May in Review: Lots of Biking, and MAJOR Strength Time PR!

May saw some DECENT numbers! Here’s what my training log looked like:

(Don’t let the red and purple in the final week scare you: the red is just noting a race, and the purple was noting some shoulder pain after trying something different in the gym - I don’t think they are related.)

I had some BIG NUMBERS for strength training and bike miles!

RUN: 91.85 miles
BIKE: 360.69 miles (outdoors)
TRAINER TIME: 2 hours and 21 minutes
STRENGTH TIME: 66 hours and 53 minutes

Total saddle time: 22 hours, 3 minutes, and 24 seconds

That’s not really super impressive saddle time, but so much of it was outside, so 360+ miles of outdoor riding is huge! That might be a top-5 month of bike miles in the last 18+ years (post-Ironman training). I had 1 bigger month all of last year, 2 bigger months all of 2024, and 0 bigger months all of 2023. And my years were all smaller before that. So this random May might have been my 4th biggest of month of biking in the last 18+ years.

And that’s a massive lifetime PR for strength time! I’ve been getting in some good longer workouts! And what has helped (artificially) bump that number even higher is that I’m doing an extra 15-20 minutes of new shoulder exercises about 5 days/week to help strengthen my shoulder issue from December. May was nearly 67 hours, and my previous PR was April with 60 hours and 42 minutes. So 6+ hours more is a big jump from a previous lifetime best!

This month will see a decrease in bike miles - partly due to more family things happening this summer, and partly due to getting a gym membership so I'm HOPING that one of my biking days each week will transition back to pool time instead.

Read more...

Two Big(ger) Weeks of Workouts

The last 2 full weeks have had some good workouts. They both saw a jump in steps...

... and a solid jump in "intensity minutes" as well:

1804 last week, and 2001 the week before that!
(This current week is only counting through yesterday: Mon, Tues, and Wed.)

Here's what those 2 weeks looked like in my training log:

Those look like "normal" training weeks! I mean, I'm still feeling slow as shown by my slowest 5K in years a few days ago, but the training weeks are starting to look like they should!! That calendar shows 24:39 of training 2 weeks ago, and 22:47 last week (taking it easier on Saturday and Sunday because of the 5K on Monday). 22-some hours has been a "good normal" week since using this training log since December, and the 24-some hours from 2 weeks ago is my biggest week this year!

That bigger week 2 weeks ago was capped with my first interval workout in nearly 2 months, and then my longest bike ride in 17 years (and my hilliest ride on record). That ride alone maybe gave me an extra hour of training time that week. Rides like that don't happen too often! That was 104.2 miles of riding 2 weeks ago, and that was just across 3 rides with one of those being on my mountain bike! May is shaping up to be a decent month in the saddle!

Read more...

Long Ride: PR for Ascent!!

The day after I ran some 800s at the track as my first speedwork in 6 weeks, I had an open afternoon, so I went out for a long ride. My only goal was to hit lots of hills and try to break my ascent record of 2400 feet. That PR was on a purposely hilly ride 2.5 years ago. I was aiming for 45+ miles, so a NICE LONG ride finding lots of hills.

I planned to do a pretty "usual" route out to Big Rivers Trail and back which is about 26 miles by itself. I often do that ride and add on some extra little bits to make it 30-some miles. (In fact, I did this usual route 2 weeks ago and added on some extra bits to make it 40+ miles.) But I started this ride going along the river in the OTHER direction to hit a few extra hills and get in 12+ miles before it even felt like I was starting my "usual" route.

When I added on a hill by Hidden Falls, I had to stop on my way up because I came across the biggest snake I've ever seen in the wild! (And in the middle of St. Paul nonetheless!!) A naturalist page I'm a member of on Facebook tells me it's a western fox snake:

Just soaking up the sun!


Pulled forward to get my bike in the shot to "prove" I took the photo.

