Fall was a whirlwind of awesome – and of offseason, house renovations, travel, and catching up with family + friends. Winter’s looking like more of the same, but with more structured training again.
Here’s what’s been up the past few months.
volunteering + spectating at
IRONMAN Wisconsin + the Twin Cities Marathon weekend. There’s no place I’d rather be the second Sunday of September than in Madison for IMWI. All in all a fantastic weekend that included one loop of the bike course, coffee and catching up with my Coeur teammates at Colectivo, volunteering at run special needs bag drop bright and early race morning, and cheering all day on the course.
Highlights of Twin Cities Marathon weekend included being bike lead for the 5k and 10k races with Johnny and cheering on Nick to a 10-mile PR.
doing
House stuff! Our house reno is nearly done, and my gosh, it’s been fun. A ton of work, but so fun! We hired out the main work in the kitchen and bath – because that’s over our novice heads and if we tried it would take was years (but I want to learn! Because this kind of work is one of my dream jobs). But we’ve been working hard at stripping wallpaper from every single room (followed by patching cracks and painting). And salvaging the gorgeous original hex tile bathroom floors from 1925. When our contractor demoed the hideous 1970s bathroom tile, much to our surprise, the hex looked like it was in perfect shape. So we knew we had to save it. Hours, a giant bottle of Goo Gone and another of melaluca later, we’d scraped all the glue off and were left with this…
We moved in late October and except for the guest room, all the hideous wallpaper is gone. Now to hang pictures… more to come! Watch for some before + after posts soon.
going
Home-home. There’s no place like home-home. We made the nearly six-hour drive north to Hallock for a great (and much-too-short) weekend with family. It included a visit to the new brewery, Revelation Ale Works, a few runs around town, visits with mom and dad and my grandparents, and Luma wearing a dishtowel.
Hawaii. I had the best time in Hawaii. Highlights included windy Queen K bike rides, all the açai bowls + Kona coffee, and spending time with my Coeur Sports family ♥
reading
My goal for the second half of 2017 was to read six books. Well, 2017 is in the books – and I’m 1.5 books short. I’m currently wrapping up Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace – an excellent read – so totally counting it toward my 2017 reads. And the new Netflix series is in the queue for after I’m done. Other books the second half of the year included The Rise of the Rocket Girls, Peak Performance, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Life’s Too Short to go so F*cking Slow.
And a few articles I’ve read the past couple months…
- Great read on choices and decisions
- While I think having goals is awesome, this is a thoughtful read about ditching them and instead focusing on the process with a purpose – all while being open to a different direction
- If you follow me on twitter, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been pretty quiet the past few months – it’s been so refreshing to get rid of the noise. While I enjoy social media, I don’t like that it’s stolen my attention, so this disconnection blip has helped me refocus on what matters most: letting my mind wander, embracing boredom, and my relationships. Anyway, a few solid reads (kinda) related to social – against productivity (a must-read!), what boredom does to you (it makes you more productive and creative, so stop mindlessly scrolling!), social media is keeping us stuck in the moment (that damn reverse chron), and in a distracted world, solitude is a competitive advantage (it helps you stay focused).
hosting
A10 with Coeur Sports at Alchemy. I was thrilled to partner with Alchemy in Edina to host a strength class for triathletes and runners. About 20 women attended our 45-minute class that consisted of a mobility + yoga warm-up, a 10-minute AMRAP of thrusters, sit-ups and jumping lunges, and a yoga cooldown. We had a blast – and left with incredibly sore legs (I couldn’t walk for three days!). Thank you, ladies, for joining! And, thank you, Alchemy and Karin, for your warm hospitality and awesome workout! Watch for more Coeur community events around MSP in 2018 as local ambassadors spread the triathlon love 🙂
favorite quote
Doubt increases with inaction.
Clarity reveals itself in momentum.
Growth comes from progress.
For all these reasons, BEGIN.–Brendon Burchard
2 Comments
Love that quote! It’s so true – easier to give things a go than wait!
Agreed! Starting is always the hardest part, but once you do – watch out! 🙂 Happy 2018, Courtney!