currently: december 2015

A quick life update as we ring in 2016… 

celebrating 

My birthday! I kicked off 36 with a sunny run, got my hair cut + colored, lunch + coffee at Birchwood with my sis and another gal pal, girl talk with one of my dearest friends, and wrapped it up with my main man – climbing at Vertical Endeavors and burgers + butterscotch budino at 112. Pretty much the best day ♥

Christmas! Nothing like being home-home for the holidays. It was filled with lutefisk (one obligatory bite for me), sour cream cookies (Grandma’s signature), gag gifts (a vintage swim cap!), a terrible Jelly Belly game (barf flavored jelly beans?!), the Finley gift show (ha!), not nearly enough time with my incredible family (four days = too short). Maybe we do need to drive home in January for Ukrainian Christmas?! 

reading 

All the books. For much of this year, my reading genre has been, for lack of a better description, self improvement. All excellent, but also heavy, so since coming back from IMAZ, my nose’s been buried in lighter books. Recent reads include The Devil in the White City, Half Broke Horses, The Glass Castle and I’m currently a quarter into The Forgotten Garden (on loan from my mom). What’s on your list? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

joined

After talking about it forever, I finally joined a masters swim team. It’s well out of my comfort zone for sure – a good thing because that’s where you learn and grow. More about this in a training update soon!

spending time with

Friends and family. December included some long overdue catch-ups – from our annual British Arrows Awards night with my grad school gal pals to candlelight + cocoa with a few Coeur Sports teammates to lefse making with my sis and cousin. Relationships and community are where it’s at, folks. Surround yourself with people who inspire you + lift you up and make you strive to be a better person. 

participating in

The RTTC Challenge. This 10-day challenge focused on developing a routine of inevitable success to show up fully and at your best both in training and on race day. Each day we completed a challenge – from setting an intention to creating a mantra to developing a playlist – that when all pulled together at the end, boom! you have a custom, works-for-you routine you can use for more motivation, confidence and focus. I used the challenge a bit differently than most, instead focusing on bringing the feeling triathlon gives me – of really being ALIVE! – to the rest of my life. Because I’m not always fully present like I am when I’m swimbikerunning. And, my life deserves my full attention. Kudos to Coeur teammate Sonja for developing this really rad program (and on the launch of Rising Tide Triathlon Coaching)! 

drinking

I’m not a big drinker (except for the occasional glass of good red wine), but it’s not a trip home to Hallock without a tasting at Får North Spirits. This craft distillery uses a field-to-glass farming model, meaning they plant and harvest all the grains to distill some of the best liquor on the market. My favorite is a toss-up between the Syvä vodka (the vanilla undertones!) and the Ålander spiced rum (it makes a mean dark + stormy). Even better, owners and distillers Michael and Cheri are awesome. 

onward

2015 was a fantastic year, but watch out, 2016… it’s gonna be even bigger. 

There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than you are capable of living. -Nelson Mandela