Oh my, has it been a day. Or week.

Something.

It’s Friday.

I’m exhausted.

I’m home.

I finally have a glass of wine in my hand. The puppies are playing on the porch and, even though I needed to get in a bike ride or run tonight, I’ve decided that it was okay to screw it. It’s not in the stars for me tonight. Wine & puppy time is way more important for my sanity. (Please note: I do understand that this is enabling unhealthy habits: drinking when stressed, missing workouts, etc. But I honestly, truly, really, really don’t care right now.)

It probably started with some work stuff that was stressful. Nothing appropriate to go into here and, while all for a good cause, it required / requires a certainly amount of adaptation that doesn’t realistically occur overnight. This type of change can put one on edge no matter how healthy the change may be — and being on edge makes things, again for some, possibly sensitive and easily agitated.

Then last night, I attended the cluster-fuck that was Taste of Twin Cities Originals. I know cluster fuck is super-strong, offensive language. Professionally, I should know better. But, honestly? If anything required the use of such a word, last night’s event did. If I worked for any of the organizers of said event, I’d be worried about my employment. It was downright awful, pathetic, painful, horrible. (Did I mentioned I was already having a bad week?)

But here’s the deal. I’m not over-reacting. There is an entire recap from a food blogger at a local television/radio media outlet here in the Twin Cities who said pretty much the same thing (in not so colorful language) here: http://wcco.com/entertainment/curiocity/twins.cities.originals.2.1820475.html

I’m not over-reacting.

This is what when down:

A few months ago, I purchased tickets to the Taste of Twin Cities Originals via Groupon. This is an event that I’d attended in the past. It’s basically a yearly event where this cooperative/association of locally-owned restaurants showcase their food and wine distributors also showcase their stuff. I totally support an association in support local restaurateurs. Most of the restaurants in the association are ones that I am a fan of.

That said, I do have to admit, my experience in the past with this particular event isn’t all that positive. We’d attended the year it was on Nicollet Island. I remembered then the that things were pretty crowded, but it was a manageable evening, even fun. The event ran out of wine towards the end, the dessert ran out early. But we got to talk to chefs. We had some amazing samples including the best oyster samples. We walked away saying, yeah, that was fun, but I’m not sure it was worth $50/ticket.

Years passed. Then the Groupon deal came this year: $25 for the $40 tickets and I was sold. I recalled the experience and thought, “Sure! For $25, that would totally be worth it. AND fun.” We talked friends into attending with us. We purchased our tickets. And I really, really looked forward to the event.

In fact, up until we entered the building, I was really looking forward to the event. I even tweeted my anticipation hours prior…

But when we got there, I should have known it would be bad. The event was to run from 6-9pm. We arrived around 6:30 and the line to get in was two blocks long. I gasped a little. I complained. But we got in line. It moved pretty quickly. I figured that was probably the worst. “Buck up, Heather,” the internal orders sounded.

Oy.

When we entered the building, the line kept going. It finally ended at a very random and frantic set of 2 people checking IDs and applying the “drink-age” wrist bands. As we passed, we realized there are actually 7 or 8 people there to check IDs & apply wristbands, but the lines were filtering in so poorly, no one even knew that there were more than the first 2 options available.

Still, that was probably the best of it. Once we got our wristbands, we ended up in a line that ceased to move. We quickly realized that the wine glasses for the event (and used to sample the various wines) were gone. The staff (looking like deer in headlights) were handing out plates. But they were being beat down by the event-goers who were hungry for food and looking for wine. When we finally got within reaching distance of the plates, we saw one staffer actually throw the plates on a side table and run away.

Seriously. She RAN away.

And this is also when the shoving started.

I’m surrounded in the crowd. I’m getting shoved. I grab a plate and melt into the next crowd/line. I hope this will take me to food. There is a sea of people around me. There don’t appear to be other line options for food/drink nearby.

So we stand.

And stand.

And stand.

Our line is clearly not moving. Yet, people keep filtering in from outside. The shoving continues. I’m starving and I finally say to my husband, I think I might want to leave. Of course, I know he’s a good sport. He gives everything the ole college try. He chats with a woman passing who says, “go upstairs. There’s food and wine up there!”

So, we do. But same story. Packed line around the entire upstairs balcony. It’s a sea of people. We look down, another sea of people. I can’t even distinguish tables, vendors, event-goers, shoot — where are the fire exits??!!!!

This is a cluster.

We have to go. I’m too hungry, too frustrated. I can’t imagine any good can come of knocking elbows, shoving, pushing just to get a “sample” — and by the WCCO reporter’s description in the article linked to above, it sounds like “sample” is a generous term.

Our friends hadn’t gotten there yet. We called and warned. We also said, “hey, give it a try if you want — we just can’t hack it.”

I guess that scared them enough and off to Psycho Suzies we were. There, we had wine, pizza, tiki drinks, outdoor seating and elbow room. It actually ended up being a very pleasant evening — minus the $100 I spent of four tickets to Taste of Twin Cities Originals for us cats.

I did Twitter the entire time. The irony of the situation is that there was signage up everywhere at the event encouraging participants to “ENGAGE” (and, BTW, what advertising/marketer wrote THAT copy? ENGAGE is *not* a consumer-friendly term — you might as well print “leverage your social medium of choice to spread your WOM re: this event”. BARF!!! But anyway…)

No, the irony of these ENGAGE posters with the #TasteTCO hashtag and @TCOriginals handle on Twitter is that they (the posters) encouraged just that: a conversation. I twittered away what a horrific situation this was — as did many other ticket holders. (Just do a search on Twitter for either or click on the previous links). There are, by far, more negative comments than positive. And there was NO conversation to be had.

