NYC Trip!

Since Bobby’s brother was getting married in New York and since we love happen to love New York so much we decided to make a big vacation out of it. Which is why we chose to go for 11 days.

Trip started off at the Provo airport. Best airport in the world. No waiting, no walking just show up a half hour before your flight and check in pretty much at the front door and walla! You’re ready to ride in an airplane.

We also managed to snag some upgraded seats that had more leg room for us long legged kids.

 

Once we got there e were in pursuit of finding THE best cheese cake that NYC had to offer.

 

The Brooklyn Diner wins!

 

2nd- Juniors

 

3rd- Carrot Tops

 

4th- Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station

 

 

 

Good thing we ran every other day other wise that cheesecake would have made us little fatties

 

 

We went down town to see Ellis Ilsand...

Too bad you can't see the Statue..But aren't we cute!

We checked out ground zero. The building right in the middle is one going to be one of the new towers.

Trinity Church near ground zero was one of my favorite places. It was crazy loud and hectic just outstide the church, but in it was total peace and calm.

Bronze Bull

 

Central Park Coolnes

 



 

More coolness at Central Park

We went to the MET!

 

 

In Egypt. In the MET

In honor of our favorite show 30 ROCK!

We saw a couple of broadway shows that were amazing! Peter and the Star Catcher and Once.

Unfortunately they had the thermostat set at 50 degrees

Will and Audra's awesome wedding cake



 

Subway life sucks

Sad to be leaving

 

 

 

 

Utah State Chamipionship Fall 50 Race

Favorite race of the year so far. Such a fun course to race on! It seemed easy racing 50 miles after doing Mt Ogden 100k and Park City Point 2 Point. I didn't feel like I wanted to die afterward.

Started out with the lead group then had to let up 3 miles in. Looking back, I don't think my 5 bike rides in the last 4 weeks helped me today. I'm not out of shape but I've definitely lost my top end. I felt strong, but could NOT keep up. KC and Megan got a bit of a lead on me until the sand run that lasted about 3/4 of a mile. That doesn't seem that long but in a mt bike race it is! I actually caught up to them running and my pace was faster so I wanted to pass but it was too sketchy. Didn't matter anyway, as soon as we were back on the bike and going uphill they took off.
About 10 miles in I rolled the my back tire off it's bead and lost tons of pressure and stans. I'm so impatient and stubborn so instead of pulling over and putting air in it I thought it'd be better to wait until the lap area 25 miles in. I had to stand any time it was off camber or it'd leak more air. It ended up being off camber a lot. It was a really squishy, sketchy ride. Took it slow on the downhill to avoid going completely flat. Stupid choice. Lost lots of time. You live and learn right.
Janelle Kramer caught up to me and we chatted a bit, which was really fun.
Through the lap area I was checking out everyone that was there to support a racer to see if they had a floor pump. Finally a family had one. I pulled up to them, asked if I could use it and their baby started screaming! I mean really screaming! I asked again and they were so focused on the baby that they didn't hear. I said "I'm using your pump OK?" Got some good pressure in my tire and was off. SO much better. I could actually ride and not have to ride tentatively. 
I started to feel much stronger on my second lap. At the feed zone...mile 32 I had a bottle filled with redbull. I had only eaten a couple gels and a dutch waffle in the 3 hours so that redbull was going straight to an empty stomach...BAD IDEA! Ha! It really wrecked havok on me. I was so sketchy and shaky coming down the descent. It was crazy. I actually felt like a crazy person. And worst part was that the downhill was so fast I could get a chance to grab a snack and help my system settle down. Wow another lesson learned. No redbull on an empty stomach. :)
I came in 5th. Made the podium! I love this race series so freaking much I've decided. They payout 5 deep! And good payout too. They gave us sweet t-shirts that me and my husband LOVE and will actually wear. They just did a great job.
Poor Bobby had a very eventful race. And not the good eventful. His chain fell off and somehow managed to twist in 2 different spots. It is super hard to get a chain unlooped...especially if it's still on the bike. That took about 20 minutes to deal with. Then later he heard a kid screaming and there was blood all over him. He stopped to help him and the kid couldn't really explain what was going on all he said was he couldn't feel his legs. So Bobby thinks this kid has crashed and suffered a neck injury so he tells the kid not to move and Bobby stablizes his spine. After staying like this for a while the kid finally tells him that he just has leg cramps! Haha I love this story so much and can just picture it all in my head :)
This was the last big race of the season for Bobby and I. We're going to do some cyclocross racing but it's all about fun, fall riding from here.

