Day 1: I think I might throw up....

So today was Day 1 of my 30 day Tracy Anderson Challenge! I was going to start on October 1st but I didn't get up early enough which was good because, J and I went to Red Robin for dinner last night. Yum is all I have to say about that!

Getting back to business! I've read through most of the book and decided it was time to begin the supposed torture. Let me say that my trepidation is not unfounded as she writes this about what to expect from the first few days:

"Be prepared: The first and second days of Sequence 1, you can expect to feel almost like you have the flu. It won't be the usual kind of area-specific soreness, like "My abs are really feeling it," or "My arms are really sore." It's an all-over-tired feeling." pg 65

Hmm, doesn't that just make you sooo want to start this program! :)

So I began with the mat workout and was shocked not only at how much it hurt but my response to it. I had watched all of the moves on Thursday and while I thought that they seemed a bit challenging I didn't feel the same when I was doing them. I basically thought that Tracy was NUTS! Seriously, I was supposed to do 20 reps of each movement and was LUCKY to get those in. I really had to push on a few of the movements. So just when I thought it couldn't get worse, the arm segment came. Now I consider myself to relatively strong. I'm not going to win any strongman competitions but I can lift a decent amount of weight. Holy shit! I was lucky to get 10 reps in for each of the movements. By the time my 30 or so minutes was over and I had completed all of the movements I seriously thought I was going to throw up. I've only felt that before on the bike when it's a super hot and humid day and I'm working my butt off.

The second requirement is the CARDIO! This was initially what I was worried about and it turned out so much better than I had thought it would. I have decided to follow the moderate workout plan and in that the first few days you don't do the full routine for the cardio. You step touch the movements and can't jump. It was hard because the cardio part was alot of fun and I wanted to jump around like a freak, just like Tracy was doing. I completed my 40 minutes of cardio and headed for the shower.

Overall, I thought it was challenging and a good workout that I enjoyed except for the parts when I thought my muscles were going to break like a rubber band stretched too far!

Tomorrow: repeat of today!

Special Delivery!

Today when I got home from work this was in my mailbox:

This was inside the envelope:

I'm super excited and ready to begin! Wish me luck......with Tracy Anderson, I think I'm gonna need it!

I have returned.....kinda!

First of all hello bloggy friends! I know I haven't been around in a while but hopefully you haven't totally forgotten about little old me! Soooo much has happened since I wrote last! First of all we moved in April of 2009 and have been enjoying our new place. Also, my job changed in the fall of last year because we finally got some resolution on a few 'issues' in our office which made life better for all involved! It also required alot more work for me and alot less free time. Which is why I stopped all this blogging to begin with! Not much was going in my life except sorting out living arrangements and dealing with work drama and then later a teenie bit of home drama.

So what's new?! Well, I'm starting a new job this fall! Yippee!!! I'm sooo sad to leave where I am because I love my job and the people I work with but this new opportunity is more suited to my qualifications as is the pay so I had no choice but to make a change. I will continue to be a civil servant so I won't be talking about work too much, another reason it was so hard to blog last year. It is definitely challenging sometimes to have a public/private life.

In other news, I read my friend Gina's blog post today and it was totally in line with what I've been feeling lately! I emailed her a semi-crazy, semi-ridiculous plea to let me follow in her foot steps and kind of act as inspiration buddies to keep up with the program. She of course is wonderful and obliged to help me. As we move forward, I will blog about how that is going! Right now, I will say that I'm for sure looking forward to Tracy Anderson kicking my ass and hope that I will have good things to report in the coming months.

So basically, I need to get in shape and really focus on getting my base started now for next year. There is a cycling class that I'm going to sign up for that runs every Sunday for 90 mins and that will help. I'm not ready to commit to the Rob Reddy super swimmer classes but I will attempt his cycling classes after the swims. I need to figure out where I'm going to swim before I can committ to his classes so I will have to do that on my own this year. I wasn't able to get a single tri in this year because of scheduling issues and financial issues, so I'm hoping for a triathlon come back in 2011!

I will leave you with some of Tracy Anderson's propaganda :)




Have a great week bloggy friends!!! And thanks for not totally forgetting me! ;)

New Kicks

Because Morris is the BEST cat ever in the entire world (I hope you all are sensing the sarcasm) I had to buy new shoes today. A few weeks ago, I came home from work and found the following:



Yes and the cat did this and yes I do feed him, alot, probably too much. Anyhow, I have been sick and then busy and then sick AND busy so I haven't been running so it wasn't an issue. Until today.

Last week was my (hopefully) last week of antibiotics and I was in a celebratory mood. I searched out some running plans and a tri plan to start in a few weeks. So tomorrow I start over....again. But that is ok, starting over is fun!

