Sarah Borst Jarvis

This is my new favorite toy . Ok. So it is not really a toy. And it is not mine. And it is not even new. But you get the idea. It is the spin bike I get to use at the YMCA. I have been using it since November but I did not realize just how cool it was. Until I talked to Coach M. Sure. I like my trainer , too. (Although I like my old cheap Minoura trainer better than my new fancy CycleOps one.) But here is the problem with riding on the trainer: The only place for it is right next to my bed. So either my foot gets caught in the comforter or my elbow stuck in the blinds. Plus, it is hard to open my drawers or get out of bed. And what husband wants his wife biking around in the bedroom at 5am? That is what you get for going to grad school with a family. Therefore, I escape to the gym for most of my indoor rides. Space. Quiet. No interruptions. Ceiling fans. And watts . I know. For a girl who claims she dislikes numbers, I am a little too excited about the whole wattage thing. But I al...

St. George Halfmarathon Report I have a feeling that this is going to be long . Even though I am going to tell you about the rest of the weekend in my next post. So. Sit back and enjoy, if you are interested. A few days before the race, I told Karl that I have two options : 1. Run the way I usually race. Conservative . Start out at a decent pace, log negative splits, finish feeling strong and in control. 2. Start out faster than usual, hang onto that pace for as long as possible, die a slow and painful death. Karl just laughed . He knew how unlikely it was that I would choose the second option. But, to be honest, the idea kinda grew on me. It was a running event, after all. No pressure. Simply a way of testing where my fitness is at. On my way to St. George, I called Coach M . She told me I was going to choose the second option. Oh, how I love to have coaches! No need to try to figure things out in my own little head. I just ask and do as I am told. There was ju...

I had the pleasure of writing a little article about cross training for one of my favorite magazines, Rocky Mountain Running & Triathlon . You can read the article here . As for my race report, I know you don't necessarily care, but it is bugging me that I still have not finished it. Life just gets in the way sometimes. You know, things like: taking care of not-so-well kids, making dinner, trying to keep the house decent, a husband who needs the computer for studying... I am working on it.

These are the treasures I got for Christmas. I did get a couple more things but they are not really blog-worthy. We also had a very small Christmas budget, seeing how we are poor students. Karl knows me well. New socks . One pair of training socks just did not cut it anymore. Hell on Wheels. DVD . Awesome documentary of the Tour de France. Featuring two of my favorite German riders. It was about time to move on from the triathlon documentary What it takes . I think we both have that one memorized. Nutrition book by Monique Ryan. I am still at the very beginning. I decided to first read one that Coach M lent me called Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook . I was not too impressed with that one, so I hope this one will be more what I am looking for. Garmin 305. This is not actually a present but I am super stoked to be able to use it for a while. My coaches, Heath and Mahogani, decided it was about time to keep better track of me. Since we cannot afford to buy a Garmin at thi...

Sedona Ride Today I got lucky! We decided to spend Martin Luther King Day in Sedona . Partly because, if people up here find out that you have never been to Sedona, they give you a weird look and think you are crazy. Partly because the forecast was for 70 degrees down there and clear blue skies. So we jumped in the car, left the crusty old snow behind us, headed south for less than an hour, and found ourselves in paradise . Sedona is like a mixture of Moab and St. George. Two of my favorite places. So close! (So far I have not regretted not moving to Moscow, Idaho for graduate school.) After a fun family hike, Karl gave me permission to hop on my bike and explore a little. First outside ride of the year! And all I needed was shorts, undershirt, and jersey. I was stoked! I headed up Dry Creek Canyon Road and explored every paved turn-off until it either ended in a private community or turned to dirt. I had a blast! It was the perfect temperature and absolutely gorgeous. I was barely...

For those of you wondering whether I will be pregnant or racing in 2011... Well, it looks like I will be racing. The Original Plan for this year was to be pregnant and have a baby. I whole-heartedly embraced the plan. 4 kids. Each 3 years apart. Pregnant. Newborn. 2 racing seasons. Pregnant again. I like plans. But sometimes we need to be flexible . ( I hate that word. I am the least flexible person I know. Sometimes I catch myself telling other people: "It does not really matter. We are flexible." Only to realize that I was pretty much lying. I am hardly ever flexible. Now you know.) So after realizing what it is really like to be living in Flagstaff, away from family and friends, with Karl back in school, and no money, we decided we needed to wait a little longer. Having 2 more kids while in graduate school did not seem like such a good idea anymore. So I came up with a New Plan . And, of course, the new plan involves quite a bit of racing. I told Karl right away: ...

After completing this post and actually liking how it turned out, I lost the second half as I tried to publish it. I am extremely mad. Now it's not half as good as it was. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Being back home in Utah means having family, friends, and training partners around. And thanks to all of them, Karl and I were able to end the year with a much-needed adventure! One that we both went on, not just one of us. While the boys were cared for by loving grandparents and entertained by fun cousins, we ventured out in the woods for an epic snowshoe hike . I was super excited to spend some quality time with 3 awesome girlfriends (oh, aehm, and my husband, of course) and Karl was happy to be joined by 2 of his ultra-running buddies. As you can tell, this was not going to be a walk in the park... Jen, Heather, Anne, Karl, and I all squeezed into our Subaru and headed up Hobble Creek Canyon early Friday morning to meet up with Brian and Ben. We hiked for about 1.5 miles on the...