tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80495835317444357212024-03-05T02:19:20.695-06:00The Road Less TraveledAliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-29953193400347092142011-04-25T16:03:00.000-05:002011-04-25T16:03:30.163-05:002011 Race ScheduleThis is kind of late, as I've already done three races this year, but here is my race schedule for 2011 through September. I may throw in some last minute stuff but these are all the big races.<br />
<br />
1/16/2011 <a href="http://www.napleshalfmarathon.net/">Naples Half Marathon</a> Naples, FL<br />
3/5/2011 <a href="http://buffaloshamrockrun.com/">Shamrock 8K</a> Buffalo, NY<br />
4/16/2011 <a href="http://www.awmanfs.org/envirun.htm">ENVIRUN 5K</a> Niagara Falls State Park<br />
5/1/2011 <a href="http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx">Big Sur Marathon</a> Monterey, CA<br />
6/5/2011 <a href="http://www.rev3tri.com/quassyComingSoon.htm">REV 3 Quassy</a> Middlebury, CT<br />
7/2/2011 <a href="http://score-this.com/atriinbuff/atriinthebuff.html">A Tri in the Buff</a> Buffalo, NY<br />
7/17/2011 <a href="http://www.musselmantri.com/">Musselman Half-Iron</a> Geneva, NY<br />
9/11/2011 <a href="http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/">Ironman Wisconsin</a> Madison, WI<br />
<br />
I also want to take a trip up to watch <a href="http://ironmanlakeplacid.com/">Ironman Lake Placid</a>, I just have to find a place to stay and that's all set too. I also was thinking of an ultra at the end of the year but we'll see how that plays out. Lots of fun planned for the year.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-14041276751440882752011-04-21T20:07:00.000-05:002011-04-21T20:07:27.144-05:0030th BirthdayToday was my 30th birthday. Yep, I'm getting old. Asher wanted to give me a special birthday present but he needed a little help so he called upon Jeff to help him. Jeff made him a sign that said "Happy Birthday Mom" and put it on his running jacket. Well Asher gets a little excited when you put his jacket on him so getting him to control himself and sit still was a little tricky. Below are pictures that are very much Asher and how he rolls. He's a happy kid.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx2oWLwmFMg-KEdKSDHOP5OM6m0h3Jbm9LmuR0quoNWtYSP0i46JULwpdYgyxrzA2CJ6SBoXq-i-quNCO3Zd3JFlgRh3d055y9TgP-5wPt4EXepP6YOMrOYKs9BikfSFRg2u4zGyfWWVRw/s1600/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx2oWLwmFMg-KEdKSDHOP5OM6m0h3Jbm9LmuR0quoNWtYSP0i46JULwpdYgyxrzA2CJ6SBoXq-i-quNCO3Zd3JFlgRh3d055y9TgP-5wPt4EXepP6YOMrOYKs9BikfSFRg2u4zGyfWWVRw/s320/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Sweet, I got my running jacket on. Whoa, super excited, better get my ball (because that's what I always get when I'm excited)."</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE14eg_wt0HIdq0LgDvcaR7Sc6X1wE7J6-5nDI7CIiiIoRSigsatjnZMhAPAWDA2affvhxTFMV1NH2mIEhzMaoU75TuY2Ulmd3oMOFqRUkOPDE3bXE6ukuFWCZeBobDo0AjD5ATra6uaf-/s1600/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE14eg_wt0HIdq0LgDvcaR7Sc6X1wE7J6-5nDI7CIiiIoRSigsatjnZMhAPAWDA2affvhxTFMV1NH2mIEhzMaoU75TuY2Ulmd3oMOFqRUkOPDE3bXE6ukuFWCZeBobDo0AjD5ATra6uaf-/s320/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"I love my ball. And I still got my jacket on so I'm still super excited."</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8LCQ3ft95j6La05ASy-YvG7m2nrKBE2p4NAiFUwdepKHe2B9ScF9UlqxKEbhHgMhMf4NUymbN-yoaGvSfA0R1jJzCmyGX5oxfdXba5eH1NFFbUdifdYGPetYpMcs1J5ajpzZkxU2iKit/s1600/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8LCQ3ft95j6La05ASy-YvG7m2nrKBE2p4NAiFUwdepKHe2B9ScF9UlqxKEbhHgMhMf4NUymbN-yoaGvSfA0R1jJzCmyGX5oxfdXba5eH1NFFbUdifdYGPetYpMcs1J5ajpzZkxU2iKit/s320/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Jeff is trying to take a picture of me, maybe I should run over to him so he can pet me."</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWq-g_hicVk0bnmx2LgOXKGc4S5x_x6kWZO75u_vt5cfuOtOgzFjVYtHnsVWeM8kShq9uCtXrw5qS6JfTOZ89JwomJWMDFmZEeraXl_n7ByZ2iPq2yTUwOy5WwRy4o-Et5DxTq88fPaqO/s1600/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWq-g_hicVk0bnmx2LgOXKGc4S5x_x6kWZO75u_vt5cfuOtOgzFjVYtHnsVWeM8kShq9uCtXrw5qS6JfTOZ89JwomJWMDFmZEeraXl_n7ByZ2iPq2yTUwOy5WwRy4o-Et5DxTq88fPaqO/s320/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"That ball looks awesome, so awesome I am drooling, better lick my lips.....wait, I don't have lips....."</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8F_CavLcntkxlhXjYcARlZy074uOwVp3MOwKgRcjLigLZWAR6kLQ9Puw3g2mM8kowDzgVM45Qq78sIK18l8z8dGLGQHJZZDTa3pkTY819E4G-76bObKx8FePZmE_P2b_uLGSlBcUPv8bH/s1600/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8F_CavLcntkxlhXjYcARlZy074uOwVp3MOwKgRcjLigLZWAR6kLQ9Puw3g2mM8kowDzgVM45Qq78sIK18l8z8dGLGQHJZZDTa3pkTY819E4G-76bObKx8FePZmE_P2b_uLGSlBcUPv8bH/s320/Alicia+30+BDay+4-21-11+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Oh, you wanted me to lay nice so I could say 'Happy Birthday Mom', simple, no prob."</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-9970880258090851382011-04-19T14:35:00.000-05:002011-04-19T14:35:17.778-05:00Envirun 5K<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The weather here has been less than stellar lately and I am getting cabin fever in a serious way...maybe the worst I have ever been. So when the weather people said it was going to rain, a lot, and be super crazy windy all weekend I was totally bummed. I had planned to do the <a href="http://www.awmanfs.org/envirun.htm">Envirun 5K</a> up at <a href="http://www.niagarafallsstatepark.com/">Niagara Falls</a> and I was planning to take Asher up there and we would do our long run on the trails up there before and after the race. "Torrential" rain postponed this. So I started out on the treadmill and was deciding about the race. Well I got to 8 miles and said "I'm going"! That was enough of the treadmill for me. So I headed to Niagara Falls for the race. Jeff came along too and I was glad he did. It took me longer to get there than I had planned (the story of my life) and I got to the race about 5 minutes before the start and I still had to check in and get my bib (no chips at this one). I jumped out of the car, he went and parked and I picked up my stuff. I even started the race with my race shirt in my pocket and shorts and pants on because I didn't have time to take my pants off before the race. As I was leaving the registration tent they radioed to the start that the last person checked in...yep...nice AJ. I got to the start and we were off. The race went around Goat Island and we got to run by the rivers that lead into all three of the falls. Super cool. I love this place. We got to run 1/2 mile into a nasty head wind but then cruised back. And the rain stopped for the race, how awesome is that!! Good race and I hope to be back next year in the sunshine with my pooch! (Thanks to Jeff for the pictures.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMmMZx5QpQUc4H9ba8RifgtqDAHSKkKkgYH2Ifw_c8qaSknlRsrSi-7iCKazvau9UlRDRKPxeOU2vyebbyBxC4r368yBq2hld8Q-MW7g7dBHm4MlFw4h28TpX8DsQ7bRkQoyJUUEbkRsU/s1600/Enrirun+4-16-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMmMZx5QpQUc4H9ba8RifgtqDAHSKkKkgYH2Ifw_c8qaSknlRsrSi-7iCKazvau9UlRDRKPxeOU2vyebbyBxC4r368yBq2hld8Q-MW7g7dBHm4MlFw4h28TpX8DsQ7bRkQoyJUUEbkRsU/s320/Enrirun+4-16-11.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Me at the finish, holding my bib because I didn't have time to put in on before the race. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6p9zVc9CGbu__W4ERH_XzLhcE751CuvKuob-xlBTwHCdKAqhx8fN_1D24gSf60Wu_gKtfjygJX6kuh4LNLmYjqcFa73RnPPp2ZlnMN9sUoGmOAi_5Vu6RQlH0kjMPEZCuZUWJoGGMfbPM/s1600/Niagara+Falls+4-16-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6p9zVc9CGbu__W4ERH_XzLhcE751CuvKuob-xlBTwHCdKAqhx8fN_1D24gSf60Wu_gKtfjygJX6kuh4LNLmYjqcFa73RnPPp2ZlnMN9sUoGmOAi_5Vu6RQlH0kjMPEZCuZUWJoGGMfbPM/s320/Niagara+Falls+4-16-11.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_TBjuN2ilIkEQCvqGa5ZvAZ8lUFbQe8R_X10G5J7rQ4E4suNFk_NUjmA7sb-AvnJzwwbQn67BytZXI-IDFyaDl3TwQYhO9dtgsuw_4NjiPZbLYbJxrDN2o3hGdmIK4vhmsQFCXPhTmoY/s1600/Niagara+Falls+2+4-16-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_TBjuN2ilIkEQCvqGa5ZvAZ8lUFbQe8R_X10G5J7rQ4E4suNFk_NUjmA7sb-AvnJzwwbQn67BytZXI-IDFyaDl3TwQYhO9dtgsuw_4NjiPZbLYbJxrDN2o3hGdmIK4vhmsQFCXPhTmoY/s320/Niagara+Falls+2+4-16-11.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Horseshoe Falls</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-84736317008741020242011-03-30T13:40:00.000-05:002011-03-30T13:40:32.692-05:00Long time....no postIt has been a terribly long time since I have posted here. Wow. Sorry to my few readers. What's been going on? Well lots, but then when I look back, not a lot but I always seem to run out of time. It's been cold and snowy here for far too long. I am so ready for some warm weather. So what is new.....not a whole lot. I have been training a lot. Asher has been an awesome running partner. I am building my mileage for the <a href="http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx">Big Sur Marathon</a> on May 1 and he has been a great running partner. He has done back-to-back 16 milers and has done great. And he is loving every minute of it. He wears his backpack and shoes and people check him out as we are running along.<br />
<br />
Jeff, Asher and I have been trying to get out and do as much as we can with the sub-par weather. We went to our first professional lacross game a few weeks ago and are going to another one this weekend. The <a href="http://www.bandits.com/">Buffalo Bandits</a>. Until I moved here I never knew there was a professional lacross league. The games are pretty wild and fun. They are rough and the crowd really gets into it, chanting and yelling and they play music throughout the whole game. Pretty cool. <br />
<br />
I took a couple trips up to Canada to get some lactate testing done for my coach and then I did the <a href="http://www.buffaloshamrockrun.com/">Shamrock 8K</a> here in Buffalo. The weather was terrible, rainy and 30+ mph winds but it was good to get out and race again. I have my race schedule set through September so I'll get that posted on here as well. Lots of new races to try which will be fun....and even a little traveling to new places as well. I'm looking forward to it all.<br />
<br />
I'll be better about updating in the future. Promise. I hope everyone is well and praying for spring. Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-68608808739307687842011-02-06T20:31:00.000-06:002011-02-06T20:31:52.518-06:00Snowshoeing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We finally got out recently to snowshoe. Last Sunday we went to Chestnut Ridge Park and today we went to 18 mile creek park. Both were awesome. Here are a few pics: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBq-2oil3iLj9mUtqCMZHJ2uQEMwYRYOGLMEafqvIEgUi7MrHMzO15nqtoHQ4UagoVk2Usv-p2NuclZVVZ37RplEuqzk1LvNiyWu_RM8Tl7E-XRyBC0o23tEb-s6gedMV7o77lPW5-Gby4/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-20.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBq-2oil3iLj9mUtqCMZHJ2uQEMwYRYOGLMEafqvIEgUi7MrHMzO15nqtoHQ4UagoVk2Usv-p2NuclZVVZ37RplEuqzk1LvNiyWu_RM8Tl7E-XRyBC0o23tEb-s6gedMV7o77lPW5-Gby4/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-20.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEzd824N0QlIS-EVjOQiJOA1OPmEvI2XQcx84KQmPw7pODifuyCJdsVlpW4uAOq44FIuqxMjCeGx21a3RjDbkLLy3F_RJ6KQ-ZNdvXFmr65qErTCgx5tFPAtsoLkRweSHhTXQgbZwKa_f/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-21.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEzd824N0QlIS-EVjOQiJOA1OPmEvI2XQcx84KQmPw7pODifuyCJdsVlpW4uAOq44FIuqxMjCeGx21a3RjDbkLLy3F_RJ6KQ-ZNdvXFmr65qErTCgx5tFPAtsoLkRweSHhTXQgbZwKa_f/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-21.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCst0Bf8leefcdvRgZxqLb5l1fRy_jWDxF9wYw0lm-Syg_-biNR19P41Sy7vp9x7IOBibzzH_ugz0Evdzm66F3X5hdCczZ55llLGRjkPWul60zMPKPQwNrYycE0-LcGAa4gaorv4stzKzz/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-22.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCst0Bf8leefcdvRgZxqLb5l1fRy_jWDxF9wYw0lm-Syg_-biNR19P41Sy7vp9x7IOBibzzH_ugz0Evdzm66F3X5hdCczZ55llLGRjkPWul60zMPKPQwNrYycE0-LcGAa4gaorv4stzKzz/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-22.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyGfSPiLYpF2kI4wdDdQjkXSkeCOmys8RhWu0QxFrC11n84UWJj0BioRaLjxUN_i_BMXhhZyDgqk8TG4zmAgaeSuT8jIGl7nkNnKnjRR6JCcOjSV74BY65bd5eSeIEy1PeBwxUhBIihw-/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-23.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyGfSPiLYpF2kI4wdDdQjkXSkeCOmys8RhWu0QxFrC11n84UWJj0BioRaLjxUN_i_BMXhhZyDgqk8TG4zmAgaeSuT8jIGl7nkNnKnjRR6JCcOjSV74BY65bd5eSeIEy1PeBwxUhBIihw-/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-23.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80Kuli1zH9DYmtewD1XUnlxZ5FXrXyF5Fz9s9AfS9HOUce4Ev0ISH_4FaTGuraZzWT5_Oa6lau6Yh28kJ8Wbn55cYpsviwKmkUZVfyOf2LuXua3lKItZ5Kwdm1cZSb82iEDB8GramiAJw/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-24.