However, running tomorrow morning with those shoes wasn't going to happen. So I headed over to Second Sole and grabbed a new pair of kicks. I have been getting the same pair of new balance trainers for years, the 1000 series. This year's model is 1063 and they look snazzie!!!



I've never been a great runner or a big fan for that matter, so I'm going to start slow and do some intervals for a few weeks and see how things are going. I grabbed a plan off runnersworld.com and got a tri plan off of trifuel.com. Right now here is the plan: do an 8 week moderate build on the running front, with a simultaneous bike build. I grabbed my goal mileage bike wise for the week ending on April 26th (my first scheduled race) and wanted to do 30 miles for a weekly total. I reduced my weekly goal by about 10% each week to bring me to tomorrow. This is going to be way less than what I was doing before I got sick but with the added runs it won't matter too much.

As I'm sure you all have noticed, there was no mention of swimming. That's because I'm not swimming right now. I have alot of craziness going on at work and have multiple grant applications that I'm working on, so it takes up alot of my free time as well as keeps me very busy throughout the day. Swimming only once a week isn't going to add anything plus my lungs aren't totally full force yet and can't handle what I'm used to in the pool. As a result, I'm going to focus on my running because it is my weakest area. Then when I get to a point were I feel more comfortable there and in a good routine I'll add my swims. I build fast in the pool so playing catch up won't be too bad. :)

I have to head over to the clinic either tomorrow or Tuesday and get another set of chest xrays to verify that the fluid and swelling are gone. Fingers crossed!!! For now though, I'm off to change my sheets (yippee!) and play some rockband before bed.

Happy training everyone!

not so deep breathing

Since I started working I have been battling various germs floating around. Seriously, I have done pretty well with it, until now. I was sick with a bad cold a few weeks ago and I thought I had beat it. So this weekend I started feeling really run down and I just haven't been able to shake this 3 week old cough. I gave in and went to the walkin clinic. Lo and behold, I am sick and have thickening of my bronchial and peribronchial walls. So that means one of three things: 1. I have pneumonia, 2. my asthma from childhood really never went away and since I'm in denial of it and don't treat it, it is taking longer for me to get over the cold because my lungs are irritated by it and/or 3. my allergies are far worse than I believe and aren't being treated properly. I'm honestly hoping for #1. ;) So again my workout schedule has been derailed and I have to 'rest' which sucks.

Luckily for me, I hadn't planned any events until April 19th so if I can get through this and ease into a training schedule by the beginning of March I should be able to make the event. I think that since I got in there BEFORE it got too serious, it shouldn't take the standard 3 months for my lungs to recover.

Part of this was my fault for several reasons, but most of all I was still working out the first week I was sick. I wasn't doing more than 30 mins a day but I guess it was still enough to push me over the edge.

Anyone have any remedies for getting my lungs back in shape???

2009 Races and Goals

I began my race schedule yesterday and while I'm sure it is going to change because life happens that way, I'm pretty happy so far with what I've set up! Here is the schedule, with the possibility to change:

• Buzzard Bi - April
• Silver Springs Bi - May
• Blossom Time 5 miler - May
• NEO Tri Kickoff - June
• Sunday in June Ride - June
• SummiTri - June
• She Rocks Tri - June (maybe)
  
• Lighthouse Tri - July
• Bright Side of the Road - August
• GCT Sprint - August
• Vermilion Harbor Tri - August
• Portage Lakes Tri - September
• Cleveland Race for the Cure 5K - September
• Pigskin Classic 5K - November
• Reindeer Run 5K - December
• The Great New Year's Eve Run 5K - December

It kinda stinks that the swim got cut last year from the GCT because I'm revisiting two tris of my three last year and I would love to be able to compare my times and see if I've improved. I also decided that I'm going to shoot for 5 tris this year, that way I have a better chance of actually getting to complete more tris with swims. ;)

Here are some of my goals:

1. Get a 10K under my belt - one that I get to finish!
I would really like to do the Dirty Dog again but I feel like I need a 10K finished first and one that is easier than the DD. So I'm shooting for the Towpath 10K in October. I love the Towpath and I know it is going to be a very nice run with awesome scenery! Then I can try the Dirty Dog again in 2010 with my ladies and tear it up out there!

2. Swim, Bike, RUN
I did 3 tris in 2008 and I was never able to completely run the run. I always did intervals or walked at quick pace. I was just always so slow and when I would time my pace I realized that I could walk as fast as I was running so I walked. This year I really want to run at least one of the 5Ks at the end of my tris.

