Adventures in Travel, Part one

Hi, well. Its me....and wow, how i have experienced more than I ever anticipated on this journey back to the Midwest.

Day One started off pretty uneventful, with me up at the ass crack o' dawn, packing car and anxiously awaiting the movers to arrive at 7am to pick up all of my stuff which hopefully would fit the bill of under 1200 #.......

Note to the wise, if you are ever moving and using a professional company, absolutely consider the option to view them weighing your stuff. I went over my 1200 # limit by 20 #, and the nice guy with Atlas movers in Tucson vouched for me, kicked the other mover out of the van, and re-weighed my stuff so as to give me a better weight and let me tell you, a MUCH cheaper rate on my move! Awesome!

I was off towards Albuquerque, destination of Day One. No probs, wow, was I in for a surprise. Happily greeted 8/+hrs later by friend-of-friend Becky, unloaded minimal items and off for a nice run of 55 min at elevation. Uggh....running midday never suits me well but a workout is better than NO workout, right!!?!?!??!!?
Yummy dinner at Flying Star Cafe with a hearty salad, bread, and fruit......what could go wrong, right?!


more later...trust me, it gets better......

I'm moving forward.....

Moving on Out.....

Bike is packed--in a ghetto fabulous box , surrounded by mounds of electrical tape, bubble wrap, and newsprint.

Bed is stripped, only the mattress pad remains, as I attempt to do all sheets, towels, and pillow cases left so that I have clean linens upon arrival.

Boxes, packing tape, lots of hairs that have been pulled from my head--all on the floor of my living room.....Boy, I cannot wait ' til 730am tomorrow when my movers get here to load me up.

And then, its Madison or bust!!!

I'll stop along the way in Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and St Lou....Between my mom's old high school friends and my friends-of-friends, I have the benefit of not getting hotels and crashing on their couches! Nice!!! Hopefully I'll get there with time to sneak a short run or swim in....if not, I guess this is a recovery week. From what race you ask?? The race to get to Wisconsin. That's as about as good of an excuse I can give:)

I will be blog-absent until I get cable. And, oh yeah--a computer! So until next time, happy reading and happy training. I hope that my adventure back to the Midwest is fun, exciting, and eventful in a good way!

Until next time!

Last weekend's events.......

I am 7 days tardy on this post, but its a good reminder of why I will REALLY MISS TUCSON! Last weekend the crew got together for a fun night out (see below) at Bumsted's--if you are ever in Tucson, check it out! On 4th ave, a cool little eatery.....huge sandwiches, salads, burgers, great specials on pints (yea we had a few of those)......Yummy!!! This pic is the group prior to early (9:30pm) departure so that we could climb Lemmon the next morning!!



We started our workout from mile 12-Bear Canyon, which was a total switch. Unfortunately, last weekend's temps were rather humid and hot, so when we got rolling at 7am we decided to start from higher elevation and climb to the top! Casual, fun and still challenging .......I added more miles for a good solid 50mile day in the saddle.......

More move stuff going on this weekend...my life is lame....that's all I talk about anymore these days....it's like "don't ask about the move, alright!!!!?" HAHAHAH!!! fortunately it'll be a vision of the past in a few weeks here....

Off to pack some stuff, have another cup of java at 1pm, and then head to Target...Ahhh, that sounds like a decent afternoon....

Something More.........

Wheww! Who knew how much work it would take to get this move rollin'.....

T-minus 7 days, and I am done done DONE with my job in Tucson! (YAHOO!!) In fact, (don't tell my boss!) but I have pretty much checked out! Between all of the phone calls to movers, insurance, apt/landlords, and the insane number of odds and ends that you need to take care of, there really isn't much time for work!

I have been sneaking in a fair amount of quality training, which I am very happy with...and I think I realized that "hormones" (the pill) are just not good for me! Does anyone else out there agree!?!?? I swear, since I quit taking it about 1 month ago, I have felt leaner, faster, quicker, and had more bounce in my step. I have had a love/hate relationship with the pill for many years, and I am definitely in the hate stage at this point! No more added hormones with all the stress from the move, that's plenty for me!

Last night (thanks to quitting the pill) I had an awesome 60 min run....now, I am not your country bumpkin, so when I tune into country music, it must have an up-tempo and rock beat!! Sugarland's "Something More" came blaring thru the Shuffle as I cruised into the 40 min mark of my run.....It was about 7pm, the sun was nearly setting, the air was crisp and cool, and I was thinking to myself "I am really gonna miss nights like these in Tucson..."

But the song is so fitting to where I am in my life right now....."gotta be something more, something more than this...I need a little less heartache, I need a little more bliss....I'm gonna take my chances, taking the chance I might....find what I'm looking for..........gotta be something more...."

I have great people in my life who are so supportive of me...and those are people that will be here no matter what town I live in..........

It just makes the move a bit easier to handle.....

Until next time...
:)

FULL CIRCLE

We do eventually come back to our surroundings, familiarities.....and I am doing just that! I had mentioned in a previous blog or two that I was in the midst of some possible "big changes." And friends, those changes are about to happen.

Thurs I was offered a position in Madison, WI that I could simply not turn down! So in about 3-4 weeks here, I will be packing up the Uhaul and heading back to the Midwest to live and work! And the best part? I am so much closer to family, my BFF from college lives there with her hubby, my bro is in Chicago.....and I will be in a town full of beautiful places to train and race! I am really very excited!

The dork in me is more concerned with finding training partners and a cycling and/or triathlon team to join, and less concerned about housing! (Ha! not really, but come on, you have to get your priorities straight, right?)

Its very bittersweet! I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for in Tucson......And we are all starting to realize how very precious those friendships are with one another.....Its rare that you meet people that really get you.....and I have been lucky to meet a whole group of men and women here that do just that!

I just know that I won't lose them, so it makes things a bit less dramatic. Surely there will be tears. But as with anything, you can lose touch with people you truly care about, so it will definitely be hard these first few months!

Don't think I am writing off Tucson! I'll be back...(In fact, I am already seeing how I can score a spot on the America's Dairyland cycling team so that I can come back and race Tucson Bike Classic next April!!!?!?!?!)

So, here's to a positive and bright new change! I am very excited for new possibilities ahead!

Happy Labor Day