tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72205222301924402462024-03-18T21:12:04.311-07:00CraftytriathleteThe Balancing Act of Life...Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-62049376227406481892012-04-23T17:23:00.000-07:002012-04-23T17:23:31.956-07:00My Beautiful Boy is Gone<div align="center">
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July 26, 2002-April 8, 2012</div>
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<br />Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-70411598791536429292012-03-31T07:43:00.000-07:002012-03-31T07:43:13.478-07:00Sixteen Weeks and Counting<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ironman Lake Placid is 16 weeks from today. And I am still waiting for the planets to align and for things to just go smoothly. I can only hope I've gotten most of the bumps in the road out of my way early. The poison oak, the calf injury, and the latest debacle of getting sick these past 2 weeks. In absolute gratitude I can say that I never got "sick-sick", like a flu will take you out sick. I was a little tired and not 100%, but the defining factor was the absolute loss of my voice for about 5 full days (gone! I tell you!) and it is STILL not quite normal. My lungs were also coated with gook, which was the limiting factor for training. So my coach summarily grounded me. No training at all for the first week and easing back this past week with easy hour rides or jog-walks (ick!). The little monkeys in my neurotic type A triathlon brain have been running amok and causing so much panic and coaching angst; I am still, truthfully, working them back into submission. I know for sure that Coach Greg is not lying when he says he has my health and well being as top priority. I do. But I have hardly any base at all in me right now and feel like I don't even have the usual winter fitness my crazy self maintains and when he told me to start to wrap my head around the fact I may very well need to scratch my plans for Wildflower in 5 weeks, I almost lost my head. </div>
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But these past couple weeks have afforded me the time to think as well, and in calming the monkeys, I have tried to start listing the things that this particular Ironman is trying to teach me. Oh, and teach you different things each one will!</div>
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1) is always the new lessons on the path to the elusive "balance" of training for an event of this magnitude and still maintaining some semblance of a normal life, all while keeping your sanity. Coach Greg promised me help with that up front and he is definitely all about that. Even though I feel so overbalanced in the free time area right now that I'm about to tip over, I'm sure there are techniques to be found here and called upon in these next weeks, when (hopefully) things start to shift to the other direction.</div>
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2) is that it is high time, at my mid-life age, that I start to learn to be more open to change and trying new things. So, not only am I totally relearning how to swim, ride and run, but I'm trying to put some trust in other people and their knowledge, and in change in general. This is what has me staying the course and seeing how this all shakes down July 22nd. It may be a disaster--who knows?--but I will have learned something about me and training none the less.</div>
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3)Sugar and processed foods are of the devil. The more I read and the more I experiment, I am convinced of it. Did you know it has been proven that they will lower your immunity?!? Enough said. I am trying mightily to get them OUT of my life entirely. And I'm tracking the effects and results to help build a case for that in my own mind. Some people can handle sugar. I can't.</div>
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Not all was lost, however, with these two weeks mostly "off". Like I said, I was so grateful not to be down-and-out-sick. I got some stuff done! First, I put up my Easter decorations!</div>
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Then I actually succeeded in finishing and compiling my scrapbook pages from 2009!</div>
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(yes, I know I'm 3 years behind--suck it.)</div>
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Hard to see, but this is a tedious, detailed double page layout of a trip to Great America amusement park that summer. I stamped and colored the bottom border and then cut out and put sticker foam between some of the elements to give it depth, making me feel like a scrapbooking genius.</div>
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And now, possibly most significant, was the progress made on 2 way-too-long-"in progress" quilt projects! Neither is completely done, so I will just give you the teaser photos for now. I have come to the conclusion that embroidery just might be my own personal form of meditation. Voila!</div>
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And in keeping with the "Christmas in March" theme, here is the center of a quilt I actually began working on...oh, I don't know, like, 12 years ago! Disturbingly, there is a big pucker in the middle that you can't see in this picture, so I've left it lying on the floor where you see it until I can sanely figure out how to deal with it.</div>
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(Referring to my last post) I was able to put a significant chunk into my March "Happiness Goals" of time in the yard. I have pulled weeds...lots of them! We live on almost three acres, so I have plenty of work, and really the patches I am after are manageable, but super duper time consuming. I just want to get the spaces around my raised beds and around the buildings and animal enclosures weeded and cleaned up, ready for spring/summer.</div>
