I am reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. While I’ve never been a fan of Hemingway I love reading him now. I think I read his fiction in high school but I don’t remember his books.

Since watching Midnight in Paris I want to read about Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds, and their time in Paris.

Thus, I am reading A Moveable Feast - a book about his time in Paris in the 20s. I really like his tales of writing in cafes and walking the streets of Paris. He tells readers at the beginning of the book that he doesn't remember everything exactly (he's writing this towards the end of his life) and there is a chance there is some fiction in it.

He admits he is still learning the writing craft.

He writes,

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

And

“I knew too that I must write a novel. I would put it off though until I could not help doing it."

and
"What did I know best that I had not written about and lost?
What did I know about truly and care for the most? There was no choice at all.”  

I’m going to read The Sun Also Rises next.

Ironman, Life, and Getting Your Ego Checked at the door

I love this article about finishing an Ironman.

Out There: Getting My Ego Checked

My experience was a bit different after finishing Ironman. After my first race, I was in a fog after finishing. I only wore my finisher medal until I got back to my hotel room, and took it off to shower. I never wore it again. I actually don’t even know where it is now. I didn’t wear the medal after my second finish either. It’s not about the medal.

I didn’t feel particularly special when I finished Ironman Coeur d'Alene because like the TSA agent said in Lacke’s story, thousands finished the race.

Ironman isn’t my identity. My identity comes from my family and my friends. I’d rather be identified as a writer, sister, daughter, athlete.

I love Lacke’s story because while being a triathlete makes me fit, it also introduces me to so many new people, every day. I think it’s this way for many of us.

Yes, I want to do more Ironman triathlons because it gives me purpose and a direction to my life; and it makes me fit. Yes, it’s a conversation piece and I have the stickers on my car.

But primarily, I like the conversations it creates because I have finished an Ironman. I like telling stories about Ironman and love hearing stories about my friend's first 70.3. I love seeing the fire in their eyes about a future event; and I want to see the doubt disappear when we talk about long course racing.

I love talking about motivation and inspiration, and learn what drives people to do the things they do whether it is Ironman, CrossFit, a 100 mile run, or a sprint distance triathlon.

I firmly believe, it's about the people you meet along the way.

I like how Lanke ends her article,

"Don’t get me wrong—I still relish in the accomplishments that come with running and triathlon. And when I spot others like me out and about, we exchange knowing glances. (Endurance athletes can spot each other easily. Maybe it’s the fierce look in their eyes. OK, it’s probably their calves.) Either way, that brief smile and nod says it all: You’re an Ironman. You stud, you."

Mountain Biking in Winter

My new favorite cross training sport is mountain biking on snow covered roads. I may not have tried biking in the cold if it wasn't for a party conversation with my friend Anne who told me about her mountain biking adventure on Cty Rd 73 in Fraser on a cold fall morning. She wore her ski pants and ski gloves to stay warm. I was inspired, but I also knew I was going to have to get used to the cold since I signed up for Chilly Cheeks duathlon in Denver. The race series consists of three races: bike and run, run and bike and run, lastly, run and bike and run and bike. 

I started riding my mountain bike up the dirt road near my house that goes through a residential area and tops of almost near the top of East Mountain. It was all uphill, and hard.

Today my training plans states: 60 minute bike ride. Since this ride only takes 20 minutes from my house to the top I needed to get creative. So, I exploreed different dirt roads covered with snow. One new area I found had car tracks leading to the top. I started up it and had to stay in the tracks or I would slide. It was great technique-practice; I had to keep my eyes forward so I wouldn’t ride out of the tracks and wipe out. It was like riding single track - staying focused ahead of the trail instead of staring at the ground under my feet.

Riding snowpacked roads also allows me to practice balance.

It was a great 60 minute ride in the sun, but cold. I got my ride in and can chill out the rest of the day.

Merry Christmas

How to Get in the Holiday Spirit

In case you are trying to get in the holiday spirit, here are some ways that I am working on:

• Shop early
• Don't skip workouts.
• Wish people that you meet a happy holiday with a smile.
• Drop spare coins in the Salvation Army collection buckets.
• Do something nice for someone.
• Volunteer your time to a worthy holiday cause.
• Organize a drive at work to collect food and personal items and donate them
• Don't skip workouts.
• Play Christmas music.
• Watch "It's a Wonderful Life"
• Think about what you'd like Christmas to mean and how you can work towards that goal.
• Be Inspired by Traditions.
• Don't skip workouts.
• Bake cookies and cupcakes
• Make a new tradition
• Make a Christmas CD
• Throw a holiday party.
• Don't skip workouts.
• Go see a Christmas play

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” ~Charles Dickens

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens

Vasquez Pass Trail in October 2011

My adopted trail needs some maintenance. I recruite my friend Rosie to come out with me to Vasquez Pass Trail on Sunday.

The Plan: mountain bike from Vasquez Creek Rd to the Wilderness Boundary. Hike to the top from there.

Reality: there is snow on the ground at 10,000 feet.

We walk a mile or so in and realize we aren’t prepared for snow. Daisy didn’t seem to mind it.

