In this episode, #5 of the Ski to Sea Top Gun Racer Podcast, I have the honor of talking to 4-time defending Women’s Top Gun of the Kayak leg, Bellingham Local, member and captain of Whatcom County Women’s championship team Kulshan Cycles, mother of two, and MY WIFE……. Heather Nelson! Heather’s no stranger to a race course, as [...]

We’re proud to release the latest episode in the Top Gun Racer Podcast series. In this show, Episode #4, we visit with Max Taam of Boss Construction explain how living at altitude and “skinning to work” helped him achieve Top Gun in the 2010 Ski to Sea. Max is a member of the US Ski Mountaineering Team [...]

Feeding the insatiable need to keep experimenting with new media and just new ‘things’ in general, we’ve recently launched the new “Ski to Sea Top Gun Racer Podcast!” The premise is this: Interview as many of the current Ski to Sea Top Guns — that is, the fastest men and women from each leg of [...]

Tonight was my first ‘Wednesday Nighter’ of the year. This is our informal, once a week, 3.5-mile pick-up paddle race, where we gauge our fitness as we race the clock and about 60 other racers every Wed Night from March through Sept. When I was pregnant with Hayden I wrote about my Pregnant Athlete Workout, [...]

Meet the newest Nelson: Jazlyn Leilani Nelson, born just this a.m. at 5:41 PST. 7 lbs 4oz… perfect, healthy and happy in every regard! Enjoy some pics! Countless more — with tales — to follow!

  ***To watch the video above on YouTube directly, click this link.*** When you’re dedicated to fitness as a way of life, like Heather has been since long before I even met her, life events like pregnancy just become part of the routine. Year-round fitness as a way of life is a big part of [...]

We have been warned time and time again… “Don’t blink! Before you know it, Hayden will be all grown up!” It does go fast, no doubt. But, more than that, the past three years of our lives have been the funnest, most adventure-filled, action-packed, heart-warming and fullfilling years of our lives. On the morning of Hayden’s third birthday, he jumped out [...]

In the last post, I mentioned how I recently finished a 6-week training session with rowing coach Carlos Dinares in preparation for the NW Ergomania in Seattle. I mentioned that I would explain: What workouts Carlos had me do; What he taught me; The tests he put me through — and the humbling results; And I’ll [...]

Last weekend, my 7-week stint working with rowing coach Carlos Dinares came to a climax at the NW Ergomania Indoor Rowing Championships. I’d met Carlos back in December, 2010, and asked him to guide my training for a new personal record at the contest. He didn’t disappoint! In January 2010, I rowed a 6:18 in [...]

Check out this link to the Seattle Channel story on the Jan 8th Paddling Dynamics New Years Challenge. Videographer Ian Devier did a fantastic job capturing the spirit of the PNW Paddling Community. And thanks again to Ernie Wong and crew for putting on a awesome event!!! We will see you next year! (Skip ahead [...]

Every race I enter sticks in my mind as special for some reason or another. This weekend’s New Year’s Challenge in Seattle I registered for months ago as a motivation to get on the water and train when my belly was big, the weather was cold, and I needed a little extra kick in the [...]

Meet my new coach, Carlos Dinares. The first coach I’ve had since leaving high school… and HOLY MOLY does it make a difference. It doesn’t hurt that Carlos is already world renowned with a track record of leading Ursula Grobler to a 2K erg world record, victory at the Head of the Charles, and other [...]