Summer 2012....

Where do I even begin! Let's just say life doesn't always turn out the way you think it will. Sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not. But, what can you do, but just keep on going!

I'm currently sitting in the Vancouver airport, drinking a spicy caesar, watching the Olympics and waiting for my delayed flight to London and then back to Vienna. The delay doesn't matter at all, I had about a zillion hours in London anyways, have to love the "free" miles flight options...

So, I am currently obsessed with watching the Olympics and am up ridiculously late every night, it's as if I have no self control.

Summer has been interesting. It started off with an awesome road trip through the Czech Republic and up to Poland to watch Euro Cup soccer with Steph and Mel. We barely managed to get into the Fan Center in Wroclaw, had we not made it in (there were riot police involved...) I am pretty sure Steph would have killed me. But, fortunately, we did get in, barely, and watched a Czech Poland game and it was Awesome! We went to Auschwitz the next day, it is the second concentration camp I have been to, and, I really don't think I ever need to go again. We stayed the next night in Krakow, I would love to go back there. Driving was an adventure, but all in ll, great trip!

Not real sure exactly what/how it happened, but the night I got home Steve and I broke up. No real need to get into the details, except that it lead to a 11:00pm call to my mom and sister and a 6:55 flight to Seattle. Just a little extra trip home. It was AWNESOME! It was one of the best and most relaxed trips home I've had since moving abroad. Everything seemed like an added bonus and nothing beats being around friends and family when you are feeling blah about life. It was also the first time I've ever just come home at a random time because I felt like it, it was nice to know that I can just do that. I was able to do a few things I probably wouldn't have been able to o if I only came home once, like go o the beach house and see a friend get the keys to their first house, do some wedding stuff with a girlfriend that I will miss the wedding, and well, I don't know, just be home!

Things were not great with the break up, so I was glad my mom was already planning on coming back to Vienna with me... Summer part 2, Ironman Switzerland. I'll have to do a full race report later, I was saying that I would have loved to read about the race from a normal person, not the elite athletes, before I did it. But, the quick version... My mom and I got to Vienna a day apart, I arrived on the 5 th I thin, and we ran around Vienna running all the life errands I was meaning to do before she got there, including the 2 or 3 day process of replacing my lost metro card, and even a fun trip to the Visa office. .

Ok, so back to the race, part of me didn't even want to do it because I was so upset about Steve, but in the end, I did manage to drag myself to the start line. The race was in Zurich, so we flew in, went to the expo, met up with a friend of a friend to tour the course, talk and just have someone to talk to before the race! She was great, and an awesome athlete. So, I managed to get my bike checked in, register and drag myself to the start line. It was NOT easy. I really did just want to give up. I had broken my ribs, so swim training was nearly nonexistent, I was mentally out of it, and my training definitely suffered because of the random trip home. But... On race day things went as well as could be expected. I had never ridden my bike in the rain, and really, what better time to try thn an hour snd a half into an iron,an? Ahhhhh! I finished the swim unless than 2 hours, which was my adjusted goal after the broken rib deal, then an hour and a half into the bike it just started to pour down rain, not a few drops, or a light drizzle, but a "I can hardly see a foot in front of me" type of rain. I had gone to dinner at a friends house and her son had described riding your bike in the ron as ice pellets slamming into yor face... And, let's just say that is jut why it felt like. The bike course was a two loop course, way hillier than I thought it would be, and downpours added to the excitement. It was just plain crazy. I think I spent half the time thinking, I can't believe thi is even happening. I had a moment of panic at some point, when I thought I wouldn't make the bike cut off time and tarted riding like a crazy person. I easily made the cut off. I'm not sure what type of math I was doing in my head, but it isn't make sense. The run was fine, but once again, the wether was just insanely awful. About an hour and a half into the run, it started doing the sideways, somehow in your face rain, blowing down the barriers, crazy insane conditions. It was absolutely miserable. Combine that with a rough road surface, a few hills, dark from the clouds and it was just not that fun. I discovered that I like eating salty peanuts during the race though, I was totally excited at ever aid Titan to get more salty peanuts. They were super delicious and something to look forward to. My friend Christi came out and I saw her a few times, and the girl's family that I had just met, and my mom was awesome and she was there for the whole thing. All in ll it went well, I finished faster, even with the unbelievable conditions, and felt fine at the end. Of course, we walked around Zurich the next day and it was absolutely beautiful and perfect weather...