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Sorry, I can't get this picture right side up, but it probably echoes the actual level of "Exercise in Futility" that this little seed planting venture depicts anyway, seeing as I have yet to figure out how to keep the deer and juvenille delinquent goat from eating anything and everything I might get to sprout this year. Last year was a pretty big failure in the garden. I'm trying to set my goals lower, but mine garden enemies have multiplied.</div>
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And lastly, before I go, let me return full circle and give you all some small piece of comfort to carry with you this week. Alas, it is true. You CAN find ANYTHING on the internet.</div>
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These...are my two new swimsuits.</div>
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And yes, that is a tail on the back.</div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-52026389736841961602012-03-04T13:31:00.000-08:002012-03-04T13:31:19.514-08:00My Own "Happiness Project"<a href="http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/the-happiness-project-book.html#buy_book"><img src="http://www.happiness-project.com/TheHappinessProjectPB-small.png" style="padding-bottom: 11px;" /></a>Among other things my new triathlon coach has given me these first few months of working together, he recommended this book: <u>The Happiness Project </u>by Gretchen Rubin. In it, Ms. Rubin reflects on how she came to a stark realization one day that she was careening through life, getting through each day, but that even though she had much to be grateful for and joyful about, a feeling of happiness was distinctly missing. She then set out on a year of a personal quest to investigate and remedy this situation for herself. Her approach was to isolate areas of her daily life which impacted her level of happiness (personal relationships, health, tidy home/environment, among others) and set some very modest daily goals which corresponded to each month's "theme" and then built on them (she carried January's goals into February, February's into March, etc., until December, where she spent a month trying to perfect the objectives of the past 11 months). All the while she remained cognizant of how each of these elements factored into her overall level of feeling happy.<br />
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This book, and Gretchen Rubin's reflections really resonated with me, and very much apealed to my obsession with goal setting. Her approach was different from my usual start-of-the-year approach in a couple of ways. She focused on mastering one specific area per month, in contrast to my usual scatter-shot, often overwhelming goals in too many areas all at once. In addition, her goals were small, simple and daily as opposed to my more-usual monthly goals, where the month gets away from me and I come to the end empty handed and defeated.<br />
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SO...I headed into January with what I know for absolute sure is the most basic foundation of happiness for me: Health.<br />
Just as Ms. Rubin did, I made up a daily checklist. At the end of each day I evaluated how I did in the following:<br />
1. In bed by 9:15, lights out by 10:00.<br />
2. Nutrition: sticking to my calorie plan/no sugar/no processed foods.<br />
3. Take vitamins.<br />
4. Brush teeth 2 times a day (and floss).<br />
5. Use sunscreen.<br />
6. Finding some creative time, even 15 minutes.<br />
7. Training as per new coach.<br />
8. Bike commute Noah to school whenever weather permits.<br />
9. 1 protein shake/day.<br />
10. 2 dog walks/day.<br />
I also gave myself "extra credit" for finding ways to work these in to Sporty Spice's daily routines.<br />
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Our crowning moment may have been one ride to school in January in 27 degree weather.<br />
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In February, I continued this daily checklist of habits and then added HOME ORGANIZATION (all 6,500 square feet of it!). I first made a master-list of every room/area of the house and garage that could use a serious de-cluttering and crap-tossing and then set a goal of averaging an hour a day working on it. Time wise, I logged about 16 out of the 29 hours, but made quite a bit of progress.<br />
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This is my giant "goodwill pile" in the garage! But, in keeping with the big-picture, goal of increasing happiness, I'm not going to beat myself up over not meeting the total hour-goal, but will continue into March, which will focus on GARDEN and YARD. One of the projects left is to <u>finally</u> work in our home library! We are truly still "digging out" from our move 3 years ago. But in January we finally bought bookcases! I can't believe we have a whole room for books, a room I've pretty much closed the doors on and forgotten existed until now.<br />
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The main motivation behind the focus on Home Organization and Garden and Yard lies in my previous experience of heading into Ironman training with a huge cluttered house and two acres of weeds, knowing how much that stresses me out. And progress I can make now will pay off in happiness between now and July 22.<br />
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Training and Happiness were both challenged in February, I'm here to say! The first speedbump came in the form of THIS GUY,<br />
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giving me one of the worst cases of poison oak I've ever seen! It lasted well over 2 weeks, during which time I also pulled a calf muscle which still has me only running in the pool. And then I had to have a crown put on a tooth, and then had to have it put back on after it fell off. I'm hoping all these things are on the mend, and March will see more consistent problem-free training.<br />
