And so it’s here…the big race of the season.

I am packing up to head to Racine later today. The race is Sunday. My wave kicks off at 7:30 am. My bib number is 614, that feels lucky!

I have spent a lot of time training, I’ve come a long way this season, maybe even more mentally than physically.

This race…it will be a fight, a fight for how badly I want to go to Vegas.  The planets, the training, the weather, may it all come into perfect alignment.

Of course there are people who think I’m crazy and in no way can attain my goal. To you, I hope to prove you wrong.

The hard work is done, now it’s time to put it all together and have some fun.

As my coach simply put it:  ”YOU CAN DO THIS.  Believe in yourself.”

And stick a fork in it!

Last night, CT’s All Star team played their last game. It was amazing, as far as Little League goes, they fought hard and kept them at bay until the bitter bitter end. The team played a great game, but it was a tough one to walk away from.

And in that walking away, I have seen my son grow more this year than in any other. This year he has show more depth of character, more compassion, more understanding than in year’s past. His ability to deal with life’s loses have grown exponentially.

I’m so proud of you CT. Bumps in the road will always be there and it is a joy to watch you navigate them with such grace.

BTW, it totally helps having your best friend there talking it all over with you.

Thanks Sam!

My buddy Todd Olson kicked open the doors last week and will be having a full fledged Grand Opening April 15-17th.

The store is located at 820 West 50th in Minneapolis, which is a perfect distance from the lakes to kick off any run or bike right from the store.  He even put in a shower and lockers for those of you who prefer to clean up after your workouts.

It doesn’t matter if you already know what the hell you’re doing or if you are just dipping your toes into triathlons for the first time, this is your store.  You can get personal attention and have your questions answered by people who really want to help you, even if you’re just buying Gu or goggles.

Anyway, it’s also loaded to the gills with some super cool stuff.

(Bike Porn)

I think I licked all the bikes one by one as I walked by and then rubbed the Zoot tri shoes across my cheeks and then I tried on the TYR carbon race suit that feels like paper and makes me look BAD ASS FAST, kinda like a shark!

Oh and then I thought about shoving the Giro bike shoes in my bag as I walked out, but decided I better not test out their theft system.

(T-odd and his store)

Congrats Todd!

Great job, the store is amazing.

Sunday, the National Junior Olympics for cross country skiing kicked off.  It is being held at Theodore With Park and hosted by the The City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, which is why I am involved.   It is going on all week and will finish up on Saturday night.

Ten teams from across the nation, the best of the best, are strutting their stuff and making it happen.

I am beginning to wonder what the heck I am going to do with all my extra time once this is all wrapped up and I am done kick’n it with sponsors.

Maybe clean the house for the first time in six months.

My Sponsorship Coordinator position at the City of Lakes Loppet was so much more than I anticipated.  In fact, I am pretty sure it was one of the larger projects I have sunk my teeth into in a while.

It was one of those projects that you thought you wanted to shiv yourself in the temple most of the time and then you got over the hump (then you had to get over another one, oh and another one) and finally as you were rolling on home, you got to see all the hard work you put in pay off.

The entire Loppet weekend ended up being a huge success.  They had record attendance, races filling and spectators that added up into the thousands and thousands.  It was something to behold.

Here is a little clip of the most popular event, the Luminary!

Did I end up skiing in any races?  No.

But, I did end up Ice Bike racing. And, took LAST!  Dead last.  First time in my life, that is a humbling experience and may go hand in hand with this project.

I am going to tell you this…I learned a lot about myself on this go-round and I met some really great people.

At the end of dinner, all the kids crowded around Papa to read the notes.  They were read one by one.  The kids tried to guess who wrote what.  Some of us fessed up, some did not.

It was CT who wrote this:

As it was read, he looked up into my mom’s eyes and gave her the sweetest smile and head nod.  It was as if to say, don’t worry Grandma, we won’t forget him.

I am actually on the fourth day of a toilet clog that I cannot for the life of me get out.  The questioning started out like this:  What’s in there?  Is it just poop?  Did you use a lot of toilet paper?  By day three I was asking:  What else did you put down there, a pony, a car, a stuffed animal?

Usually it kinda breaks up and then I can plunge it out no problem.  At this point in the post you are asking yourself, how does she know that?  Well people, I know that because I have a son that has clogged so many toilets in his lifetime that I can’t even count them on all my fingers and toes.

Needless to say, after another round of plunging, the snake and a conference call about “plunging procedure” for this particular toilet to Adam…we got it.

Oh yeah…the things I will not do.  Chop wood.  I tried that, with PJ watching and almost chopped my foot off.  I decided it wasn’t my thing.  And, change a flat, because really, I just don’t want to.

I am still waiting on my friend Erik.  Where the hell are you “pool boy” Erik???

Every Tuesday night I go to a ski class.  So far it has been a bunch of dry land training, which I have no problem with.  Last night, due to the snow, I found myself on skis for the first time since I was 7.  The images of me laying in the snow crying because I was cold and frustrated all came flooding back.

With 33 years and only a pinch more patience than when I was 7, I plodded back and forth with no poles trying to get the gist of skate skiing.  At least I was laughing as I fell down instead of crying.  My plan is to complete the 33K Loppet race on February 6th.  I have a lot of work to do and honestly have no business doing it, but why the hell not?

Hey, if you ski, come on out and participate.  If you don’t come on out and watch.  There is something for everyone.

We talked him out of putting the “dead” baby in the bag.

She WAS a pirate a day ago.  By the end of the night, she took off the wig and was saying she was Becca.

Teen wolf out on the prowl.

King of Craft Beer!  He really just wanted to drink while he tried to track the kids trick or treating, so this worked out real nice like.

Happy Halloween.