3.Get the excess off!
As you all know, I was diagnosed with PCOS in the Spring of 2007. It came after some serious and quick weight gain that didn't seem to be impacted by what I was eating or my level of exercise. I worked hard over 2007 and was able to lose about 20 pounds of the weight. After my stupid hip flexor injury in February of 2008, I wasn't able to run at all or even swim (for more than 30-45mins) until about May and the weight started to creep back up. So this year, I'm hoping I can put a dent in the number on the scale and at least get half of the excess off. I would love to get it all off! But I also want to set realistic goals and not put myself in a position to be disappointed. Although silently I'm rooting for more! ;)

While, three goals might not seem like alot, I think they are good solid goals to start with and very within my reach! Plus, these all fall into my overarching goal of taking better care of myself (i.e. going to bed early, eating better, getting my workouts in no matter what the house looks like, etc.)

So bloggy friends, what does your 2009 look like? What are you hoping to achieve???

CTC Indoor Tri

Sunday we had our first indoor tri in the CTC Indoor Tri Series. It was at the Macedonia Rec Center and the facilities there are very nice! We had a pretty decent turn out and everyone seemed to have a great time. Here is a slideshow of some photos I snapped.

Our next one is on 2/14/09!!! Check the website for more details!

December & January

So I have been just overwhelmed with tons of stuff! Work has been going well but just plain busy. We are working on getting things ready for our door to door inspections and also grant applications that have to go out at the end of February. Also, I have recently joined the board for the CTC and have been busy with all of that. Here is the run down:

December

The CTC had its first annual winter banquet and we had a blast! The food was great and we all had a great time. One of the fun things we did was give out awards to our members, some for achievements and others just for fun. Bike Authority was also generous enough to give away a great Trek bike to raffle off. I was crossing my fingers and hoping that I would win so I could give it to Steve. He has expressed some interest in racing and the clunky old bike he rides now is really only good for short commutes. Because it is so old and clunky and heavy it is just not good for racing. Guess what!? I won!!! I was so excited and Steve didn't really believe me until we made the trip to BA. So thank you, thank you, thank you BA!!!

The holidays were good but long and exhausting. I got a great gift card from my mom and was able to pay for almost all of a new fluid trainer!!! My friend Chris came in for New Year's to visit and it was so great to see him and be able to catch up!

January

Gosh 2009! Thing have been so busy for me so it has been hard to get virtually any training in. I'm planning on changing that this weekend! Steve and I setup our bikes on our trainers in the office and keep saying we are going to start getting some miles in but just haven't had the time.

So now that it looks like this outside


we can still get some time in on the bikes!



I have decided that since I was able to get in 3 tris last season that 5 would be totally doable this year. I have to watch my food more and just really commit to making time for workouts. Over the first half of 2008 I gained back a significant amount of weight that I had worked hard to get rid of in 2007. So that is of course a goal too!

I have been trying to get the CTC Race Calendar updated on the website and that has been a much bigger job than I anticipated. At least most of these events are yearly and next year all we will have to do is change the date and the rest of the info will be there. As I do this I'm also trying to get a schedule together for the new race series the CTC Cheetah Series and of course my own race schedule. Sheesh! I feel like I'm busier than ever!

If I can just get in a better workout groove then everything else will fall into place. Getting my swim time in has been really hard because of the frigid temps here. I of course have to be outside alot for my job so by the end of the day I'm ready to go home and snuggle with the cats!

Tomorrow we have our first of three indoor tris. I'm hoping it goes well!!! I'm going to attempt to be productive for the rest of the night and then get to bed early since I have to be in Macedonia by 6:45am.

Thanks for reading after a million year absence! I promise to return to blogging again consistently!

back in the swim of things!

Wow! Things have been so busy and moving sooooo fast! I can't believe that it is the middle of November, where did September and October go!?

So here are a few updates:

Car is good. Honda came through and picked up everything except the battery and the tow! Woohoo!

I'm battling with a graphic design client for the cash that is owed to me, over $1000, and he is playing games. I, of all people, totally know what it is like to be without cash but I just feel like he is totally screwing me over and feel like I busted my ass to get shit done for him and now I've been waiting (and still waiting) for several months for him to compensate me. :(

Work still rocks! It is hard some days and very draining on all levels. But I really like all the people I work with and I don't let the grumpy (some completely justified!) residents get to me. It is frustrating that I can't do more to help though! :(

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This past Friday I attended the OPC Zoning and Planning Workshop in Westlake. So much fun and really informative!!! I hope that we can implement some of the ideas from the workshop in SEL!

Saturday I met up with a couple people from the Cleveland Bioneers group so we could talk about revamping the website. We settled on using Ning, so we can have something that is more interactive and easy to update/transform! Stay tuned, I'm going to use you guys as guinea pigs so we can get some feedback.

