What's new?

This week we added a new member to the family. Last year we lost a huge part of our family and our hearts when Luke passed away. Luke was everything you’d want in a friend and pet. I raced last year with him always in mind, pushing through all the painful moments in a race when I wanted to walk or stop all together. We’ve had this gap in yourselves longing for Luke and not really knowing when the time is right to move on without him. It’s hard to move on when there doesn’t seem to be a need to. I want to cry at least weekly still because my little guy is gone. I stare in the backyard wondering what he’d be doing or if I can see him just over the fence.

Over the last month or so we wanted to get Leia, Luke’s sister, a playmate and someone she could pal around with and be a big sister to. We always had it in mind to get a puppy, three actually, ever since we moved into the house. Now seemed like the right time.

So welcome into the family now, Penny. Our new little bundle of energy and teeth. From zero to 60 in about a floppy 4 seconds and 60 to zero in the time it takes to fall over and close her eyes. We met her on Thursday and moved her in on Friday with the weekend to get up to speed on what to do now. Learning quickly puppies a bit different from kitties.





Also this weekend I ran the Love’m or Leave’m 5k race at Green Lake with my brother Lynn. His first race since I think the 8th grade. It felt great to be out supporting him through his first race and helping him have a good enough experience for it not to be his last. He even mentioned wanting to do the St. Patty’s Dash : )

Here we are just after the start. Still looking fresh and waving to the fans…….



This weeks totals.

4 Runs 17.57 miles
2 Swims 1.48 miles
1 Bike 7 miles 20 minutes
1 Other – core 60 minutes
8 workouts total of 4.9 hours

This week and next have to be a big push to the next level of training. By the end of February I should be up to 7-8 hours a week of training ready to move on a steady 9 by mid March. Doesn’t seem like a huge stretch. The hours I’m logging in now are mainly just from swimming core workouts and short runs. Moving into bike training longer runs and moving swim training up to 4x a week will easily add to those hours needed. As for the energy needed, I get to do the best thing about training – eat and eat a lot.

AK week total
4 runs 15 miles
7 cores 2 hours


AK and the Penny Girl