I was feeling QUITE good for this entire ride! I kept waiting for a BONK, but it was always going well! I didn't bring any food, and there was a 14 mph wind out of the west, but I was doing well! I KNOW that part of the reason I wasn't hurting too much was because I was NOT focused on speed at ALL. I was only focused on riding far, and hitting some hills. I bet if I was trying to keep my average around 20 mph, I could have been hurting. Lesson learned: ease up when wanting to go far and it feels MUCH EASIER.

Long story short, I easily got in 50+ miles! I had no way of knowing my ascent as I was biking, but I felt 95% certain that I had PRed. And when I got home, saved my workout, and opened my Garmin app, it showed me I had done it:

18.3 mph isn't fast, but look at the lower left: 3,291 feet of ascent!


I set a hearty PR!


I wasn't aware of this, but I also set a distance PR with my Garmin!
(I've gone longer in IM [and 70.3] training days years ago, but that was all pre-Garmin.)

So here was my elevation with all the hills:

Map with hills noted...


... and the corresponding hills labeled on my elevation chart.

Here's what hills I hit:

A: Under 35W
B: Up from dam (short)
C: River bottoms to Franklin
D: Up to underneath Washington on the east bank
F: Behind Coffman Union
G: Marshall up from River
H: Marshall up to Merriam Park Library

[All those above were extra... now I was starting my "usual" route.]

I: Down and up Hidden Falls near Hwy 5
J: Down and up Marina Hill along Shepard
K: Across 35E bridge
L: Down and up hill from Yacht Club to 35E
M: Across 35E bridge again (same as K)
N: Long "false flat" uphill on Big River's Trail
O: Up and down around the cemetery
P: Long "false flat" up along Hwy 13 south of I494
Q: Turning around to come up Hwy 13 by Yankee Doodle
R: Big climb on Lone Oak from Hwy 13
S: Big climb up Big Rivers just north of I494
T: Up hill from Yacht Club to 35E (same as L)
U: Long "false flat" along Shepard from 35E

Two things: First, yes, I know I forget "E." My bad. And second, I didn't know what that quick sharp hill was just before P on the map, but then I realized that I went up that nasty hill just north of 494 on Big Rivers (S on the map) an EXTRA time as I was still heading out. Missed that one!

I was in the saddle for all these hills until R: that climb up Lone Oak had me hammering. And then near the top of S as well. And then at T too. My legs were tired of the hills, but I wasn't in a bad mood!

(Also, my chain and/or my shifting cable has been stretching out as I've slowly been having trouble getting into or staying in my large front chain ring. And it kept "skipping" or falling off on this ride, so I did 95% of this ride in my small front chain ring. So I wasn't bombing down hills because I didn't have the gearing to do that.)

L and T on the map: doing the Yacht Club hill an extra time.
(Two times going down it fast, and 2 times coming up it slow.)

I texted a screenshot of my ascent to my 2 cycling brothers-in-law because they had recently done a hilly ride in WI that was around 4000 feet of ascent. One of them sent back a screenshot of their ascent PRs that was 10,331 feet!! I'm glad I don't live in that part of WI with allllllllll those hills! :) I told him that I could consider 4000 feet or even 5000 feet, but 10K was WILD!!!

So that was the most ascent I've had on a bike ride since wearing a Garmin (14 years), and my longest ride since my Ironman and 70.3 days (18 years). I had to look up the Ironman WI bike course, and that has around 5500 feet of elevation change over that 112 mile ride, so that's my true LONGEST ride and MOST ASCENT too. Maaaaaaybe I'll try to beat that ascent some day, but no chance of any century+ rides in my near future.

Read more...

Week in Review: Big Training Time Numbers, Missed (Outdoor) Bike Ride

Here's what last week's training looked like:

23 hours and 54 mins of overall training is the biggest since tracking my workouts on Final Surge (since November). My strength time might be a weekly PR at 14 hours and 47 mins, but that's partly due to doing some extra shoulder exercises for my PT. And 6 hours and 49 minutes of saddle time is the 2nd biggest in the last few months (just behind my birthday week 6 weeks ago where I got in some good rides and a long birthday spin totalling just over 7 hours - but that week had a bit less overall training time at 23:32 compared to 23:54 last week).