Today was the first day of the awesome Reddy Tri Swim Clinic. I did the clinic last year pretty consistently until my hip got all weird and I really think that I benefited from it. So I signed up this year so I could hopefully improve even more! Today was great! And for not swimming in at least two months, I did pretty well and was able to keep up with the rest of the gang pretty well. My goal this week is to fit in at least 4 swims. I would really like to get my distances up so I'm thinking of working up to an everyday swim of at least 30 mins and then the Sundays I don't have the clinic doing a nice hour long swim to keep my endurance up.

I'm hoping that some money comes through before Janaury so I can take advantage of my discount at the bike store. I would really like to get a new trainer. Mine isn't horrible but it is used and just a plain wind trainer and I would like to get something a little more high tech. I bought it off of another tri club member form $75 so I figure I'm not out alot of cash if I get a new one this year. Plus Steve can hook up his bike to the one I already have.

So my goals for the winter training season are as follows:

-improve my stroke mechanics and endurance
-improve my running endurance and times
-build a good bike base

Here is the thing. The first one and the last one I truly look forward to. However, the running part - not so much. It is something I've never been very good at and last year just when I started to hit my stride, I had a hip that decided running was out of the picture, for a while. So I haven't been very good at getting back into the swing of things for several reasons. Hopefully, once I start to get in a better swim and bike routine, the running will fall into place!

I have another training session/workshop tomorrow, so I need to get some work done since I will be out of the office again.

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and stayed cozy warm! :)

the good, the bad and......

The wedding!

Congrats to Jon and Deborah! :)



As Friday began to wrap up, I got a phone call from my brother around 3pm. My car was not working/running. In fact when I answered the phone he said, "You're car just broke!" I was envisioning a wheel falling off. I said, "It broke? What do you mean it broke?"

Apparently, my alternator went. :( which makes me very sad for several reasons:

1. My car is an '05 with about 46,000 miles on it. That just shouldn't happen!!!
2. I have no car until it is repaired (possibly Tuesday) and the rentals are $25 a day.
3. Because I don't have an extended warranty, it is going to cost almost $900 to fix, the majority of my paycheck.

So the dealership wasn't very helpful in terms of going to bat for me with Honda, so I have to call myself tomorrow and see if I can get them to cover some of the cost for the repairs. I was able however, to get the service guy to admit that not only was it odd that my alternator went but that it shouldn't happen and that he hasn't seen an '05 with this problem. Not that that is going to ensure any sort of success with Honda corporate but a girl can hope!

As a result, I wasn't sure I would be able to attend my friend's wedding. Thankfully, one of our mutual friends was able to bring me down to Newark, Ohio for the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful and it was sooo awesome to see some great friends that I don't often see! Needless to say, the weekend rocked and I was super happy we had an extra hour this am! :)

I hope you all had great weekends and good luck this Tuesday when casting your vote! :)

weekend fun!

This weekend was busy but fun! I went to the movies with my mom and gram to see "The Secrete Life of Bees" on Saturday at the Cedar Lee. All three of us read the book so we wanted to see how the movie turned out! It was quite a good movie and even if you've never read the book you would most certainly enjoy it. I was pretty impressed by Dakota Fanning too. I really wasn't sure how she would fair with such a strong cast. I also got to see previews (which are my fav part of going to see movies!!!) for some films that are coming soon to the Cedar Lee (and theaters near you ;):

MILK

This movie looks great! It has a great cast and director so I'm really looking forward to it! It follows the career/life of politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk. It is a movie that is generally an important subject to discuss and raise awareness for however, with the coming elections and the recent push to reban gay marriage in California it is even more fitting.

Trouble the Water

While I have mixed feelings about this film, I am anxious to see it. I hope that the reality of what happened during and after Katrina is told in a way that more people can understand what happened, what hasn't happened and why. This is a documentary that follows two people from the days leading up to Katrina to the aftermath. It was the winner of the Sundance Grand Jury prize for best documentary for 2008.

Then Sunday , I had some family stuff and then book club which is always fun!

Things have been soooo busy for me lately, but manageable so far. This should be my last week at the tutoring center. I'm certainly going to miss the kids but I know that I can't maintain 60hr+ weeks forever. Plus, I'm anxious to get back to my training, which has taken a backseat during all the transition time.

Stay warm everyone!!! Things have been pretty chilly around here lately, sign of more to come!

whatcha been doin'....

Bloggy friends!!!! I know I have been SUPER absent and I'm sorry. I haven't forgotten about any of you and have been silently reading everyone's blogs, trying to keep up with all that you've all had going on! :)

I hope that you didn't miss me too much :P!