Check out some awesome pictures from Cotton Sox Photography!

Point 2 Point 2012

Was this race hard? Yes. Was it epic? Yes. Will I do it again next year? Yes. Most likely. Probably. 

The day started off slightly more stressful than anticipated. I realized the night before the race that I'd forgotten to bring bike shorts. How could you forget something that important? Don't know, but I did. I quickly called my 3B Yoga teammate and asked if she had extra shorts. Thank heavens she did! We sure didn't want to drive back down to Provo and back at 10pm.

Woke up in the morning to rain. We stayed in our utility trailer which makes everything sound so much LOUDER. When I walked outside it was still pretty bad and the lightening was lighting up the entire valley. I started planning my day and it did NOT include racing P2P. We were told by the race director to stay in our cars and hold tight. Race was officially postponed until 8am and they were going to make a decision at 7am. At 6:45 it completely cleared up and was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day. We all took a vote. I voted to race that day, but KC Holley and my husband told me I'd better vote to race the following day. Long story short, director made the call to race that day.

Panic panic rush rush. Get to the starting line with no warmup what-so-ever. Realize that I didn't have my bottle of electrolytes. Oh well. Too late now. If you don't know anything about P2P just know that it's supposed to be a 78 mile mountain bike race with 14,000 feet of climbing. There are only 3 aid stations so you're riding for about 3 hours between each station. To not have those calories from my sports drink made me a little worried. I should mention that because of epic rain that morning we were going to cut 10 miles off. YAY!

Started racing and was right behind Bobby which was awesome. About 30 minutes into the race my chain started having problems and would suddenly freeze up. This would launch me over the front of my bars and I'd have to pull over to let a bunch of guys by. It became so bad that I couldn't pedal at all. Bobby was going around a switch back so he just happened to see me struggling and called out. I told him my problems and he stopped and waited for me. He's my knight in shining armor. I ran my bike up to him and he sprayed the chain off with his water and then lubed it. Good to go. Then it was trying to pass a bunch of guys back for the next 45 minutes. Finally got into a good rhythm and was about to pass a couple of girls when we came up to a T in the road and I knew the course was supposed to turn right but it was marked to turn left and the other girls turned left. We dropped down a really steep hill for a half mile when I hear someone yelling my name. Wrong way. I yelled at the other girls and struggled to get back up the steep hill. Then it was back to passing all the people I'd just worked to pass. Oh well that's mountain bike racing eh?

The trails were in a amazing condition, super tacky and fast. I was feeling great. It was overcast and there was fog that made everything a little eery, but wow was I having a great time out there. Bobby caught up to me and it was really fun to have him there.

First aid station I stuffed down a banana, grabbed some other snacks AND my electrolyte drink and switched out my camel back and was off. Gabe with 3B Yoga was there to do support and boy was I glad to have him. He was so organized and efficient. That really saved me some time.

The next section until the 2nd aid station is just long. They have you climb about 2,000 feet and then descend and then CLIMB 2,000 feet and the DESCEND and then CLIMB 2,000...you get the idea. I was forcing food down the whole way and trying not to throw it all up, which I'm proud to say I only threw up once and it was just a little.

2nd feed station was the best! Joan and Steve Mower were there along with Gabe. Joan had me sit down so she could massage my achilles on my left foot. It had been painful for the last 2 hours.

I finally left the feed zone knowing the hardest part of the race was coming up. The flat to 4% grade section. My body feels best and passes the most people on grades that are 8% and steeper. Amazingly my achilles didn't hurt. I was needing a pick-me-up tho and so I downed a 5 hour energy. Best idea ever! I think it only effected me for about an hour but it was AMAZING! The last part was just trying not to die coming down the crappy last downhill.
Made it down safely and Came in 5th place pro women!

Made $700!

So so happy for these results and for everyone who helped me along the way.

Side note: I was nauseous for about 2 days, but I still think it was worth it :)

THANK YOU 3B YOGA FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AND FOR SUCH A FUN YEAR OF RACING!!!!

Joan Mower is the best cheer leader!

Coming into the 2nd feed

Amy is happy to give a smile a two birdies

Finished! Amazingly fast time Bobby!

Finished! Can I cry now?