• MON: shorter long run and PT legs. I posted about this "long run test run" later last week. It went OK! Nothing fancy, but decent speed.

• TUES: good upper body, and moderate spin. Again, good upper body, but then just an easier spin in the afternoon after that "test" run the day before. I just did 75 mins with 2x10 min efforts:

• WED: easy run, and good PT legs and core. The 2 bike rides on Wednesday were just easy rides on my mountain bike taking Charlie to school and picking him up from baseball as I posted about on Monday. Otherwise, just a decent day of workouts.

• THURS: good upper body and long trainer ride. This bike workout started out more depressing as I had a specific window of time to get in a good outdoor ride, but it started raining. It was light at first, so I got all my outdoor gear on and got my bike hauled up from the basement, but it was just a bit too wet when I stepped out the door. Dang. But I turned that depressing lack-of-an-outdoor-ride around pretty quick because I cranked out a decent indoor workout. I never do 15 minutes efforts on the bike, but I did 4x15 min efforts as a longer trainer ride:

A good long trainer ride!

• FRI: easy run and good PT legs and core. I saw THREE turkeys in different spots around the neighborhood on this run! It's common to see a small flock, but usually down by the river. To spot 3 turkeys in 3 different areas is rare:

On Summit Ave.


On Fairview Ave.


On the Marshall Hill.


Looping run still sticking close-ish to home because of a sore calf.
Turkeys spotted at split 4, 6.5, and 9.

• SAT: long ride and good upper body. First a good upper body workout in the morning. And then I got out late afternoon on a nice ride. I had no goals - just to ride (that's rare!). I sort of kept it "moderate" most of the way through, but didn't push too hard. I did a basic 26 mile out-and-back route down Big Rivers, but I tacked on a lot of extras to end with 41 miles:

All 5 mile splits. Normally I turn around before split 3 to nearly hit 30 miles.


I found 2 nice new hills on a re-paved trail along Lone Oak Road.

41 miles with a 19.0 mph overall average is fine. Nothing amazing, but a good long(-ish for me) ride.

• SUN: core. Just a rest day with some walking, stretching, and core work.

My total training time looks good (and "normal"), but my individual workouts weren't anything special, especially my runs as I'm coming back from this calf injury. My strength time was great, and so was my saddle time. But I need to work on more SHORTER / HARDER bike workouts. My biking time is going to be "odd" for a few weeks as Charlie has baseball games and Henry has track meets on a lot of the days that I try to get in my rides. I'll make it work in whatever way I can!

Read more...

Injured Week of Non-Training

I mean, in the grand scheme of things, this ins't bad for an "injured" week:

That's all weight lifting (in black, totalling 14.5 hours which is NICE) and some easy to easy/moderate trainer rides (in green).

After 8 consecutive weeks of 1500+ "intensity minutes" (under the red line) I only had 1082 minutes last week (the red arrow):

And that number was only as high as it was because I got in some good, hard lifts.

I think it's actually a PR for weekly strength time! I just barely broke 14 hours just over a year ago, and I had 14 hrs 24 mins this past week! Nice!

And look at how my HRV numbers TANKED when I wasn't doing any hard training:

Nightly numbers are the dotted line, and it pulled me into "unbalanced"
last Wednesday (after skipping 2 runs and 2 hard bike workouts).

My "endurance score" had been on the upswing since early February (after taking a hit in Jan because of a week-long trip), but now it leveled out:

I've been having weekly step counts around 150,000 since last summer (I think I only was below 125,000 for 2 weeks last year), but last week was 110,000. Even if I had my 3 normal runs, that only would have put it around 138,000, so it would have still been on the smaller side (showing that I didn't get up / out and move as much because my calf was sore). This shows in one of the apps I use to earn rewards for walking... Here's what March looked like:

All the GREEN is for days I hit the goal they had set for me.

And here's what the injured week in April looked like:

The only goal met was the run that injured me on the first.