I have been loving my new job! I doing things that I love so even though it is lacking on the money side, I all good!

Also, I'm still working at the tutoring company. It has been a bit overwhelming but they believe they have found a new person so I'm only going to be there on Mondays and Wednesdays now so that will help alot.

I'm also still trying to balance the graphic design stuff! I so need the money and enjoy being creative but seriously, lately I haven't been doing much of anything except working and trying to fit sleep in.

The good news is that things are starting to normalize and slow down a bit. Which means I can start taking my pilates classes again AND swimming AND running again! I'm also hoping that with some of the GD money I make I can get a fancy new trainer! :) Plus, I have total incentive to start up my swimming again cuz I'm doing Rob's classes again this winter! Which totally rocks because it really pushes me and helps keep me swimming.

I have a bit of a dilema though I have to work through. I have a stupid Bally's membership so I have access to a pool at pretty much all hours. However, as many of you know, having clean pools isn't exactly something that Bally's is known for. :( Well, I talked to one of my tri buddies, Jack and he has been over to Urban Active and the pricing is about the same. Now here is the deal, if I stick it out at bally's for another 12 months it is going to be about $500 for the year. If I break my contract they can charge me the full amount of just a cancelation fee of $200. So I think I'm going to plead my case and see if I can get out of my contract and head over to Urban Active to enjoy the clear blue water they have there. What do you guys think????

I hope all is well with everyone!!! And I promise that I won't disappear like that again! ;)

signs of change

Yesterday morning, I woke up and was looking out of one of the windows in my bedroom and saw two beautiful red leaves. That is right everyone, fall is silently sneaking in! Things are changing! In fact, my life is FULL of change right now!

As many of you know, I have been looking for a job. :( I've actually kind of been looking for a new job for a while but had a job that I at least enjoyed and made decent money doing. When that ended, I was out looking for a new job. I have been interviewing and sending out a million resumes but just haven't really found anything. A few weeks ago, I had a meeting with the Mayor of South Euclid and the Housing Manager there. I have known the Mayor for several years and consider her to be a mentor, so whenever I have new ideas or info about things happening in the planning world, we sit and chat about it! It just so happened that the City was interviewing for a housing inspector position.

Of course the first question that was asked as I sat in my interview was "Why do you want this job? You are so overqualified." BLAH! I can't tell you how often I hear that. :( It isn't totally my fault that I like working in nonprofits and that they are always looking for entry level positions!!! Anyhow, I told them that I knew the salary was significantly less than what I am used to and that it might seem like the job won't offer enough challenges, but I really miss working with people and doing what I love to do most! I see planners as having a wonderful opportunity. While many people think that urban planners are the ones who make change in fact it is the people who do; we just facilitate change. With the housing market in the state that it is, there is so much opportunity for communities to embrace change and have a significant impact on the future of the community.

So the same day I saw the leaves starting to change, I got a call offering me the job. While it pays less than my last job, I will enjoy it more and it is more than I am making unemployed! ;)

Then as I was sitting on my bed doing some work in photoshop this is the sight I saw:


Two cat tails TOUCHING each other. While the peace didn't last too long, it was a welcome sign!

I hope that everyone is having an awesome week!!!

what i've been up to...

I did not realize until today at the CTC Fall Picnic that it has been well over two weeks since I blogged. :( I knew it had been long but come on!

Here is the update:

I'm still trying to find a full time job. But have been sending out resumes and interviewing (a little). I got an email the first week of September from someone needing some web design and print design assistance. (Thanks Jen!!!) So I have been busy trying to fulfill his requests and began work on the multiple projects two weeks ago. In the midst of graphic design chaos, I had to throw together the last minute details for the ERC fundraising breakfast which went well and was fun except for the getting up at 5:30 am part.

I dont' have too much to say really because I've just been glued to my computer screen and cell phone trying to work out all the details of these rushed projects. If you are interested, have a look!

I also have to wrap another website that I started a few weeks ago as a proposal so hopefully I can get that done over the next few days. Additionally, I am finishing up a website for my parent's business.

I hope all is well with you bloggy friends! I have been trying to catch up on everyone's news so please forgive my no comment visits.

so long...

I have been so caught up in this book I'm reading for bookclub I haven't been doing much else except reading! It is a really good book and I can't wait for bed tonight because I'm going to finish it for sure. In spite of reading over 250 pages the past three days, I got alot accomplished this weekend and had some fun too!

We had a belated bday party for Steve and hung out with fam. I cleaned and reorganized the linen closet, which I KNOW everyone is jealous about. Sorry, we all can't have such fun people! :P

Things are slow and steady in terms of finding a new job. Slower than I would like but I can't control everything, right?!

