Stuff, stuff and more stuff

Stuff, stuff and more stuff

 

Perhaps you've seen the promo on 9News by now:  Matt Renoux and myself surrounded by cases and cases of STUFF.  Those aren't props people!  Those cases have already been shipped to Vancouver for our coverage of the Olympics.  Scary part: that's not the last of it.

 

I don't know what was in those cases and quite frankly I'm afraid to ask for fear I'll be taught how to use whatever is inside... old dog, new tricks, not on this trip please.  I've already learned how to shoot and edit and that's scary enough.  Oh and all that STUFF (camera, laptop, tripod, battery charger, etc) wasn't even with the STUFF that was already shipped.  No, I'm responsible for hauling it to DIA and making sure it arrives safe in another country... they trust me too much.

 

Actually I lied about not know what was in ALL the cases.  Renoux (we are already on a last name basis) and I split a case.  So our Sorrels, heavy jackets, and sweaters are all touching each other.  Good thing we aren't afraid of cooties. 

 

I'm really glad we sent all our sub-zero wear too: it's been too warm for snow to stay on Cypress Mountain where the snowboarding and freestyle events take place.  Its just 20 minutes outside of Vancouver.  Probably should have sent up my spring wardrobe (I don't have one, it just sounds fancy).

 

But back to the STUFF.  So we've already shipped a you-know-what-load of it to Vancouver and there's more equipment to take.  Then there's the issue of packing personal belongings for a 25 day stint away from home.  I've tried to block this thought from my mind because it's a little overwhelming and here's why:

 

On top of working 16-18 hour days, I'm going to attempt to fit in training for my full Ironman which is right around the corner on May 1st.  So I need work clothes and workOUT clothes. 

 

Herein lies my problem:  I think I own, in general, more workout related clothing than nice clothes for work.  I love them.  I have more layers than an onion and those layers can take up a lot of room in a suitcase.  I'm afraid by the time I pack my workout clothes (which will be packed first), there won't be any room for nice STUFF. 

 

It wouldn't be the first time this has been an issue.  This idiosyncrasy of mine drives my husband mad... which is why he has his own bag for packing - there is no sharing (unless he has room for some of my STUFF).

 

Time will tell how the personal packing goes.  Matt and I take off on February 6th and start going live in the evening newscasts sometime the following week before the games begin.

 

And if you see me in workout STUFF, you'll know why.

 

Vancouver here I come!

One of the questions in our yearly personal reviews at 9News is: "What would you like your next assignment to be?" For the last 5 years, I've answered that with one response: "Covering the next Olympics." When I was filling out my 2009 review a few weeks ago, I had to find a different answer.

It has been my dream to be assigned to the Olympics since I started at 9News and it has finally come to fruition! I’m thrilled beyond belief, but not for reasons you may think.

When I tell people I’m going to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, they think it’s a cushy, glamorous job where I get to hang out with Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White for a couple weeks. It’s not really like that. In fact, we are gone for 25 days (without our families), we don’t have time to attend many events and we’ll be lucky to sleep more than 3-4 hours a night. Sounds fun huh? Oh it will be!

In my profession, these are the events we live for: the action is everywhere and everybody wants to know more about it. We have countless Colorado athletes involved, most of whom we’ve already interviewed and I can’t wait to report on not only their success, but also the success of Team USA as a whole.

The Olympics are unlike any other sporting event. The games bring together the worlds’ most talented athletes on a stage that can cause us to toss aside political and religious views. Instead, our hearts feel the sweat and tears every athlete puts forth as each one represent his or her country and shows unparalleled pride in the process.

Pride in country.

Those words have been the underlying theme every time I’ve asked one of our Colorado athletes what it means to be an Olympian. As proud as they are to represent our great country, I will be just as proud to report on their accomplishments.