I've been wearing the "night splint" boot for the last 12 nights, and I think I'm on the upswing. I'll test my leg a little more and report back on Thursday, before some "Friday Funnies" on Friday.

p.s. If you want to start earning rewards for walking (and it logs a lot of "steps" if you have your phone in your pocket while biking too), download WeWard and use code JUSTFISH6195 so we both earn a bonus. That's where the 2 calendars came from above.

Read more...

2025 Year End Totals

• SWIM: 88,057 yards.
• BIKE: 1756.15 miles, with 1166.79 of those miles as actual "training."
• COMMUTING BY BIKE: 589.36 of those 1700+ miles (biking with boys as they bike/run, to class, to meetings, to swim, etc).
• BIKE TRAINER: 80 hours 2 minutes (1440.60 miles calculated at 18 mph).
• RUN: 1202.22 miles.
• WALKING: 1098 miles.
• STRENGTH / CORE: 631 hours 43 minutes (approx).
• WEIGHT: 160.0 start, 160.0 finish, 162.2 high (Aug), 155.2 low (Jan), 159.48 monthly average.
• BODY FAT: (monthly average) 14.4% high (Oct), 13.5% low (March), 13.87% average.


SOME NOTES ON THOSE YEARLY NUMBERS:

• SWIM: 10th most out of 20 years of training - right near the middle. I lost pool access mid-August, so that total "is what it is" (which is really my motto for swimming even when I HAVE pool access). Our family is talking about joining a gym late-spring or early summer, so we'll see if I have any swim totals for 2026.

• BIKE: 2nd biggest year ever! It didn't feel like anything special. In fact, my bike totals feel like a let-down, but maybe that's because my PR year was the year prior in 2024, so I was used to doing a lot more - I backed off in 2025. I still commuted a fair amount, but not nearly as much as 2023 and 2024. I had 4 months with 300+ miles in 2024, and only 3 months in 2025. But I still continued my "bike outdoor every month" streak since March of 2023.

One big change in 2025 from previous years was that I had NO mountain biking - I had a lot of "commuting" miles on my old mountain bike, but no actual "mountain biking." The boys are now at that age where they have busy summers, so we don't get out for things like that as easily as we used to.

• BIKE TRAINER: 3rd biggest year ever! Again, much like my biking total, this didn't feel special. 2025 was my 3rd biggest year ever, behind 2021 and 2022. 2023 and 2024 had a bit less because I was outside biking more on those years. And these "trainer miles" in 2025 were a bit slower on average - I used to calculate my trainer miles at 19 mph, but I used 18 mph this year as I often took it easier on the trainer. (I don't have a power meter or any way to gauge "speed" on the trainer, so this is an estimate.)

Adding up "real" bike mileage (1756.15) and "trainer" bike mileage (1440.60) gives me 3196.75 total miles for 2025. That's 3rd lifetime behind 2024's 3700+ miles (where I did more outside but less on the trainer) and behind 2022's 3500+ miles (where I did a TON on the trainer).

• RUN: BIGGEST YEAR EVER!! FOR THE 5th STRAIGHT YEAR!! I was in a walking boot and not running at all from late summer 2019 through Feb 2020. Then I slowly started to run again as Covid hit. 2020 was a "rebuilding" year, and then I ran a PR for milage in 2021. And again in 2022, and 2023, and 2024. And now a 5th PR in a row for 2025! Wild! THAT WILL NOT CONTINUE!!

I didn't have *as* great of year at the races in 2025 as I did in 2024, but it wasn't bad. I learned that a month of crappy training in June really took a bite out of my speed - I set a few lifetime PRs in 2024 (5K, 5 mile, and 10K), and then I re-set the 10K PR again early in 2025. But June of 2025 taught me that if I want to be fast, I really need to be consistent. I'm not complaining as I LOVE all the family fun we had in June, but I need to be realistic that in my mid-40s, I can't have an entire month that's "not the norm" and then plan to race fast. I'm OK with that! Life is balance - it's not all about racing as fast as I can at every race... especially as I age.

