Anyway, ouch.  I am 2.5 weeks out from the trip to the ER and I'm still in constant  pain.  Surgery, at this point, is not required due to the clean "non-displaced" break.  What IS required is 12 weeks of healing.  No swim.  No bike.  No run.  So I have, temporarily, embraced.... walking!  

Part of being on the mend is the absolute necessity to slow down and let things heal.  Big jarring movements are not okay.  Walking with the neighborhood ladies has been refreshing therapy for me lately.  And I also have a little more time to embrace my first love:  books.  

Figuring that you read this blog to motivate yourself to dream big and plan goals outside your comfort level, I give you THIS manual of just how to steer yourself in that direction.  The Promise of a Pencil is a inspirational story of Adam Braun, who has now build over 250 schools in developing nations around the globe.  Braun's story is a remarkable journey of how he saw a need, made a goal, formulated a plan and achieved a dream.  I LOVED it.  

If you're looking for a jump-starter read to get you motivated to conquer your biggest challenge or goal in life, I suggest you read his book ASAP.  

And now, off for a walky.

My New Gig

It is with GREAT excitement that I announce I am joining the team at Sigma Human Performance Coaching Systems in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Sigma is a national coaching company with offices in Vail, Colorado as well as Scottsdale.  With this new partnership, I can provide great services to YOU, including on-site metabolic testing at our OWN lab in AZ, and the expert knowledge of a certified nutritionist on board our team.    New clients can choose from coaching systems that run from $199/month to $399/month.

Gorilla Multisport has been my baby for three years and I would not leave this behind unless I knew that this move would be better for everyone involved.  Now I am  surrounding my clients with the best in the business.  Sigma founder, Ben Stone, is recognized on a world-wide level as an expert in his field of Science and Medicine of Athletic Performance.  His degree is from Oxford, University and he is highly respected in the world of endurance cyclists, swimmers, runners and triathletes.  It will be great to get his feedback on YOUR training plans.  I feel very lucky to be a part of his team.

On another note, if you have not had a Metabolic Test to establish your heart rate training zones, I would suggest taking the time to head to Sigma Scottsdale for a $249 test.  This will give you a more concise look at where you should train to perform optimally, and where to train to burn the most fat.  Let me know if you want to arrange to have that done.  It is well worth the money if you want to improve your performance in any athletic endeavor.