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80Kuli1zH9DYmtewD1XUnlxZ5FXrXyF5Fz9s9AfS9HOUce4Ev0ISH_4FaTGuraZzWT5_Oa6lau6Yh28kJ8Wbn55cYpsviwKmkUZVfyOf2LuXua3lKItZ5Kwdm1cZSb82iEDB8GramiAJw/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-24.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxm7uSRo4Zz6wekFeyFlOlp-VlRuejOgG2YAIOmT3jLfvDUEmtpzW8yxFYoGhqCfV24S08o1Rm-vI2PJK04Am-VeYWbOAtZEQROK40QyVDsHK2MEBvaXb_eqnPiqx2JKwifWdngEK1du8f/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-25.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxm7uSRo4Zz6wekFeyFlOlp-VlRuejOgG2YAIOmT3jLfvDUEmtpzW8yxFYoGhqCfV24S08o1Rm-vI2PJK04Am-VeYWbOAtZEQROK40QyVDsHK2MEBvaXb_eqnPiqx2JKwifWdngEK1du8f/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-25.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15x08oq1FIRtjWupMrxuWtMuIAcbeYzjG_JZz3xI7I3TneZe0AAQLAKYKxb4uNXUns0cqW2xShwecwyqh0p61KlMRAdR6uynY08hdWx0C3BOYtO6MjxwqjRAqFhoa8EQy9AEkDvrb6Yq6/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-26.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15x08oq1FIRtjWupMrxuWtMuIAcbeYzjG_JZz3xI7I3TneZe0AAQLAKYKxb4uNXUns0cqW2xShwecwyqh0p61KlMRAdR6uynY08hdWx0C3BOYtO6MjxwqjRAqFhoa8EQy9AEkDvrb6Yq6/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-26.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat_cF3KnKtUAztWxEF0VwYAE4afM1zTGzon-gNAZsqNvEUQi_1wcIBV19l-cL1iLV6zhTJDXWQCsQSbVbJvzDKwRn2k9SM5zzpg5rxCfTqhQzvx7C8X-lAjGuFPWQfzxs2Zg1VZEyihRo/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-27.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat_cF3KnKtUAztWxEF0VwYAE4afM1zTGzon-gNAZsqNvEUQi_1wcIBV19l-cL1iLV6zhTJDXWQCsQSbVbJvzDKwRn2k9SM5zzpg5rxCfTqhQzvx7C8X-lAjGuFPWQfzxs2Zg1VZEyihRo/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-27.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRTxHlDCeZiaLSgevWzmO3rBdFzTZ5q58rLJ9CvCVahrSFVeqR19ls43NfXV150wYvOJxcrQBcEYgcz4Nm5rY26mLECtanTF8PJLs4djoh50yj1lnHKWhWOypvH8zxeLiu310boP_NGd2/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-28.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRTxHlDCeZiaLSgevWzmO3rBdFzTZ5q58rLJ9CvCVahrSFVeqR19ls43NfXV150wYvOJxcrQBcEYgcz4Nm5rY26mLECtanTF8PJLs4djoh50yj1lnHKWhWOypvH8zxeLiu310boP_NGd2/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-28.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlNA-KPtVqHPbSEPICE3lzFYVO565h4GY4RLoImhZc1YK949KojInPymn_NoSXirClllKprDwa7e-M_uwwe94GfSXWE2X1AXf3cpgNddpUmG2f_TSFbN3SuHEgVcr5hRb9ACer4zg6Jch/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlNA-KPtVqHPbSEPICE3lzFYVO565h4GY4RLoImhZc1YK949KojInPymn_NoSXirClllKprDwa7e-M_uwwe94GfSXWE2X1AXf3cpgNddpUmG2f_TSFbN3SuHEgVcr5hRb9ACer4zg6Jch/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-29.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2 hours of fun and a huge smile for Asher</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtavx63EB68KHhEH9qq5t59IJXkNMYRsUleVbw0Mt5wuCmIbGx-qyEUoFHHZwtCzLZpPgMD-QHh6ZC_dP6BMEb-2inYedleNQ1iRaYY7BBn61xnoR5QHakPqRiFOYsQfkTIdVKGirb1RZ/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-42.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtavx63EB68KHhEH9qq5t59IJXkNMYRsUleVbw0Mt5wuCmIbGx-qyEUoFHHZwtCzLZpPgMD-QHh6ZC_dP6BMEb-2inYedleNQ1iRaYY7BBn61xnoR5QHakPqRiFOYsQfkTIdVKGirb1RZ/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-42.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_N0ZDPfUth_yVYUuxPPoxFBl4rYnXeXr3fHVo6ntptyr2x3wPXx-ph2846kriyZmRsSFzdijsrZK6wppGCkOXMnvyubzpUjBiejZBb3O0mchSrNti690dGtu0KtiOvl66WUFFtiH036h/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-43.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_N0ZDPfUth_yVYUuxPPoxFBl4rYnXeXr3fHVo6ntptyr2x3wPXx-ph2846kriyZmRsSFzdijsrZK6wppGCkOXMnvyubzpUjBiejZBb3O0mchSrNti690dGtu0KtiOvl66WUFFtiH036h/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-43.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEQ44hy-3jxAnOfm3tK_P-4Gv64hDOTRphTYb48cpwZXUfDfvJm1-5Wi7sTBqXL6mOq8icXoBxqDcZgqJbLVwyAjF2wq61YbvWk5k2bj01X7xgGYqFPxaZrDDQAauMVlYnWZGxKsSaJt0/s1600/Snowshoe-20110130-44.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjEQ44hy-3jxAnOfm3tK_P-4Gv64hDOTRphTYb48cpwZXUfDfvJm1-5Wi7sTBqXL6mOq8icXoBxqDcZgqJbLVwyAjF2wq61YbvWk5k2bj01X7xgGYqFPxaZrDDQAauMVlYnWZGxKsSaJt0/s320/Snowshoe-20110130-44.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Chestnut Ridge</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCR1-bne8yTKSGHrh03bjXpYHGlFOFM3QqM0X4wm5F9FENoHrxUlvBNjo-G59s6IqqjiPAHR_LtvCAHmvl7Sytwx8Uy2rLo3VeOZ4vP7WBzjVYA7hJD1RUVEj3LIMmucbQM_fNaF6fupP/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-30.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCR1-bne8yTKSGHrh03bjXpYHGlFOFM3QqM0X4wm5F9FENoHrxUlvBNjo-G59s6IqqjiPAHR_LtvCAHmvl7Sytwx8Uy2rLo3VeOZ4vP7WBzjVYA7hJD1RUVEj3LIMmucbQM_fNaF6fupP/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-30.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUh5YmJaJ3hZI6XiI8LOC3pvstiR1joNXzzkKoegal7Ul0mZES65O6d1Rk5rngvs9FJuThhpj1JBwA061tGQLmNZVFzai5tpjSmK7VEwir6Sp1JvDfU9RD1Lr9TPv_aYOv_QFER4oe-RW/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-31.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUh5YmJaJ3hZI6XiI8LOC3pvstiR1joNXzzkKoegal7Ul0mZES65O6d1Rk5rngvs9FJuThhpj1JBwA061tGQLmNZVFzai5tpjSmK7VEwir6Sp1JvDfU9RD1Lr9TPv_aYOv_QFER4oe-RW/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-31.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkSaoVQy8PJHcsHQb1G7XHPppqC2pZi6bJE4HFMKLhBGzlwsM8S_P-V9G0jGF9dN-AldN-h5IJRHr71bHvYjsHWgVaY4K53BuaFaShtmokC91CB4xsIXDprV0aPXus30j2XrTgBpulIi8/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-32.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkSaoVQy8PJHcsHQb1G7XHPppqC2pZi6bJE4HFMKLhBGzlwsM8S_P-V9G0jGF9dN-AldN-h5IJRHr71bHvYjsHWgVaY4K53BuaFaShtmokC91CB4xsIXDprV0aPXus30j2XrTgBpulIi8/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-32.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhka0ZPa6HUZzKUtvWpILzEYARlfP_Tz0-yFZCjgMNsSWqWct4yei8KFTULiqA4112ra3fUBLM5IzP2R6rahkP4ri7dXMiKMR2pRxQN70osW7QJRS4nhCrOJSASusqfum7BWZY64zUHTttQ/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-33.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhka0ZPa6HUZzKUtvWpILzEYARlfP_Tz0-yFZCjgMNsSWqWct4yei8KFTULiqA4112ra3fUBLM5IzP2R6rahkP4ri7dXMiKMR2pRxQN70osW7QJRS4nhCrOJSASusqfum7BWZY64zUHTttQ/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-33.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrq8olACEWDpMyv5cAj3_bGByYu3IEZPfMSEuCYNU-xFWo7LOcgMg5XHkve1odFxoc0_Z7-a9KVnOu9KzvCckYV8DbCiFJy-NYh2WIyTgEyF6RuP5VQsV5Pmuo6wnC_3s-R9yhMitMTWJ/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-34.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrq8olACEWDpMyv5cAj3_bGByYu3IEZPfMSEuCYNU-xFWo7LOcgMg5XHkve1odFxoc0_Z7-a9KVnOu9KzvCckYV8DbCiFJy-NYh2WIyTgEyF6RuP5VQsV5Pmuo6wnC_3s-R9yhMitMTWJ/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-34.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Check out the frozen cliff. People were ice (rock) climbing on the ice on the cliffs</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixxf5zWIl8zbaCm7j-k5449XumlBe_yda4hsJ1RflxJw8gRfgeQVkdRWYqSamifA-SmFAefABnsIXUukvQ_yH042a3lHzMyFdM7hq5hmCqs1ETOHesnm16JqW4Cv1C1uaqCgxitOxLcP9/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-35.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixxf5zWIl8zbaCm7j-k5449XumlBe_yda4hsJ1RflxJw8gRfgeQVkdRWYqSamifA-SmFAefABnsIXUukvQ_yH042a3lHzMyFdM7hq5hmCqs1ETOHesnm16JqW4Cv1C1uaqCgxitOxLcP9/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-35.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another happy Asher after a fun day in the snow</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOVULwBRM32dmsZaZTaOdMdE18nNiV8DVBhFIxPYUq2nO_uur95UrOAX7RlzBzOOmxuT1X7AcUcj9LxyqGCitft0lco7EqhQMPUCkeQDs3T5kbzku6fhOkxCoOJsEd5tnmeXXDkJNIaEE/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-36.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOVULwBRM32dmsZaZTaOdMdE18nNiV8DVBhFIxPYUq2nO_uur95UrOAX7RlzBzOOmxuT1X7AcUcj9LxyqGCitft0lco7EqhQMPUCkeQDs3T5kbzku6fhOkxCoOJsEd5tnmeXXDkJNIaEE/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-36.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhed1b4vd0Qih8BiqxQ4TUcJ9kE3BKAJ5T19Ba-d-XFq0VF-y0OkU07x8bPhlHwumtNnjh0UKgwGflMQSiS76uh-CPcw8MuQCTtEe2SpVG5GjS8N8elKKjUeKXtpMBAerW6cDynmoR6rAG_/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-37.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhed1b4vd0Qih8BiqxQ4TUcJ9kE3BKAJ5T19Ba-d-XFq0VF-y0OkU07x8bPhlHwumtNnjh0UKgwGflMQSiS76uh-CPcw8MuQCTtEe2SpVG5GjS8N8elKKjUeKXtpMBAerW6cDynmoR6rAG_/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-37.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoIcczne-z1n4VbWDCQju9aqssTFL3csiM2dmPgugWNZKBx_TLFBsMg-UNqpKitCFlhaQKl2r1-aWl4pgOsrU-9rM4nDGL4hoj6CPg5-h_ReGSBoj_xbSElMHmYHNIUPnDsspNsOP8r5e/s1600/Snowshoe-20110206-38.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoIcczne-z1n4VbWDCQju9aqssTFL3csiM2dmPgugWNZKBx_TLFBsMg-UNqpKitCFlhaQKl2r1-aWl4pgOsrU-9rM4nDGL4hoj6CPg5-h_ReGSBoj_xbSElMHmYHNIUPnDsspNsOP8r5e/s320/Snowshoe-20110206-38.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">18 mile creek park</div><div align="left"></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-38958603249110048002011-02-03T12:14:00.000-06:002011-02-03T12:14:12.037-06:00More Naples Pictures<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here are a few more Naples pictures. You can never have too many of the beach and the water. I love it!!!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwfp755dVJRzNv4XKyoYd4kEKazpfblIH6WAr99QgrxZhfJg-lE-CCczOcyWlpJjwhgRLODVXLo3hvsRlKDhetu6l8ncdlnRQXKAlfsoC-hki3yGRnkqPgei8Bqwn_IpaIvBr-ac1cuw0/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwfp755dVJRzNv4XKyoYd4kEKazpfblIH6WAr99QgrxZhfJg-lE-CCczOcyWlpJjwhgRLODVXLo3hvsRlKDhetu6l8ncdlnRQXKAlfsoC-hki3yGRnkqPgei8Bqwn_IpaIvBr-ac1cuw0/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhECskcCuPIu8eZ_W_EMqjEgWk5HzLQy5w2a-VNxnvNpwSXSgPTu13x65TJRM2CiikkvIBfpFKliNSfl1Axu1X-_kHZPkLJUmIw4Zzh1nmaKegoKKEsq6rU0-C6EdqyA4BIwwFvTGskT7p/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhECskcCuPIu8eZ_W_EMqjEgWk5HzLQy5w2a-VNxnvNpwSXSgPTu13x65TJRM2CiikkvIBfpFKliNSfl1Axu1X-_kHZPkLJUmIw4Zzh1nmaKegoKKEsq6rU0-C6EdqyA4BIwwFvTGskT7p/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Scorpion (don't worry, he's dead, we checked!)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPW6oyl3Yyr3sgyUBFWw9_AfUWBZ_OXuqFQaZ4ECcVKutZ3EcCKwfmUMGfjafEgEbO0pMd_PQKuCO-RaK8MkDWZqOnQQq1P3Bi7mMuS-4i1AOrJuXUH8FKi7wPOODV0lu0p4Z4-9giBxGk/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPW6oyl3Yyr3sgyUBFWw9_AfUWBZ_OXuqFQaZ4ECcVKutZ3EcCKwfmUMGfjafEgEbO0pMd_PQKuCO-RaK8MkDWZqOnQQq1P3Bi7mMuS-4i1AOrJuXUH8FKi7wPOODV0lu0p4Z4-9giBxGk/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Wiggins Pass</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTYmOe7YY-gYCIg_gVX5oEnhRedCA2W-uE0cOHCWKLVpOWyi4ZQt_m5gjrC8h8HyXQJfTC8qD53hPfY3QiRhM7fI9azclzPvNKYllx3z73KyuusT_zK-y8eXPyiKe1MU-addc-owR6bfj/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTYmOe7YY-gYCIg_gVX5oEnhRedCA2W-uE0cOHCWKLVpOWyi4ZQt_m5gjrC8h8HyXQJfTC8qD53hPfY3QiRhM7fI9azclzPvNKYllx3z73KyuusT_zK-y8eXPyiKe1MU-addc-owR6bfj/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQAexUyJt0ms9XB8KKn01XgYWBtp9ndEqG1s8LWvywj3NFO5ZiltNcUxCjIXILoSyAlSeCtuLjSn1LkyLHSdFGUip_okJaqahUHt7s8xS0dkirhV2CZ3-SkYqyRYnYfOiZJIuqZ9VS99w/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQAexUyJt0ms9XB8KKn01XgYWBtp9ndEqG1s8LWvywj3NFO5ZiltNcUxCjIXILoSyAlSeCtuLjSn1LkyLHSdFGUip_okJaqahUHt7s8xS0dkirhV2CZ3-SkYqyRYnYfOiZJIuqZ9VS99w/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back of Jim's House</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdumQUxiHPRj8-XpTh5G2E7N2YaxPD4XnZsaKN7iRBW6xeRIG_4hsFqwx1Bxnlwljnvc7f-kDatFFe9nawmEOPp8oenP-K7AbKgbSD9BlFKkiNpkfVPgz5wttzStz0u6TZgtLQlnsuTIDr/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdumQUxiHPRj8-XpTh5G2E7N2YaxPD4XnZsaKN7iRBW6xeRIG_4hsFqwx1Bxnlwljnvc7f-kDatFFe9nawmEOPp8oenP-K7AbKgbSD9BlFKkiNpkfVPgz5wttzStz0u6TZgtLQlnsuTIDr/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Flowers outside Jim's house</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt9XTfswvkFg-haGi9VxZRMFXNNJv5IjcXtk0Hzx6rG4JoqCIW_cqQYBngMV6PM2bZ0pT7TFFzy6btqgq91y_dHBp28OWcPNpLBoCWhxFrUxbFOeT7QLT6_dcimSrycTjTEpTodX8yG2I/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt9XTfswvkFg-haGi9VxZRMFXNNJv5IjcXtk0Hzx6rG4JoqCIW_cqQYBngMV6PM2bZ0pT7TFFzy6btqgq91y_dHBp28OWcPNpLBoCWhxFrUxbFOeT7QLT6_dcimSrycTjTEpTodX8yG2I/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-025.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More flowers</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODkCZPRtPAD-wbcMejqq3jZpq1GN00uAfQf50y3WpaUR8ZgC2gCxvUgNrCKY468J1ri9t0uQUNI-Oq9oYrR3AeFKLr1ltjr8h9vFqUqM6lFzU1J6HegyKKyPMWMCa7J-khZg3y7Bbvjo4/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODkCZPRtPAD-wbcMejqq3jZpq1GN00uAfQf50y3WpaUR8ZgC2gCxvUgNrCKY468J1ri9t0uQUNI-Oq9oYrR3AeFKLr1ltjr8h9vFqUqM6lFzU1J6HegyKKyPMWMCa7J-khZg3y7Bbvjo4/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-035.