Honestly? This is a really interesting Social Media case study. At least a text-book “what-not-to-do.” I keep thinking I should construct and post something more marketing-centric to talk through the story because, not only did they (as an event) not “engage” back during the event to the comments, they have yet to apologize. Shit, they haven’t even acknowledged on the social nets what a disaster it was beyond saying it “was crowded”!!!!

Worse? They re-tweeted positive comments multiple times making it look like they are/were completely oblivious to the people suffering (or trying to bury the negative tweets with positive ones).

For an organization that wants to “engage” digitally and socially, WTF????

How can you not respond, acknowledge, apologize?

It’s a social media fail-whale of epic proportions. Everyone at @TCOrignals and #TasteTCO (including their agency partners) should be ashamed. Even just a simple apology would have done wonders in making good.

But now, 24 hours laters, there is yet nothing. And, of course, their Facebook wall is set to show only their posts — so even that shows how they are not willing to participate in the conversation. Even though they asked us to “ENGAGE!”

If you want your customers to engage, YOU need to engage. It’s only fair.

The good news? Groupon was there right away. Super cool. I got a comment back via Twitter immediately promising a refund. I hadn’t even taken my first sip of wine at Psycho Suzies yet. And today, sure enough, I got the confirmation. Groupon apologized (even though the poor event handling wasn’t their fault), they responded immediately (imperative in this digital/social networking age) and they acted human (because, WTF?, aren’t we all?). It’s so unfortunate, that Twin Cities Originals couldn’t do the same.

I could say that this experience reflects badly on the restaurants associated. But that’s not the case. I’m sure those restaurants were all just as horrified with what went down as I was. In fact, it was probably worse for them. They couldn’t leave last night, like me. They couldn’t just give up and go drink sparkly pink wine @ Psycho Suzies instead. No, they had to stay put. They had to deal with the angry crowds. They had to struggle with the pushing, shoving, swearing and hissing. And they had to just pray that, at the end of the day, it all wouldn’t come back to haunt them in business.

No, I can’t blame the restaurants.

But I CAN blame the organization.

The organization was in over its head. They oversold an event. They poorly planned. And then, perhaps even worse, they didn’t even admit what went down. They were silent in the social space. And, when they wanted us so badly to engage for the positive, they wouldn’t engage when it truly mattered.

Seriously. A “sorry” would have gone a long way, but they missed that boat which is really sad.

It has been a textbook “what-not-to-do” with social media.

Okay. Climbing off my soapbox now (I’m just a little passionate in this subject matter between being both a consumer who lost money & an evening and a professional in the social media-interactive space witnessing such a train wreck. It’s a total industry example of what not-to-do).

So, that was last night.

Enter today. After arriving home late last night after all the fireworks of the evening, the morning came earlier than desired with barking dogs at a congregating assembly of cars on our residential street at 6am. Car after car appeared with passengers seated inside and I began to worry about an alien take-over. Turns out it was an estate sale. An estate sale that started at 8 AM. WTF? with all the people parking on our street at 6????? So, no. Didn’t get to sleep in.

Work didn’t go smoothly either. There were a number of fire drills. There were stressful conversations and emails. I still have that pit-in-my-stomach feeling that, while I work my ass off and care more than I really should about what I do, it’s still not good enough. I know, in the end, it’ll all be fine, but I just had/have that sickly feeling today.

I finally leave work for the weekend. I get my oil changed, my car washed. It’s all cool. I then hit the Apple store to replace my brand new iPhone 4 because of a scratched screen (from only a few days in). I’d gone in on a few days earlier, they’d told me they’d order a new one and I could swap it out. Then, I show up today. I have to stand in a line for an HOUR. I’m then told I’m in the wrong line — I have to wait in the Genius line instead.

And I crack.

I freaking crack.

I tell them it’s crazy, this is my worst experience with Apple ever. I tell them I can’t wait in another line. I also tell them about the poor disabled girl I see an Apple associate tell can’t jump the line to get her new phone. She has to wait an hour. The DISABLED GIRL! SHE HAS TO STAND IN LINE!!! NOT FAIR!!! NOT RIGHT!!!

I crack. They have me sit down.

I’m supposed to be waiting for a tech.

But instead, I get another guy who says the manager says I can have a new phone after all.

They hook it up. I have a phone. They practically escort me out.

I finally get in my car.

I breathe.

I holler.

I whimper.

I breathe.

I crash.

Weekend.

I’m so tired.

I’ve been a bitch long enough this week. Time to suck down some wine. Think about unicorns. Love life.

XOXOXO

So much to catch up on, I’m just not sure where to start. I suppose I could start with the obvious: I lost one of my best friends in the whole world back in May. My buddy, Sienna.

She was the first dog I ever had as an adult. Really, my first dog. And she really was the most perfect first dog to have. Words cannot even express how much I loved that girl. In fact, I gathered a whole bunch of photos for her final RIP blog entry — yet never was able to gather my wits to write it. There is too much to say and too few words.

She was my buddy. She changed our lives in ways I never imagined. And she will be greatly, greatly missed.

+ + +

After losing the girl, we needed a distraction. The distraction took the form of the vacation of a lifetime: a giant road trip to Wyoming all with the excuse of adopting a puppy out West. The quick back story: I’m obsessed with the Keeshond breed of dog (obvoiusly!) and when I knew Sienna was sick, I started looking around for breeders or rescues. There were no dogs — at least young ones — to be had in our region and I ended up finding a little pup in the little town of Lander. The trip planning then begun.

