I'm back!

Did you even realize I was gone? Pat and I spent last week in lovely Frisco, CO, with his uncle Larry and aunt Laurel. In addition to being a great chance for me to get to know Larry and Laurel better (and lucky me for it - they're AWESOME!), this was my first "official" ski vacation.

We had a great time! We skied 4 solid days (here and here), and once I got my "ski legs" back, it was so nice to be back outside in the crisp air under skies that were either heavy with snow or beautifully blue - no in between. When we weren't skiing, we were gorging ourselves on Laurel's amazing and constantly appearing snack plates. And lest you think that we totally slacked off on this triathlon thing, on our days off from skiing we hit the local recreation center for our regularly scheduled swims.

Swimming, it turns out, is much harder at 9,000 ft elevation. Much, much harder. Gasping and sucking for oxygen harder. On the plus side, the rec center DID feature a hot tub, so both workouts ended in some well-deserved soaking and stretching in the highest of style.

Now, however, it's back to the grind - work and workouts. We're into "Block 2" of our training, which as far as I can tell just means longer and more numerous opportunities for me to question why exactly I thought this was a good idea. When I start to wonder too much, though, I dial it back - to looking at one day and one workout at a time. And when I REALLY start to wonder, I log on to my active.com website and look at this incredible, growing demonstration of generosity that you all make up. Go look, if you haven't recently. That little swim/bike/run champ is barrelling across the top of the screen. Again, I'm overwhelmed. Five minutes ago, we were 47% of the way to the goal! I can't say thank you enough - not just for supporting me, but for supporting this great cause.

Look for more posts again soon - I want to tell you more about the growing camaraderie at our team practices, and it's a big day this Saturday - my first BRICK workout! What's that, you ask? It's a bike ride immediately followed by a run. Aw, my first chance to try out my very own noodle legs. Something tells me I'd better pack an extra sense of humor that morning - stay tuned!