Hi My Name is...

Barbi and I am an addict..not "that" kind of addict... I have a few things that I just can't seem to shake wanting (and not sure that I want to): these are all things that I love and can justify "needing" more of; shoes ("I don't have a pair with this heel, strap, colour"), Lululemon ("Perfect for teaching classes in") and pretty underwear (no justification...always needed and appreciated!)
My other addiction began at the age of 20...I remember phoning home and asking my mom if I could get my first tattoo, to which she replied "It's your body, do what you like"  What a great response.  To this day, I go back to that response whenever I am considering getting a new tattoo...it's my body, so why the heck not!
I know not everyone is a fan of tattoos and that is understandable...I love them and each one of my tattoos has a certain meaning to me. I don't regret any of them as they are all from different points in my life.  When asked what I will think of them when I am older, I am confident that I will still love them, besides  I doubt anyone is going to  look at me and say "she would be a hot 80+ year old if she didn't have all those tattoos, lol!)  If nothing else when I am older it will be a story for me to tell or good mental exercise as I try to remember when/where or why I got these tattoos!
In the past few years, SV and I have been adding to our "body" art...something else we love to do together!  There is something about hearing the tattoo gun that gets my pulse racing, making me feel giddy and thinking about where to put the next one.
 Recently we found ourselves a great tattooist, Alex Maddock (check out some of his work here: http://www.facebook.com/alex.maddock.9 or here http://www.facebook.com/thetattooshoppe).  Alex is a very talented artist and so attentive to detail.  I am a huge fan of his and am happy to have had 3 tattoos done by him in the past several months.  I love how I can mention what I am thinking to him and he will take it to a level above and beyond what I was thinking.   I had been considering a larger piece...most of my tattoos aren't really out there, you wouldn't know that I have 11 tattoos...I was nervous about whether or not I could "rock" the shoulder/arm look but Alex reassured me...brought my idea to life and after some nervous energy and 5 hours on his table...I now have a shoulder/arm tattoo that I am in love with!
Thanks SOOOO much Alex!! (Just hoping my mom isn't regretting her "It's your body" response!)

Ouch!

That is the best way to sum up my first race of the 2012 season!
SV and I headed to TO for the Sporting Life 10km Race...this has become one of my favourite races and we try to do it each year...although we did skip it last year to partake in some UFC fun.
I always love heading to the city and there is something so awesome about running down Younge St with only the sound of feet pounding on the pavement!
This year the race sold out, no race day entries allowed as they had reached their cap of 22,000...truly crazy to think that 22,000 people were all up bright and early to start a 10km race!
SV and I arrived early enough to check our bags and do a light warm up run...it was cool and rainy...perfect running conditions really.  We stood together at the start line, with friends Troy (who would end up 12th overall) and Doug (who finished 84th).  As we stood in the corral it was fun to try to see the entire crowd...so much nervous energy...but we weren't nervous...more dreading the amount of hurt we were about to inflict on ourselves!
SV and I are good running partners.. pretty evenly matched. We try to stick together for as long as we can, not holding each other back or waiting for the other... I think many couples enter races together and have the intention of running together but one partner is usually stronger than the other and at times feelings might get hurt if they are left behind...or so it always seems to go.  It's great to stand at the start line with my best friend and training partner...knowing that we are both trying to run our hardest, getting to the finish line strong, motivated to stay together but also knowing that one of us will be stronger, not being upset when one pulls ahead...instead of getting defeated or upset, we are able to use the others strength to keep pushing hard and find each other at the finish.  I love how we support each other!
We shared a quick kiss before the horn went off, wishing each other good luck and then we were running...the first 2km are chaotic...people everywhere, but we managed to stay side by side... then I realized SV wasn't beside me and that made me slightly nervous...the first 4 km is pretty much a downhill and SV runs quicker downhill than I do...maybe I was going a little too hard at the start...but I had stopped looking at my watch after I saw a 3:33 for the first km...I decided it was better not to look again lol!  I felt strong through the 5km point, pretty relaxed and comfortable...by 6km I was having some left quad pain...I didn't focus on it but by 7km I was thinking that if I backed off a little it wouldn't hurt as much and I would find SV and we could run through it together...I was pretty sure I was going to break 40 mins, which was the goal, so why not back off a little...again I didn't focus on that, split second to decide and then I picked someone ahead of me and focused on trying to close the gap between us.  I am happy to say that I felt I really "raced" this one..I normally start conservatively and don't try to out sprint anyone at the end...this year I was with 2 other girls and I did my best to sprint in those final meters to the finish line...I know it wasn't pretty but I was proud of myself for pushing hard from start to finish...and I was able to take a whopping 2 seconds off my time.  I had two men thank me for pushing them because they were just trying to hang with me....guess they didn't want to be beat by a girl in a pink skirt and arm warmers, lol!
SV came in less than 30 sec behind me...also having a really strong race (over 35 seconds faster than the previous time) despite the pain in his quad after an encounter with the neighbours wiener dog!  Both of us were happy with our efforts and how strong we felt!

I am pretty happy with the start to the season, I have never fancied myself a runner...just something I did while swimming...so I am pretty happy with my overall placing..I was 144th out of 21,723...14th women overall (of 12542) and 4th(of 1324)in my age category!  SV was 175 of 21,723...159th male (out of 9169) and he placed 15th out of 824 in his age category!

Training Camp...AZ Style!

I am in love with Tucson...this was our 3rd year heading down to train and it turned out to be a solid 9 days of fun/training.  Our friends Big Tom and Tracy came with us...Tom is going to Worlds this year too and was excited to get some training in...He and SV called us "Team RumRunners".
 I put together our training plan before we headed down...this way there couldn't be any changing the schedule when we were tired/sore (or had drank too much rum).  I am happy to say that we stuck to the plan...there was some grumbling, dragging of feet and "love/hate" relationship moments between the  3 athletes and the coach (including myself,  I found myself wondering what I had been thinking!,lol).
The weather was perfect...slightly warmer than other years and we took advantage of the sunny skies and hot temperatures.  Big Tom, SV and I all had one workout where we suffered but we supported each other through the low points and it ended up being a great team week...got all of us excited to travel together in October when we head to NZ!
This is the fourth time I have headed south in April to train and I love the fitness that I come home with...it  amazes me how strong I feel when I come home from a week of training outdoors...imagine how wonderful it would be to live in a place that training outdoors year round (in a comfortable climate) was a reality...hmmmm...maybe one day!
We racked up just over 22km in the pool, over 700km on the bike and 45km of running...Very happy with the way my body responded to the training camp, felt stronger each day despite the accumulating fatigue and soreness.  Had a couple of PB moments in workouts and other than my "girlie bits" not wanting to be on the bike another day I felt like I could have kept it going.  First race of the season is this Sunday, totally excited to be toeing the start line again and regardless of what the clock reads I am going to celebrate a great few weeks with some Eggs Benedict!!

 SV and I heading out for Ride #1

 Big Tom and Sv 

 SV and I...around mile 15 on Mt. Lemmon

 Big Tom and I after Gates Pass

SV and I getting ready to do speed work!