Honestly, I need an entire blog entry documenting that trip. We drove out to Yellowstone (via the Big Horn Mountains which included camping in the snow). We spent 3 amazing days in Yellowstone. We spent another 3 amazing days in the Grand Tetons. We completed amazing hikes. We saw amazing wildlife (including two black bears PLAYING in OUR CAMPSITE!). We then drove to Lander, picked up a puppy on a farm where there were sheep and rabbits and a turkey (and two ADORABLE Keeshond brothers who we had to leave behind). We stopped at Devils Tower. We detoured to Rushmore. And then we came home WITH A PUPPY!

It was an amazing 9 days of driving and sight-seeing and camping. And then we got to finish it with this cute-as-a-button puppy. Please meet her:

Her name is Penny. She’s now 18 weeks old. And we love her.

Our other girl, Dora, is doing okay. She was stand-offish at the beginning. But she’s opening up now and I think she and Penny will be great friends soon. They already play like crazy.

We are also in the midst of puppy training (housetraining is SO FUN!). We have puppy kindergarten for a few more weeks. And aside from the fact that Penny is a little anti-social in class (she growls at the other dogs), she’s adjusting well. She’s great with people. And she’s a complete doll.

+ + + +

News on the other fronts:

James started a job last month! (not sure if I shared that here, but it’s a HUGE relief)

I re-started Weight Watchers in June and started re-attending meetings. Sparkpeople just wasn’t cutting it for me. So, when a second income started coming back into the house, I forked out the cash for WW. And, surprise, surprise: going back to meetings has helped. I’m down 4 lbs. now. It’s slow. But it’s working. And it still kills me how much harder it is to take off than it is to put on.

I’m not really training for any big races or triathlons this year. It started with lack of funding, but it’s been nice to actually take a season off officially. I did do a triathlon two weeks ago that I didn’t even train for. I didn’t set any records, but I finished, I didn’t walk on the run and I was pleased with a 18-minute 1/2-mile swim considering I haven’t swam in months. Better yet: I earned hardware! I placed 2nd in the Athena division. Granted, there were only three of us, but it was groovy to get an award.

I am doing one big ride: Dairyland Dare. It’s in August and it’s a 150k (100 mile) cycling ride that includes over 10,000 feet of climbing in Southern Wisconsin. It’s kind of crazy, but it will be super fun. I did a 100k earlier in May that had us climb over 7,000 feet. It was one of the hardest rides I’ve ever done, but it felt like quite an accomplishment to complete.

I’m also finishing out my year with Bolder Options. My mentee and I have been having a great time. We’ve completed 3 5k races and it’s been amazing to watch her progress.

Not sure how much else there is to catch up on: my little sister graduated High School. My cat is still a bitch. I still love my job but struggle with finding balance between it and my personal life. One of these days, my husband and I really need to replace the concrete steps in front of our house. Exciting, exciting stuff.

I think I can officially claim catch up here. I do have oodles of vacation and puppy photos and videos to share, but they still need to be uploaded and organized. I’ll share links when they are ready. Until then, chow!

So, I just got back from another mountain biking ride. My mentor in this crazy sport, Annie, suggested I make the jump up to a slightly harder set of trails than Salem, the EASY (as she says) beginner trail in the cities. I’ve ridden now at Salem maybe four or five times and I still don’t know that I consider it easy. But I have finally gotten the hang of it and there aren’t any logs or rock piles to climb — just a set of two trees that look so close like you won’t fit that you take a gulp of faith and balls to just ride on through. But that’s pretty much it in terms of obstacles. Still, it’s single track and twisty with some tight turns and some loose and rocky downhills. And even though I find that I’m getting the hang of it there, I do have to re-teach myself how to MTB ride each and every time we go there. Wednesday was actually a tough go on my first lap because I hadn’t been on my mountain bike in about two weeks and I felt like I’d forgotten everything. But, sure enough, 20 minutes into it, it came back and I was able to navigate the turns easier and not go so slowly on the downhills.

So, today we headed to Theo Wirth. According to Annie, Theo is still EASY. But right away, I knew I had my work cut out for me. There was a giant log in the middle of the trail right at the start (which was ironic because I’d spent about 5 minutes in the parking lot prior to that trying to build up the courage to ride up a curb with my bike — which Annie showed me works perfectly fine — and yet I couldn’t bring myself do it). So, yeah, I walked my bike over that giant log. As well as the rock garden at the end of the first section of the trail.

There were a number of obstacles and, lucky for me, they were spaced out enough that I was able to just go my own speed navigating the tight and twisty single track. There weren’t a lot of climbs. The downhills weren’t that bad. But since this was my first time on the trail, I was cautious and super-slow on my first lap that I had to apologize to everyone that got stuck behind me (please note: MTB riders are super nice and friendly and always ask me, “how’s it going?”.

Of the obstacles I did encounter, I managed to go up a few of the small log piles. Small victory! I drew the line that the two giant log piles. I balked at almost every boulder crossing (although, I did try one of them — cowardly — and crashed because I didn’t have the speed I needed). I also had one spectacular crash that didn’t actually involve obstacles. No, I was just increasing my speed and didn’t make a corner clean which caused my right shoulder to hit a tree that sent me crashing over on my left side — into a tree. That one hurt and I’ll have some battle wounds to show for it.