We went back to Vienna, packed our bags and left to come back to the states, we did take the time to go to an amazing lunch, felt like we were royalty! Of course we started out with champagne and ended our zillion course meal with cheese and wine. Fancy!

Second trip home was great too. I definitely didn't want to leave! Spending time with friends and family os just awesome. I was able o go to my cousins house warming party, see friends down in the bay area, meet lots of new babies and spend time with my niece and nephews. I miss them like crazy when I'm gone. They really are just too cute!

I'm in denial that I have to go back to work soon. I arrive late Thursday to Vienna and leave Friday afternoon for a weekend on Croatia, then bac to work on Monday. Hard to believe another summer is nearly over!

Loved every second and already looking forward to my next trip home, bit no idea when that will be...!

Oh, and I'm sure there are a zillion weird typos, I'm on my iPad, which I love and am addicted to, but it does weird things and is not a replacement for a laptop at all... It does all these uto correct things that mke me crazy.... Ok. Enough. I need to eat some dinner and get back to the Olympics.

Another year...

It's hard to believe it's already been another year in Vienna, school's out on Friday, but I'll get to that soon enough. Last I wrote was about a month ago. I've been pretty buys since then! Let's see... life is really about training and travel at this point. My mom came for a visit, which was great! I had to withdraw from the St. Polten Half, which was SUCH a hard thing to do. I've never really quit or not met a goal, so it felt weird. But, we ended up going on a great Czech road trip instead. My mom arrived on May 15, I think, and we spent some time in Vienna and then we went to Cesky Krumlov, Telc, Olomouc and Morovia the first weekend. Renting a car was both fun and challenging! I bought a Garmin and it was definitely a love/hate relationship. Driving through Austria was amazing, I forget how beautiful it is right outside of Vienna, and so green! My mom did a great job driving. I don't have an Austrian license, so I couldn't drive until we got to the Czech Republic. Cesky Krumlov was so cute! It was this small village with a beautiful castle, cobblestone streets, we stayed in a great hotel and the weather was beautiful. We drove from there to Telc for lunch, the Garmin took us on a crazy drive, but Telc was another small cute town. There was a small festival happening in the main square and we sat and had lunch, I think it was about $2.50, I'm exaggerating, but everything was so inexpensive! We then drove on to Olomouc, another really cute small town. We stayed in another great hotel, dropped off our things, went to a wine bar, walked around taking pictures and then had some dinner. Totally relaxing and fun! The next day we got up, walked around a bit more and then headed back towards Vienna. We stopped at yet another really cute town, Mikuluv, and walked around a castle, the main square, had lunch and some delicious hot chocolate. The next week my Mom went to Kiev and I went to work. The next weekend was amazing too! Steph, her cousin, my mom and I did another road trip, this time to Croatia. The first night we went to Zagreb, we arrived late, so just went out to a delicious meal and then bed. The next day we walked all over the city, went to markets, churches, and had a great morning. Then we went down to Plitvice lakes, which was amazing! The weather was, well, interesting. When we first arrived it was fine, we started our hike and then it just started POURING down rain, the kind that just soaks you. It was fine though, we survived and it was beautiful. We warmed up with some hot chocolate while we waited for the boat to take us across the lake and back to our car. We then drove up to this city, Tribalj, and stayed in the most amazing hotel ever. Totally cute, great food and an amazing staff. The next day we went to the beach and rented beach chairs, then got some ice cream then just drove around looking for cool things to see. It was great! The next day we had to drive back to Vienna. Sad. My mom left a few days later, but will be back July 6. I can't wait! Since then, all I've really done is train. Oh, and Steve turned 40, so I took him to dinner one night and then we went out with all his friends the next night. He claimed that he didn't want to do anything, then when we were out a couple nights before, he said he would "allow" me to invite his friends to dinner. Ha! It was fun though. Training is completely insane. I think I am up to 22 hours a week or so, and then trying to work and finish up the school year, it's just crazy. Today I was on my trainer for 5:45 minutes and did an hour run. I had a personal day, so that was nice, but I really spent the rest of the day doing nothing because I was tired, and tomorrow's plan is 90 minute bike ride in the morning and a 2:45 run in the afternoon. It is totally insane. This weekend Steph, Mel and I are heading to Wroclaw, Poland to watch Eurocup 2012. We will also go to Auschwitz and Krakow. Then it is back to Vienna for my hardest week of training and then TAPER. I am SO looking forward to the taper. I'm feeling really good about the biking and running, but very, very worried about the swim. I wasn't able to swim for three weeks and lost a lot of endurance. I really don't know how I will manage the full distance. I am up to about an hour comfortably slow, but need to get up to 1.5 hours at a faster pace. About a month till race day...!

