First Duathlon in the books!

So, a few weeks ago I was in the middle of a great workout streak and decided that I was going to do a race. I proceeded to look up any races in the St. George area and found a Duathlon and for some reason felt compelled to sign up...so i DID!

It was a sprint distance; which means it was 1.5 mile run, 12 mile bike, then another 1.5 run. It was in a gorgeous area of town and part of our bike ride was in Snow Canyon State park...pictured below.

Today was race day and I have to say that I wasn't AS prepared as I could have been, but I had been running a lot in my off shifts and had biked a couple of times at the gym. My boss graciously let me borrow his wife's road bike so that I didn't have to ride my mountain bike..which are not fun to ride on roads for long distances!

I got there early this morning and got nervous right away when I saw a lot of serious looking competators and me strollin up without a helmet (oops) wearing my KVB jersey! So, I called dad and told him I needed a pep-talk and he sure did deliver (just like every other time!) So, I got off the phone remembering I'm a Washburn for heaven's sake!!! And that is something special.

My first run started off fine and I did my best to not let my competitive spirit get in the way of me having fun. I am usually hard on myself when I do races and don't let myself enjoy the journey, that theme was starting until I jumped on my bike, it was so much fun to ride that smooth bike through the beautiful red rock scenery and I had great music playing and found myself smiling the whole bike ride.

I had gone into the race wanting to finish under 2 hours, but didn't get my hopes up so I didn't get disapointed at the end. Well near the end of my bike section I realized I had a great chance at beating 2 hours and then some, so I kicked it up into high gear even though my legs were killing me and I knew I had to run another 1.5 miles. I got off my bike and had to walk a bit to regain my walking legs and then was able to find some kind of a grove for the last bit.

My final time was 1:40:00 flat!! When I crossed the finish line I almost started crying I was so proud of myself! I am pretty hard on myself most of the time and don't let myself enjoy a lot of stuff. So the fact that I crushed the time I had set for myself was enough to let me celebrate!

My only sad point was that there wasn't anyone waiting at the finish line, but hopefully I can keep doing these races when I move back home and I know that there will always be a clan of Washburn's cheering me on to the end!

Snow Canyon

This was the image that was on my finisher medal!

Senior Time

So, today marks a great day for me...I have become a Senior level staff at Second Nature Entrada! You start as you may know as an intern, then progress to level 1, then eventually level 2, which is where you spend most of your time. After you go through Senior Development so that you can try it out as a senior with a "real" senior there with you. After they feel like you have done enough to get through that, you take a test and are officially a Senior! That just means you are the head staff in a staff team that works with a group, so basically you are in charge and legally where the buck stops, so a lot of responsibility is placed on you at that point. So, after starting as an intern that was not gauranteed a position, I have made it a year and a half later to become a Senior! It is hard to explain how excited I am to be able to be a senior with this company that I love and respect. And another cool thing is that there are only 3 female seniors right now and the other two happen to be my best friends Jess and Jp! So, I'm excited for my first week as a senior even though it is only going to be a half week because I am taking some vacation time for the Super Bowl and headed to Detroit!!! I am excited for a break from hard work and the snow, and we are supposed to get dumped on the day I leave the field!! Here's hopping I make it out!!