Long run distance each week of 2025. No long runs shortened due to
injury! And all "normal" long runs (not pre- or post-race) of 10+ miles.


Total weekly run distance for 2025. A visible build in
late summer for the TC 10 Mile in early Oct.

The only thing that stands out as "interesting" in that graph is the one blue dot (indicating a race week) in late November that doesn't take a dip at all. That was because I fit in a 5K while actually adding in another run. I was happy that worked out the way it did!

• STRENGTH / CORE: BIGGEST YEAR EVER!! I just noted that it was my 5th straight year with a running distance PR, but this is my 6th straight year with a strength time PR! I didn't expect to keep that up in 2025, but I did. I went almost 50 hours longer than I did in 2024. I, again, do NOT EXPECT TO KEEP THAT UP in 2026!

• WALKING: I've been going on more Garmin-tracked walks since early in 2023 (before going on an anniversary trip to Italy where I was concerned about how much walked we'd do and didn't want to hurt myself). I've never tracked it before in my "year in review" posts, but I looked back on my Garmin to see what I did in 2025 compared to 2024. I THOUGHT I was walking more this year, but I really wasn't: I walked 1088 miles in 2023 and 1098 miles in 2024. (That's walks logged as a walking activity on my Garmin, not just total movement saying "you walked about this far.") I've logged a walking activity of at least 1 mile every day since November 2023 (that's not TOTAL walking in a day, but at least 1 walk that was 1 mile or more... so 3 walks in a day all of 0.75 miles wouldn't count).

Related to "walking:" I hit 10,000+ steps every day (a streak that started in early April of 2023), and I also had 125,000+ steps every week except one in late June. I've logged at least one 1+ mile walk every day since late November 2023. I set a monthly steps PR in October of 2025 with 680,329 steps (nearly 22,000 each day). And I've kept a streak of at least a 30 minute workout/day going since late in 2023 (EXCEPT for Thanksgiving Day where I ran the Turkey Day 5K and then logged a "walk" on the way back to the car of over 1 mile, but less than 30 minutes. So I missed getting in my 30+ minute activity that day (with a 17:42 5K and a 24:00 walk) for the first time in almost exactly 2 years [around Thanksgiving 2023].)

• WEIGHT: climbing back up a bit. I was averaging over 160 lbs from 2016-2020. Then I was down at 157.x on average from 2021-2023. In 2024, I went down a bit more to 156.8. And in 2025 I was up to an average of 159.48 lbs. To be fair, I've been doing a lot of longer/harder upper body workouts, and some of that might be muscle. But to be fair in another direction, I also like snacks, and I haven't been the best about resisting those recently.

Monthly averages for 2025: pretty consistent.


Monthly body fat averages. Nothing for Dec because I never
logged anything before BeginnerTriathlete died in early Dec.

Here are my monthly totals according to my training log:

[Note that where I tracked my miles on BeginnerTriathlete shut down in early December, so the date at the top doesn't show through the end of the year. But I Photoshopped in December's totals once the year was over to make it correct.]

2025 mileage. Lost pool access in mid-Aug (obviously).


2025 time. Blue is strength, and maroon "sports" is all trainer time.


Monthly totals if I added in "bike trainer miles" at 18 mph.

That last graph really highlights my big March, a smaller June with lots of fun family trips, and a quieter Sept and Oct focused more on running and less on biking.

Also, in all of my training prior to 2023, I had one graph get CLOSE to 500 total miles in a month. (That's miles of running + miles of biking + swimming yards multiplied by 100, which is how BT shows that info.) Then in 2023, I went over 500 miles of combined training 3 times, and I went over 500 miles SEVEN times in 2024 (coming close another 2 times). Up above in the graph from 2025, I broke 500 miles 4 times: March, May, July and August. I can't really make that a "goal" for doing that X many months in 2026, but it's clear that the more overall miles I put in, the better/faster I race.

And March of 2025 was my highest mileage month EVER. I didn't realize that before going back and checking these "year in review" posts! I've barely cracked 600 total miles a few times, but March was closing in on 700 miles (683.37 to be exact).