It was good to get out there. I didn’t hike the trail all summer; it’s been a wacky summer.

The log bridge needs to be replaced. There are some trees down.

It was fun to mountain bike and hike with Rosie and Daisy-dog.

Here are some photos.

Walking With Wallace Stegner - Grandmother Letters

I just got back from a late afternoon walk on the trails near my house with the dogs. I downloaded the audio book, Angle of Repose and started listening to it on this walk. The narrator begins the story telling us about his grandmother, an illustrator who moves west with her engineer husband. The narrator finds his grandmother's letters from the mining camps across the west she lived in.


I’m thinking about my grandmother who died yesterday, she was 98. I have the letters she kept from her husband while travelling across the US working for the Pennsylvania railroad. All these events remind me to get working on the story I started last year that include excerpts from my grandmother's letters.

Walking on trails, Learning about The West, Travelling Around the Country.

Themes in my life lately.

I want to spend my time learning about The West and the place I now call home. Yet there is work to do, and I must get back to it.

I love every story Wallage Stegner has written and remember his quote about being a westerner, “It should not be denied... that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led West.”

I want to finish listening to Angle of Repose but I’m distracted by a movie I want to watch about Leo Tolstoy.

Opening quote to the movie, The Last Station about the end of Tolstoy’s life and what he believed in. “Everything that I know … I know only because I love.” Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace

Back to My Travelling Roots; Mount Rushmore

Since I moved to Colorado, I haven’t explored outside the county or even travelled much to other states except for triathlon races. I have the travel bug and need to set out on the open road.

See, I used to be that girl that would get in her car and drive north with no itinerary. I’d go to the mountains, visit relatives. I travelled with friends, met up with friends, or just alone. I’m going back to my roots and need to see everything.

I look at a map and see that Mount Rushmore is a 7 hour drive from Granby. I need to see it - pronto. My friend Sue is from South Dakota, and her cousin Rory lives in Pierre. I make a few phone calls, and Sue and I light out for Dakota.

I have never stepped foot in South Dakota, however when I was in my 20s I read everything about the Pine Ridge Reservation and Lakotas. I read books about Indian land claims. I read about Crazy Horse.

We leave at 5am on Tuesday morning. What I love about the drive through the southeast corner of Wyoming and into South Dakota is the contrast of grassland against green trees. I love trees. I love looking at trees. I’m so bored of the Grand County trees. I love the sparse landscape and the Ponderosa Pines. I imagine a scene in Dancing With Wolves happening right now. I imagine what it must have felt to be a pioneer seeing the country for the first time.

Road trips are all about the time spent talking about your life, telling stories, talking about your feelings. After four hours I conclude - I don’t like sentences that end with “I think”, “probably”, “Maybe”. Sue says that when people say these words "they are telling you that what they are saying may not be the gospel truth.”

I need absolutes.

We also decide that what happens in South Dakota, stays in South Dakota. However, I’m still blogging about it.

Sue is okay with this.

Sue tells the story about driving in these parts and sliding into a ditch. There was bad weather and she hydroplaned into a ditch, “Some farmers saw the entire thing and came to help me out. Everyone has a good ditch story.”

True. I have one, too. Mine takes place in Rye, New Hampshire. That is a tale for another time, right Nathan?

For some reason, I think of the song, Home on the Range and we belt out a few verses.
We pass through Hot Springs and Sue says she wants to retire, “Where the Mammoth came to die.”

We arrive in Rapid City. “If I drove, we would’ve gotten here faster”, is Sue’s only comment about my driving. I’m okay with it.

(Rapid City Public Art, The President's on every corner)

We settle into our new digs and I get the master suite. There are wild turkeys and deer wandering around the house that borders the National Forest. Daisy (dog) chases them. Rory warns of rattle snakes. Abbey (dog) wanders downhill to the neighbors. I’m trying to be stress-free but the dogs are testing me.

We drive to Deadwood and walk around. We go to Midnight Star, the casino/bar Kevin Costner owns.

We drive to Mount Rushmore and stop at a pull off just before the entrance.  It is my first glimpse of George lit up; it’s really cool to see.

We park in an almost vacant parking lot and walk though the state flags and see Mount Rushmore in the distance lit up; it’s really, really cool. We sit and stare.

Back to Rapid City for dinner at the Fire House Brewery.
Next Day: Badlands National Park.

There is no wind until we get into the park. We are on the edge of the Great Plains and there is not a cloud in the sky and the temperature is 80.
I wasn’t prepared for the depth of feeling at seeing the Badlands. The rocks and formations are amazing, stunning; like nothing I’ve ever seen. White rock, striations, colors and spires. The hills look like a papier-mâché project.

Rory says the Indians came to the Badlands because it was their holy ground. They wintered here and felt it was the center of their universe. He says, “They came to talk to the spirits.”

Sand stone, ancient sea bed, shark bones. The movie Armageddon was filmed here. There are cedar trees. I am stunned by the beauty of it all. I can stare into the vastness forever.

We are back to Rapid City, pack, and head south on the open road.

For 8 hours we laugh, talk, listen to music, tell stories. The perfect road trip.