Kathleen's Adventures

Quick check in to say hello! I’m smack in the middle of race(s) week and having a good time. I say raceS because I have three races this week. I didn’t even really realize that was the case until a day or two ago. Two of the races down, and one, the big one, still to go. Race #1 – Silicon Labs Marathon Relay This was Sunday morning and I had a blast. The relay was split into a 12k, two 10ks, and two 5ks. I ran the 12k (first leg) for my team. I saw my friend Alisa in the start chute just before the gun went off and was so happy to see her. I knew she was running that morning, but didn’t know which leg or anything. We ran together the whole way and had a great time. We ran strong and steady – not too fast and certainly not too slow. There were a few mean hills throughout the course, and the extra 1.2 miles we did over the 10k course were the hardest part. The hills were small but gees, they just kept coming! I was very happy with our effort – I didn’t want to go all out because of my...

September 19, 2009.  It is a date I will never forget, and not for good reason.  It has been one year since Kristi was killed by a drunk driver .  I still have many mixed emotions about the events over the past year.  I still have many friends who drink and drive - who think they are okay to drive after they drink.  I think there are even people who were close to Kristi who do this, and I do not get it.  The fact that you do it on a regular basis and have never had a problem doesn't make it okay.  It has been an interesting year  - the high point of it was probably Ironman Florida, the culmination of a six week fundraising push which resulted in raising over $15,000 for MADD.  Another high point was the Gusher in Beaumont - Kelly, her mom, my mom and I did the half marathon and Mike did the 5k.  Little did I know his whole family was going to be there sporting the Team Woodhead/RADD t-shirts.  That was pretty cool.  The low p...

I keep making plans for this huge blog post about everything I'm doing/have done, but then find myself once again too busy or tired to sit down and do it - by this point it would probably be a full length novel. However, today I do have a quick, but important to me, post to write. Every year on September 11 I tell my friends and family that I love them.  May sound like no big deal, or like something that should happen way more often than once a year (and I do tell some way more often than this) but it is something none of us says nearly enough.  I encourage you to do the same - imagine how many people wished they had done so on that morning nine years ago.  It shouldn't take such a national tragedy to remind us to tell those we love how we feel, but sometimes it does take just that. So....I LOVE YOU ALL!!! (now, pass it on!)

I forgot to include the turkey, bacon, avocado, blue cheese club sandwich on the huge porch at Central Market last Saturday night as one of the huge highlights of my first week!  Wow that was good. Austin is absolutely kicking my butt.  I did a 10 mile run tonight and nearly died.  Are we noticing a trend here - that I have nearly died during/after each workout?  Hopefully that ends somewhat soon!  To be fair this run had a good 5 mile section in the middle that had far more up than down.  We just kept going up and up and up.  The last 2 miles were down or flat, so that made it okay.  I had a blast running with the girls and hope to run with them again.  It was 92 degrees at the end of the run at 8:45pm.  BUT it wasn't super humid and actually felt pretty good once the sun started going down. This morning I had a bit of an interesting "scare."  Sometime in the last 2 weeks or so I was in Houston, I felt something that had poppe...

Goodness - there is so much to say, but I'm beyond too tired to say it all!  Below are a few highlights from my first week or so in Austin: -  I did my first T3 ride Saturday.  We rode a "flatter" route and it still kicked my tail.  Kim and Tim were both in town so it was a treat to have old friends in my new place.  Near the end of the ride, I comforted myself by thinking "well, it can only get better from here" when I was dying.  The Austin terrain is either going to kill me or make me stronger...let's hope for the latter! -  Tonight I tried out the PAC tri group and it was awesome.  If I do their Tues/Thu open water swims and spin class on a regular basis I'm going to be ready to at least kick my own butt before too long (not necessarily sure about anyone else's though!).  I was also greeted with a huge rainbow as I walked on the little trail down to the lake on my way to the swim workout.  Doing a full workout in a lak...

Enough about me, now for my friends.  I have obviously been somewhat MIA on my blog, but recently I've also been MIA on all my friends' blogs.  Wow - they have done a lot - and I want to share! Liz had a smokin' PR at the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon. Jeremy just took care of some "unfinished business" at IMCDA.  Jeremy was hit by a car training for his first half ironman in 2007.  It was bad.  But, in true ironheart fashion, he not only came back, but came back at twice the distance of that race he was training for.  He had not yet done a half ironman by the time CDA came along - he wanted to "finish what he started" three years ago in a GRAND way.  And that, he did. His hometown newspaper also wrote a nice article about his journey the week before his race.  I'm sure that was no pressure or anything! Greg .  This one really needs a post of its own, and hopefully it will get one soon.  Greg was married to Stephanie Johnson....

A LOT has gone on in the last week.  To say it has been a crazy one would be an understatement.  I guess the biggest news to come out of the week is that I'm stepping out of my comfort zone...about 165 miles out of my comfort zone.  I'm moving to Austin. Soon.   I interviewed for an internal audit position on Monday and had verbally accepted an offer by Tuesday afternoon.  I start work there Wednesday, July 21.  This is something I have wanted for as long as I've been away from Austin (6 years), but something I did nothing about until just recently.  I'm going to wear out the word "bittersweet" very soon, but it is the best way to describe the move.  A friend told me I was "sappy" - what her kids call sad and happy.  I think I like it!  I am soooooo excited about the new opportunity, new experience, new city, new people, all in a place I love.  At the same time I'm scared, overwhelmed, and beyond sad at the thought of leav...