The cats aren't totally enemies, well at least Morris isn't. He thinks that Isabel is some play thing and she isn't so happy about that idea. Today Steve and I had to take them both to the vet. First of all, I have to say that I adore my vet, Dr. Ramsey! He is amazing and cares so much about our pets and is so helpful and supportive. If anyone is looking for a vet in the area email and I can give him a great recommendation!!!

I knew based on Morris' previous history with URI that Isabel was working on a decent one and as soon as Morris started sneezing and becoming even more snuggly than he usually is I knew he had succumbed too. So an hour and half and $158 later, they both have their meds and instructions and we began the hellacious routine tonight to get them both on the mend! Poor Isabel has eye drops, nose drops, pills and lysine gel to take once a day and Morris has liquid antibiotics and lysine as well. It is going to be a long 14 days but thankfully they only require doses once a day!

I'm still debating Portage Lakes this weekend. I don't know that I really should spend the extra money considering I'm without a full time job, but I'm disappointed to end the season already. I have a couple of more days to consider it! :)

Oh if everyone could keep bloggy friend Mike's brother in your thoughts and prayers (if you pray) I would appreciate it! Tomorrow (Sept 3rd) he is undergoing surgery!!! Good thoughts!!!!

I hope all you had WONDERFUL holiday weekends!!!

I just want to say a quick congrats to my friends, Rob, Charlie, and Jack! They completed the INKY this past Sunday!!! I was checking the laptop all day to check on their progress. Great jobs to you all!!! Also, we had tons more CTCers there, congrats!!!!!

disappointment

I was just visiting one of my favorite daily reads, The Daily Coyote and noticed in the twitter something about a dog injury from a Four Paws toy. And since I haven't written a ranty post lately I figured it was time! :P

I often am very disappointed in the quality of products, not just toys but food and care products as well, that are produced and sold for pets. One example I have personally is trying to purchase cat toys WITHOUT catnip. Morris can't handle it. He gets crazy and nasty and remains that way for hours. So I don't like to buy anything with catnip in it. Have you ever tried to find out what exactly is in the toys your are buying?? It is nearly impossible to discern what has catnip and what doesn't. And if you can actually find someone that works in the store, they have no idea if it does or doesn't.

Often it seems to me that many of the companies that make animal products don't really care very much about the impact of the product. If they did we would not have the dog and cat food that we have and we would not have lost thousands of pets last year to poisoning. We as consumers need to be more aware of how the products are made, what goes in them and whose products we purchase.

This big fellow, Chai, was playing with a Four Paws Pimple Ball with Bell and got the ball lodged on his tongue. The suction grew worse and his person dad could not remove it. He rushed Chai to the vet and ultimately Chai's tongue had to be amputated. As a result, he has created a blog about Chai to warn others about the balls because he was not receiving the response he wanted from the company. Here is a quote from his blog:

"I sent this information along with the reference to Petunia the french bulldog to Four Paws Inc, and it is their position that there just aren’t enough instances to do anything about this. I told their Insurance company’s case manager that was not a good enough excuse, It was inferred that my dogs value wasn’t much and that his pain and suffering don’t count as he is just a piece of property."

I know that many people who don't have pets or have never had one, don't necessarily understand a pet owner's point of view. Similarly, they don't understand the importance of a pet and the love, companionship and joy that they bring into our lives. But to knowingly keep a product on the shelves that has harmed several dogs and killed at least one, is immoral. If one person's child is harmed by a product, even if it is a result of negligence on the part of the person supervising a child, the product is recalled. We have !Caution! !Extremely HOT! on coffee cups and now get lukewarm "hot" beverages because some genius placed the coffee cup between her thighs, spilled it and sued McDonalds because she was burned.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association 63% of all households have pets which equates to approximately 69 million households. Within that, Americans have approximately 73 million dogs, 90 million cats, 139 million freshwater fish, 9 million saltwater fish, 16 million birds, 18 million small animals and 11 million reptiles. Like many things in this country, people are accepting status quo because they either don't realize they can make a difference or feel like they can't make an impact.

Please take time today to check the toys you have for your pets and remove any Four Paws products. It may seem extreme, but if one product is bad how can we trust that any of the other products aren't dangerous?

Lorain Triathlon - 8/24/08 - how NOT to eat shot blocs!