My tribe kept waiting for me occasionally to catch up, ask me how I was doing (it was Annie, James and another Birchwood teammate Talib) — then they’d further while I made my own, slow way. When I finally finished the first lap, my tribe was waiting. It took me 35 minutes, it felt like 35 hours. But after some rest, I was ready to give the trail a go again.

My second time around was smoother. I made it down a few drops that I’d balked and walked the last time. I still didn’t go over any rock gardens. This was the lap where I had my spectacular crash and, since it was towards the end of the loop, I sheepishly appeared at the finish to my tribe a little shaky, worried and lacking some confidence. But after some rest, chatter and inner-cheerleading, I decided to give the trail a third lap since all the other peeps were any way.

My last lap was the best. In fact, I actually went OVER the giant log at the beginning of the trail (super scary, I regretted it the minute I started going over it and I landed hard but stayed on my bike and proceeded to be very proud that I made it out alive). I never did risk any of the rock obstacles, but I did go over every log pile except for the two giant ones and I even made it down one of the steep drops (although not THE super-steep 3 ft. drop — that’ll take some time).

When I finished lap 3, my tribe said my speed had improved. And I had a bit more confidence. It was certainly a few steps in the right direction. Still, this sport gets me really, REALLY out of my comfort zone. Which I know is good for me, but it is a mental struggle. It is very counter-intuitive with how my brain works — weirdly, which is why I do like it. It forces me to believe that I am capable of things that I may not always think I am. And that is cool.

+ + + +

In other news, I’ve been following Spark People for two months now. I had a rough go at the beginning. In fact, I gained weight. But then I realized I wasn’t tracking calories burned correctly — meaning, I wasn’t plugging in the correct amount that I typically burn for a week into the plan. (Apparently, I exercise a lot — more than the average person. Who knew? ;) Once I got that right, I actually got a much more realistic caloric range to eat within and I wasn’t so hungry that I wanted to stab everyone who crossed my path with my empty fork. I was still getting hungry, just not HUNGRY. And then, a few more days later, I actually started getting comfortable with the range. Still, I have to pay a lot of attention to what I eat. It’s easy for me to mindlessly add calories through sports drinks, granola bars and choices in the cafeteria that might seem smart until looking up the nutrition.

When I weighed in last week, I was down a pound.

I’m not claiming any success yet. This week, I didn’t track calories very well. Out of seven days, I tracked maybe four. I just get so busy at work that logging my food gets impossible (stupid, I know, I need to change that). I also haven’t made it to the gym in over a week (since I’ve been workout out outdoors) so I haven’t been able to weigh in. I’m that weird person who doesn’t own a scale. And without the accountability of the scale, I fear I may easily get off track.

Still, Spark People has been a good correction of my habits. I’ve seen how my breakfasts grew in portions and calories over time. I’ve seen how, at lunch, I’d make some not-so-smart choices. I’d also feast on chips & salsa upon arriving home from work inhaling 300+ calories before dinner without even realizing it. I’m also drinking less during the week. So, I’m optimistic. There have been some good habit changes.

+ + + +

In other news, I got a promotion at work. It happened a few weeks ago. Same role. Same title. But it’s up another grade level and there’s a nice bump in pay (and given our circumstances — that REALLY helps right now). Most importantly, though, it is awesome to be recognized for all my sweat, blood and tears. I adore my job and I work hard at my job. It feels really, really good for that to be noticed and supported by my organization. It’s the opposite of my last job and I’m so lucky I landed where I did. Have I mentioned I love my job?

+ + + +

Finally, my volunteer gig with Bolder Options is still going really well. My mentee is a rockstar. She broke a personal record a few weeks ago on our 5k run course by almost 6 minutes — and then she broke it again, last night, by 90 seconds more. It’s pretty amazing to watch — especially considering how much she hated running when we started. And TOMORROW, we have the Get in Gear 5k and the big question is: can we break the 38:53 time we hit last night?

Time will tell. I’m pretty confident she can do it. However, there is a forecast for thunderstorms & rain tomorrow. The weather might make it difficult and the course (from what I remember) is hillier than our training route. So we have our work cut out for us. Keep your fingers crossed. We’ve got something to prove. The stars better align so we can do it.

I’m typing this entry from an iPad. It’s not mine. Even if I were tempted to purchase one (which I’m not, I want to wait for the next gen. I already did the first gen iPhone for $600 and it still smarts almost three years later), I couldn’t justify such a purchase when the husband is unemployed. We have more important things to pay for, like the mortgage. That said, one of the benefits of my job is getting to spend a lot of time around technology. And tonight, I’m getting to test drive the iPad.

Mostly, I just wanted to see how it worked for couch-surfing. It’s a nightly occurrence in our household. The only problem is we have only one Macbook, so the husband and I have to share it. I hate my work PC laptop, so I only boot that thing if I have work to do. Therefore, if I forfeit the Macbook for an evening, I usually just surf Twitter & Facebook with iPhone in hand while half-watching the TV.

I never actually planned on wanting an iPad. I figured my iPhone was close enough. And we have a pretty newish laptop. I also considered myself closer to purchasing a Kindle, but I hadn’t quite gone there yet.

When the iPads hit the stores last month, I admit the pang of jealousy I felt when it seemed like everyone in my Twitter stream was getting one. Then I read a lot of reviews and felt grounded in my decision to not bite (of course, being a single-income household also helps with shutting down that impulse purchase).

And really? The primary reason for me not wanting one of these things was that it just felt like a big iPhone. I didn’t think it could replace a laptop. I couldn’t see myself composing long emails on it and I certainly didn’t see myself typing a blog entry on the thing.

