I started training for my first triathlon, the Napa Valley Olympic up at Lake Berryessa. I got clipped in to my new bike and started a whole new type of training. For me, running had really been the focal point of my training for the previous 15 years of my life. Now, with my ankle still on the mend and me being uncomfortable to put the serious mileage in I decided it was time to try something new. I bought the bike in 2012 but hadn't clipped in till early 2013. It was tough and time consuming to train for all three aspects but the overall conditioning was definitely worth it. And then on April 14th I finished my first Olympic distance triathlon in 2:40:14.
As high as I was feeling on April 14th, that mood changed drastically on April 15th. The Boston Marathon bombing was quite an emotional day for everyone. I wasn't even there and I was an absolute wreck.
"So f'd up. Sadness, shock, and anger...just makes me nauseous. Hope everyone is ok."
- Facebook post immediately after I found out
After I found out about it I didn't leave my work computer for the rest of the day. I was trying to get a hold of everyone I knew that was either racing or attending. Luckily all my friends and family made it out just fine but the overall emotional damage had been done for everyone there along with those of us sprinkled throughout the country. You never expect it to happen in your neighborhood, to your town, but it did. And the Boston Police Department responded as any true New Englanders would, with a "not in my town" attitude. They literally shut the town down until the bastards that did this were caught. I listened to the scanners online for almost 24 hours anxiously awaiting the capture of these terrorists.
Feeling helpless out here in California, I decided it was best to show our west coast support in some way. On April 19th I put together a Run for Boston here in Monterey. I was able to get one of the local radio stations, KRML along with two news stations; KION and KSBW. We ended up raising over $500 in cash along with online donations as well. Before the run began the remaining terrorist was very close to getting caught. By the time we were done people were cheering because he had been caught. It was a fitting finish to a very emotional couple of days. The night of the bombing I was lucky enough to get to see the Dropkick Murphys, THE band of Boston in Santa Cruz. That was a great place for me to be after a long, stressful day. And the concert was amazing!!
Six weeks before the marathon bombing I got a call from one of my best friends, Autumn Roy. We hadn't talked on the phone in a while, having just been exchanging a lot of text messages as usual. I knew she had been having some health issues, Autumn was always having health issues. But this was different. She told me she had stage 4 brain cancer. Are you f'ing kidding me?! Well that was an awful conversation filled with tears and words filled of love and regret. There is an immediate sense of contrition when realizing you're going to lose someone you love. You think about all the times you didn't hang out, that you didn't call, that you didn't text just to say hi. It's hard to try and remember all of the good times right away when you realize you may not get to make any more of those memories as you move forward. But I was lucky enough to see Autumn on one last trip home in the summer; we even got to see two Red Sox games. On July 22nd Autumn died and on August 3rd I helped bury her. This was an extremely challenging time for me that tested my sobriety, my sanity, my emotional stability, and my overall well-being. I hope to GOD I never have to go through that again with anyone else.
But let's turn that 2013 frown upside down shall we?? On May 9th my life changed entirely with one harmless tour of my seahorse service area. Honestly, I didn't even know I was giving a tour that day; either I forgot or was never told. I happened to be in the service area adjacent to the seahorses, saw huge group of people standing outside the door to seahorses and was thoroughly confused. I had to enter into the seahorses to ask my co-worker a question and she informed me of the tour. As this large group of 15 or so people sauntered into the holding area that I spent countless hours raising baby seahorses in, one particular member of the group happened to catch my eye. "Hi, I'm Katie," this gorgeous woman says to me in her white shirt with her brunette hair tied back. I was immediately locked into those beautiful eyes and fabulous smile. I guess I was supposed to be talking to everyone else from her department but I didn't want to stop talking to this one person. 45 minutes later the tour was over and I made up some ridiculous excuse to walk out this "Katie;" I think I pretended I needed to make a call or something. Luckily for me I had spotted her last name on her nametag and by the end of the day I had sent her an email saying:
"It was very nice meeting you today, I hope you enjoyed our seahorses!
Talk soon,"
We went on our first date on May 15th and haven't looked back since. It's an incredible feeling and I couldn't be happier!!!
One month later, June 15th my incredible cousin Erin got married to AJ and was the first of the "first cousins" to get married. I was stoked I was able to make it and had a blast with all the fam and friends that were in attendance. That trip was also when the Bruins were in the Stanley Cup and while I didn't go to a game while at home (too damn expensive) it was great to be in town for it. And even though they lost in game 6 it was great to see them back in the big game! Two weeks later I was back in New England on a a work trip and got to travel to Woods Hole, Long Island, Hoboken/NYC, and the New England Aquarium. It was a great trip and we made some good connections along the way.
On August 25th I ran my first marathon of the year, the Santa Rosa Marathon. Even with minimal training due to the three trips back east I was able to get a PR (Personal Record) of 3:34!!! I ran it with a couple friends from Monterey and the course was fantastic. Just a month after the marathon was my second triathlon, in Santa Cruz. I took about 4 minutes off of my previous time with 2:37:08. This course was a fast course but I still have some serious room to improve my cycling. November 9th was the last race of the year, another marathon, this time in Santa Barbara and I unfortunately did not PR this time and missed it by about 30 seconds. Bigger and better races are ahead for 2014!!!
October was probably the best month of all. Katie was introduced to a serious C Payne Halloween, we watched close to 30 movies, won 1st place in a costume contest, intense playoff beard and oh yeah...the RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah that's right...one of the worst teams in baseball in 2012 (add it to the list of crappy things in that year) turned it all around with some personnel changes, key additions, a winning attitude, and inspirational leadership (possibly some luck) were the best team in baseball in 2013!! You really cannot make this stuff up...and Boston needed it.
This year ended with my sister visiting Cali and getting engaged while out here!!! NBD! I couldn't be happier for them both and cannot wait for October 11th to get here. It was a great holiday season and no reason to believe that 2014 isn't going to be an absolutely incredible year. I'm looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead, the experiences that await me, and another year of growth and development.
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
- Joining Treadmill Triathlon Club
- Successful St. Patty's Day Dinner Part Deux
- Relay for Life 2013
- 32nd bday
- Steve and Theresa got married and I went to Michigan for the first time!!
- Sox vs A's: Farrell's autograph!!
- Sox vs Giants
- Sharknado