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48pk_U9jTe1VRsQsysaymd0d0DjSQnb8AouR1AT6Vcfu6nJbL4SSB1_V6mB5WRIUyc9dGQhcyz_3v1Q5bnJXkbQowXh3uGQlhFZznwGCnVImoLYX-pDQsLTE8naKNkW991RoWngT9SczS/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48pk_U9jTe1VRsQsysaymd0d0DjSQnb8AouR1AT6Vcfu6nJbL4SSB1_V6mB5WRIUyc9dGQhcyz_3v1Q5bnJXkbQowXh3uGQlhFZznwGCnVImoLYX-pDQsLTE8naKNkW991RoWngT9SczS/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9nLBzK-Q4mvQl2WyAdJGTGAIcFAagALySf-PQOzNz5OAsGQ_z4ITQFrbR4qVsTb2AMLqucFq1k_FAibeGzUD8oIZ6Tb7BL3KN-V2T_ci9CZfv1XDjdVabwH238XSRr2jODincHQjIbpz/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9nLBzK-Q4mvQl2WyAdJGTGAIcFAagALySf-PQOzNz5OAsGQ_z4ITQFrbR4qVsTb2AMLqucFq1k_FAibeGzUD8oIZ6Tb7BL3KN-V2T_ci9CZfv1XDjdVabwH238XSRr2jODincHQjIbpz/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGKwTV5WETFJhLyrZjxrpqQe-VuSGpY58s348o-0fWvZ9clBBE5Npdf3GfURSEqMbSNtRQXwQwFpKYXFHn3C0Y847J9Y0-rycTo5ui6FCHk9YPxAPYc6AifCGjmUMwSLR7IqkS5cgnsnJ/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGKwTV5WETFJhLyrZjxrpqQe-VuSGpY58s348o-0fWvZ9clBBE5Npdf3GfURSEqMbSNtRQXwQwFpKYXFHn3C0Y847J9Y0-rycTo5ui6FCHk9YPxAPYc6AifCGjmUMwSLR7IqkS5cgnsnJ/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-066.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XB19M7iGqVzeSOHLATnO1FrSVmrpjj2I4zVyyr6klkB-C7wNK-4NB65vvlWQTPaJ9q4LNqTpg-RFyxwbox54rr7pGbJaC_OQnldEccvPKjzxhjKRp3V2JVyD2fDo_-K4iIn9q0I5NKAW/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XB19M7iGqVzeSOHLATnO1FrSVmrpjj2I4zVyyr6klkB-C7wNK-4NB65vvlWQTPaJ9q4LNqTpg-RFyxwbox54rr7pGbJaC_OQnldEccvPKjzxhjKRp3V2JVyD2fDo_-K4iIn9q0I5NKAW/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-067.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-19184801298040843382011-01-23T19:11:00.000-06:002011-01-23T19:11:45.017-06:00NaplesLast Friday, Jan 14-Monday Jan 17th I went to <a href="http://www.naples-florida.com/">Naples, FL</a> for a long weekend. I went for many reasons but the big ones were to run the <a href="http://www.napleshalfmarathon.net/">Naples News Half Marathon</a> with Mark, to see Mark, Sue and Mark's dad Jim (which is where we stayed) and to see my Godfather Brent and see his house and hang with him for a day. So needless to say, lots of really good reasons to go to Florida in January. Oh yeah, and because Florida is the only state without snow and here in Buffalo it's always snowing, everyday, sometimes multiple times in a day. I didn't take my shorts off the whole trip! It was awesome. <br />
<br />
I flew in early Friday morning and Brent picked me up at the airport. One slight miss-hap getting off the plane. A person on our plane couldn't wait 3 hours to smoke and was caught smoking in the bathroom on the plane. So a man in a haz-mat suit had to check out the plane and the police and eventually the FBI had to have a fun visit with this man. Federal offense. Dumb idea. Anyway. Other than that the flight was great. I highly recommend <a href="http://www.jetblue.com/">Jet Blue</a> to fly with. Brent and I headed to his house, I met his friend Jim and then we headed to the beach. And oh was the beach beautiful. White sand, lots of shells to pick, beautiful (but cold) water. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHGVxKgVxMdnRKn9qlJ83WOWT7hVwNgHY3Mpml_gLRj87GKbN5TQnmZmev3zmMp9DiMsUuPy6EN4r2XgghPp0mKcovNYpxV0fbMZ0Rub3pdyPeEI7Eu38Al2nqSX9RN83JNIQDmHkTN4Z/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOHGVxKgVxMdnRKn9qlJ83WOWT7hVwNgHY3Mpml_gLRj87GKbN5TQnmZmev3zmMp9DiMsUuPy6EN4r2XgghPp0mKcovNYpxV0fbMZ0Rub3pdyPeEI7Eu38Al2nqSX9RN83JNIQDmHkTN4Z/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back of Brent's house</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkO4y-WXiMvN-aQUmbEKFRlN4f1yZatXEdR28Sbpt88uOTNaOjzNvq9oaD-ZEiDSzm4mlrbBT6DoH7bplFbFODAv8Dytjc811LkubBwATVCVfQ3Xa_5h8OO6O7InE_-8bE993EdYMQs7j/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkO4y-WXiMvN-aQUmbEKFRlN4f1yZatXEdR28Sbpt88uOTNaOjzNvq9oaD-ZEiDSzm4mlrbBT6DoH7bplFbFODAv8Dytjc811LkubBwATVCVfQ3Xa_5h8OO6O7InE_-8bE993EdYMQs7j/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Barefoot Beach (Gulf of Mexico)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWXnjnEvbj3SHe4E2b_bFNzaV4HdxyT4l5R05sXH0HHM6kR2HdzR8K0DdVUuiAYRzT9g9Rb2LXmWaK6sfLKOQrW88wusZD-AySQbzrDLjfEU28AfsDF0wcnogUTtHUcLi9-pKmkM1sqki/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWXnjnEvbj3SHe4E2b_bFNzaV4HdxyT4l5R05sXH0HHM6kR2HdzR8K0DdVUuiAYRzT9g9Rb2LXmWaK6sfLKOQrW88wusZD-AySQbzrDLjfEU28AfsDF0wcnogUTtHUcLi9-pKmkM1sqki/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Shells</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj_gfo2xFGXCmVP-oUjbziUK7uOy3cCg6LlJXglANLIl3a4YelDv4iB7TkHdGULvdtR5JkNMKqVILUUTEXlfrCV80DZxDAEHBP-yvjvxTsRfI_RNHd2RzJVDM1zbAUmlL9h2kHL5w1tq6/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVj_gfo2xFGXCmVP-oUjbziUK7uOy3cCg6LlJXglANLIl3a4YelDv4iB7TkHdGULvdtR5JkNMKqVILUUTEXlfrCV80DZxDAEHBP-yvjvxTsRfI_RNHd2RzJVDM1zbAUmlL9h2kHL5w1tq6/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Barefoot Beach</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8G59pnP6-SkIaOSwzM-GA9id515Thapb0R5gEVr39jfoEO_EYWoE3w2Nxjl5PAQ1tpUp-G87ullKtdb-sE5v50983Pdu_Qws-r8SuL2LHC1Y9zezUm-u-t62ypEuYsvIib1kNuUTvato/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110114-021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8G59pnP6-SkIaOSwzM-GA9id515Thapb0R5gEVr39jfoEO_EYWoE3w2Nxjl5PAQ1tpUp-G87ullKtdb-sE5v50983Pdu_Qws-r8SuL2LHC1Y9zezUm-u-t62ypEuYsvIib1kNuUTvato/s320/Naples+Florida-20110114-021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beautiful</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We did a little more sightseeing and then headed to Jim's house. Where I met this pretty lady. Trudy. Trudy and I became good friends over the few days I was there. She's a sweetie.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLiHpSwKrw0Io8OZgukm4p8m_CIn4xaJgFiF8XflT3ZFDt-NU9ZJJLffVgBb8b1WgSp0hPhLHB6H9i6YYTGPbV4-sT1oFyVI-2bcX1eSl0fd4a0LYKSifWo7Ek0v5fIkNIt-hewHgloNP/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLiHpSwKrw0Io8OZgukm4p8m_CIn4xaJgFiF8XflT3ZFDt-NU9ZJJLffVgBb8b1WgSp0hPhLHB6H9i6YYTGPbV4-sT1oFyVI-2bcX1eSl0fd4a0LYKSifWo7Ek0v5fIkNIt-hewHgloNP/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Trudy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Saturday Mark and I went running, in shorts, and then went and picked up our packets and did a little sightseeing. After lunch we hit the beach. </div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-1YmQQIvS82GIzDcqe3ZOZoNEDOCt693hhiEMwSkWBFy3zYaBEkg01fltr39z3SR_Yt4P07vA-ztalRRBSidZBwGEL3D1cusMkA54w0b2XDEEdhVSfuaxFFJsI5guky4KPb8mYyRmUb_/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-1YmQQIvS82GIzDcqe3ZOZoNEDOCt693hhiEMwSkWBFy3zYaBEkg01fltr39z3SR_Yt4P07vA-ztalRRBSidZBwGEL3D1cusMkA54w0b2XDEEdhVSfuaxFFJsI5guky4KPb8mYyRmUb_/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beach with Condos in the distance</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzi6HWz_STZtjngghvVjPCQJX7R7gxhs3YW1bNpde3U7TpAP30sK2OeDvftlMXYggvL2oWf_4fHNrFi07pyAN2GZz5P_r_Pk4t4nnGlBGLRLczFSCBdAm37FInZMCedKJiQhYRPO8zoi-/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzi6HWz_STZtjngghvVjPCQJX7R7gxhs3YW1bNpde3U7TpAP30sK2OeDvftlMXYggvL2oWf_4fHNrFi07pyAN2GZz5P_r_Pk4t4nnGlBGLRLczFSCBdAm37FInZMCedKJiQhYRPO8zoi-/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-031.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More condos in a pass</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5P0KvJ6A2lQh6EfLRUfVfu0H6_3_VI7UaU4IkVfYhgjlXreZoPCltMl0GEwdngtZzy-cF8-x6pdIeeIcH9NKLXBWS3qeX2eZ4vgiFeUF8Qm-zP6CFwO3fStJk3CQ69Uv19C4ygkksICv/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5P0KvJ6A2lQh6EfLRUfVfu0H6_3_VI7UaU4IkVfYhgjlXreZoPCltMl0GEwdngtZzy-cF8-x6pdIeeIcH9NKLXBWS3qeX2eZ4vgiFeUF8Qm-zP6CFwO3fStJk3CQ69Uv19C4ygkksICv/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-034.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beach</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nJGDtemDk-3Ps2kR2kqEvWzO7Y1sEjXkiWom948dKmMfZwqyrsKw3QIn64jJ4tqO1NohLrBoHBhW8-GngCM_AnX9xKL_Kj8zUoFu1ZYH8hgCsqgfZKlWsur5IdYAuDV25Nf5pHICZdX1/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110115-038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nJGDtemDk-3Ps2kR2kqEvWzO7Y1sEjXkiWom948dKmMfZwqyrsKw3QIn64jJ4tqO1NohLrBoHBhW8-GngCM_AnX9xKL_Kj8zUoFu1ZYH8hgCsqgfZKlWsur5IdYAuDV25Nf5pHICZdX1/s320/Naples+Florida-20110115-038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pelican</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sunday was the race. Mark and I ran together, both with colds but we made it. It was funny to see all the natives there with jackets and long sleeves and even some gloves and hats. Mark and I had on sleeveless shirts and shorts. Funny! The race was very well run, there were about 2,000 runners and the course weaves though the "high rent district" of Naples. Some major money where we ran. Beautiful homes. We even had a priest bless us, twice, on the race course. A very nice race and one we hope to do again and hopefully feel better. The rest of the day we just relaxed at the beach. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Monday, Mark and I went running on the beach. Past some beautiful beach homes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8Gx9niF4ZtoF1xMLXEnemd13UKHFg3g36kEo-Th5qo7kx7ZBHiusLiAvnYaaUm4n55TUsQzVt-GtwUnMKBYQshDEWnbgWKwprFA0uZfuPRXkuuBa5gPS-ejvvkwJs0HV0skPnGqMXd1D/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8Gx9niF4ZtoF1xMLXEnemd13UKHFg3g36kEo-Th5qo7kx7ZBHiusLiAvnYaaUm4n55TUsQzVt-GtwUnMKBYQshDEWnbgWKwprFA0uZfuPRXkuuBa5gPS-ejvvkwJs0HV0skPnGqMXd1D/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJl25w5HpaFFuSK78U_-WO4G3uvztOl3nygcN68dwwUygas3aOmPa3TOByJSW9vj9aryb9TbAU0uTT5hYgHu3YpuByAGrPDzt7wXrS9NW2Cklp5keknPX8vEIUOulqNfnVOK_6HYETBvH/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJl25w5HpaFFuSK78U_-WO4G3uvztOl3nygcN68dwwUygas3aOmPa3TOByJSW9vj9aryb9TbAU0uTT5hYgHu3YpuByAGrPDzt7wXrS9NW2Cklp5keknPX8vEIUOulqNfnVOK_6HYETBvH/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufskjIrDrNAZ_gtEKex66JOH-r3ip6uGJW1KwFMIQmPQM5uyfOfnZE3uZK14sUujvN8HednV0ruW8wOdmUKeCGAbIODm_qsYdiZ_o08SQUjD51kV2iyI1G96nbDgYEK1tWDzZ7pRqAwyw/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufskjIrDrNAZ_gtEKex66JOH-r3ip6uGJW1KwFMIQmPQM5uyfOfnZE3uZK14sUujvN8HednV0ruW8wOdmUKeCGAbIODm_qsYdiZ_o08SQUjD51kV2iyI1G96nbDgYEK1tWDzZ7pRqAwyw/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-045.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvD1QeRup5hZ5K1E7kB3fEvDFTqYAQuXG6yTWzHsc-PXWywdeGVa3fFrvOjne8b190qrGnztzHKAZFvtPOGov1NzwPmglmuAPYjtLnc11kR6F6xj4w32exvDu8mLjxR9hqTBhHgxmmZ2jQ/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvD1QeRup5hZ5K1E7kB3fEvDFTqYAQuXG6yTWzHsc-PXWywdeGVa3fFrvOjne8b190qrGnztzHKAZFvtPOGov1NzwPmglmuAPYjtLnc11kR6F6xj4w32exvDu8mLjxR9hqTBhHgxmmZ2jQ/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-049.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
And picked some shells. It rained pretty much the rest of the day so we did a little shopping and hit the Naples Pier. This pier has been rebuilt year after year when it gets knocked out from a hurricane. We also saw some people wind surfing since there were actually waves. Cool stuff!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9v7x4OFZAnjXzhc7MX-dsjUVra1oVQc0mat4Ec_9zf7YfzjEz7pQ_uDS0OcFvSYRVePQ-6ykKa66FqtU932tdoNIw-Cx3eL_pj-RizgDKNmVEdJdVMeEqi6JPvPC8-6SlfOzGt_EV_hb/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9v7x4OFZAnjXzhc7MX-dsjUVra1oVQc0mat4Ec_9zf7YfzjEz7pQ_uDS0OcFvSYRVePQ-6ykKa66FqtU932tdoNIw-Cx3eL_pj-RizgDKNmVEdJdVMeEqi6JPvPC8-6SlfOzGt_EV_hb/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-065.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Wind Surfing</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV70dcoNMQdVb-DMX1qC1l7-fLperFUvnTiLk0eMRHgMDWlTf75vj2sVqPOukfYdHbqWF0es2_SrkZ6ah_CE8gVxm-MpLgRmW-mkMb_mSqJeKTrBNKWDBy3pCn1dhq9_ge_QM10C7LkMT/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYV70dcoNMQdVb-DMX1qC1l7-fLperFUvnTiLk0eMRHgMDWlTf75vj2sVqPOukfYdHbqWF0es2_SrkZ6ah_CE8gVxm-MpLgRmW-mkMb_mSqJeKTrBNKWDBy3pCn1dhq9_ge_QM10C7LkMT/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Naples Pier</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77XzYC2drnxxwPMyVZJNbgxsjpMl7z7SJa1hLIK7Vt0zRq14XCdk36TgEWpNhLiZbeXIvtq0Pwo8OnYBLe0z1KoI6zHBdgS9xKFenPZ43_256jITS1iSwmk00zcHwCqbYBtxwTtFcRQ1U/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77XzYC2drnxxwPMyVZJNbgxsjpMl7z7SJa1hLIK7Vt0zRq14XCdk36TgEWpNhLiZbeXIvtq0Pwo8OnYBLe0z1KoI6zHBdgS9xKFenPZ43_256jITS1iSwmk00zcHwCqbYBtxwTtFcRQ1U/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-072.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Naples Pier</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And a great way to end the trip. A rainbow over the lake outside Jim's house. (On the left is a key lime tree. Awesome key lime pie was made as well!)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgic_Fuzs0TTPQFEh5QHWJCAuNgypbl28W8p1HL-hUu_2MubS28fdRgluFwD-Rk2x2cQR4FtXiRgNT7hStoBjp81RfjGo8hq_FMrgpf9v3f9rBhCTTZkv1aQaROR1HJ37l1OYG27vsJi__V/s1600/Naples+Florida-20110117-074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgic_Fuzs0TTPQFEh5QHWJCAuNgypbl28W8p1HL-hUu_2MubS28fdRgluFwD-Rk2x2cQR4FtXiRgNT7hStoBjp81RfjGo8hq_FMrgpf9v3f9rBhCTTZkv1aQaROR1HJ37l1OYG27vsJi__V/s320/Naples+Florida-20110117-074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-29148321414335755872011-01-13T13:58:00.002-06:002011-01-23T19:52:09.818-06:00AsherToday is a very special day for Asher and I. 5 years ago today, Asher came to live with me. I struggle a bit to write this post. It's not because I don't have anything to say about Asher, I just don't want to come across sounding too sappy, but really when you break it down into simple words, Asher is my best friend and the best thing that has ever happened to me. Sappy or not, dog or not, he really truly is. Now for the story for those of you that don't already know: <br />