Yet, here I am.

How many paragraphs have I just typed?

I’m impressed. I actually could write blog entries on this. I could also write emails. It wouldn’t replace my laptop, especially when files and multimedia and multi-tasking are involved, but this does work for the casual. And the screen is pretty damn nice for Web browsing and playing with the few apps loaded on here.

I will say: the unit is getting hot in my lap. And ive heard it isn’t something that works well in the sun (thinking hammock and a Kindle in my backyard would work better for sunny, summer afternoons).

But, I could do this. I’m pleasantly surprised. And when the next gen comes out, I’m hoping the income situation in our household will be a little more on the plus side to favor a purchase.

In the meantime, I’m grateful for the opportunity to play around. And I’m pretty enamored with how pretty our little website is on the screen:

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/9184/3fe.jpg

(Note: for the record, I encountered an annoying and rough user experience trying to insert the above image link via WordPress – but I couldn’t cut and paste a URL from Twitpic – and scrolling down through a multiple paragraph entry in this small WordPress text input field was super-annoying and not intuitive – the ipad needs cursor keys IMO. That said, I’m still impressed I composed all this.)

It’s all coming full circle. Over 10 years ago when I first started changing my life and embracing healthy eating and activity, I started mountain biking. At the time, my husband was a cyclist and I was slow the sport and not sure I was even interested in spending large quantities of time on two wheels. But the idea of mountain biking was intriguing. I love to hike. My husband loved to bike. This seemed like the perfect intersection of hobbies. And it was.

I can’t remember what year it was when we purchased our first set of bikes, but I’m guessing it was probably 1994 since that was the year we got married and I do recall some biking that first year. Our first apartment in my very small hometown, Cambridge, WI, was only a few miles from trails and I started riding mornings before my second shift job. We’d spend the weekends exploring trails further from home. And I really enjoyed the hobby. It was active, something we could do together and it pushed me out of my comfort zone as I began to grow fitness and ability.

Still, looking back, the “mountain biking” we did while living in Wisconsin was on easier, wide track trails. The most challenging rides we did were more challenging due to inclines, not obstacles and crazy winding single track. Even Kettle Moraine, the trail system outside of Milwaukee that we’d occasionally travel to and were the hardest trails I’d attempted to date at that time, were fairly easy to moderate — at least the ones I’d attempted (although, I do recall one particularly heinous incident where the climb was so steep that I flipped backwards, onto my back, because I just couldn’t pedal and my front wheel came right up and back with James watching the entire scene from the top).

During this time, I began to lose weight. I started “spinning.” I started this blog in its first form (which was an online journal since I had to do all the HTML myself years before Blogger existed).

And then in 2001, we decided to move to the Twin Cities. And with the move, the mountain biking hobby didn’t exactly translate.

First, our bikes were stolen out of the parking garage under our apartment in St. Paul. We quickly replaced them — with even nicer mountain bikes. You’d think this would bode well for the hobby. I went from no suspension to a fancy Cannondale with a Fatty headshock front suspension set-up. James got himself a Gary Fischer front suspension ride (which was quite an upgrade from his no suspension Haro). But the trails were tough to navigate in the Cities. Living in St. Paul, the trails at Battle Creek were the most accessible. I could ride there from the apartment. But they were HARD. Really HARD. Steep climbs. Obstacles. Lots of sand. And I crashed a lot — every time I went out. And the crashing made me apprehensive. It made me nervous. I began to question myself and my ability and that only made things worse. I remember my very last ride on my mountain bike. I was out by myself. I was attempting difficult trails but also questioning my ability. And as I went down on particularly windy, single-track decline, I was going too slow to safely roll over a tree root which cause me to go head first over my bike. I landed on my back. My bike landed on top of me. The wind was knocked out of my chest. And I laid there a second or two assessing the damage, figuring out if I was injured or not. Then, when I realized I was most likely okay because I could wiggle my fingers and toes, I took my bruised and battered body home.

It was early Summer. I was about to turn 30. And when I did turn 30, I got my first road bike for my birthday. A present from my husband. And I never looked back.

That was in 2002.

Since then, I’ve been mountain biking exactly twice before this week. Actually, of that twice, only one was for real — that wasn’t even all that for real. It was earlier this summer in the UP on my birthday the day before we started our kayak trip in Isle Royale. The outfitter who was hosting the trip also rented mountain bikes. But due to my short stature, they didn’t have a bike that fit me — only a child’s bike. I decided to give it a try, but it sucked. I couldn’t keep going. It was a bad experience. I’m not sure it even lasted a full hour.

The second time was with a bike that fit me. We were in Cable, WI. We were going to hit the trails with buddies. But a flat tire on our buddy’s minivan put a wrench into our plans. So the biking never happened.

That said, I did get my own bike fixed up by that time. And it’s been ready ever since last October.

Then, my road bike gave me some issues this week. Messed up cables that needed replacing. It’s in the shop and given the unseasonably warm and totally awesome Spring we’ve been having, the shop is full of bikes that need fixing. It will be at least a week until I get the Orbea back.

So, on Thursday, I decided to join my friend Annie for an evening of mountain biking. She’s a recent convert and loves the sport. And she told me she’d take it easy on me with the trail at Salem. “It’s the EASIEST,” she has said numerous times, “in the area. You’ll be fine. It’s SOOOO easy.”