My dream assignment does come with one negative: leaving my family. I will miss my husband and two kids like crazy. My son turns 10 on February 13th and the guilt of not being home for that milestone bums me out more than him. I have never missed a school party; my kids and their classmates have come to expect my chocolate chip cookies, but those will be absent on Valentine’s Day. My 7 year old daughter likes the fact she will be the “Mom” while I’m gone, but other times I find her in tears because she doesn’t want to be the only girl at home.

Thankfully my mother-in-law is coming in from Florida for two weeks to help my husband and my family will be helping out as well. My guess is that my son will have a bigger and better birthday with me gone!

So, while there is guilt, I feel good about leaving my comfort zone and crossing north of the border for the first time on February 6th. I will keep you up to date from now until my return on March 2nd as to what we are working on, who we’ve talked to and any other fun stories we come across while we are there.

In the meantime, still lots of work to do before we go so I’d best get back to it ‘eh?

Rockin and Rollin My First Marathon

When I saw the full page ad in a running magazine, I knew it would be a piece of cake to get my husband there as a spectator. The question was: would it work with my crazy schedule of working home Broncos game and the Steve Fairchild show on Sundays?


Turns out it was perfect. December 5th in Las Vegas was the weekend after CSU's season finale and the Broncos were out of town. My Hold 'Em playing husband was all in: My first 26.2 would be the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon.


Somewhere along the way, my husband decided he'd like to run the 1/2 Marathon. This coming from a man who never liked to run and sometimes mocks my rationale for loving the sport. I signed him up anyway, and told him he owed me the entry fee back if he bailed.


This was the Rock 'n' Roll folks first year taking over the Vegas Marathon. In 2008 the race had 11,000 entrants. This year there were 27,100!


Some interesting tidbits before I get into the race:
35% were running the full or 1/2 for the first time (including us)
59% registered were women (sweet!)
85% traveled from outside of Clark County where Vegas is located
175 Musicians made up 35 bands and used 325 guitar picks as course entertainment
250 High School Cheerleaders and 500 Pom Poms stayed upbeat from start to finish along the routes
The medical tents went through 75 one-pound jars of Vaseline (can you say friction?)

We flew in on Friday (the race was Sunday) and were invited to a VIP/Media party Friday night which was a lot of fun. I met Frank Shorter for the first time and a lot of the elite runners were there as well. I noticed they weren't eating and drinking like we were - very interesting.

Saturday was just a fun day in Vegas. Mike played poker and I went shopping with my brother and his wife at the Outlets. We went to bed at a good time and tried not to be nervous for Sunday morning.


The cold snap that hit Colorado this week went through Nevada first and while the temperatures weren't in the single digits, it was in the low 30's race morning with a little breeze. I brought full length tights but opted to wear my capri tights thinking I would get too warm. I was wrong.


The start was really cool. A Cher impostor sang the Star Bangled Banner and a fireworks display lasting about 15 minutes filled the sky. The first wave of 1,000 runners were off at 6:15am.


Each corral of 1,000 went about every minute. I expected mass chaos, but it was very organized and there wasn't any congestion after crossing under the start banner. We headed south down Las Vegas Blvd for less than a mile, then turned around and went north down the strip.


Both sides of the strip were closed (for the first time ever) and it was surreal to see all the runners in front, in back and eventually on both sides of the road. A local TV station was carrying the race and all the hotels had the broadcast going on their big screens which was really cool.


About 3 miles in, I noticed coverage was focused on the elite runners and I wondered where they were. Not a minute later I saw them running the other way down the strip. Now I knew why they weren't drinking wine and scarfing cream cheese and salmon crackers on Friday!


I stayed comfortable when running on the strip except for my fingers (thankfully I brought gloves). All the bodies and buildings helped create warmth. The problem came when the marathoners peeled away from the strip.


They sent us out west for a few miles and with nothing to block the elements, it got chillier and chillier. My left knee started to give me a hard time (I had tweaked something a few weeks before in a training run and it never healed) and the cold didn't help. People were starting to walk for extended periods of time including me.