<br />
Asher came to me out of total happenstance, which is how most things happen in my life. I was planning to get a standard poodle puppy in the near future so a 2.5 year old dog was not even in my mindset. Well plans changed a bit with that. On December 31st, 2005 a group of us went to my friend Shanna's house to do a New Year's Eve Day group indoor ride. We get there and find out that her standard poodle puppy ran away. She lives next to some woods and they think he took off after a deer. And it was snowy. So they were worried about him getting frost bite. He was gone for several days but thankfully they found him, a little beat up but okay. Anyway, so during this time that he was gone my friend was frantic, as most of us would be, her dogs were her kids. She was calling all over, driving around looking for him and checking the paper (she lives by a bunch of hicks and was afraid someone would catch him and try and sell him which was why she was checking the paper). One day while checking the paper she saw an ad for a black standard poodle for sale. The description matched her dog Jack so she called the number. The dog turned out to not be Jack after talking with the woman but she did find out he was a super loving dog that needed a good home where someone could spend more time with him and take care of him. So immediately she calls me. So we talk about it, I do a lot of thinking about it (I really wanted a puppy) and finally called the woman to talk about him and see if I could meet him. <br />
<br />
So the next Friday night she brought him over after he got his haircut. He immediately came up to me and let me pet him and talk with him. She said he normally doesn't take well to people that he didn't know so we viewed that as a good sign. We talked it over and I agreed to have him come and stay the following Friday for the weekend and see how things went. <br />
<br />
So Friday the 13th of Jan 2006 came and up walks Dark Vader (the kids he first lived with named him that because he was black). He gets all moved in and starts playing. He came with a few toys, most of which he ripped up in a matter of a day or so and some food which he refused to eat. I had gotten him some different food because I didn't like the food she was feeding him and he ate all of his new food and refused to touch his old food the first day I gave it to him. After he got moved in I walked him over to my friend Brad's house and then to my friends Stacy and John's house. Little did I know that Asher had no idea how to walk on a lease. He was 2.5 years old and had never really been on a walk. The lady said he was too wild on walks so she never took him. So he was all over but super fun to watch. At Stacy and John's he almost chewed through his leash before we left so it was a bit dicey to walk him home. That night was rough. He sat in his super little kennel that he used to spend 23 hours a day in crying. I even brought him right next to me and he still just cried. He was not house broken, yes at 2.5 years old which shows you how much he was out of his kennel, so I was afraid to let him out. I think by the second or third night he was sleeping on my bed. I couldn't take the crying. <br />
<br />
The next day some friends and I were going to a speaker with the tri club so he had to stay home. When my friends came over we found out he didn't like men and was scared of them as he started going after one of my friends and we couldn't figure out why. Another black mark from his past (I think he was abused by his old owners random boyfriends that would come in and out). After the meeting I wanted to try taking him running. And this is where our real journey began. He was an amazing runner. He had all this energy and just needed an avenue to release it. He about drug me down the sidewalk. He was so fast and could run so easily. We ran 4 miles that day and never looked back. Only bad part was his paws weren't tough enough to handle all the new exercise he was getting, walking or running, so we had to get those toughened up a bit. Several sores but after those were gone he was good to go. Now he is my very best running partner. He still jumps 6 feet in the air when I ask if he wants to go running and will go in any weather, rain, sleet, snow, anything. He wears a backpack and carries his own water and wears shoes all winter to protect his feet. Since I got him he has run 5788.5 miles and still loves every step. He loves water and swimming and hunting for bunnies, squirrels and his newest animal deer. He is always upbeat and willing to do anything. And for that I am so thankful.<br />
<br />
Asher came from a very bad situation where he was neglected and abused and came to live with me and has really found his true home. He gave me a person that was there for me, all the time, something I really needed at the time. He has saved me as much as I saved him and for that I am ever grateful to him. We both have dark pasts but together all we can see is a bright future.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-41052186335600235252011-01-11T09:15:00.000-06:002011-01-11T09:15:36.398-06:00Chestnut Ridge Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The week before Christmas I had a day off so Asher and I were thinking up things to do. Simple, let's go play in the snow. One of Asher's favorite things to do (he has lots of favorite things). We headed to a great county park here called <a href="http://www.erie.gov/parks/chestnut.asp">Chestnut Ridge</a>. They don't plow most of the roads in the park in the winter so you can snowshoe, cross country ski or snowmobile through the woods all over the place. So I just let Asher run. He loved it. I got a few pictures of a couple pretty streams and Asher in the snow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BksaaQul-e79j3oGFHDdscxIUvlF1yCQN4b0p4KL-Wdrosm7CbLkrKOcK9D39_NdUq9EU5L6_gwusB3bGeKWspLRz6C1atVVY8IG1uJxs0q8YDVcY_2IQL7TM9ILFu05SCLmsSUkM7in/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BksaaQul-e79j3oGFHDdscxIUvlF1yCQN4b0p4KL-Wdrosm7CbLkrKOcK9D39_NdUq9EU5L6_gwusB3bGeKWspLRz6C1atVVY8IG1uJxs0q8YDVcY_2IQL7TM9ILFu05SCLmsSUkM7in/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNKKZ3PLNcCCTP20785AxJXZaXcHNn5a7j841zosSVQq4qfAxfW95INvlB3_v0NgsXzN3K753OfpBIS_TXQ5pNQrsIl1NhU_47jB8Rt9tD02aUa-zJTU-ND3a73cizcTzfkAYJ4LeWgKH/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNKKZ3PLNcCCTP20785AxJXZaXcHNn5a7j841zosSVQq4qfAxfW95INvlB3_v0NgsXzN3K753OfpBIS_TXQ5pNQrsIl1NhU_47jB8Rt9tD02aUa-zJTU-ND3a73cizcTzfkAYJ4LeWgKH/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvf-LhdPVMSPtdWDgmd_k1lmaIW22zHSsKHZ6AX4tz1qRNPvfCvRYMdEuJW-b8v49oCPW8L-pOsbLaDFjmJkfc0rdutcTgc44FHjW0w9QeuzGRtLIpsefZ2n3-JY2Lk_BJYQOb-ZOmdCA/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvf-LhdPVMSPtdWDgmd_k1lmaIW22zHSsKHZ6AX4tz1qRNPvfCvRYMdEuJW-b8v49oCPW8L-pOsbLaDFjmJkfc0rdutcTgc44FHjW0w9QeuzGRtLIpsefZ2n3-JY2Lk_BJYQOb-ZOmdCA/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEOsK_3KlQ5omRdYrSO_3hPloFL3EVt4zik87yneUJzFA7Nalg-i3HyaUatVlGLe5bL_oAS_Lpwl2-FFFZcLLrjFWxQFZ4ESvFI2uMuF8WjspoczT5ksOMoPBJOqX0OH5pckJhIRlWFrC/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEOsK_3KlQ5omRdYrSO_3hPloFL3EVt4zik87yneUJzFA7Nalg-i3HyaUatVlGLe5bL_oAS_Lpwl2-FFFZcLLrjFWxQFZ4ESvFI2uMuF8WjspoczT5ksOMoPBJOqX0OH5pckJhIRlWFrC/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGs2EAE_sFmWQDFc_aQNRmTwGULP4O5gYO6EpQpRPhN96QxjZQ_BKs6Ow1Dgc5SD4bWp_N-y8P0sln1OW0FsWuTvfcfslSKShlI5QBXub1cIyauZ5XWHCo55vBeswUSXem7qa2rqq8FkA/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGs2EAE_sFmWQDFc_aQNRmTwGULP4O5gYO6EpQpRPhN96QxjZQ_BKs6Ow1Dgc5SD4bWp_N-y8P0sln1OW0FsWuTvfcfslSKShlI5QBXub1cIyauZ5XWHCo55vBeswUSXem7qa2rqq8FkA/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdj710is-tK6zhaGhv-W6BnF1C_rG0cDCVMf4hYPIrtUTKeikO3D-BGVCe785_jib8a51_M0FcVSqpDF1nefREncZP2Kog3V3O5eboPqXlxL7Ds1FcBU11Qx6jrEIWaPyHFzuZdeYTGXl/s1600/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdj710is-tK6zhaGhv-W6BnF1C_rG0cDCVMf4hYPIrtUTKeikO3D-BGVCe785_jib8a51_M0FcVSqpDF1nefREncZP2Kog3V3O5eboPqXlxL7Ds1FcBU11Qx6jrEIWaPyHFzuZdeYTGXl/s320/Chestnut+Ridge+12-20-10+6.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-71413915994063595902011-01-05T13:45:00.000-06:002011-01-05T13:45:07.370-06:00Year End ReviewThe end of the year always means lot of cool, new things. Making new resolutions (if you believe in that stuff), looking forward to hopefully warmer temperatures in the near months, and sbr (Swim, Bike, Run) totals for the year....of course. This year my focus was not to do more quantity but instead focus on quality and let the quantity fall where it does. <br />
<br />
So my totals for the year looked like this:<br />
<br />
Miles:<br />
Swim: 184 miles<br />
Bike: 7514 miles<br />
Run: 1848 miles<br />
Total: 9,546 miles<br />
<br />
Time:<br />
Swim: 97:25:08<br />
Bike: 385:36:18<br />
Run: 274:51:33<br />
Total: 757:52:59<br />
<br />
I also had 34 hours of weights. <br />
<br />
Asher had 1,303.6 miles for the year. He had a great year of running and we look forward to logging lots more miles together in 2011.<br />
<br />
2009 numbers:<br />
<br />
Miles:<br />
Swim: 179 miles<br />
Bike: 8066 miles<br />
Run: 2300 miles<br />
Total: 10545 miles<br />
<br />
Time:<br />
Swim: 95:07:24<br />
Bike: 419:50:19<br />
Run: 325:43:13<br />
Total: 840:40:56<br />
<br />
I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting 2011. Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-3861418736132864772010-12-16T15:00:00.000-06:002010-12-16T15:00:40.984-06:00Snowing....againYep, it's snowing again. Kind of in spurts, sometimes hard, sometimes not at all. And just a few short miles away, the sun was shinning. You gotta love lake effect snow. Good news is the lake is starting to slowly freeze over and when the lake freezes over the lake effect snow stops. Still a long time but the process is starting. It's been cold and very windy here this week. Same story over the whole US. The snow sure is pretty when you are inside though. And oh how Asher loves to play in the snow. It is rather scary when on the morning news they tell you, you will get 1-2 feet, yes feet, of snow like it's nothing. Odd measuring snow in feet instead of inches. Stay warm everyone!!Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-1803676896662224332010-12-13T13:13:00.000-06:002010-12-13T13:13:47.405-06:00Fun stuff!!I haven't been very good about updating my blog lately, sorry to my few followers. I seem to run out of hours in the day. I have lots of fun posts started so I will finish them soon. Promise. I also have lots of really good recipes to post too, I have been doing lots of baking! Anyway, a quick little update of what's been going on since my last post, the Turkey Trot. Thanksgiving came and went. Lots to be thankful for. Did some early morning shopping with the crazies on Black Friday and went to Canada and did some more shopping at Ikea on Saturday. The following weekend we took a long weekend, packed up the car and headed down to Harrisburg, PA. We went to Hershey World, <a href="http://www.yuengling.com/">Yuengling </a>Brewery and Gettysburg. That area, and the drive down there, are really pretty. Lots of hills and pretty much not a straight road (which Asher didn't care for) but beautiful sights. This trip would be awesome in the fall. It was nice being able to run down there with no snow to contend with. Back in Buffalo, we had just gotten about 20 inches and things were a mess so this was a nice little bit of relief. This past weekend we took a quick trip to the largest Kazoo manufacturer in North America (who knew this was in our new backyard). And the <a href="http://www.greenbayphoenix.com/">UWGB</a> men came to Buffalo to play against the University at Buffalo (<a href="http://www.buffalobulls.com/landing/index">UB</a>) so I got to see them play. That was cool. I was the only one cheering. It was kind of funny. Then that night I got to see my first NHL game. We had our company Christmas party on Saturday and part of that was a game in our company suite. We are the energy provider and a big supporter of the Buffalo <a href="http://sabres.nhl.com/">Sabres</a> so we get some VIP treatment. It was an awesome experience. One I plan to repeat again. Things will calm down a bit now before the big trip back to Wisconsin for Christmas. Oh and it's snowing here....again. I think I better get used to this. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1823530431"></span><span id="goog_1823530432"></span>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-76743178029404673932010-11-26T20:35:00.000-06:002010-11-26T20:35:09.075-06:00YMCA Turkey TrotHappy Thanksgiving everyone!!<br />
