When Two Triathletes Buy a House

Yep, I’ve got houses on the brain right now. It’s funny to think at how being triathletes influenced our purchase. So for a little fun, I’ve come up with a few ways to spot a triathlete homebuyer:

1. Their new house is not more than ½ mile from a bike path, which leads to LOTS of other bike paths.
2. There is also a really nice area for running nearby – grass trails on a beautiful boulevard one way and a college track the other.
3. The house is not too far from the YWCA (where they practically live anyway).
4. Every house they looked at required a close inspection of the basement to ensure adequate bike storage.
5. The clothesline in the basement made them really excited. They finally have someplace to dry wetsuits and swimsuits.
6. The garage has plenty of room for doing bike repairs.
7. In designing their new kitchen, they are ecstatic to finally have a cupboard for large tubs of CarboPro, water bottles, and their giant container of gels, powders, and bars.
8. After those long Sunday training rides, the new porch with its soon-to-be added hammock will be perfect for a little nap.
9. The living room’s fireplace (which will be converted to flip-the-switch gas) will be nice and toasty – perfect for keeping away those post-exercise winter chillies.
10. On really intense weeks where a special treat is warranted (or even if it’s not – who am I kidding?), there’s a homemade ice cream shop just 3 blocks away.
11. There's now an extra bedroom for bloggy friends to come and stay (or family, or friends who live close by and for some strange reason can't seem to drive themselves home). If you're planning to visit the Twin Cities area anytime after May, let us know!

I'm Not Dead. I'm Just...Moving

In case you’ve been wondering, I did not fall into a Robin Egg Induced coma. One and a half bags proved to be enough to fully kick the cravings. I’m sure that come Easter, the cravings will be back in full force, though :)

Work has been busy as usual. I’m back in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit for the next two months, and since my preceptor was out of town until today, I have been running the show. Quick public service announcement – people – WEAR YOUR HELMETS! We see so many bicyclists and motorcyclists who haven’t been helmeted, and the results are often devastating. Just like seatbelts, helmets don’t always protect people, but they’re the best we’ve got, so for goodness’ sake, wear them. OK. I’m off my soapbox now. It’s just getting to be that season, and it makes me so angry sometimes… My big residency project is still hanging over my head like a nasty black cloud. I’m secretly hoping it will do itself since I will not have time in the foreseeable future. ARRG!

The big reason I’ve gone MIA? Steve and I bought a house. It all happened so fast that our heads are still spinning. We won’t officially be moving for another 5 weeks or so, but there’s still a lot to do in the meantime. We got pre-approved for our mortgage on a Thursday, started looking on a Friday, and put in an offer that Monday. Yeah. I told you it was fast. The past 2 weeks have been spent on the phone and computer with mortgage people, realtors, phone company, electric company, insurance agents, etc, etc, etc. So if I’m a little behind on the blog side of things (which I very much am), I apologize. We love the new place though. It’s only a couple of miles from where we live now. We’ll have more space for Steve’s studio, us in general, and our bikes – yeah! Now Tony won’t have to sleep in our living room. He can live in our new basement with the rest of our bikes.

Training? Oh yeah. I sort of forgot about that. It’s starting to make me a little nervous. It seems that everyone else training for IMWI is way ahead of me. I know that I’m at about the same place that I was this time last year, but I had hoped to be a little further ahead of schedule this year. My half mary is 4 ½ weeks away. My first 1/2 Ironman is just 7 weeks away, and I’m just trying not to think about being in Ironman shape quite yet.

I got in two really fabulous workouts last week. Both of them were the direct result of having someone to share them with. My first was on Tuesday when my bud Maddy made the trip over so we could have a run together. We don’t get to much anymore since her job is actually by her house now. It was just like old times. We talked about our jobs, updated each other on what’s going on with our friends, and just reveled in the fact that we were out there together again. It poured rain. Cold Ironman Wisconsin 2006 bouts of rain. We had to wring out our clothes 4 miles later. Steve had to meet us at the door with towels to avoid drowning the house, but none of it mattered. The dread for workouts that I’ve been experiencing lately completely disappeared. That night, I went to bed absolutely happy.

On Thursday, Steph got home from work early, and even though she had been hacking up a lung with this nasty cold she caught, she decided to join me on my long run. She said she’d go about 3 with me and then I could drop her off and keep going. At the halfway point for 5, she decided to keep going. At the halfway point for 7, we stopped to get a drink and turn around. I figured I’d drop her off at home after 7, but we got there, and she decided to keep going. Nine miles together on one of those beautiful breezy evenings in the dark. It felt like 3, and her cold’s been disappearing ever since. I started to wonder if maybe I’m not as out of shape as I’ve been telling myself.

My times in the pool have also been improving. I think I’ve managed to cut off about 4-5 minutes per mile this winter, and that feels good. I’ve still got a LONG way to go, but I’m much better than I was this time last year. Now if I could just get in more time on my bike…