Road biking

Untitled by erincollins at Garmin Connect - Details

This is the ride Bobby and I did today. That boy kicks my butt every time we go out for a ride these days! It's awesome yet annoying :)

Love that *man
Love riding bikes
Love riding bikes with that *man

*man=Bobby Swenson

True Grit Baby

Ok so remember last year how bad this race turned out? Well good thing Bobby and I gave it another chance because this year it was a blast!
We went down 3 times to ride in St Geo this winter--SO FUN!! I wanted to dial the Zen Trail in. I think we did it a total of 5 times. Technical isn't necessarily my strong point, BUT I've sure improved with it and I would say I'm not too shabby at it now :) I would have to thank my husband for my improved technical abilities because that IS his strong point and he's always so encouraging to me and tries to teach me new ways to get up/down scary stuff. LOVE HIM!!!
Anyway, True Grit race started out looking like it was going to be an awful stormy day, but all my prayers must have done something because it turned out to be the perfect racing temps.
I started out in 2nd place and stayed there the whole race. I stayed with Jesse Sorenson of Wild Child Mountain Bike Team (Downhill Cyclery in Payson). He was such a stud to ride with, very encouraging and we took our turns pulling each other, which was very nice because the wind was prettttttty bad. I've decided I'm a kite in the wind...Tall and Skinny, so the wind just eats me up.
Zen could have gone a little better but I'm just being a perfectionist. I made it up all the stuff I really wanted to that I've struggled with in the past. YEEEAAAAH! Then on stuff that was never a problem for me became a problem because guys in front of me would bobble and have to get off and run up, this made me bobble and have to run up. Oh well, I'm grateful I can ride 99% of that trail now.
Kathy Sherwin was the womens leader and let me give you a little history. In a 2-3 hour race a couple years ago I would come in 30 min behind her. So with True Grit being 5 hours I came in 9 min behind her! Hell yes. Doc's (Andrew Creer) coaching program is doing me some major good! Thanks Doc!!! You rock.
Mountain Bike Race News made a big deal about her finishing 10 min in front of me and was a little degrading to me, but I say forget those guys, they don't know how much I've improved.

Bobby did so amazing. That he can ride 5 hours with legs that are cramping off and on the whole time just blows me away!

Highlight of the day:
Getting second duh! I won a little money which is also sweet.
Lowlight:
My garmin watch causing me so much excruciating pain that I had to take it off while riding. That night I developed a goose egg on my wrist and couldn't lift anything or even brush my teeth. Crazy!

Frustration

I've had the opportunity over the last 6 months or so to see how some people can be such users. Not drug users or anything like that, but users of peoples time and talents and give then nothing in return. I've had to suffer through watching my husband be used time after time and devote literally hundreds of hours to a person and then get kicked to the curb when it came time for him needing help. I can't help but dislike people that mistreat those I love. It drives me to a breaking point, and I start to lose control of all reasoning.
I guess I just have to remember that there will always be good people and bad people to deal with.

Gosh dang it! Why do I always wait to blog until there are so many things that have happened and so many things on my mind that my posts end up being a 20 minute read? Oh yeah...because I don't have internet at home! Oh well.
Well we are verrrrrry happy to say that our town home sold and even though we weren't looking for another house to buy we did just that. We bought another house. It's up in the "Edgemont" area. If you know were Days Market is then you basically know where our house is. WE ARE STOKED!
We're also very sad to leave the mother/father nest. It has been such a great experience living here with my parents. Bobby is just about the easiest and most pleasant person to live with and I'm not too bad myself ;), so combine that with really loving parents that just wanna have fun, you have a great team and a happy home. Fletcher will probably go into a deep depression when we move him away from his best buddy in the whole world...my dad. He adores my mom too, but him and my dad are kinda like kindred spirits. It's darn cute.

We got married again. The first time was just so much fun that we wanted to do it again. But for ETERNITY this time. If you are a church going man/woman and happen to have a temple recommend I highly recommend going to the Manti Temple. It's beyond words. Just go, you'll see what I mean.

I'm having Andrew Creer coach me this year. I like to refer to him as Doc. If you live in Utah Valley and are wanting a cycling coach get ahold of me and I'll give you his info. He's freakin fantastic!
PS I'm having him train me for my upcoming 1/2 Ironman. First one for me! So he can train you for tri's as well.

I will post pics of the house and the temple wedding when I'm on a faster computer, otherwise I'll be here alllllll frickin night.