<br />
Yesterday I did a traditional <a href="http://www.ymcabuffaloniagara.org/turkeytrot.html">Turkey Trot</a>. In fact, this was the 115th annual turkey trot, here in Buffalo, NY. This is the oldest consecutive running road race in North America. This year they capped the race at 12,500 and it filled a couple weeks ago. This was a 5 mile race starting north of downtown and you run into down town. As I usually do, I ran before the race with Asher. This has been our traditional for as long as I've had Asher. He usually doesn't get to do the race but I still want him to be a part of the day so I run first with him. I got changed and we headed to the race. It was supposed to rain and was very windy. I had shorts on but there weren't many to brave the bare legs. We got lined up and the gun went off. It took us 5 1/2 minutes to get to the start line. Apparently we lined up pretty far back. I spent pretty much the whole race running around people. The race went well. I felt awesome and had fun. There were several people dressed up in costumes. It was fun seeing all the costumes and running along a road I had never run on before. I got close to the finish, picked up the pace the last two miles and kept passing people. Got to the finish and headed back to find Jeff. I found him at mile 4 and ran the rest of the way to the finish with him. It was just misting but really turned out to be a perfect day to run. Felt great, awesome company, great run. Overall a great way to spend Thanksgiving.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-74959189173860385642010-11-21T20:00:00.000-06:002010-11-21T20:00:55.095-06:00Sprague Brook ParkThis Saturday we did another new run location. We headed down to run some trails at <a href="http://www.wnymba.org/trails.php?trail=7">Sprague Brook</a> Park. I did a little research on it during the week and this looked like it should have some good running opportunities and I was totally blown away. These trails were amazingly awesome. Super technical, lots of roots, and trees and rocks and bridges made of rocks and trees and hills, oh the hills. Probably the best trail running I have ever done. We even did two full water creek crossings, where my shoes and socks were totally soaked. We saw some white tailed deer too. Very cool. There were some amazingly steep cliffs that went down to a creek that we continued to wind around. I wish I would have brought my camera. Next time. I did grab it after the run and took a few shots of the creek we ran around and through. Asher had such a blast and was exhausted the rest of the weekend! I can't wait to go back. A few pictures, more to come next time.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrSEA0bfwhJXEBGHUKvm9I2-YSNtpGtr4G5Hy8Qb-qKPuPP7wcPpYjXYgtQan95WSQxcRVperedfG0bx5TNrR2TiqvsJ7kcxHW5KuZ9CnK5Cej2OrVfgnJz1tpk8g-NZz0nk4H6EKj5Ov/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrSEA0bfwhJXEBGHUKvm9I2-YSNtpGtr4G5Hy8Qb-qKPuPP7wcPpYjXYgtQan95WSQxcRVperedfG0bx5TNrR2TiqvsJ7kcxHW5KuZ9CnK5Cej2OrVfgnJz1tpk8g-NZz0nk4H6EKj5Ov/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFMkTyWotvcmiYYYDSxpm8rpQ03B7sJn3qEHhlCXI2A-O6IOASmn2f3k_2al7527gektYV_VSks1yKCDdxpyysj7mkaRAaaHoJvdlRnf0SZaTbFp7AImHJ2jzuejCMZu2fT2zQL-XY700/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFMkTyWotvcmiYYYDSxpm8rpQ03B7sJn3qEHhlCXI2A-O6IOASmn2f3k_2al7527gektYV_VSks1yKCDdxpyysj7mkaRAaaHoJvdlRnf0SZaTbFp7AImHJ2jzuejCMZu2fT2zQL-XY700/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-11yP2pnts3kL5bnubpHGqt9IGKiEoUGRETF003QavERkYrujsRJPln5swmEu_Jr5fzYAMK7pS3e2_zilAU5JhO46r8YjL012fmkL4ZmPUeS8ezp8BYLVJ7Hw8k7o64tT3NWwBVFZmETx/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-11yP2pnts3kL5bnubpHGqt9IGKiEoUGRETF003QavERkYrujsRJPln5swmEu_Jr5fzYAMK7pS3e2_zilAU5JhO46r8YjL012fmkL4ZmPUeS8ezp8BYLVJ7Hw8k7o64tT3NWwBVFZmETx/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEz7HU6KkxTsT61jliInNWj3tmKeGwJW2Sk0xUu9_PIHxbHBaUsKuV1Un0Ht8uG6eq7tzzUIFLSomTPKIGT1qAQ2gU0bANH3YtKjgww1rBSs4wcW8KD77jvgFHCp9EZqNrz-ZDtPneMntO/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEz7HU6KkxTsT61jliInNWj3tmKeGwJW2Sk0xUu9_PIHxbHBaUsKuV1Un0Ht8uG6eq7tzzUIFLSomTPKIGT1qAQ2gU0bANH3YtKjgww1rBSs4wcW8KD77jvgFHCp9EZqNrz-ZDtPneMntO/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pBixvheFtU_H0zfy7s9NM9e3MqbPaPMiQwAN63rlmcKwpfLfvGfrOLl6Avpyjq9uk5QRs4kxffAnGrJVxNrIKp7ZC3KOoeYjUQhr3X8XjoIBFlvya2T0_wrvsJnhXTF6Nuz2Wq2QsKfJ/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pBixvheFtU_H0zfy7s9NM9e3MqbPaPMiQwAN63rlmcKwpfLfvGfrOLl6Avpyjq9uk5QRs4kxffAnGrJVxNrIKp7ZC3KOoeYjUQhr3X8XjoIBFlvya2T0_wrvsJnhXTF6Nuz2Wq2QsKfJ/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVtNS9QlcH8J_yiUC13VK6XH4QD7FdMACqfN4gjJcS9SkHsO_HodvNnvfNhBgYCWUsQ7tRbxbpdMIs-TMXPl9wlG-n_0ccgRt6j4ePZktiVwbCtE6nXKX8wZd9FKFUkaDo7wA9wtC4XTE/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVtNS9QlcH8J_yiUC13VK6XH4QD7FdMACqfN4gjJcS9SkHsO_HodvNnvfNhBgYCWUsQ7tRbxbpdMIs-TMXPl9wlG-n_0ccgRt6j4ePZktiVwbCtE6nXKX8wZd9FKFUkaDo7wA9wtC4XTE/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+6.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PjUYgjF8cHsV9lX3s7hiW31QSiuyFJpeJ2B7_jYhc_2QHjKh0H_AHhKXmGRdymRR47LGXfF5Y4H2jaYy5Uo_CbSPZjmK6tZLfLfjdkWLxltDU7P7QrCEXPa8SZuCRx7nVgeMYXMK8LZo/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9PjUYgjF8cHsV9lX3s7hiW31QSiuyFJpeJ2B7_jYhc_2QHjKh0H_AHhKXmGRdymRR47LGXfF5Y4H2jaYy5Uo_CbSPZjmK6tZLfLfjdkWLxltDU7P7QrCEXPa8SZuCRx7nVgeMYXMK8LZo/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+7.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GET_U8jp05PQczxkQ7Y6FL_WTpykdq8qSWBHWJPzW0e96n1EkdN6wlTWuTxugvP5eBwBpK9Tjw74OpKTpQNerfzdyeuIj4Vf3qSyPdZnia0vNWQY71A8WSO23IfKxhRFIOk1NwFGl01s/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GET_U8jp05PQczxkQ7Y6FL_WTpykdq8qSWBHWJPzW0e96n1EkdN6wlTWuTxugvP5eBwBpK9Tjw74OpKTpQNerfzdyeuIj4Vf3qSyPdZnia0vNWQY71A8WSO23IfKxhRFIOk1NwFGl01s/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlui9p1JgYdrzTjLPEYyULZyuQCoUHqbMVZkNewwS_UqwzoYi7ac23rxd3E33ENiuXLMemgXX-r8y7bb_anujTCZKilLU9DUltg-iyN8PnyxCovh3z6zkxAx7Yk6dNXRHKfzku2TvMlTne/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlui9p1JgYdrzTjLPEYyULZyuQCoUHqbMVZkNewwS_UqwzoYi7ac23rxd3E33ENiuXLMemgXX-r8y7bb_anujTCZKilLU9DUltg-iyN8PnyxCovh3z6zkxAx7Yk6dNXRHKfzku2TvMlTne/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+9.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnGvZFn37wR_oX4lM9f-3zVl9VIed38AgqXLaG-AIMPO6bUf25KuH6d7rg-t20SLUGXJi7M_rP_poKdg6M6pYE8WBRLkl-IG9sDicHdWg6B-qxEp-3jYR2Ky66fvxhbwIeSnvZJHd40AD/s1600/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnGvZFn37wR_oX4lM9f-3zVl9VIed38AgqXLaG-AIMPO6bUf25KuH6d7rg-t20SLUGXJi7M_rP_poKdg6M6pYE8WBRLkl-IG9sDicHdWg6B-qxEp-3jYR2Ky66fvxhbwIeSnvZJHd40AD/s320/Sprague+Brook+Park+11-20-10+10.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-53802719471928800922010-11-21T19:17:00.000-06:002010-11-21T19:17:56.653-06:0018 mile creek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Since moving, Asher and I have been exploring new running routes all over the place. Last Saturday we did another new one and ran to a county park called 18 Mile Creek Park. I found out about this park from a store owner in our town and heard it had great trails. We weren't planning to run the trails, we'll head back someday and tackle those, but I wanted to see where this place was. The creek that the route runs along is really cool. Lots of character to the river which is cool. I took a few pictures with my phone to share.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlAryeDRau56yPAeTB2eVs3NZZ9th_KFnWM282eCE4AetrjCeu4jY6QvxAAgKFFcfAh5CaYKt69yshUpxs0Mbq-qkzbq_J590fePlGA7tJUdKNXEfvHtWIKW0SCPopG_U6t5iqkkt6N5i/s1600/18+Mile+Creek+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJlAryeDRau56yPAeTB2eVs3NZZ9th_KFnWM282eCE4AetrjCeu4jY6QvxAAgKFFcfAh5CaYKt69yshUpxs0Mbq-qkzbq_J590fePlGA7tJUdKNXEfvHtWIKW0SCPopG_U6t5iqkkt6N5i/s320/18+Mile+Creek+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUH6zruvkcUIpbyqvMNDe-N4wPRRjnByEFwwVqKYjOAhiNAl4_4jRJKk165oYu46RRQd4vGSeatAwM7EnyAwExbBks1xueyKc6XiV9LipbxR-4aqZDYV31CcXnYE2uKsBF2UfRhLj_Rs/s1600/18+Mile+Creek+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijIUH6zruvkcUIpbyqvMNDe-N4wPRRjnByEFwwVqKYjOAhiNAl4_4jRJKk165oYu46RRQd4vGSeatAwM7EnyAwExbBks1xueyKc6XiV9LipbxR-4aqZDYV31CcXnYE2uKsBF2UfRhLj_Rs/s320/18+Mile+Creek+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8GKtDNo6f7FUDdhJ-qakyAFm_wp8pwWtRKDYYoaJmSKaMFJzRdc1D0O977sUcL5fsZuQyTQfbZmlCbuBR9ZFuIU5MC958VmbQIo903t4gSm5SLVZKvyri99wl8xN0R7jp38YMqK2tv95/s1600/18+Mile+Creek+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8GKtDNo6f7FUDdhJ-qakyAFm_wp8pwWtRKDYYoaJmSKaMFJzRdc1D0O977sUcL5fsZuQyTQfbZmlCbuBR9ZFuIU5MC958VmbQIo903t4gSm5SLVZKvyri99wl8xN0R7jp38YMqK2tv95/s320/18+Mile+Creek+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88vdngpZvaCNpfdi7n3D2P03GByvWnMlzqv3esyNlIgjNW3N-ZHH7Rx8XwpaELTOD9mNEHu_szDiMUFnmJAM5IWTf7kZ0fIjyZ2Zk1OGg5Fvoh8K3djKbmr_sbe-jo4bd67Z_yqiUUFB9/s1600/18+Mile+Creek+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88vdngpZvaCNpfdi7n3D2P03GByvWnMlzqv3esyNlIgjNW3N-ZHH7Rx8XwpaELTOD9mNEHu_szDiMUFnmJAM5IWTf7kZ0fIjyZ2Zk1OGg5Fvoh8K3djKbmr_sbe-jo4bd67Z_yqiUUFB9/s320/18+Mile+Creek+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
Pictures of the really cool creek. Sorry they are sideways. Blogger is being dumb and not posting them like they are saved. Not sure what the deal is. Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-32432103905690391522010-11-15T10:15:00.000-06:002010-11-15T10:15:12.183-06:00Long time....no updateI haven't written on here in a long time, sorry about that to my couple of readers. Things have been going on I just haven't had a spare chance to write about them. So I'll do my best to update you and keep you updated in the future. First and foremost I have a new address and even a new time zone. On October 24th Jeff, Asher and I packed up our vehicles and moved to Buffalo, NY. I had a job transfer that I have known about since the first part of the year and this was finally the weekend to do it. The moving truck came on Thursday and Friday, packed up all of my belongings and loaded them into this huge truck. The guys were awesome. Very friendly and helpful. And best part is they packed everything and had to carry it and put it on and take it off the truck. That's one of the worst parts of moving, in my opinion. Jeff and I each drove our cars, Asher with me, to Cleveland on the 24th and the rest of the way to Buffalo on the 25th. We lived on very minimal items until our stuff came on Thursday, the 28th. I have never been so happy to see my stuff! The movers moved everything into the apartment and storage unit in a matter of about 5 hours. It was crazy and there was stuff everywhere!! It was tricky getting everything put away and cleaned up. I downsized from a house, with essentially 3 floors and a 2 car garage to a two bedroom apartment with no basement and a one stall garage. Thank goodness for the storage unit! It took almost two weeks but we finally got almost everything put away. It was nice to be able to use the living room, workout room and kitchen again. Now that we have everything moved in we have spent our time exploring the area and all there is to do here. We don't know how long we will be here so we plan to live like tourists and see and do as much as we can. I plan to write about as many of these as I can. The weather has been mild so far, so that has allowed us to get in some outside activities which has been fun. Asher and I have been having a blast finding new running routes around our apartment. I have been biking on my trainer in our workout room and I found a great pool that is super quiet downtown that I have been swimming at. The Y pool was hot and had too many floaters for me. I miss my friends back home but am trying to stay in touch with them as much as possible. I hope to get involved in some groups here to meet some people, not to replace, just in addition to the great people I have already met on my life's journey. Apartment life is going okay so far. I was very worried about how Asher would do with the move but he's doing great. We have actually worn him out so much he's snoring by 9 at night. Lots of dogs in the complex for him to check out too so we'll have to get out and meet them. So I guess......let the journey begin....Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-51670236267184847742010-10-08T11:28:00.000-05:002010-10-08T11:28:54.912-05:00KonaTomorrow marks one of my favorite days of the year. The Hawaii Ironman. I've never been to Hawaii to visit or race but the whole aura of the race and race setting just gets me so pumped up. I have been known, in past years, to sit in front of my computer all day and watch the live streaming video of the race. I can't do that this year, I have a super fun wedding to go to, but I do plan to be checking in from time to time. This year I actually know people racing which makes the whole thing even cooler. So if you get time, check out the <a href="http://kona.ironmanlive.com/">live feed</a>. Good luck to all. I hope to join you one day. Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-38220562117099633572010-09-29T13:15:00.000-05:002010-09-29T13:15:05.235-05:001000 milesThis morning's run marked a momentous day for Asher, my standard poodle. Today Asher passed 1,000 running miles for the year!!! This is his favorite activity to do. If you ask him if he wants to go running, he'll jump about 8 feet in the air just to make sure you understood, YES!!! I am so lucky to have him as a running partner. No matter the weather or time of day he is always ready to go whenever I ask. It's something that we get to share together and is just awesome. Awesome job little buddy and here's to many more.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LNTLlgo-0QzST0x9_zmSn3f8ybuInKhfluTz2xUkKzf-fIi7Xel6jRM6s8Pm1mvLk278-RM6Z_ziGNYNZdjNTays3ccKXfVQi8c_fULE6A_uJI_4kwHv1bL-HPwe2Fxn2_cBicb0wNE-/s1600/DSCN0617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LNTLlgo-0QzST0x9_zmSn3f8ybuInKhfluTz2xUkKzf-fIi7Xel6jRM6s8Pm1mvLk278-RM6Z_ziGNYNZdjNTays3ccKXfVQi8c_fULE6A_uJI_4kwHv1bL-HPwe2Fxn2_cBicb0wNE-/s320/DSCN0617.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkD45TJ-1RMCq00QNG8kFhnqCcVTrw9AiQVVngbOd4h7przO3ShTT95ozZVsOqFHR2M95VyJ4_i35ySduwTWLkerHl9j6AK1rR_SV8cq-M3sk7K8dybNZap6w6-CrIw6M_g2YwM33smVl/s1600/Asher+Running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkD45TJ-1RMCq00QNG8kFhnqCcVTrw9AiQVVngbOd4h7przO3ShTT95ozZVsOqFHR2M95VyJ4_i35ySduwTWLkerHl9j6AK1rR_SV8cq-M3sk7K8dybNZap6w6-CrIw6M_g2YwM33smVl/s320/Asher+Running.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-43xquxg24iFAkfIhjbXaod6GvvEsQBHvj1xqTSHMWGKYeuSPHLhLZKR7C80z5MvfZcmDw7ZTfRtToGKBSb6Gp27fya8Ockc5n77thmq9bEMKqJjKtP4MV8bg8z2Z4-ZstmNy7FdavFS4/s1600/DSCN0092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-43xquxg24iFAkfIhjbXaod6GvvEsQBHvj1xqTSHMWGKYeuSPHLhLZKR7C80z5MvfZcmDw7ZTfRtToGKBSb6Gp27fya8Ockc5n77thmq9bEMKqJjKtP4MV8bg8z2Z4-ZstmNy7FdavFS4/s320/DSCN0092.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-64696239920465044122010-09-23T08:23:00.000-05:002010-09-23T08:23:59.642-05:00M-Dot CookiesSo....what else does one do after they have finished an Ironman??? Make M-Dot Cookies of course. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaH9Sja1-0DqsxVhBpHjq0Eb7YgPoSsS1qFSAhuIsQfEsQHSgEl5W_DZ2ZWetieAtaScQXoe8KroLzvike6D-0ouk1TKA6QdDgK2BgrJSCzN2oyyp_HGM6mBrom3DIVN2or24w4f737lT/s1600/M-Dot+Cookie+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaH9Sja1-0DqsxVhBpHjq0Eb7YgPoSsS1qFSAhuIsQfEsQHSgEl5W_DZ2ZWetieAtaScQXoe8KroLzvike6D-0ouk1TKA6QdDgK2BgrJSCzN2oyyp_HGM6mBrom3DIVN2or24w4f737lT/s320/M-Dot+Cookie+1.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Red Cookies</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4EXvYAGLbqEGFhBGaiNlwkoVYDJfpY6xGci2iv6tLMKG2luzNkmsmuOeEe1gG6sX_ZVRrRl2w87t9jlnYlTj-YWRKddnm3p4Sm35BrhmCDKnpa6pG5BCA5uyhyphenhyphenEFgsBDHCZrg30IWeLK/s1600/M-Dot+Cookie+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4EXvYAGLbqEGFhBGaiNlwkoVYDJfpY6xGci2iv6tLMKG2luzNkmsmuOeEe1gG6sX_ZVRrRl2w87t9jlnYlTj-YWRKddnm3p4Sm35BrhmCDKnpa6pG5BCA5uyhyphenhyphenEFgsBDHCZrg30IWeLK/s320/M-Dot+Cookie+2.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Red Cookies with white frosting</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I picked up a M-Dot cookie cutter at Ironman this year and couldn't wait to make them. They turned out awesome. Red cookies and homemade white frosting. They are so cute! And gluten free of course.</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-82568621698063468922010-09-21T11:05:00.001-05:002010-09-21T11:06:41.749-05:00Fox Cities Half MarathonSo people ask, "what's up next after Ironman?"....well how about a half marathon a week later?!?! Crazy?? Yes! But I have a very persuasive running partner, Mark, and it sounded like a good idea while eating custard at <a href="http://www.zestyscustard.com/">Zesty's</a>! And as it turned out, it was a good idea. We signed up for the <a href="http://www.foxcitiesmarathon.org/">Fox Cities Half Marathon</a> before Ironman so I was optimistic that I would have a good race and come out of it unscathed and recover well. The week after Ironman was good. I took it easy. Did some swimming, biking and ran 1 day. And tons of walking with Asher. I had no soreness and was ready to roll Sunday morning. Mark's friend Walter was also running, doing his first half. He is signed up to do Big Sur with us next May as his first marathon. <br />
<br />
The morning of Tammy, Cleo, Jeff and I all drove down and got a car at the finish and start (the start and finish aren't in the same spot) and met up with Mark and Walt. Sue came to the start and took our coats and then brought them to us at the finish. That was a total life saver. It was cool, low 40's at the start and it got cool after we finish and were sweaty. We gave Sue our coats and literally ran across the start line. We were moving along nicely, and all of a sudden we run into a friend of ours, Brian Cassidy.....well actually he ran into me. Funny. Ran with him for a bit and chatted then another friend of ours, Julie Petersen came up to us and ran with us. Awesome, lots of cool people. So we kept on. I was feeling good and having fun catching up with everyone. I ran the rest of the race with Walt, Mark and Julie. The 4 amigo's. This course is nice and flat with lots of turns and stuff to keep you entertained. The last couple miles had some good tunes blasting which really pumped us up. We went past mile 12 and started the loop for the finish. Feeling good we ran strong into the finish for a 1:57:24 finish time. And Mark and I finally got it worked out and had the same exact time. It was our last race together for a while so it was nice to share the experience with him and so glad he slowed down to run with me. <br />
<br />
The rest of the crew had a good day too. Tammy and Cleo smoked it....like normal and Jeff rolled in with a 4 minute PR. Everyone had a great day. Beautiful weather, fun race and great company. What more could you ask for. Happy running everyone!Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-10709980203755371072010-09-17T10:07:00.001-05:002010-09-17T10:12:48.132-05:00Ironman Wisconsin 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJm0VNrwK7CQBAtVYmyEcVm1davDLBH4775HTfVPX23D7X-pcg3JZdQvcXpobry3kC42n5GGaHCixMz96q-IrPhyJjDxiMVSKPnGcAk6wI1CnBPEHkcoIrOQvq5wD7lvq5gFYcGiM6DCFl/s1600/IM+WI+Logo.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJm0VNrwK7CQBAtVYmyEcVm1davDLBH4775HTfVPX23D7X-pcg3JZdQvcXpobry3kC42n5GGaHCixMz96q-IrPhyJjDxiMVSKPnGcAk6wI1CnBPEHkcoIrOQvq5wD7lvq5gFYcGiM6DCFl/s320/IM+WI+Logo.bmp" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles</span></div><br />
This year’s Ironman Wisconsin was to be my 4th attempt at the Ironman distance and my third try at the Ironman Wisconsin course. I completed the race in 2005, 2007 and Ironman Louisville in 2008. It had been a few years since I had been at this venue and had some pretty vivid memories of the last time, and some pretty nasty scares to remind me of those memories. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37bIRQLbhaDhfpvgUlfjykbHeGcxnUGTlNyf-wkwT7FSPOp4OF4Xx9Qhpejv1qjZxQTNF1GkgroBgq9Oqz4R06AsZ2d5bliamjRTkuNEtxn2jT8Op5lB0mLNiDSX_5pCVty7_pHHdrLOr/s1600/Ironman+2007+Bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37bIRQLbhaDhfpvgUlfjykbHeGcxnUGTlNyf-wkwT7FSPOp4OF4Xx9Qhpejv1qjZxQTNF1GkgroBgq9Oqz4R06AsZ2d5bliamjRTkuNEtxn2jT8Op5lB0mLNiDSX_5pCVty7_pHHdrLOr/s320/Ironman+2007+Bike.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ironman 2007</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwnbV_sz4c-1ouoUo9liLo3XotTFEjkkdqOAUIptuJO2-f6u3cwWKQaq_KjWHD3dgzXM5UE4vuhUG5FHvGESlz7D6lEx5UpCAbSAyRe46-86eaH14EdD3ytdPemtIH2Ih3LaTD4TSLTfb/s1600/Ironman+2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwnbV_sz4c-1ouoUo9liLo3XotTFEjkkdqOAUIptuJO2-f6u3cwWKQaq_KjWHD3dgzXM5UE4vuhUG5FHvGESlz7D6lEx5UpCAbSAyRe46-86eaH14EdD3ytdPemtIH2Ih3LaTD4TSLTfb/s320/Ironman+2007.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ironman 2007</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Because of this “history” on this course I was very nervous going into the day. I was also nervous because this is an Ironman, and that’s big stuff. You know you are going to go through a rough patch and that always scares me. When will it come, can I overcome it and get back on my game, and ultimately, will I finish? On the walk down to the terrace race morning I met up with a few friends and about lost it just talking to them I was so nervous. And if you know me, you know I don’t cry…..for anything….so this was pretty big. <br />
<br />
I have had a lot going on in my personal life this year as well, unfortunately not making Ironman the main thing on the brain this year, which when I signed up for it, I fully intended it to be. So I hoped my training was adequate to get me across that line. My race season went pretty poorly this year. I had a bad race at high cliff and then changed a few things. <a href="http://www.yourtrainingzone.com/">Mike</a> said he would coach me which helped a lot. Door County went better but still not where I wanted to be. So Ironman had no expectations, expect try and get under an hour for the swim and to finish. <br />
<br />
<strong>Pre-Race</strong><br />
<br />
Got up early, actually slept good, which is a huge miracle for me because I never sleep good, ate and headed down to the terrace. On the way I dropped off my Special Needs bags and ran into <a href="http://ironstrand.blogspot.com/">Randi and Ross</a>. They were doing their first Ironman. Very exciting. Got body marked and headed in to give Griff some TLC before his big day. Touched up my T1 and T2 bags and then had over an hour to chill before the start. I walked down the helix and sat and tried to relax. The time came to put on my wetsuit and get this party started. I saw lots of people I knew walking down. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFgfq9LFo2a3RwVnb5aDpQgSDnoFrpI1JwH7EulDboKC4vRBcppAvoR_Yumlu87udp1HsRVuo_xMm22RjnJCKmiupwi388HELoqkv8fIZpYjtEHwuX_pBTAoAZIpLCmfz-xuCQcBBuU4f/s1600/DSCN1247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFgfq9LFo2a3RwVnb5aDpQgSDnoFrpI1JwH7EulDboKC4vRBcppAvoR_Yumlu87udp1HsRVuo_xMm22RjnJCKmiupwi388HELoqkv8fIZpYjtEHwuX_pBTAoAZIpLCmfz-xuCQcBBuU4f/s320/DSCN1247.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Erik and I before the swim start. Check out his shirt. A "mock up" to the 2007 family shirts. Awesome!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVly2NCHdeH_TLVyyUo4k37-jXKIbot3LBGiKvWDVLU3IiNl6lnsmy6JZr-ayFgEzGX3TBsW5eEbp0BEi-KSm_OH1koZl8Vf9oBo8H-gvZ6kGpbdw9Eti4ddiBp6fBMJVrxJT6lVcZn8iq/s1600/DSCN1249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVly2NCHdeH_TLVyyUo4k37-jXKIbot3LBGiKvWDVLU3IiNl6lnsmy6JZr-ayFgEzGX3TBsW5eEbp0BEi-KSm_OH1koZl8Vf9oBo8H-gvZ6kGpbdw9Eti4ddiBp6fBMJVrxJT6lVcZn8iq/s320/DSCN1249.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jeff and I before the swim start</div><br />
I am usually pretty anti-social before the race. I like to spend the energy getting my head right for the day. I got all ready and headed for the swim start. There was a large mass of people that had to get in the water and the time was ticking away and they weren’t moving. I eventually started pushing my way through the mod. That was fine that they wanted to be in the back and not get in the water, but I wanted to be in the front and I wanted to get in the water. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKTwZzujHFT8RzIh5hypjMo1TU7pW_-61nMGCF8gg75qFOd-0l6tBLvK1jYuIe0FT1Ki1zGOhCylj7tPVcCiIh2Auc5LVSUOVhm8MEXtycj0deW9D3APFMiyVrQ0K9iFhVKodomRVdgJr/s1600/DSCN1250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKTwZzujHFT8RzIh5hypjMo1TU7pW_-61nMGCF8gg75qFOd-0l6tBLvK1jYuIe0FT1Ki1zGOhCylj7tPVcCiIh2Auc5LVSUOVhm8MEXtycj0deW9D3APFMiyVrQ0K9iFhVKodomRVdgJr/s320/DSCN1250.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Athletes getting in the water</div><br />
Finally got in the water with about 3 minutes to spare. Swam up to the front, not as far towards the buoy line as I had hoped, and found a spot with no one on the front. Perfect. Got my goggles set and the cannon went off.<br />