Other random graphs:

Weekly steps.


Monthly steps showing October's PR.


Intensity minutes: averaging 1,559 / week during this timeframe.


Average high and low heart rate. The dips in the “high” HR are from easier weeks.


Floors climbed: 2 bigger lines in June from hiking and Hawaii.
(Also corresponds with lower “intensity minutes” a few graphs above.)


Total "activity" time (again, showing a big March).


Calories.


Combined distances (not counting swimming as "yards x100" like the BT graphs do).


Swim time, losing pool access in August.


Bike time, again showing that big March!


Bike workouts, showing small June and Oct.


Running ascent: my run miles aren't usually very different month-to-month,
but Feb and Dec were a LOT on the treadmill with 0 ascent.
(And June was running in hilly WI and hilly Hawaii!)


Race time predictor.


Other Garmin-based numbers, including my VO2 max (floating between 60 and 68).


All 2025 activities total. (That run cadence must include
walking/resting during intervals, because I'm more around 170).

TOP ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTS OF 2025: (counting down from #6 to #1)

(The first 3 here are sort of "low lights"...)

SIX: I learned that I can't have a randomly "easier" month and expect to keep racing as fast. June was a really fun month. I didn't have the same level of training across the board, and my races suffered. I'm totally not complaining, but I'm noting that it happened! If I plan to have some GREAT race, then I need to have months of consistent training leading up to it... and I don't think that I'm planning to have some GREAT race at this stage in my life with busy boys with wild schedules. I'd rather be there for them and do my best at my own pointless sports endeavors. Which brings me to my next point...

FIVE: My slowest 1 mile race ever. After a random June with lots of random (inconsistent but not “bad”) training, I couldn’t keep up my streak of sub-5:00 1-mile races. Officially, the 2025 Raspberry Run 1-Mile was my slowest 1 mile ever at 5:04, and only my 3rd time over 5:00 (behind my first mile race of 5:00.7 in 2008 and a slower one in 2018 when I was deeper into raising younger kids at 5:02). I will NOT be having a sub-5:00 1-mile goal in 2026 - I will be racing a 1-mile, but no fast goals.

FOUR: Hurting my shoulder after a big upper body day. I really started hitting my upper body hard! And during/after a big workout in mid-December, my right shoulder felt crappy... like it did years ago when I had an issue swimming. Dang. It's still not 100% and I'm still taking it easy while lifting (and doing no shoulders). I want to get back to lifting "comfortably" (without concern of hurting something) very soon!

Photo on the day I hurt my shoulder.

THREE: PRing a 10K in my mid-40s on a day I didn't expect to! The 2025 Get in Gear 10K came with an unintentional 10K PR (when I had just set a 10K PR on the same course the year before!). I was hurting half way through, but then I was able to negative split the race pretty dramatically (18:30 first 5K / 17:47 last 5K) to set a 36:17 10K PR. As I mentioned in my race report, I wasn't necessarily super proud of that RACE, but I was proud of my TRAINING that led up to it that made that big negative split PR possible.

TWO: Winning both duathlons I entered in 2025 - which were also the last times those events will be held. And something small went wrong for me at each race. I did the Spring Classic Oakdale Duathlon and learned just before the race that it was going to be the last time running that race. I had a funky Garmin issue which kept me from seeing my bike speed. I entered T2 kind of annoyed, but with a big lead. And then when doing the Fall Classic Oakdale Duathlon, I was in the lead by a lot on the bike, and I got stopped by a train crossing for over 90 seconds! Also, the large margins of victory by this 44-year-old dad sort of shows why these were the last times these races were held: there’s a diminishing number of people still interested in duathlons.

Pink shorts in the spring, Tutti Frutti shorts in the fall.