Break. Literally.

Well, I guess the question has been answered. I do not know the difference between determination and denial.

Well, that's how that worked out. I somehow managed to make it through the week, training and all. Had a great time at the cooking class...

The cooking class... let me quickly say that it was awesome! Matthew and Omar did an amazing job creating a menu and it all went wonderfully! There were a few last minute drop outs and a few e-mails that made me MAD! One person e-mailed me at 4:00 the day of the class (I didn't get it till the next day) saying that he heard from his friend that I still expected them (he and his wife) to pay even though they were sick. He didn't think that was fair. Well, guess what guy, it's not fair to the other 15 people for you to both drop out,not bother to even call, just e-mail. Whatever. I decided I wasn't going to let the money part ruin my night. And it didn't. Fun times. I would do it again in a second, I would just organize it differently. So back to the training disaster... I'm having an ADHD post. Ok, so in pain all week, but taking some drugs, figure it's fine. Went on a nearly 5 hour ride on Tuesday and met Steph, Claudia and Mel in Durnstein, it was awesome. We had a great day, the ride was beautiful. We had a bit of an interesting train ride back, had to beg, borrow and steal in order to get out bikes on the train and barely avoided a 65 Euro fine for buying the right ticket, but for the wrong number of people, I think the train guy was just having a bad day. Anyways, to the ER part of the story... I went for an open water swim on Thursday after work. Midway through the swim I was coughing like crazy and stopped for a second, probably about 150 meters from the shore and realized I was coughing up blood. Not a good sign. I was a little freaked out, but managed to make it to shore pretty easily, nothing really hurt more than it had and the water was really smooth. So I get to shore, call my school nurse, and long story short, realized that I needed to go to the ER. I HATE that place. I still have nightmares about the bloody gurneys that we saw when I had to go my first year in Vienna, poor Steve, it was the middle of the night, we had only been dating a few months and he had to deal with me like that... Anyways, Steve didn't answer his phone and Steph had just texted me, so I called her, burst into tears (which really hurt) and told her I had to go to the ER. She was able to meet me on the U6 on the way to the ER, yes, you just take yourself to the ER via public transportation. I was crying and crying, not because I was scared, or because I was in a lot more pain, it was just the mere thought of having to spend time in the ER. It is SO awful. I can't even explain that place. So, when we get there and finally get to the right ER, I had no money or ID, so Steph had to pay my deposit and then run to my house and get my wallet and a change of clothes. Steve was on his way, but hadn't arrived yet. By the time he got there I was on the phone to my mom, who was at work, crying and crying. There was a lot of tests and waiting around, 6+ hours. It was absolutely miserable. At the end of it all, it was probably 12:00ish, I had broken ribs and a tear/hole in my lung. How it didn't collapse, no one seems to know. They told me I had to come back in two days, I asked if it was really important if I came in two days and could I just come on Monday, the dr. asked why and I said because I was flying to Sofia for the weekend. He got very animated and started saying Nicht flying! Nicht flying! And, then using hand gestures, started repeating over and over again that apparently my lungs could collapse with the change of pressure... oh, so no Sofia. I got the paperwork to leave and Steve went back to ask them if I could train at all. Nope. Nicht training. I was just so upset. Everything was upsetting. I was starving, tired, just found out I had broken ribs and a little tear in my lungs. Nothing positive about that. I was pretty sure they wouldn't think it was a good idea to do my race on May 20, in St. Polten. So, I chose not to ask. I went back Saturday morning and found out that the tear was healing fine, could do limited training, it was just about pain tolerance. But, she said it really wouldn't be a good idea to do the race in a few weeks. Which is just SO upsetting to me. I have to keep telling myself that the St. Polten half was just to prepare for the real thing in July. But, it just annoys me. The whole thing. I just don't have time for an injury. And, I am sick of being in pain. It's like there is a level of constant pain and then every now and then sharp pains. Fun. It was interesting to have a whole Saturday to do whatever I wanted with no training. I did some shopping, hung out with Mel, went to the Prater for a bit and then up to Kent's for a Kentucky Derby party. I guess that is what it's like to not be training. It makes me a bit crazy to not train. Since they said I was allowed limited training, I did get up this morning and go on a short 45 minute run. It hurt, but no problems breathing, so that was good. I am just sick of the pain though. Today I have just been relaxing, cooking, cleaning and trying to organize myself for my Mom's visit. I can't wait for her to get here! I am pretty disappointed that I didn't get to go to Sofia, I was watching Anika and Steph's posts, sounds like it was a pretty crazy weekend. I can't wait to hear all about it! I hope the ribs heal faster than four weeks, I just want to get back to training normal.