<br />
<strong>Swim</strong><br />
<br />
The first part of the swim was pretty clean, really no roughhousing to speak of. I started angling over to the buoy line and then it got a bit dicey. The men had red caps and the women white so I could see what gender was constantly smacking me and beating me up. And not swimming in a straight line cutting me off. Got real tired of all that real fast. The men are relentless in the swim, no question. I started getting aggressive and pushed them out of the way. The corners were tough, lots of fighting there. But I made it around the first two turns and got into my groove. I kept getting a few chops and figured out it was from the other swimmers creating waves. Otherwise the water was as calm as glass. Got around the first 1.2 miles and headed for lap two. I was checking out the Terrace on both laps, so cool to see so many people out and cheering. My nerves were settling down and I was excited for the day. After I turned the second corner and headed down the long back stretch I started passing people on their first loop, me on my second. Some were doing the sidestroke, some the breastroke, some resting on kayaks, crazy stuff. I dodged them and kept in my rhythm. A couple times I saw some white caps come into my view and I was determined not to let them pass me so I would pick up the pace until they were out of sight. Turned the last corner and headed for the finish. I felt really good and strong the whole swim. Came out of the water in 58:10. A new PR on the swim.<br />
<br />
<strong>T1</strong><br />
<br />
Got my wetsuit taken off by the strippers and headed up the helix….in my bare feet. I have very sensitive feet so I was not looking forward to this part. Plus the water temp was 67 degrees so my feet were cold running on the concrete. Not fun. They were sore by the time I got to the top. Headed in the Terrace and got all my bike gear on. Shoes in hand headed out to get Griff. The lady giving me my bike didn’t do a stellar job, she went to take Griff off the rack and knocked both my bottles off the back onto the ground. Oh well, picked ‘em up and headed out. Waved at my parents as I went by them. Shoes on and down the helix. Yelled at Mike as I left the Terrace and I was on my way for my, hopefully safe, 112 mile journey. T1: 10:05.<br />
<br />
<strong>Bike</strong><br />
<br />
Headed down John Nolan, past the point of 2007’s debacle and onto the no passing zone. Already people were getting pushy and it was early. Lost both of my bottles in the back within the first 3 miles. Something to fix for next year. Made it safely through the early miles. I was pretty timid here and definitely took my time. We were now on our way to Verona, hit the first aid station to replenish what I lost and were now on the loop. I cruised through to Mount Horeb. The section from Verona to Mount Horeb is incredibly boring to me. I dread this part….twice. When I got to Mount Horeb I stopped at the aid station to take off my extra shirt I wore out of the swim. I didn’t want to get cold on the first part of the bike so I bought a long sleeve shirt on Saturday to wear until I was warm enough and then throw it. This worked out great. After Mount Horeb I was on my way. Saw Gordy and Linda and headed onto Garfoot Road and the hills. There are some hilly roads between Mount Horeb and Cross Plains that I had to tackle. I was worried about these but when I got to them on race day they weren’t bad at all. I put my gearing in a super easy gear and just tapped up the hills. Passing tons of guys. The guys were jerks all day. They would fly past me to pass me either too close next to me or cut over right in front of me after they passed me and I would have to yell at them. Then I would pass them on the hills because they were slow and they would get mad because a girl passed them and then be jerks back and pass me too close. It was a battle all day. So rude and annoying. I also ran across lots of people riding in packs. Dumb people. Ride your own race. Wimps! Anyway, through the hills no problem, through the technical stuff before Cross Plains and I cruise into Cross Plains. Jeff and my parents were there so I gave them a big wave and was on to the hilly part of the course. Between Cross Plains and Verona there are 3 large climbs, a long windy one, one we call the Lance hill because it is lined with people at least two to three deep on each side and another windy one but this one is shorter and steeper than the first. Got up the first with no problem, now onto the Lance hill (which is right after the first one). I get into my easy gear and just tap up the hill. Saw several people here I knew. Passed some more guys. Now down a huge decent, someone yelling my name, then onto the last big hill. Tap up that and I’m on my way into Verona. Stop at the aid station and then through the huge festival they have. That part is so fun. You get a huge adrenaline rush. Tons of people, music, all really cool stuff. Saw Jeff, my parents and Jeff Z and Mary here. Skip special needs and head out for loop 2. I was feeling good. My neck was getting a bit tight so I needed to make sure I was relaxing. Onto Mount Horeb (made it through the boring part), onto the Garfoot hills, through the technical parts (I saw someone getting hauled off on a stretcher here, must have crashed on one of the technical turns) and onto Cross Plains. Quick stop at the aid station, saw Jeff and then onto the three hills again. The hills on loop two went just as well as loop one. The whole ride I was spinning up the hills, passing the guys. Made it to Verona, saw my parents and Jeff again and headed on home. My neck was getting pretty sore at this point but my legs felt good so I knew I just needed to stay aero and once I got off the bike my neck would be fine. On the stick there is one large hill, made it up that with no problem and headed back into Madison. I was following some girl the last 10 miles or so and I would pass her then she would pass me back and so on. She was caked in salt and looked terrible. She was all over the road so eventually I just stayed back and let her do her thing. If she was going to do something stupid I didn’t want to be a part of that. Up the helix and into T2. I really tried to just let the course come to me, bike within myself and I think I did that. I also ate more calories per hour than I ever have before on the bike. I think that worked out well too. Bike time was 6:16:21. This was a PR for me on this course.<br />
<br />
<strong>T2</strong><br />
<br />
It was nice to get my bike shoes off. I was getting hot spots on my feet so I was ready to get those off. Some girl came into the change area barely able to walk. Not sure how the marathon went for her. She looked rough. Got all changed, stretched my piriformis and was ready to go. I told my change tent lady I wanted to run the whole marathon, which was a goal from day 1, so here I go! T2: 7:10<br />
<br />
<strong>Run</strong><br />
<br />
Got out of T2 and headed up towards the capital. Saw my mom, said hi and kept on rolling. Saw Erik at the first aid station and I got some ice in my handheld bottle (I wanted mixed berry Powerbar drink but they only had Orange Mango….yuck….which I eventually had to settle on….double yuck). My mom then came racing around the capital and we talked again. I said my hamstrings feel a bit tight but I’m just going to take it easy and see how it feels, and keep running. Headed out and was running strong….actually too fast. I kept trying to slow myself down but I felt good. I would walk through the aid stations and run in between. Ran into Jeff on his bike about mile 2 and he followed me for a bit. Through Camp Randall, which was boring…no music, no excitement, nothing. Lambeau is much better to run through. Kept on running. I was also walking the hills. My hamstrings wanted nothing to do with the hills. Saw Mike and Sue around mile 4.5 or so. I asked if he had any new hamstrings for me and all I got back was a bunch of super encouraging words….but I wanted hamstrings…oh well. I’ll take the encouraging positive words and head out. On to the State Street turn around. This place is hopping. Tons of people here and the water station before and after is always bumping. Came through here about 1:08 or so and thought my goal of under 5 for the marathon was do-able. Saw Ivy, chatted with her and I was back out. Was with Jeff on his bike, then we picked up my mom on her bike, past Mike and Sue again and headed back towards the terrace for the turn around. I was doing okay until about mile 10, then I started breaking down. The next few miles were ugly. I met Erik again at the mile 13 water station and almost started crying. My hamstrings hurt, my hip was bothering me, my foot hurt, the drink tasted terrible, I didn’t want any calories, it was lots of negative and it just consumed me. Erik said they would grab their bikes and get me to the finish. So now I had 5 people on bikes someplace on the course. Maybe that would help. I ran up, did the turnaround (which is steps from the finish, total mental thing happening there) and headed back out. Mile 14 was good, but then the next three miles were ugly again. About mile 18 I started getting my shit together. I looked at my watch and figured out I need to do this. I was still walking the aid stations and running in between but the walking at the aid stations got longer and longer. It actually felt better to run so I kept telling myself that. My whole body was sore and tired and I just had nothing left but I had to keep going. My friend Randi passed me totally trucking with about 7.5 miles left and I could not even closely match her pace. She looked awesome. She had such a great day! So happy for her and Ross for completing their first Ironman. I made the State Street turn around and headed back. Did this crappy out and back section and got my message from Jeff at the Ford Motivational Mile....."Leave it all on course" (25 character limit)....I did that...believe me! This section is not fun, it’s boring, and rather pointless but the distance matters. Saw Mike again (Jeff was also with me on his bike). Mike was so supportive the whole run. He asked me if I wanted any gum and I said “NO, I have some”. I think I kind of yelled at him which I didn’t mean to do but I just wanted to be done. 4 miles left. Keep on it. Headed back downtown. Jeff left me with a couple miles to go so he could go to the finish, at which point Erik and Kira picked me up. Erik was talking to me and I didn’t like what he was saying so I kept my head pointed forward and kept running. At one point I looked over to him and said, “Do you know how deep I am digging for this?” and he replied back “Yes”. He knew how serious I was. Several times on the second loop I would almost start hyperventaliting, just wanting to burst out in tears. Not sure what that was all about. And I had a massive headache. Ugh. Erik and Kira left with about a mile and a half to go so they could go to the finish with Jeff and my parents. I got up to the capital and saw Jessica and Dave. They were starting their second loop. They looked great. So happy for them on finishing their first Ironman as well. Saw Jeff Z and Mary at the water station, said Hi and confirmed I was not pulling a Jeff (puking during every Ironman he has done) and ran for the finish. Came up to the chute and I was all alone. Mike Reilly called out my name and said “This one is for you Alicia”; “You are an Ironman”. I made it!!! I was so pumped! Run time: 5:18:53. Disappointing, to say the least.<br />
<br />
<strong>Final Thoughts</strong><br />
<br />
I accomplished my goal of finishing but have lots to work on for next year. So many positive things came out of this race and I can't wait to build on them for next year. No pity party on the run next year. Mark my words. I hope to simplfy my personal life in the next couple months and get back to focusing on the things I love to do....swim, bike, run. I want to thank all the people that put up with this lifestyle and training all year. Jeff and Asher, thank you for dealing with my insane daily schedule. Mark, thanks for all the yards in the pool and miles on the road. Erik and Kira, for pushing me on race day and every day in between. My parents for supporting me and my crazy dreams. And of course Mike for his excellent coaching and positive energy. So glad he took a chance on me. Ironman 2011 here I come!!!Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-18749063957297296232010-09-11T16:26:00.000-05:002010-09-11T16:26:17.091-05:00IronmanWell it's finally here. Ironman Wisconsin. I signed up a year ago and spent the last year with this on my mind. Training for it. And all that goes along with it. The training is all done now. I'm all checked in, checked Griff in, and checked my T1 and T2 bags in.....so now all that's left is to be nervous. This will be my 4th Ironman and I am just as nervous as the 1200+ newbies doing the race.....yes 1200+ newbies. That's an incredibly large number. I think there's around 2900 registered, which is a lot to all start the swim together. So yes, I'm still as nervous as if it were my first. I know how long the day is. I know things can not always go your way and I have had something go wrong in each one of my 3 previous, so the unknown makes me scared and nervous. And the known for that matter. I just hope and pray that the day goes well. <br />