A few months ago I volunteered for a tri in Lorain with NCN racing. I had worked the run aid station and listened to MANY complaints about the course. Either it wasn't marked well enough or it was hard or both. Some complained about the bike as well. So when I cashed my volunteer race voucher in for the tri this past Sunday I knew what I was in for. :)

I had checked out the course maps online on Saturday afternoon to make sure I had some idea where I was going. In all of the races I've done, (all 3 :P ) the first I had a part in T1 so there wasn't anyone to follow out on the bike, the second I took forever to "run" a mile and there wasn't anyone to follow on the bike so this one I was preparing for being alone on the ride.

I got up early after getting in a few hours of sleep the night before. Got all of my stuff together and Steve and I were out the door by 6:25am. I got all the way to Lorain and made my left onto Erie to catch the bridge. But the bridge was closed!!! There wasn't anything on the website indicating that the bridge was closed. :( I saw several others approaching the bridge as I was turning around searching for an alternate path. I finally made it to the race site around 7:30am.
We did the typical unloading and tire checking and then walked up to the transition area and I headed over to the registration table. After getting marked and forgetting to get my chip I headed over to transition where I met up with Sara and later saw JenC. It is always nice to see smiling and familiar faces.

My BS was kind of low when I got up that am (74) so I had wanted to check again before the race. But with only about 20 mins to spare, I figured that I should get things together and head down to the beach to fill up my bucket and get in line for the swim. I almost forgot my goggles!! so I had to turn back for those.

As I was standing with my CTC chicas on the beach I realized that I hadn't had any sport beans. I always down a pack of sport beans pre-race so that by the time I hit the bike they kick in and the extra carbs help push me along. I have to refuel more frequently that others because of how my body works (or doesn't! ;) ) and I haven't mastered taking in fuel on the bike, plus to have fuel for the bike I need to consume it at least 20 minutes before.

I start the swim and it feels like my timing bracelet is falling off of my ankle. So I stop and reattach it and get moving. The swim was good. I felt a little more tired than usual and really pulled with my arms. The waves were a bit bigger than I had expected so I just tried to go with it.

I was trying to make myself do as much freestyle as I could so I was working harder than my last tri swim. But all in all it felt good. I came out of the water and walked up the beach. I was trying to get my heart rate under control and running up the beach and then hill to T1 wasn't going to do that.

S: 15:52.25

T1 is still a struggle for me to get through quickly. I realized at this point that if I didn't eat something I probably wouldn't be able to finish the race. I grabbed a pack of shot blocs and ripped it open. I hate having the shot blocs all over my teeth forever after I eat them so I have begun biting them in half and swallowing the half whole. This day I decided that one really wasn't that big and I could probably swallow it whole. HA!!! BIG MISTAKE. I grab one throw it in my mouth with a big gulp of water and swallow. The sticky bloc quickly gets lodged deep in my throat. I start swallowing hard and realize that it truly is stuck. I don't think I've ever been choking before. In my head I think, "Ok stay calm! keep trying to drink and swallow. they are sugar, eventually it will start to dissolve." I also was reassured because the ambulance wasn't that far from me so I could always get help if I needed it. I started to feel breathing constriction and just kept drinking and swallowing. Finally, it broke free and I could breathe. Success!!!

I took a minute to breathe and relax some and then I threw on my shoes, helmet and sunglasses and started walking over to the exit.

T1: 06:05.45

The bike was decent. I felt tired and I was really struggling for the first 5 miles or so. Once the shot blocs started to kick in I could feel a change in my legs and I felt like I had more energy. There is one really steep hill which unfortunately isn't as steep on the way down. I was also a bit confused because I had remembered that for the sprint course you took all rights, but my first turn was a left so I started to get a bit confused. All in all the bike went well. I wish I had been faster on the first few miles but I was happy with my performance and time for the length of the course (14.3miles).

I still haven't mastered shifting. I set my bike up on my trainer today and watched the gears move as I shifted. I thought that if I pushed my shifter in all the way once my rear deraileur would move all the way to the top. Silly me! I didn't realize that I had to push three times. Yesterday, I was getting super frustrated because all the gears I could find were either too easy or too hard. Because I was only shifting between 5 gears, not ten. So next race hopefully I will figure this out! :)

B: 1:02:50.25

As I returned to transition I saw Steve standing on the side of the road and he started clapping. I got back to transition and walked over to my spot. He eventually made his way over and asked if I was going to run or walk the run. I was beat and the humidity was taking its toll. I knew that running would kick my heart rate up higher and probably not get me to the end any quicker than walking.

T2: 03:41.75

So I set out on the run in a light jog and then Steve met up with me near the car and we started walking. I was walking pretty fast so he was lagging back a bit because he hadn't had any breakfast and was super hot and thirsty. He stuck to the outside of the course and we chatted back and forth a bit.