I had been walking through aid stations from the get go, subscribing to the Jeff Galloway theory that I would be stronger in the final miles. But at Mile 19, I thought I was done running when a sharp pain jolted through my leg. I almost called my brother and told him to forget about waiting at the finish because I was going to be a while.


But, I was able to keep up a fast walk for probably a 1/2 mile and decided I'd try to run again. My knee/leg buckled in pain. OK, I'll just walk fast and try again in a few minutes. The next time I tried, it didn't hurt so I figured, keep this pace and just go. I somehow had won a mental and physical game with myself and got through the next couple miles with mostly running and a little walking.


At Mile 22, I had a wave of energy and euphoria sweep over me for some reason. I found a pace where nothing hurt and stuck with it. I never stopped the last 4.2 miles and was even able to kick it up a notch in Mile 26 when most people were walking.


I was smiling and singing when passing a DJ or band. I ran by a speaker blaring "Baby Got Back" and sang along. Then in the final 1/2 mile, a band was there singing Billy Idol's White Wedding and I crossed in front of them right at the end of the song when the lyrics go "More, more, more, more, more!!" I pumped my fist and screamed the words with them. I felt awesome.


The finish line was emotional. I was running hard because I wanted to get under 4 hours and knew I'd be really close. I stepped across the line, welled up with tears, grabbed my finisher medal and saw my time: 4:00:07. Seven seconds over 4 hours. I thought back to the times I walked, stopped to stretch or fiddled with the toiler paper on my one bathroom break.


But I couldn't be that disappointed. I finished, and at a couple points along the race, I didn't think I would. Mike wailed through his race in 2 hours and 32 minutes, about 20 minutes faster than he thought he would. The first-timers were a success in Sin City while my sister-in-law finished her 9th half-marathon in 1:53!


Now it's time to look for the next one. Perhaps Rock 'n' Roll Denver in October 2010... but only if I can talk CSU into a bye that weekend and get the Broncos on the road :)

Ode to my Bro

There's a day to celebrate just about everything: Birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Black Friday, Take Your Kids to Work Day and the list goes on.

But what about Sibling's Day? (Actually there is one in the works for April 10th but that kind of detracts from my blog entry here).

Besides, a Sibling's Day shouldn't be designated to just one day. When is the last time you did something nice, unexpected, or just dropped a quick note to a sibling? Trust me, it can feel very rewarding to do something for your brother or sister... and it feels even better when they do something in return.

As I look back on 2009 and ahead to 2010, I am reminded how special my only sibling is to me. My brother Ted and I have always been close, but this year was different.

I'm not sure if we are making up for lost time when I was in college and he was in the Air Force, or if we are just at a point in our lives where we realize how cool it is to hear someone say "Wow, you did that for me?"

A few of my favorite memories include:

* Two trips up Lookout Mountain as we trained for Ride the Rockies. I beat him up the first time. He kicked my butt on the second trip a few weeks later. I smiled the whole way up because I knew he worked his rear off between the two rides.
* In June we spent 7 days together riding 380 miles for Ride the Rockies. No families, just him and me, plus 2,000 friends we made on the tour. We soaked in everything, from the small towns to the big mountain passes. I remember "knocking" on his tent door one frigid morning in Leadville with a hot latte for him. He looked like a 5 year old at Christmas.
* In September I competed in the Harvest Moon Triathlon at the Aurora Reservoir (1/2 Ironman distance). It was a hilly course on both the bike and run. At about mile 12 1/2 I was running up yet another hill, cursing under my breath and wondering if I had enough juice to run the final 1/2 mile. I looked up at the top of the hill and saw a guy wearing a Copper Triangle jacket and thought "Hey, I have a jacket like that." Turns out so does Ted. It was him with his wife and two girls ringing cowbells and cheering me on. Total surprise. Suddenly I had wings as he ran with me a bit and I finished on a high.