<br />
If you want to follow me during the day, Jeff will have my cell phone so you can text him or he will be posting tweets on twitter all day. You can follow me on twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/trigb21">here</a>. My twitter name is: @trigb21. <br />
<br />
The weather looks awesome for tomorrow. So in true Ironman fashion.....let's get it on!!! :)Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-31910145966757629862010-08-25T12:41:00.000-05:002010-08-25T12:41:04.109-05:00Bayshore ParkJeff and I took the kayaks out on Sunday for a beautiful paddle. It was a perfect day on the water. No wind, calm as can be. We put in at Bayshore park and paddled north past Dykesville. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTcIYZzDkjefpuRGrC5X1jFPeGoZyUph62C-C0RHHijob-B6tQX7r6flE-At4dUSzDg70gH-O1IdDfWLUF5BIC3IYHJArvv9HWtlwTEZRYbZUtK173_TxqnsyQ1C0us4LuS_Y0-xJ9fvD/s1600/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTcIYZzDkjefpuRGrC5X1jFPeGoZyUph62C-C0RHHijob-B6tQX7r6flE-At4dUSzDg70gH-O1IdDfWLUF5BIC3IYHJArvv9HWtlwTEZRYbZUtK173_TxqnsyQ1C0us4LuS_Y0-xJ9fvD/s320/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+5.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The bay is very shallow where we paddled so we saw quite a bit of wild life either sitting on rocks or docks. On our way back we came across a pile of rocks not too far off shore. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and the sun was just right that all you saw of the birds on the rocks were their silhouettes. This is possibly one of my pictures from any of our kayaking experiences. Nature at its finest.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapnTwSukV-bKEK3vw48ZtckVHMuzA2jY6g6YS-fwn5Lsq_p0akMbZTxf0teH-gGEHA0pVUlJOAlJx8zrhfxuVm728c2_i9dm-9kG-OUaoWtpuXWZIgVuYb0tWGkkdhVS_UyA0vZH19xcG/s1600/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapnTwSukV-bKEK3vw48ZtckVHMuzA2jY6g6YS-fwn5Lsq_p0akMbZTxf0teH-gGEHA0pVUlJOAlJx8zrhfxuVm728c2_i9dm-9kG-OUaoWtpuXWZIgVuYb0tWGkkdhVS_UyA0vZH19xcG/s320/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+1.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are a couple more of the same birds:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XA3abR9GRDLbJQYR9f2h1FnxcPAHzYJ5Q-uTYmMu4O64m8PA8MqS7AkQzcdMXOhts94D3lj4LF8aeshUfGf7jLSegkZF9ju_tWV2z3JnprTYQoYLa59Hhn59sKh6w_PQesKAGW7Umwln/s1600/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XA3abR9GRDLbJQYR9f2h1FnxcPAHzYJ5Q-uTYmMu4O64m8PA8MqS7AkQzcdMXOhts94D3lj4LF8aeshUfGf7jLSegkZF9ju_tWV2z3JnprTYQoYLa59Hhn59sKh6w_PQesKAGW7Umwln/s320/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+2.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-w0EONQzgspyO0ANz8AS17QPnPlPgJ92Pw4f37x7CbORwwTC2t-h2up18LHYiYThb6I0oPCTLWzbUZaG4QKka8W6H1VctwJQ-NArO8eyyS1Vtu0kvcLI4GP0vKL_LXPINNyNag-03q0N/s1600/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-w0EONQzgspyO0ANz8AS17QPnPlPgJ92Pw4f37x7CbORwwTC2t-h2up18LHYiYThb6I0oPCTLWzbUZaG4QKka8W6H1VctwJQ-NArO8eyyS1Vtu0kvcLI4GP0vKL_LXPINNyNag-03q0N/s320/Bayshore+Park+8-22-2010+3.JPG" /></a></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-81454606658740216802010-08-24T12:58:00.000-05:002010-08-24T12:58:09.755-05:00Asher's 7th BirthdayYesterday, August 23rd, 2010 was my baby Asher's 7th birthday. I wanted to make the day special and do something that he loves. So I planned to take the day off of work and take him swimming. Jeff also joined us which was a lot of fun. I decided to take him to Point Beach State Park. We had never been there before but they have a dog approved beach on the sand dunes so I thought we could check it out. It's about 45-50 minutes from our house so it's really not all that far. And wow was it nice. This is one of the nicest parks I have been to. The water is very clear and clean. The beaches are very clean as well. The white sand beaches and clear blue water made it very beautiful. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2IEmSYjvSZpE1IeuRoWB84Zh0k8zNrnyg8Q6V8PGi2_Kr3_2EP4FhCtnLoVHQDe0Wjx5y9vaJAxuZvl4SteWOL4zaF04FJ-fFkJ7skgQxBRsxMdsX8TOJYTZGebvTS_2JKlkaHGKzkC_/s1600/DSCN1227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2IEmSYjvSZpE1IeuRoWB84Zh0k8zNrnyg8Q6V8PGi2_Kr3_2EP4FhCtnLoVHQDe0Wjx5y9vaJAxuZvl4SteWOL4zaF04FJ-fFkJ7skgQxBRsxMdsX8TOJYTZGebvTS_2JKlkaHGKzkC_/s320/DSCN1227.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCmWeXc7RUVbsZ6ex6kRv3HBrb_iZiFuJqw46MZsctMoqdwPCzuir-PQO0C_RgAjkjEqg4g2etSi4MUKtEQ9CO4L53t3VsmrAay2zknz_lNx0dQ6nMeqvA5xy5JbwU3BKgtNUNZAnjnEs/s1600/DSCN1228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCmWeXc7RUVbsZ6ex6kRv3HBrb_iZiFuJqw46MZsctMoqdwPCzuir-PQO0C_RgAjkjEqg4g2etSi4MUKtEQ9CO4L53t3VsmrAay2zknz_lNx0dQ6nMeqvA5xy5JbwU3BKgtNUNZAnjnEs/s320/DSCN1228.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFlEg52fET4bKjFd_RbB1g8AA7kjNKNBVUE-30HFyKEqp5yWzv57_Z0yuw_X1957RAiJoXAJfoHJvPASuvrdXGp2OyQmYIqXdUycLTLvTap5GpZqhXggRyif2UwExPQAeOeYBN0paGy_m/s1600/DSCN1229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFlEg52fET4bKjFd_RbB1g8AA7kjNKNBVUE-30HFyKEqp5yWzv57_Z0yuw_X1957RAiJoXAJfoHJvPASuvrdXGp2OyQmYIqXdUycLTLvTap5GpZqhXggRyif2UwExPQAeOeYBN0paGy_m/s320/DSCN1229.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Asher had a blast swimming. He was so tired at the end he could barely stand. He swam and chased his ball for about 3 hours! We literally almost had to drag him out of the water to go home!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWXBhCbdegvDY7gxXmez1sMhZMwEa9LijsTpqzzf90bwLKcw-TZ8kYka2y2pjmsNro22sZhlvXIwz2s-sJJ79imBUj_pekFAZl1t3PnEL6Wgs_pbBEfibpQn-KQNeyUzCUjpnuDe_Ohmk/s1600/DSCN1225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWXBhCbdegvDY7gxXmez1sMhZMwEa9LijsTpqzzf90bwLKcw-TZ8kYka2y2pjmsNro22sZhlvXIwz2s-sJJ79imBUj_pekFAZl1t3PnEL6Wgs_pbBEfibpQn-KQNeyUzCUjpnuDe_Ohmk/s320/DSCN1225.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn9CYGhP9biQ4Gcz8zdLPKzQfDDHZuxOBuLLu40fNd1qMIY6ct9V-MqrhwFKmATaV2PlLlppEx5wQWl_8ahMWgsQL8wWfOlCy9QFSB-7M8cZXHqVkw2Z4Ur7yGAuzBL8SHZAGnbnwWotO/s1600/DSCN1226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn9CYGhP9biQ4Gcz8zdLPKzQfDDHZuxOBuLLu40fNd1qMIY6ct9V-MqrhwFKmATaV2PlLlppEx5wQWl_8ahMWgsQL8wWfOlCy9QFSB-7M8cZXHqVkw2Z4Ur7yGAuzBL8SHZAGnbnwWotO/s320/DSCN1226.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazbr9uVYWWy0B5oQpeCJInj7Dud8Psdy2wprcp-OB79xBmJYYvjZDbRUR7dwnaTGRSkgzGbbdBjBh1RV6nQnGOGJa0bWvqsFv3KvcSvG6oOjTWZAuQ2wOitA5wFulUkyiWO_g9glSbPZo/s1600/DSCN1233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazbr9uVYWWy0B5oQpeCJInj7Dud8Psdy2wprcp-OB79xBmJYYvjZDbRUR7dwnaTGRSkgzGbbdBjBh1RV6nQnGOGJa0bWvqsFv3KvcSvG6oOjTWZAuQ2wOitA5wFulUkyiWO_g9glSbPZo/s320/DSCN1233.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueTRwMJa0vdbVlykHsaZYTjlf2ujwOYRaVoz_TVVjhhP3UvArW6QTegTaRd3g53bAKkI4UoFc3TJwCTEFg6T0OrDszeVjS0MsVbyohgSNSl7tuuK-4Ip9wcEOtMNotM83nyMvsmEfNOkk/s1600/DSCN1234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjueTRwMJa0vdbVlykHsaZYTjlf2ujwOYRaVoz_TVVjhhP3UvArW6QTegTaRd3g53bAKkI4UoFc3TJwCTEFg6T0OrDszeVjS0MsVbyohgSNSl7tuuK-4Ip9wcEOtMNotM83nyMvsmEfNOkk/s320/DSCN1234.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After swimming we went home and got cleaned up. After dinner we were having a birthday party, of sorts, at Zesty's with Mark, Sue, Maggie and Ruby. Asher had a pup cup and Sue sang Happy Birthday to him. It was great. He did better eating his ice cream this time. He let me hold the cup while he licked it out. I still had to wipe up his face with napkins after he was done though. Which was a difficult task to say the least. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JF17X3udX0MqimUlEKjsmyFj7XZbkfJdA9fShNbS03yHVji3lNOiW2X78RDjcNB7Dc2M1YqMXdQO1WNQEH6ua0iS0x1AinhX556uSXeL6pVpH7uEFCCh5eQwbrwbGAkaR-cPSJGID-vJ/s1600/DSCN1235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JF17X3udX0MqimUlEKjsmyFj7XZbkfJdA9fShNbS03yHVji3lNOiW2X78RDjcNB7Dc2M1YqMXdQO1WNQEH6ua0iS0x1AinhX556uSXeL6pVpH7uEFCCh5eQwbrwbGAkaR-cPSJGID-vJ/s320/DSCN1235.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Check out that stance.....serious stuff!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm2Q30aBWKi0_v3KA-TtpWR4CKjw8sBaDcfJOOdX2SvwnMjYyBYVbqZfXp64DqyZ_ZVAi9_4jYqKzw-R27tM3MXdXbH6OsDoGoogi8M4su2NYSGypf7YDyn_VegRUPYYNtc3SneMqNcnE/s1600/DSCN1240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlm2Q30aBWKi0_v3KA-TtpWR4CKjw8sBaDcfJOOdX2SvwnMjYyBYVbqZfXp64DqyZ_ZVAi9_4jYqKzw-R27tM3MXdXbH6OsDoGoogi8M4su2NYSGypf7YDyn_VegRUPYYNtc3SneMqNcnE/s320/DSCN1240.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All I got were butts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9bDLIV77bF861eJoN3v92wmAeWjg6Qb3FzVU8Y0OItkRfxf15ommFtl5RbXKrhhJyCjKLXCxG8YSih2VnfvJq-lKzJdmrS3Sb3L3cv7dv1Hjfr4mCgLrLltCyzBPXxfLAyZE-xKtl8Yv/s1600/DSCN1242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9bDLIV77bF861eJoN3v92wmAeWjg6Qb3FzVU8Y0OItkRfxf15ommFtl5RbXKrhhJyCjKLXCxG8YSih2VnfvJq-lKzJdmrS3Sb3L3cv7dv1Hjfr4mCgLrLltCyzBPXxfLAyZE-xKtl8Yv/s320/DSCN1242.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Asher, Maggie and Ruby (all with ice cream on their faces)</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8049583531744435721.post-52524862802222077912010-08-24T09:46:00.000-05:002010-08-24T09:46:11.855-05:00RainLast Friday night, August 20th, 2010 we got some of the craziest weather I have seen in a long time. It was warm and humid so a perfect recipe for storms. Some storms started brewing and moving across the state. About 3:30 things started to get pretty dark. Right around 4:00 it started raining and hailing the hardest I have possibly ever seen in rain. It rained for about 30 minutes and caused some major travel issues. Most roads were blocked because the storm sewers couldn't keep up. Here are a couple pictures of the water on my street and a couple streets near me. Overall in about 30 minutes we got just under 3 inches of rain and there were over 13,000 lightening strikes. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGrw5rSqwHJQfQGT2_aoQqDMHcjKStb-s7EzhpEYxSrtJqbkLhyZnWlvPHYtw4HEQouPNBmmfB1Yx9eE6EDrkGaO0H-uxg3wasg3xGuuKL8c9V7bSof-5bPJ6IAGL7dkbwjkFuyChLygt/s1600/DSCN1214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGrw5rSqwHJQfQGT2_aoQqDMHcjKStb-s7EzhpEYxSrtJqbkLhyZnWlvPHYtw4HEQouPNBmmfB1Yx9eE6EDrkGaO0H-uxg3wasg3xGuuKL8c9V7bSof-5bPJ6IAGL7dkbwjkFuyChLygt/s320/DSCN1214.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ash St.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mO7deBK5sNpLkGzOT0Qr-v3T1v55fWoZ4BCuAKuFiKvFLw_V-HZff08JVE89yjM7bk0USRLLg8nprOS-mghvXrPjgTVvLjAHDRydbUfebmN2S1Nd4ZjKJkDlyFhZSTSTU2KXqC5kIWF5/s1600/DSCN1215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mO7deBK5sNpLkGzOT0Qr-v3T1v55fWoZ4BCuAKuFiKvFLw_V-HZff08JVE89yjM7bk0USRLLg8nprOS-mghvXrPjgTVvLjAHDRydbUfebmN2S1Nd4ZjKJkDlyFhZSTSTU2KXqC5kIWF5/s320/DSCN1215.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ash St.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgn6OohqhWi1dJ_-SJaSb4Djn5TZnhQzmlJ8TlrpNWBbcqcdjT8jaNaBkTLH_bl2PlN7zRzPNC2sGAxwHxHNNF7YlrbpGYyPTK5qnDUl3r1p6ify8YFp1m4HyFd1ZULxaTaeMaWD_5Di6/s1600/DSCN1216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHgn6OohqhWi1dJ_-SJaSb4Djn5TZnhQzmlJ8TlrpNWBbcqcdjT8jaNaBkTLH_bl2PlN7zRzPNC2sGAxwHxHNNF7YlrbpGYyPTK5qnDUl3r1p6ify8YFp1m4HyFd1ZULxaTaeMaWD_5Di6/s320/DSCN1216.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ash St.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssWWG9PYqbKCpl5iKos-4brTC3iYN80YFdDJBiPWVIeveadya4nE_F1xdCUvnCGO_iik8f_MZ7rOHhgUa1ue4U0V2Dvy3wpnCV32-A_Wn3smmKo-SCqQW_bzdVJ_JPiZ99V_h44xfEFQh/s1600/DSCN1217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssWWG9PYqbKCpl5iKos-4brTC3iYN80YFdDJBiPWVIeveadya4nE_F1xdCUvnCGO_iik8f_MZ7rOHhgUa1ue4U0V2Dvy3wpnCV32-A_Wn3smmKo-SCqQW_bzdVJ_JPiZ99V_h44xfEFQh/s320/DSCN1217.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">8th St.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhPh6I3eKtPGsu4kR5tWcfBXcO6MYO7nP4c1kvEBCkAkvpF6D7zDmwOJCbcAGtoiWGe5hfUuW5s9cHHDumoAbPkNwAPseTbnS94CTc83wQwcOt9sX5lPMcSQu9E2jCBdRxhFfVRC8lYKF/s1600/DSCN1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhPh6I3eKtPGsu4kR5tWcfBXcO6MYO7nP4c1kvEBCkAkvpF6D7zDmwOJCbcAGtoiWGe5hfUuW5s9cHHDumoAbPkNwAPseTbnS94CTc83wQwcOt9sX5lPMcSQu9E2jCBdRxhFfVRC8lYKF/s320/DSCN1218.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spruce St.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(yes, that car is stopped in the middle of the lake in the middle of the road)</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04848931768121385787noreply@blogger.com0