There was a group of us riding. A number of experienced fasties who took off right away. There was also one other newbie like myself, Sara. As Annie, Sara and I headed out for my first loop, I started to panic and wonder what the heck I’d gotten myself into. The entrance to the trail is immediately downhill, single track and full of roots. It’s also windy. My assumption was easy meant flat, straight and wide. This was not the case.

I followed last. Sara was almost as uncomfortable as me and she and I took our time navigating the trail and trying to just keep the rubber side down. Annie was quickly off in the distance, then she’d wait up. I went through a few mental conversations that included quitting and chalking this up as mountain biking not being my thing. Then we came upon this section that included three wooden bridges. The third you entered between two tight trees. To the naked eye, it looks too skinny to be passable. But I see Annie & Sara both make it through. I get to the trees, but then bail. I don’t have the guts to attempt to slip through. Unfortunately, immediately after the trees, the trail goes straight into a steep hill and I cannot get my bike started again on the include. So, I have to walk.

Which is fine. I’m not above walking my bike. But what sucks on single track mountain biking trails is that walking means you’re in the trail and potentially in the way of other riders. We had a few other riders pass us. Each time, I’d step off to the side. I’d apologize. But they were all cool and told me not to worry, no biggie.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so sucky at something. It’s humbling. Eventually, Annie asked for permission to go off ahead of us. Sara and I were excruciatingly slow for her level of riding. All in all, I think the trail was 4 miles long. I felt like I did get a little better along the way, but I also had a few other missteps and we were both so super cautious.

When we got to the finish, we headed back up to the parking lot for some water and a breather. Already, I was feeling better and I wanted to give it another go. I asked Sara if I could go ahead in front this time and the second time through was like night and day. It’s almost like my body sub-consciously figured it out even if I couldn’t consciously remember what was next. I was faster going downhill, I was less nervous about hitting rocks and tree limbs, I was learning to shift with the difficulty of the terrain. After that second time around, I went for a third lap which was even better. By no means had I had this thing mastered, but I was having fun and feeling relaxed. I even rode through those two tight trees at the base of the climb. Scary each time, but I did it.

After wards, we went out as a group for Mexican. The weather being unseasonably warm (it was close to 80 when we were riding) allowed us to hang on the patio with our tequila and nosh. It was a pretty fantastic evening and I thanked my buddies for getting me out there and out of my comfort zone.

Annie and I repeated the event yesterday. We headed back out to the trail where I did five laps of the trail (approx. 16-17 miles). It took a little over 2-1/2 hours and I burned over 1300 calories. It was one heck of a workout and I really felt like I was improving.

I did crash two times. The first time I slid on a tree root and just couldn’t react quick enough. The second time I got stuck in some mud and went down going at a faster clip. I’ve got some nice bruises to show off for that, but I suppose that’s to be expected.

I will say, it’s been interesting to try something new. I didn’t expect that I’d get such an upper body workout (I’m super sore today in my shoulders and arms). I also learned quickly that I couldn’t let my mind wander like I do when I’m road cycling. I’d find my thoughts drifting only to discover I’d rode off the trail (oops!). I was also amazed at how high my heart rate gets for how slow it feels like I am going. It must be the combination of strength & cardio. Finally, I also find I have to be super careful not to bonk because, as my system gets depleted, I get sloppy. It’s harder to navigate the quick turns and maintain balance on the rough terrain. By the end of my 5th lap, I was cooked. Annie went out for a 6th and I knew if I did, I’d make some bad mistakes.

So, this has been interesting and fun. I don’t know that I see going beyond the basics anytime soon in terms of trails. I don’t really have much interest in climbing rock piles and steps, but I do like the change of scenery and the different type of fitness that mountain biking requires. This has been a pleasant little discovery this Spring and I look forward to the opportunities it will bring this Summer.

Tonight was a big night. BIG night. My Bolder Options mentee and I got together for the our first outdoor run of the Spring (we’ve been indoors all Winter except for a few outings ice fishing & sledding). Our usual outside run is a 5k loop around the lake and, when we run, we aim for a 1-minute on / 2-minutes off approach with some longer intervals thrown in. And, tonight, as we warmed up, I asked what she thought about alternating 1-minute and 2-minute running intervals with each one having a recovery walk of 2 minutes. She was up for it. And she was pretty tough throughout the entire duration. In fact, the 1-minutes were almost a breeze with the 2-minutes challenging, but doable.

And, you know what?

She beat her PR by over 5 MINUTES! She beat her training workout PR by over 10!! It was pretty incredible and she was very proud.

It’s really fun to experience these victories through her eyes. On our drive back to the house tonight afterward, she even suggested that maybe next time she’d attempt a few 2-minute intervals IN A ROW! Then she caught herself and said, “I can’t believe I suggested that.” I told her that must mean she’s competitive with herself. She thought for a minute; shook her head. “I am really competitive,” she said, “but I can’t believe I’m so competitive with MYSELF.”

It was very cool. I might turn her into a runner just yet.

On a side note, my forced exposure through her to pop radio has me discovering a few things tonight:

* I do like that new Train song. And I didn’t even know they were still together as a band

* Jay-Z has redone Alphaville’s Forever Young. WTF is up with that?

* I might just need to download that Lady Gaga / Beyonce Telephone song for my own runs

That picture above is a Spark People recipe that I discovered and prepared in early March. I’d been digging through the site finding recipes that worked with ingredients we had on hand. I had turkey bacon, fresh pineapple. I really wasn’t intending to use them together, but as I searched the site for recipes using fresh pineapple, this one floated to the surface since I had the other ingredients. I also made the crust from scratch using a different whole wheat pizza crust from the site. Both the flavor combos and the crust came out great.