Open Water = Terrifying

Well, first I didn't get into the NYC Marathon, I'm a bit disappointed, but it's probably best, not sure I would have been ready for a marathon in November. Just sitting at home relaxing a bit, had the best weekend! Started off with a happy hour with Matthew and Omar. We went to this place by school, I think we ran out at about 3:16, I mean some days are just like that and with the sun out, how could we resist! We walked through the doors of this Heuriger and it was like walking into a whole new world, we were sitting in a beautiful garden looking out into the vineyards and I wasn't really drinking = white wine spritzer... kind of afternoon. We were having such a great time, but realized we needed food and for some reason fried meat and potatoes just wasn't going to work. We ended up grabbing a taxi and having a delicious tapas dinner at Bodego Marques, the food never tasted so good! I'm sure the sun and wine helped. It was great because I was home and in bed before 10:00, that's my kind of night!

I was up and out the door by 5:55 for a super hilly 4 hour ride, I was trying to figure out how I could ride up to Kahlenberg and over to work and avoid tram tracks. I did manage to figure out a way and got in some great hills along the way, but was TIRED on the hills! I need to work on that as much as I can before the races that are coming up. I smashed my ribs into my bike pump while trying to pump up my tires, I would explain how, but I just don't exactly know, but anyways, it hurts to breathe deep, but I don't have to breathe entirely shallow, but it is definitely painful. The riding was ok, but the hour run after was pretty painful. I finished up around 11:00ish and lounged around the house for a bit and then went out to the Prater to lay out in the sun. I was surprised to find that at 1:00 in the afternoon at the Prater, where there are small children and families relaxing and playing in the sun, there are also prostitutes. Have never seen them in Vienna in 3 years and certainly was not expecting to see it in the middle of the day in a child friendly area! I was SHOCKED. Well, I was able to move past it and find a grassy area and lay down, read my book and actually fall asleep. It was perfect! Sunday I woke up with my ribs still a bit sore, the night before I debated going into AKHA, but I HATE that place and will avoid it at all costs, so I just decided to self diagnose and take the same drugs that I took when I cracked my ribs a few years ago playing soccer. It helped. I met Steph and Mel at Edison's, this great new place by my house for brunch and then we set out to find where I had been before to do an open water swim. We found it really easily and I eventually got my wetsuit on and did a quick swim. It was terrifying. There is not ONE thing I like about open water swimming, literally everything about it terrifies me. But, this place was really easy to get to and not too many boats, and the boats that were there were paddle boats and/or slow moving. There is a little pedestrian bridge that I think keeps some of the bigger boats and the sail boats away, so that is nice, but it's still scary to be out there with boats. I was hit by the boat last year and it just scares me now. And, I was coughing like crazy and it hurt to breathe, so I just went a short distance. In my mind though, it was really helpful, I just need to get out there a bunch more before the race, which is three weeks from today. Scary. Tomorrow is a cooking class, I was looking forward to it, and I guess I still am, but the planning/organizing of it became difficult and annoying. Matthew and Omar must be annoyed too, they did the menu planning and recipes and all that. Ugh. But, it will be fun. I'm sure of it! We have Tuesday off and I leave for Sofia, Bulgaria early Friday night, so it is going to be a very busy week! I think the next month or so is going to fly by. I can't wait for my mom to get here May 15!

