Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Today is my friend, Jenny's, big 4-0!!!! Her (mean) coworkers decorated her desk with all kinds of black streamers and caution tape, etc. And someone gave her a necklace with a big "40" on it, so she's sporting that. I stopped by her desk to drop of some of her favorite treats, including - but not limited to - Reeses Big Cups and Peanut M&Ms. (I'm a big fan of these as well, but am not partaking at this juncture. Check back the night I finish my Ironman!).

Jen and I actually met at work, and I kid you not, she kept bugging me to come to a spinning class with her. I was hesitant to go to the class, and it certainly wasn't a convenient location for me. But, alas, I succumbed to her request and attended class. As it turns out, Jen was right on the money-I loved the class and continued to attend. Eventually, I ended up getting my Spinning certification and now teach that very class I "visited."
I also met Megan Hottman, who at that time was the instructor of the class. She started a race team, Defined Fitness Training, and I've been part of that team now for 3 years. I have been introduces to all kinds of people and adventures - all because of going to spin class with Jen!

Jenny and I have shared many memories over the past few years. In fact, while writing this entry, I was shocked to think of all the things we’ve done in really a fairly short time of knowing each other! I may not get these all in order, but a few memories include helping Jen train for her first triathlon, and being out there with her that day. We were able to finish out the run together and cross the finish line – that was fun! Early in 2006, we signed up for the Chicago marathon, which was later that fall. We did just about all of our training together for that run, which actually included us doing the Kansas City ½ marathon early in October. That was an exciting day – you can see in the pic that my sister-in-law, Kim, is with us – she ran her first marathon that day! A few weeks later, Jen and I made the trek to Chicago. It sure was a chilly day (temps in the 30’s and calling for freezing rain all day) – but we did it! What a treat it was to run every step of that 26.2 miles with Jen, and then cross that finish line with her. Chicago was her fist marathon!


Not only did we run, but we rode our bikes – a lot! We did several fun rides, of varying distances, and we trained for the MS150, which our team was riding in. We rode from Lee’s Summit to Sedalia, just the one day, and completed what was each of our first Century (100 mile) rides! This was a blast! Probably the funniest thing about that ride was when we stopped at a gas station around mile 70 or 80, maybe? We each drank some ice cold Coke and ate a giant Snickers bar. A few minutes later, we were two crazy giddy school girls, just laughing it up at absolutely everything as we finished out our ride! People were just wondering how we could be so happy at that stage – miracle drugs, I tell you! This is us post-ride, post-massage, and post-shower, feeling much more refreshed!

I really could go on and on…we really have shared many good times together these past few years – training, work, lunches, even a recent sledding adventure – it’s been a great ride, Jen, and I hope you have a fabulous 40th birthday and a great year ahead!