What a crazy winter!  We got hit with one of the biggest snow storms in Philadelphia history on Saturday and are awaiting another big one which is supposed to cover us in snow tomorrow.  Schools are all cancelled, flights are cancelled, work (for some people) is already cancelled. It’s mayhem.  I think I jinxed things because I told my coach in November that we have really mild winters in Philly and hardly ever get snow.  Guess Mother Nature showed me!  And to top it off, it looks like I will have to hit the treadmill tomorrow for my tempo run.  I hate hate hate running on the treadmill and have managed to avoid it for many years.  Unfortunately though, I have a hard, fast workout to do tomorrow and I think the roads will be in no condition for fast miles.  I’m sure I’ll get it in but it is not going to be fun…  I did try to s ...

The celebrations have begun.  Well, actually they are almost over now.  I started this post much earlier in the week and it’s been taking me quite a while to get thru it.  The celebrations have been tamed down this year since I’m going to be spending way too much time working.  Luckily I like my job but it still isn’t fun working from 6AM-8PM on your birthday!  My husband and I kicked off the celebrations with some champagne and a very yummy dinner which he made (and cleaned up after too!).  I had to rally a bit to make it thru the evening since I was so tired but it was worth it.  And fortunately, my birthday celebrations last all week.  The following evening was dinner with friends at one of my favorite Italian restaurants.  The restaurant is about an hour from our house and so, as a treat, my husband and I stayed over in a hotel across the street.  I loved every minute of it beca ...

Last week was a whirlwind of fun.  It started with a trip to NYC to see my BFF.  She was only in town for Wednesday night and Thursday morning but we made the most of the short time by staying up late Wednesday and getting up early Thursday.  It was fun to catch up but even more fun to reminisce about the past.  As with good friends, even though we hadn’t seen each other in 2 years, it felt like no time had passed.  After she left for the train station, my husband spent the rest of the day wandering around NYC.  We had lunch in Little Italy, explored the Frick Museum and took a nap on the rocks in Central

I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since my last blog.  The last few weeks seem like a blur even though not much has been going on.  After a fun filled weekend in Augusta with my family and friends, although unfortunately not a fun filled race, I came home and made a last minute decision to do a small local sprint triathlon with some friends.  It did take quite a bit of persuasion from them since I was pretty burnt out both mentally and physically (as was my husband who adamantly refused to go to another triathlon in the year 2009).  I however, couldn’t resist a fun race with friends.  Ever since I turned pro the racing has been so much more serious.  Don’t get me wrong, I love every minute of it, but I don’t get as many opportunities to just jump in a race without much training, to be surrounded by friends, and to not really be concerned ...

It's been so exciting and busy here in Colorado Springs and I'm so exhausted I can barely stand up.  Always the sign of a good trip!  I came out here for a mini training camp with my coach.  It's been fun to see Colorado since I have never been here before and even better to get some one-on-one time with my coach.  We've done tons of testing, swim lessons, cycling skills work,  a fun little Splash and Dash race, and lots of other workouts.  What a great place to train, beautiful roads for cycling, great little running trails and resevoirs for open water swimming (I never get to swim outdoors at home!).  I've been at the Carmichael Training Center the past few days for testing and it was great to meet Chris and all his crew and see the new facility.  Today we stopped by Denver after our morning workouts and had a great lunch outdoors in downtown Denver.&n ...

Finally we have had some nice weather here in Philly and it's back to our normal Philly summer, hot and humid.  The weather for the Philly Tri this past weekend was pretty much close to perfect.  It was 80degrees and low humidity.  The race was a lot of fun.  You can read my race report for details but I was happy and relieved I had a good race.  I always feel a lot more pressure to perform well at my home race.  My parents came down to watch and we went out for some excellent Mexican food after the race. I can't believe it's the 4th of July this weekend already.  I'll be off in the mountains to relax and train (and hopefully see some fireworks!) and then when I get back I am off to Colorado to do some testing and training with my coach.  I am really excited about it.  Not only just for the high altitude training and time with my coach but just to see&nbs ...