Still to come:

* Las Vegas Marathon in December. I am running the full marathon while my husband and Ted's wife are running the half. Ted is our support staff. He has it all mapped out and is set up to receive text messages from all our timing chips so he can keep track of where we are. Most importantly, I'll have peace of mind because I know he'll be checking on my hubby (who had brain surgery in January). It's a little ironic because Ted "babysat" Mike the day after he came home from the hospital so I could take our son to his basketball game. Now he'll watch over Mike running 13.1 miles less than 11 months later!
* Ironman St. George 2010. Next May I am competing in my first full Ironman distance triathlon. Because of some previous commitments, my husband can't go, so I asked Ted if he would be up for a road trip to Utah. He didn't even hesitate saying yes.

I hope I've reached out to him as much as he has for me, but as I look at this list, I think I have some work to do.

If you have a sibling (or two or three), take a couple minutes and think about what might bring a smile to him or her. It doesn't have to cost you a penny, only your time.

Wouldn't it be nice to hear "Wow, you did that for me?"

How an old school #7 helmet is feeding families

Whenever I speak to groups, I always leave time for questions at the end. Inevitably I get asked “Who’s your favorite athlete to interview?” It’s a tough question, but there’s only one answer.

I’m not trying to name drop, but I’ve talked to, met, and/or interviewed some pretty incredible athletes and people. Gordie Howe, Lou Holtz, Bill Walton, Tom Jackson, Johnny Bench, Charles Barkley, and Shaq come to mind when thinking nationally.

On a local level, there are all the favorites like Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque, Todd Helton, Larry Walker, Carmelo Anthony, Shannon Sharpe, and the list goes on.

But it stops at John.

As a native of Colorado, orange and blue runs through my veins just like so many in this state. My parents watched Bronco games every Sunday and usually had friends over. The kids would go in the basement to watch the games and listen to our parents yell fanatically upstairs when the Orange Crush smothered opposing offenses and Craig Morton made big plays.

But then came John.

He changed everything about the Broncos, although it took a little while. Sometimes he made mistakes, newspapers poked fun at his teeth, and people wanted to know what kind of candy he gave out at Halloween.

But all the bad moments were forgotten when gave Broncos fans back to back Super Bowl wins. He can’t go anywhere without someone wanting an autograph, a picture or just a hand shake.

Thankfully I’ve been in settings where I didn’t have to stalk him to meet him.

During my time at 850KOA, I’d ran into John at various functions, but never had a chance to sit down and interview him. As luck would have it, however, I was covering the Arena Bowl Championship in Las Vegas in 2005 and his Colorado Crush won.

After the game, John and I sat in a room with the championship trophy between us as I conducted an interview. It didn’t matter if it was the AFL trophy or the Lombardi, I was interviewing John Elway, one on one, for the first time in my career.

He was incredible as usual, and continues to be. John always remembers my name AND my husband’s name every time we see him.

Which is why we opened up our wallets this weekend for Food Bank of the Rockies and dropped some dough on an old school helmet with John’s signature. Did we spend more than we were comfortable? Absolutely. But given today’s circumstances, Mike and I figured, what the heck.

The memento brings a smile to our faces every time we look at it, and the money we spent will bring many more smiles to children who take home Totes of Hope from FBR every Friday afternoon so their families have food for the weekend.

If you need a reason to give, there are plenty out there. Find what works for you and you’ll feel better about today than you did yesterday.

Slackers? I don’t think so!

A couple months ago, two of my longest-known friends e-mailed me separately, but in the same week, about how their difficulty in staying motivated to work out. So, I set out to find an event they could work towards, and that I could do with them.

I tried looking for a 5K, but with my crazy training and event schedule this summer, there wasn’t one that fit in, so I signed us up for the next best thing: the Slacker ½ Marathon!

Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them they needed to be ready for 13.1 miles within two months. The Slacker has a relay option, so I told them I would run the first part (5 ½ miles), then I would meet one of them at the relay point and run or walk with her, then meet the other girlfriend at the next relay point and do the same the rest of the way. They were both up for it without a second thought. I was psyched.

Both Sandy and Debbie started walking and jogging more and more every day because we had set this goal. They both knew the other two girlfriends were counting on them to be ready. If you’re having trouble getting motivated to workout, set a goal with a friend that you don’t want to disappoint – you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Race day was a blast. Both girls live in Parker and arrived at my house promptly at 5am because we had to be to Georgetown to hit the shuttle busses no later than 7am. Plus, a stop at Starbucks in Idaho Spring was a must!

I’ve known Debbie since preschool and Sandy since 8th grade, so needless to say, we go back a ways. We had the best time chatting and laughing in the car on the way up and back. That time in the car was time we never get together – I’ll always remember that.

The event went great. I started from the base of Loveland Ski Area and ran to Sandy pretty quick. Downhill events are fun because you can go much faster than usual (however my legs paid for it the next day!).

Sandy and I then jogged and walked the 2nd leg. We talked and caught up on more of life than we had in the car.

Then with 4 miles to go, Debbie was waiting for us at the 3rd relay point and the three of us went to the finish. Both legs of the event with my girlfriends flew by because we were enjoying each other’s company, talking about how much fun we were having and soaking in the scenery that we never take the time to see when cruising along in a car on I-70.

We held hands across the finish line and had a time of 2:21 – not bad for 3 chicks just having a good time together! Now for our next goal….. :)

Covering another losing Broncos locker room

I have covered 8 home Broncos games in 2008. After a 3-0 home start this year, I was loving it: guys were happy, talkative and sticking around long enough so I could grab an interview for my 5:40pm live shot in the locker room.

The last few losses haven’t quite been the same.

The Broncos have lost 3 of their last 4 home games – Dolphins, Raiders and now the Bills. Losing locker rooms are never easy, but I do give a lot of players credit, as many of them will face the music and own up to whatever mistakes they made during those losses.

After an opening drive touchdown, I thought for sure I’d be dealing with a winning post game group after this last game against Buffalo. Not so much.

The locker room opens up after Mike Shanahan finishes talking at the podium, which is in a different room underneath Invesco Field. Once coach is done, they open the doors and about 30-40 of us descend upon the players. Reporters, photographers, engineers, anyone with a credential (and someone without – more on that in a sec).

Everyone kind of splits up and looks around. There wasn’t a lot to choose from this week as a lot of guys took the chance while the lockerrom was closed to get showered, dressed and scram.
But there were still a few we could gaggle around. We started with Brandon Stokley. The last two Denver plays on offense came his way – one went over his head, the other he dropped. He made a great comment about how there was no reason for him to drop it and that’s why he gets paid – to catch and hold on to the ball. Ownership – I like it.

From there we grabbed Tatum Bell, Ebenezer Ekuban, Jamie Winborn and DJ Williams. DJ told reporters he was only going to talk for 30 seconds. Don’t tell him, but we got him for about 2 1/2 minutes.

I was hoping DJ would talk just a little longer because I wanted to talk to him for my live interview. Unfortunately as made it clear he was done with questions, Rod was saying “and now let’s go to the locker room at Invesco Field where Susie Wargin is standing by.” I could only stand and babble a few things. Thankfully, the guys at the station have been doing this long enough, they had some sound bites from earlier ready to go just in case a live guest didn’t pan out.

Needless to say, the locker room was pretty quiet, except for one instance: some young guy with a pass around his neck was escorted out for taking pictures with his cell phone. Not sure what he was taking pictures of, but the PR staff was not happy with him. I didn’t recognize him and he didn’t have a media credential for the locker room, obviously he slipped in with whatever credential he did have.

Word to the wise this holiday season: don’t try and pass yourself off as something you’re not!