Just another day...

Well, it's about 9:15 at night and I am STRUGGLING to stay awake. Things are going okay, training is exhausting. I am averaging between 15 - 20 hours a week and really, really, really need to get out in the open water! I did a long ride the other day and managed 90km in less than 3.5 hours, so I'm pretty happy with that, can pretty comfortably finish the whole swim distance and the runs are only up to around two hours, which is fine. But, I am definitely tired at the end of the night! I bought this groupon coupon for five meals for a family of four to be delivered. I was cracking up when I saw the amount of food they brought on Monday night! I have NO idea how I will eat it all, but so far what I have had is good. The recipes are pretty easy, or at least my rough translation of them are easy enough. I had a few friends over for dinner last night and tried to make the fish and it didn't quite look right, but tasted ok. I think it was mostly an operator error, not the food or the recipe... I needed a different type of pan. At least that is what I am telling myself. It is pretty fun to have all the different foods to try, it's not necessarily Paleo friendly, so I am having to make some adjustments. And, with my increase in training some of the foods that used to be pretty limited are now allowed. I went and visited a friend and previewed the Zurich Ironman bike course last weekend. First of all, the visit with my friend was GREAT! It was someone I haven't seen since my first year in Dubai, so it's just been forever. I loved spending time with her, we had a great drive on the bike course and also went out for a few drinks, one at this great panorama view place and then this really cute wine/cheese place. I loved Zurich. We also went with her family on some hikes/walks around the lake right in Zurich and then on Sunday this lake that was a bit farther away, but it was beautiful! They lived in this really great place with a big yard, such a change from Dubai, and then right at the bottom of this amazing area to trail run. Which I did one morning and managed to get myself quite lost, but did eventually make it back to their house. Her kids were so great, all about the same ages as my niece and nephews. Kids are SO much fun to be around! So, the course seems like it will be ok. I need to get out and do some hills. Nothing will compare to the Nice course, but... it definitely has some long hills and climbs that I would probably be more worried about had I not done Nice. I do need to get out on my bike and hit the hills... and also start with some open water training, like I said. Ugh. The weather was gorgeous today, and yesterday I ran home from work and was able to figure out a way to ride my bike to work and avoid having to ride along the tram tracks, I have such a fear of falling into the tracks and just crashing. So, that means I can ride to/from work and get up a bit later and get ready at work. And/or have my bike at work and ready to go for my long rides right at 3:15. This weekend I am home and am planning on trying out the route to work as part of my 4:45 ride (then a 45 minute run...) and also getting out in the open water Saturday and Sunday. I already did two swims this week, but need to take advantage of the weather and am hoping to convince some friends to come hang out on the shore and get a tan while I swim and then join them. We'll see what happens. We are also doing a cooking class on Monday next week, seemed like a great idea when we thought of it, but somehow planning it is stressing me out. But, right now everything seems to be stressing me out. I'm really looking forward to the weekend! I am definitely at that training point that is my near exhaustion all the time while I adjust to this increase in training hours. I know I will get used to it, but for now, it's off to bed at 9:30, so I can get up and ride at 5:15, work all day, then run home... it really is a never ending cycle that I both love and hate. I am feeling good about the biking and running, but still terrified of the swim. And, I have a race in less than a month. Hm, night time for me. Oh, and I thought I was going to find out about the NYC marathon tonight, but apparently they do the drawing today, or well, did the drawing, but we can't log in and find out till tomorrow at 10:00am EST. So, I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow... then start begging for the time off work.

Life in the fast lane...

Life is good. Really. It is. Doesn't always seem that way, but some days I can't believe how great things can be. Spring is here, apparently that means a bit of snow (on April Fool's Day), some sunny beautiful days, some pouring rain, a bit of everything I suppose.