The best part? I got to enjoy the rewards of the recipe again tonight. I’d frozen the other half of the pizza dough and James took it out tonight for a more traditional pizza, turkey pepperoni & black olives. Once again, pretty yummy.

I should also note that I was incredibly proud of myself for the results. My husband does almost all of the cooking in our house. And he’s always made the homemade pizza. This was my first crust from scratch and I thought it came out pretty damn well. (It shoudl also be noted that I do define scratch as using a bread machine.)

Pineapple Onion and Bacon Pizza

Ingredients
Crust:
1 premade pizza crust (SparkPeople recommends whole-wheat crust)

Toppings:
4 slices center-cut bacon
3/4 cup (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or canned, drained)

Sauce:
4 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cored
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t minced garlic
1 t brown sugar (unpacked)

Directions
Set a large frying pan over medium heat, spritz with nonstick cooking spray and add bacon. Cook bacon for eight minutes, flipping every two minutes to keep it from curling up. Place bacon on paper towels to drain. The bacon should still be flexible and soft; it will crisp up on the pizza. Tear into small pieces.

Place tomatoes in a blender along with all the spices, salt, sugar and oil. Blend till smooth and pour into pot. Cook on medium high for 30 minutes or until reduced by half. (SparkPeople note: Use a low-sodium jarred tomato sauce to save time.)

While the tomato sauce is cooking, dice the onions and drain the pineapple.

Roll out the dough into your desired shape and thickness. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place 1/2 cup of sauce on pizza. Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of cheese, 1 cup of pineapple and bacon pieces. Sprinkle on remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake in oven for 14 minutes on middle rack. If you prefer a browner pizza, broil pizza for an additional couple of minutes, watching to ensure it doesn’t burn. Once it looks good and brown remove and let sit for 10 minutes to let the cheese firm up a little. Slice into eight pieces.

Number of Servings: 8

Whole Wheat Bread Machine Pizza Crust

Ingredients
1. 1/2 Tbsp honey
2. 1 1/2 C warm water
3. 1 Tbsp yeast
4. 1 Tbsp olive oil
5. 3 1/4 whole wheat flour
6. 1 Tbsp basil
7. 1/2 Tbsp oregano

8. 4 med tomato’s sliced
9. 2 C feta cheese
10. 1 C low fat skim milk mozzarella

Directions
add ingredients 1- 7 in order into bread machine.
set to dough cycle.
roll dough onto pizza stone, i used a rectangular 11X 16 stone by Pampered Chef.
pour 1/4 C olive oil onto dough and rub over surface.
place tomato slices over whole dough surface.
sprinkle mozz cheese over tomatos.
sprinkle feta cheese over mozz cheese.

place in preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Number of Servings: 10

Enjoy!

Okay. First off, one of these days I should just share with ya’ll all the half-entered entries in my WordPress dashboard. It might not look like it from your perspective, but I do attempt to blog much more frequently than displayed on the published page. Unfortunately, I usually get interrupted mid post or move on to something else more urgent. Most often, I do not return to WordPress until the started entry is no longer relevant or makes sense.

Yet, I also have a hard time deleting all those unfinished thoughts and ramblings. So, they sit there. Fragments of ideas. Feelings that unfinished and only semi-important.

Which means the real question is: will this entry make it?

If you’re reading this, than I guess that means it did.

As for me and my life status, there are a few new elements to report on. We’ve had an employment shift in our household. My husband is looking for a new opportunity. We are a single-income family now and it’s hard and stressful. And while I know we’ll figure out it, it still doesn’t make it much easier in the short-term. I miss shopping. I miss eating out. I get nervous about the future.

All that said, I know we are lucky. This is just a temporary situation. We have our health. We have great friends, awesome pets, lovely family. Then there is me and how lucky I am for the role that I have professionally and how much I love what I do. Right now is a small black cloud. I’m just ready for it to move along, that’s all.

Because of this transition, we’ve made some considerable changes. We’ve really cut back on our budget. We’ve finally gotten rid of our land line. I’ve dropped a bunch of digital subscriptions including Audible and Weight Watchers. I’m even very close to taking our Netflix subscription down to one DVD.

Most of the cuts, as I’ve mentioned, are fairly painless — mostly minor nuisances. But the Weight Watcher’s one came at an odd time because I’d actually, just a week prior to the job transition thing, planned on re-upping and attending meetings because I’d finally, FINALLY decided to get serious again about dropping some poundage and focusing on training more seriously again.

So, in the absence of the spare cash to fund WW as a resource, I began a search of applications to track calories in vs. calories out since my TrainingPeaks.com subscription was less than helpful (and, ironically, re-upped for a year the very week prior to having to slash our budget — IRONY!). I wanted something for my iPhone. I wanted something that had a robust food database so I wouldn’t have to enter loads of custom foods. I wanted something that was free.

I downloaded a few options. Some were fine. Some were lame. Then I’d remembered a site I’d heard some people talk about: Spark People. Specifically, I was familiar with them because they compete in the digital recipe space (something I live and breath at work). But I also know my sister-in-law has had great success using their site and losing weight. I also know a coworker uses the Spark People iPhone app.

So, I went to the site. I signed up. And I was a little surprised with what I found. I was expecting a Web site that was basically a calorie tracker with some article features. FitDay is my frame of reference, a site I used years ago prior to my engagement with WW. But what I found was a much deeper, much more holistic experience. SparkPeople is a complete program because it surrounds food tracking with support and education much in the same way Weight Watchers does — albeit digitally.