It was mostly all in the sun and the humidity was really getting to me. I just kept a steady pace, determined to finish. I will say that this was probably the hardest run for me so far. When I woke up that morning, I had no desire to do the race. Everything kept going wrong and then the bridge incident plus waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I wasn't even confident that I would finish honestly. I went into the race thinking, just go and enjoy it and when it starts to really really suck you can stop if you want.

R: 55:13.40

total: 2:23:43.10

Having Steve shadowing me and chatting really helped get me to the end. I'm glad that I finished but I don't think I will do this one again. I hate being critical of RDs or races, especially when it was free for me, but I just didn't feel like things were very organized. The only support for directions on the bike course was the Lorain PD. They were awesome and cheering for people but I was surprised there weren't any volunteers on the course. Also, the only time you saw a sign on the course was at the actual turn. I often was slowing up at intersections to read the small street signs to see if this was one of the streets I was supposed to turn at. I was kind of annoyed that no mention of the bridge being closed was on the website or that an email wasn't sent out. Apparently, the bridge reconstruction was in the PD but I don't often read that paper so I had no idea until I got there. The fact that I saw 5 other cars on the way to the race going the wrong way means that I'm not the only one who didn't know.

Great job to all the CTCers that were there!!!! We had a great showing of participants and volunteers!!!

eating my words......

Things started to take a change with Isabel on Friday. We have decided that we just need to be more supportive and give her some more time. Yesterday we bought a few baby gates and stacked them so we can open the door to Steve's room and Isabel and Morris can see each other and talk and poke through the gates.

Things are moving along, slowly but surely and they both are starting to feel like things are good with another cat around. :) Obviously, it will continue to take time as we introduce two adult cats who are used to very different circumstances.

So for now, Isabel stays! Yeah! :) I didn't want to send her back to the rescue.

I'm off to bed after a long race and then a long afternoon with family and friends. Race report will be coming soon! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!!!

weekend prep!

Sunday I have the Lorain Tri! I looked at the course map today so I knew where I was going. I worked another tri in Lorain (same course I believe) a few months ago and had alot of complaints about the course not being marked or difficult to follow. I totally understand that sort of frustration but I also think that we have to check things out beforehand so we are informed racers!!! Just to be safe, I'm going to print out directions for the bike and ziptie them to my bike so I don't get lost. I need every minute I can get people! :P

Here are the stats for the bike:




Here are the stats for the run:



OUCH!!!

Hopefully things won't be too bad! I'm also hoping that it isn't a terribly humid weekend. (fingers crossed)

So tomorrow, I get a new dryer. Hopefully, I was specific enough about what I need that I get the same thing I have now. The fridge was such a disappointment, a slap in the face really. June would never have bought something like that. It isn't practical; it is sooo small! There is so much money left in the estate, why scrimp on something as necessary as a fridge? I digress! More finger crossing for a good dryer with multiple temperature settings. I mean that isn't too much to ask!

Then my neighbors invited us for a cookout on Saturday evening! Dana and JT moved in a few months after I did. They have two adorable little girls that are always pretty much full of giggles and smiles so that should be fun! :)

Sunday I have the tri (EARLY) and then Steve and I will return home, shower and head over to my friend Chrissy's house for a BBQ. Her parents are coming as well as mine and my gram. It will be nice to see my nephew Jak, since I haven't seen him since June. Little ones grow soooo fast!

Steve is going to the NIN concert tonight and mom wants to do dinner. I have to do some things for work this afternoon and I figure I can wash all my race stuff that is hang dry today so I can pack everything up tonight. I just feel better on race morning when everything is in my bag! :)

Enjoy the weekend everyone!!!

learning and growing

Yesterday I spoke to the woman from the rescue where we got Isabel. She was very disappointed in us. I truly believe that Isabel needs more than we can give her right now. She has experienced a significant amount of change (aka trauma) over the past 4-6 weeks and I really think that a single cat home would be best for her. I called the rescue this morning and left a message asking her to call me back. It is a heartbreaking decision to make but I think it is best for her and us.

Now Steve wants to get a kitten. I think I need to talk to him more about what to expect. He seemed to think, regardless of all of my warnings, that this transition would go more smoothly for her. I will say that I'm incredibly surprised by Morris' progress. The first few days were kind of difficult but after about 5 days he started to become more interested in her and seemed curious and excited to be making a new friend.

I'm not someone who gives up - on anything - so this is a difficult thing for me to do. Giving her back is the right thing though. The decision wasn't completely mine because she is Steve's cat. He realized that she needed more nurturing and attention than he was able to provide. She has alot of healing to do and needs to be the companion of someone who has more experience with that. It makes me sad but we have learned alot from this and hopefully Steve will bounce back and find the perfect kitty for him!