BYE BYE BABY BUMP...HELLO MAYA JO!!!

About 2 years ago I ran the Dallas Marathon and found myself tearing towards the finish line in the last mile to finish 2nd place. My efforts would earn me $2,000 in prize money. When I returned home, Wyatt and I sat snuggled up in bed discussing what would be the best way to spend the earnings. Two weeks later we were married in Estes Park, CO. Yup, we bought the dress, rented a cabin, paid for a pastor, and got the rings all for under $2,000. It's the way to go if you ask me!!! So now, 2 years later, I have even more to be thankful for. Not only will my husband and I be celebrating our anniversary, but the arrival of our cute little bug, Maya Jo Yates. Maya was born December 3rd and weighed 6lbs 9oz. She looks very much like her daddy :) and eats, poops and pees like her ultra running mommy!!! I'm happy to report my labor went well and my recovery is pretty exceptional. It has not been all easy and it took some discipline with a somewhat structured exercise routine, but it seemed to have worked well and now transitioning over to the other side (post labor), I continue to be pleased with the progress. Don't take this the wrong way, I certainly didn't train like a mad women, as a matter of fact, I truly enjoyed my "time off" from my vigorous, typical running regimen. I ate lots of oreos, found comfort in coke slurpees, and didn't push myself to do anything I didn't really want to do (including some of the workouts I had scheduled). I have a lot of the credit to give to Barnes Chiropractic and my TOTALLY awesome sister, Angie, for a smooth labor... not to mention the back-up I had once I returned home (thanks to Sharon and Wyatt Yates!)!! Now I feel rested (well as rested as a breastfeeding newborn mommy can be), and back on track to attack some lofty goals for 2015/2016. It's only been about 3 weeks, so I'm only flirting with a bit of running right now, while most of my workouts are still via cardio cross training machines...but my strength is back to where it was, my endurance is there, I'm just waiting on the last little bit of my bump to go down and my abdomen to firm up so I can hammer down on the roads once again! **** READ ON!!!... FOR MY TENTATIVE SCHEDULE AND TO SEE A VIDEO OF THIS BLOG POST I am HAPPY AND PROUD to announce my confirmed sponsors for the 2015 year (WHILE THERE ARE A FEW BIGGER ONES I HAVEN'T DECIDED ON JUST YET)... THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO STILL BELIEVE IN ME!!!! ULTIMATE DIRECTION GU ENERGY ICESPIKE THE SIMPLY BAR GOAL ZERO ZEAL OPTICS

My MAD MISSIONS and tentative race schedule for the upcoming years... WHY SHOULD I HIDE MY CRAZY??? GOALS FOR 2015/2016: 1. World Record 100 mile 2. American Record Trail 100 mile 3. Western States 100 – 1st place female and record 4. Qualify and participate in the Olympic Trials Marathon again 5. Comrades Ultra Marathon-2016 (if Olympics don’t work out ) -1st female/Record. 6. Qualify and participate on the USA Mountain Trail World Team again 7. Win The North Face Endurance Challenge again but break the record this time! TENTATIVE RACES FOR 2015: 1. Black Canyon 100k- Feb 14th 2. Indiana Trail 100 –April 3. Western States 100- June 4. Colorado 200- July 5. Run Rabbit Run 100 mile- September 6. The North Face Challenge- December 7. Road marathon somewhere in there for Olympic Trials Qualifier (probably Detroit or Des Moines in October) 8. Maybe some of the National Championships and Pikes Peak Marathon too?!