Training is going ok, I was just in Turkey for a week, which I'll get too, but I got back on Friday and then attempted to do an indoor Olympic Distance Triathlon. It was pretty much a disaster, all of my own doing. The swim went fine, was actually quite easy (should be in a pool, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of the open water swims coming up), bike was HARD. I don't really know what I was thinking, I know that you have to drink water and/or sports drinks, and just because I didn't bring a water bottle with me to the gym, and I am on this "only buy bottled water in places that the water is not safe to drink" kick, and I didn't want to get off the bike to get a drink every 20 minutes or so, I tried to ride 40km really hard with only one gel and a few huge gulps of water halfway through. Needless to say, it was awful. The whole ride, I don't know what I was thinking, and then to try to run after?! What a mess. Just goes to show how important following a nutrition plan is. Besides that setback, training is continuing to go well, but it really is all consuming. While in Turkey I could only run, there was no place to swim and no bike at the gym. I decided to do some really hard interval training and weights, which was also a terrible idea, it just left me feeling too tired to do a proper Olympic Distance Practice Race. Ugh. This week is back to normal... oh wait, no it's not because I'll be gone again this weekend. I am flying out to Zurich to visit a friend and preview the race course. I am totally excited, but it's hard to fit in all the long workouts during the work week. We'll see how it goes!

Ok, so Vienna has been pretty busy so far. Steph and I have been going to a new church, which I like, but it is in the middle of the day on Sunday, which is a bit annoying, and I guess there is a new pastor that started today, but I wasn't there. Sounds like he is a bit more modern, we'll see. Easter markets were fun, the weather was great for a few days, so we went and picnicked in the park, which was super fun and relaxing, went to a bike thing at the Rathaus, Luis, our favorite bartender is back from Mexico, Tin Tan is a favorite once again! Had a few more Wein and Co. afternoons, Dr. Falafel every weekend, just the same old things I guess, but all is good.

I just got back from a great trip to Turkey with Jess. We met in Istanbul, spent most of the days just relaxing, walking around, shopping, eating and catching up. It was awesome! I love the food, people, everything about Istanbul. We then flew to Bodrum, which was SO relaxing. The hotel was beautiful and had a wellness center that we took full advantage of, we spent our days lounging in the sun and doing a whole lot of nothing. We did manage to drag ourselves out to the city one night and saw the castle, had an awesome Turkish dinner and wine, found a starbucks and some shisha at the ice cream place. A perfect way to end our trip.

This weekend was great too, like I said, the Olympic Distance Race was a two thumbs down event, but, it was followed by Dr. Falafel with Mel and Anika, then Wein and Co. and Levante with Matthew, so what's not to love about that day! Today was great too. I started off with a good long talk with my mom, I LOVE Vonage, and then I spent the whole day watching the Vienna half and full Marathon runners. Mel and I met just before 10:00 and watched Halle and Paula take 1st for men and 1st for women in the half marathon, I just can't believe how fast their legs move! Then we continued to stand and watch for another hour or so, we were right at the finish line, it was just amazing to watch so many people cross that line! We saw the first marathon finishers too, the Vienna City Marathon Record was broken, so exciting! Then Mel and I grabbed a quick lunch and I headed back to watch Anika cross the line, she did the relay. It was a bit weird not to be running. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't do it, who knows. Maybe next year. I talked with Anika for a while, then met up with Steph and Eddie and we all went to Motto, this great boat/cafe place and celebrated with some Prosecco and snacks. All in all, life is GOOD!

I have a busy month or so of travels coming up, my mom will be here soon, and I have a race May 20, sure hope I'm ready! Now it's off to bed, only 9:22 and I'm exhausted.

Crazy Catch up...

I don't know what has been going on to prevent me from writing in this thing... oh, right, Ironman training. Seriously. It is an obsession between the nutrition and training and trying to fit in work, it really is ALL I do.

So, a quick version of training and then life.

Training, I am now in Week 15, so nearly halfway through training. I took a swim class, which I HATED and dreaded every week, it was 8:00 - 9:00pm on Thursdays, which is WAY late for me to be out and about. But, it really made a big difference in my swim technique, I am still terrified of the swim and am pretty sure I will end up drowning and/or getting kicked in the face. I have been reading all these blogs on Ironman Swiss and every single one comments about how it is the roughest swim start they have ever experienced and that the course is hard to follow. They also note that the swim caps they hand out are the same color as the bouys you are trying to follow... hopefully that will be different. I swam the full distance in the pool the other day and it felt easy and took about 90 minutes, so I feel like I am at least on the right track. Open water swim is a whole new thing though... I have asked a friend if when it warms up a bit she will come ride along side me in a boat and hit me with a paddle while I swim, so you know, I get used to pain and being lost and confused.