The thing that surprised me the most about Spark People is the program’s phased approach and award system. It is a combination of program phases (including a two-week introduction phase) and a point system that rewards users for exploring the site, reading up on the program and tracking some early wins with more easily achievable goals (such as getting 8 hours of sleep and drinking 8 glasses of water per day). These quick goals are called Fast Break and I think it’s really smart of the program to apply goals like these to the program. When you have tough days where you feel like you’ve failed because you haven’t hit your nutrition or fitness goals, these fast track goals are a nod to “at least I can do this” and/or “at least this day isn’t a complete failure — I can at least get 8 hours of sleep.” I think that’s pretty powerful.

The other really interesting thing about the program is the points system. You gain points and badges as your explore the site, achieve different levels and interact with users. And while I don’t have a ton of time to sit and post on message boards and blogs, I have to admit to feeling motivated to read a little more to increase my points level. And even though I sometimes consider myself a nutrition and fitness pro who knows it all, re-learning information about portion control and proper nutrition is good to reground myself as to why and how I can do this. Again.

I completed my entrance Fast Break phase at the end of last week. I spent my first week being pretty faithful to the program. The second week didn’t bode so well since we went on vacation to visit relatives in Texas. But, returning on Monday, I’ve returned to the program and am ready to settle in.

We’ll see how it goes. In addition to tracking food via SparkPeople, I also have a training schedule to follow. I have less than two months until my first race of the season. And I really, really, really want to be able to race that event faster and smaller than I did last year.

Okay, first off. Here’s the problem:

Recently, the cat has come out of the basement. Which is a good thing. We were starting to get worried about her adjustment to home life with the Lockwoods. The combination of slow adoption to the upstairs with SCARY DOGS and a food allergy (we switched her to a new, premium food that apparently she was allergic to and caused her to lose a bunch of fur and make her cranky) made Isa less than comfortable in our house. Luckily, more time with the dogs (and learning she can boss them around) combined with getting her back on a food that didn’t make her sick has turned her into a much happier kitty. A kitty who is now exploring our house, learning that sleeping on beds is comfy. A kitty that also thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to sit on a human’s hands when the human is on the laptop. In fact, it’s PREFERABLE to only sit on a human’s hands when the human is on the laptop.

Yes, I’m totally getting all the I can haz cheezbugr references now…

And, yes, the problem: whenever we’re on the computer at night, so is kitty. Say hi, Internet, to Isa. And, Isa, say hi to the Internet.

Ah, where were we?

Why was I updating?

Okay. Here’s the thing. Today was a big day. a BIG. DAY.

It was as monumental as any triathlon or marathon I’ve completed. It was as a formulaic slow, steady race to the finish as you can get. Patience, endurance and fortitude were essential and key. And it all paid off today.

Ironically, however, I’m not talking about anything athletic. At least not physically.

No, I’m talking about a long, hard project at work that has finally launched. Today. And while it isn’t sexy and shiny and even very apparent to our users, it is labor of love like none other and I’m very, very proud of what we accomplished.

It’s been almost a year in the making. As some of you know, I’m in the Web business. I work on BettyCrocker.com for General Mills (obligatory disclaimer: my views here on this blog are personal and do not represent those of my company). And today, we launched a major update.

It’s not exactly a big deal to our users. Our overall navigation of the site did have major changes. We have a ton of new content pages now available. But the overall look and feel wasn’t impacted all that much. The voice is still the same. And, honestly, the best experience I could hope for our users is an uninterrupted one. That said, this project spanned over the course of almost a year. I’ve been championing it for even longer than that. And finally, finally we’ve crossed the threshold.

And you know what that means….

What’s next?

Of course, for now, for tonight, I’m going to get some sleep. I had my “congratulations, Heather” martini. I’ve told myself it’s okay that I missed today’s workout. It’s even okay that I’ve spent the year more focused on work and content management than on some personal pursuits such as furthering (or evening sustaining) my athletic prowess.

Tonight I sleep.

And tomorrow… what’s next?

I’m pushing it. The past few months have been a haze of sickness and busy-ness at work. I was sick with the flu for almost three weeks.

Seriously. Three weeks.

And, until Saturday, I went that entire time without a workout which is, honestly, the longest inactive stretch I can remember in recent history.

That said, I needed the rest. My body was beat. Add to that a business trip thrown in the middle. Just making sure I got enough sleep was my highest priority.

So, Saturday I got back on track. I went on my first run in months and it felt fantastic. Yes, I am one of those crazy people who actually enjoys running and being outdoors in the Winter. Then Sunday, we spent a lovely 2+ hours skiing with our Birchwood buddies out at Baker Park Reserve. It was beautiful. It was hilly. My glutes and thighs were yelling at me and I adored every minute.

Unfortunately, my week has not been as hospitable to my return to activity. I’ve been working some fierce hours. Then tonight was a Bolder Options activity. Sledding. And honestly, it was better than a workout. The hill was awesome. My mentee was a daredevil and we had a super, super night.

So, tomorrow, I set the reset button. I’m hoping I can get back on a schedule. 6 am spin class is on tap. I may even try and watch what I eat. And after a month of limbo, I’m ready to re-emerge.

Of course, there were some benefits of being sick. I got to watch an entire season of Jersey Shore. And Californication. And This American Life.

Yes, I can certainly be a real couch potato when the conditions are ripe. Thank goodness I truly enjoy activity, too.