Dana Burland

Yahoo! I took home some hardware today. Last night (the night before the race) the race director oh so kindly hinted the heat I was in would likely include the top female finisher. Of course I wanted to do my best, but that competitive threat sent me into a late night pace setting frenzy. I do well under pressure.  I finished faster than last year (my overall time, swim, bike and run times), and my effort was good for 2nd place for overall women and 1st place in my 30-39 women's age group.  What's especially challenging about the structure of these YMCA races is that we go off in heats (groups) of 6-8 people, about every 15 minutes. So you're really only able to race (or see) the people in your group. Where this 26 year old who beat me came from--lord only knows. I never saw her! Never saw the 28 year old who finished right behind me by about 30 seconds either. Maybe she's wondering who this 37 year old rockstar is. 0:-) Anyway, here's how I raced: Swim This is my t...

Are you a Taylor Swift and/or TaylorSwiftandTravisKelce fan? WHY NOT? WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?! So, I am, as we’ve established. Down the rabbit hole of T&T I started dabbling in Travis & Jason Kelce’s podcast. Are you a Jason Kelce fan because I dare double down on my all caps WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE again! (You’re learning so much about where I’ve been mentally focusing in the last few months…) There’s a segment in the brother’s “New Heights” podcast where they talk about what’s new, typically kicked off by Jason yelling “NEW NEWS!!” New News. It’s simple. It’s fun. A few weeks ago I let it loose on C when he got home from a regular ol’ day of 1st grade. “What’s the new news, buddy?” And wouldn’t you know, like a football loving brother with a spotlight on him–he told me the new news. I heard about how a 2nd grader personally invited him to “play up” on a bigger soccer team at recess. I heard about the time math he’s working on in Mrs. B’s class, and how he's a...

Braggy 5K alert! Sorry, you can skip this, but posting for documentation. I ran a fast 5K today. It was hard, it hurt, I'm happy! 24:53. 9 seconds off my 5K PR. (Man, couldn't I have gone just 9 seconds faster today!?) Good for 36 out of 330 in my age group (females 30-39), and 80 out of 1,191 females racing. I'm faster than I was at 25. Heck yes. I'd be remiss not to humbly mention I later spent 4 hours of this same glorious day painfully trying to switch cell phone providers. And also my 4 year old coughed directly into my mouth.  Rest assured I've been quickly put back in my place. (...but 24:53, though) :)