I have been loving riding my bike, the indoor trainer is HARD and I did a few indoor spinning classes that were near impossible, 3 hours... I was dying! I have been on a couple rides in the last few weeks outside and it seems easy after all the indoor training. I rode just under 100km in around 3:50 last Saturday and felt just fine. I am also looking for a weekend/time to go and preview the St. Polten Half Ironman course but, my weekends are booked! I'll get to that later. I'd like to go and get my bike fitted, but I am just so busy! Should make the time though.

Running has been fine. I've noticed that I am working a lot harder on my riding, so my legs are tired for the runs. I am always doing the required amount of time, sometimes a bit more actually, but feel like my legs are pretty heavy. I've been meeting a friend and running in the Prater on Sunday mornings and have been loving that. We'll see, I think I need to start running with people or doing something to make it more entertaining. I used to run with a friend from work, but she has moved back to the States, and I'm realizing how much I miss that! I also added in a third swim so am up to 4 days a week of having afternoon trainings, so would need to find someone that wanted to meet and run at 5:00 in the morning... this will not likely happen.

Nutrition... so I'm still trying to follow the Paleo Diet, but at times it's a bit hard. I just get hungry, it doesn't limit calories or anything, but how much fruit, lean protein and vegetables can a person eat! I just feel like it's not a meal without some grains. I am starting to add in the grains during the Stage 3 of my eating cycle, which just feels like a feeding cycle at the zoo or something. I cheat every now and then. My favorite cheating is that I'm back to my routine Dr. Falafel Saturday. It really is the best thing ever!

Now, the rest of life.

Work, I just can't be bothered to discuss it. It's happening, I go every day and I get my job done.

Travel, have tons of things coming up and went on a great trip to NYC! First, Steve ended up coming back from Thailand early, which has been really nice. I thought he was going to be gone through March, and he ended up back in January. So... I decided to go to NYC and visit my friend Jen and then our friend Heather joined us too. I loved every second of the trip! We walked around, saw Ground Zero, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, celebrated national Margarita Day with the best Mexican Food I have had in ages, went to Top of the Rock, had our 5 seconds of fame in the background of the Today show, ate tons of delicious meals, shopped around, walked around and a highlight for me was running in Central Park. I could not have asked for better weather either! It was absolutely amazing! I also went to Philadelphia and had an amazing time with two friends from Dubai. It's so nice to be able to see people again! I mean, you make great friends abroad, but, realistically could NEVER see them again.

Steph and I recently went and visited our friend Heather in Barcelona for Steph's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. It was amazing! Heather and I spent our time wandering around, shopping a bit, drinking a bit, eating a bit, even had an afternoon on the beach. It was a perfect long weekend! I love Spain and am really hoping to someday be able to pay off all my college debt and find a job in a city that I want to live in that I can train year round in the sun and live on the water... Barcelona, Nice, Italian Riviera, maybe a tropical island... who knows!

Upcoming trips, this is what is crazy. I will be meeting Jess in Turkey on April 7, which I can't wait for! Then April 20 - 22, I am going to Zurich to visit a friend and preview the bike course, next weekend is free in Vienna, then it is a crazy May. The first weekend we are going to Sofia, Bulgaria, then next weekend Budapest, the following week my mom arrives and I have a Half Iron in St. Polten, the next weekend is a driving trip to Croatia, the next is a hiking trip, and then... nothing. As of right now, but who knows! I can't seem to say no to any travel options. Heather and I have already booked Thanksgiving next year! Malta! Crazy.

Life in Vienna... it has been ok. I just don't love it here. I try to find some good things about the city, but I can't. Plenty of good things about my life here, but it is truly a depressing and boring city. You have to work hard to be "ok" here as opposed to having a vibrant and exciting city. Well, that is my opinion of it at least. The weather was great this winter, we had a few weeks of FREEZING cold weather, but for the most part there was NO rain and gray, which is what makes me crazy. So, it's been a blue sky kind of year. I'm loving it!

I have about a zillion things I should be doing, so I guess I'll get to it. And, try to get some pictures up and remember to post more often!