ONE: Racing with my 14-year-old at his first duathlon! Henry had a great first CC season as a freshman in high school, and he wanted to try something else with that running fitness. So he did the Fall Classic Oakdale Duathlon with me. Not surprisingly, he had a slower split on his mountain bike while wearing a big flappy windbreaker, but he really had a good time! It was so fun seeing him race his first multisport race! He finished 2nd in his age group with the 5th OVERALL fastest final run!

Early on in the first run, leaving T1, and crossing the finish line after his final run!


I LOVE this pic of us!!

Some random PRs that happened in 2025: I had some big upper body weeks that kept going throughout the year; I did my fastest treadmill long run ever (that I have since outdone in 2026 already); I had a huge March with 2nd biggest swim month since Covid started, 200+ outdoor bike miles, biggest run month since Covid started, and a lifetime strength time PR; I posted 561 intensity minutes in 1 day during a big day in July; I tied my highest ever "training load" with 458 at the TC 10 Mile; and I had 2124 intensity minutes in a week in November (having only been over 2000 twice before).

As for goals for 2026, I don’t really have anything “big.” Kick this shoulder injury and this butt thing that has had me skip a few runs - no distance PRs in 2026 as that’s only happened because of my consistency, and this injury has already made me inconsistent. I’m already leaving the “streaks” behind and not working on always having high “intensity minutes” each week. I could focus more on quality and not quantity (especially for leg and core workouts that have been getting longer and lazier). As I’ve said in some year’s past, maybe I’ll just work on “being fit” this year and not gunning to set milage PRs or race PRs or anything dramatic. The sore glute and the sore shoulder might be my body’s way of saying “hey old man, just ease up a bit, OK?” So some intensity might be backed off at times, but I’d still love to put in some bigger months (what I said I would NOT make a goal up above showing the graphs of my training by month, but whatever). I know I won't have another year like 2024 or 2025 again this year, but that's OK.

I also want to start eating a LITTLE cleaner, and to keep from over-snacking so much. I need to feel hungry more often. I tend to walk around the house and always think I need a quick bite. As my niece told my nephew on our car ride up north: "Stop eating! You're not hungry, you're just bored!"


And to close with something I always like to do, here’s a quick look back at the year from my Instagram page with highlights from each month:

Jan: Charlie on a billboard for his school!


Jan: Mexico trip with family!


Feb: a road trip with my boys to the Junior Olympics for Henry in Charolette!...


... where this was the reaction when we learned he did NOT place last!...


... and a fun night out while there!


March: the loss of my uncle Brad (in the middle with his brothers).


March: the boys and Mama had a fun trip to Portugal!
(Which helped propel me to such a big training month.)


April: a family race (and a 10K PR for me).


May: birthday at MOA for Charlie.


May: Henry’s last day of middle school! In the same backpack!


June: lots of fishing.


June: a “north shore” trip with my boys and niece and nephew.


June: birthday bowling for Henry.


June: Hawaii!


July: hours after getting back from Hawaii, the boys and I headed
across WI to Summer Nationals fencing tournament...


... where we had a good time at the Milwaukee Art Museum...


... and then raced back across WI and the metro for a big July 4th party.


Aug: up north and catching fish!...


... and playing on the lake!


Aug: ran into the governor at the State Fair!


Sept: Henry’s first CC season in high school.


Sept: Charlie’s second volleyball season in middle school.


Sept: Henry’s first duathlon!


Oct: a good year for the garden!


Oct: we stopped in the Dells for a night...


... on the way to a fencing tournament outside of Chicago...


... where we were able to spend an afternoon exploring parts
of Chicago that we didn’t get to a few years back.


Nov: garden totals for the year: 4011 total tomatoes (3709 cherry tomatoes
across 4 varieties, and 302 large tomatoes across 4 varieties).


Nov: a solid Thanksgiving 5K for Henry and I!


Dec: a last-minute Vikings game...


... mainly for the RANDOMLY AWESOME halftime show (and a surprising win against the Lions!).
(Lainey Wilson, Andrea Bocelli, Snoop, Matteo Bocelli, and the K-Pop Demon Hunters.)


Dec: Christmas Eve mass.

Here's to a great 2026!!!

Read more...