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One thing that will make training much happier is THIS!! The Mister surprised me with this new bike (still being built). Electric shifting! Can't wait to take it for a spin!<br />
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</div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-71218999657334010642012-01-15T13:04:00.000-08:002012-01-15T13:04:29.295-08:00Farewell to the Holidays <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'll admit it. Every year, I have a terrible time saying goodbye to the holidays and shifting into the routine of the New Year. This year seemed especially hard, I think, because we had such a good time. Sporty Spice had 19 days off of school, and although at times it was a little stressful, for the most part, I really enjoyed living in his world for awihle! We fit as much as we could into the time, but also enjoyed some quality down-time. We started the vacation with a couple of days in the mountains in Arnold. No snow to speak of, which is so odd this time of year. But we had fun nonetheless, and decorated our little house for Christmas, which is always extra-cozy up there.</div>
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We came home for one day and then headed north again, this time to the Mister's family's home to do our "family Christmas". Sporty enjoyed time with his 6 cousins and the Mister and I got in a little training and beautiful riding as well as a little down time (I even got in a bit of thrifting!).</div>
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Then we headed home to celebrate the official Christmas weekend with our little family, the animals, our new housemate, and her dog. Perfect and peaceful! </div>
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We took Sporty Spice ice skating for the first time. It had been years since I had skated and I loved it as a kid. It was surprising how fast it came back, and how quickly Sporty "got his skate on". By the end of the evening he was a skating fool.</div>
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We also visited "Zoo Lights" at the Oakland Zoo, something we had never made it to before this year. All the animals are put away, but they have the zoo decorated in lights and rides open. This picture was taken on the train ride around the zoo, all lit up. It was very festive!<br />
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Sporty received a new bike with gears (!) from Santa! We opened gifts in the morning with our housemate and had a super peaceful laid-back day on Christmas. The Mister and I both had a run on our training schedules, so we took the kid and the bike and made a family affair of it. For dinner we made <br />
burritos and watched Elf. I think the animals were happy to have us home and we had gifts for each species.<br />
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The week after Christmas we were lucky enough to meet up with our friends Amy and her son at The Cal Academy of Sciences in San Franciso. They had reindeer and snow in the atrium! Noah and I also got to go see "We Bought A Zoo"--the plot was hauntingly close to home. And later in the week he had a birthday-playdate with three friends at our house. That was an experience. I'm not sure I'm "that" kind of mom.<br />
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Sporty's Birthday is December 29th and he always gets a little gipped as a "Christmas Baby". Well, not this year my friends! The Mister and I had a little surprise up our sleeves. Our kid has wanted to go to Legoland for-EVER and Legos are his all time favorite activity. Sneaky parents that we are, we told him he was starting school the Monday after New Year's Day (really, he didn't start until Wednesday). We even packed his lunch and put on a whole show...and then took him to the airport and flew to Legoland for the day!<br />
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It was awesome, and so fun to surprise him!<br />
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A great way to start the New Year!! There were some rides, and (my favorite) all the crazy displays of legos--San Francisco! New York! Las Vegas! All done in Legos. And Sporty's favorite...all the Star Wars scenes; we are going through a major Star Wars Phase here.<br />
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His favorite thing, though, was building his own Lego car and racing it against other kids' cars. <br />
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So the New Year is upon us and 15 days in, I think we are finally starting to settle in to some sort of routine of normalcy, which is both bitter and sweet. I'm excited for the year, and the major triathlon goal of Ironman Lake Placid in...well, just 189 days. This year I am doing something, for me, completely outside my box. I have decided to hire a coach! I have been working with him for about 6 weeks now, and it has felt like a real whirlwind of emotions. The first thing he did was to look at my training logs and tell me it was one of the scariest bits of reading he'd done in awhile. He's from Australia, so when said with an Australian accent, it was even funnier/more tragic. He immediately "grounded" me; ok, so he calls it "re-directing", and cut my training back to almost nothing and has me putting some serious measures in place to get my life back in balance. I've been assigned craft time! And massages! At first I was enjoying it so much I could barely get out for the little bits of training he WAS having me do. Then this week I started getting very nervous that there's not enough time and I'm not training....it has been a very WEIRD emotional experience. We are just starting to ramp up a bit now, but he is completely re-working not only my swim and run, but my cycling as well! I keep having to tell myself to just go with this. It does feel like a bit of an adventure. And I must admit I do feel happier. Stay tuned! <br />
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To this end, of balance, I've been getting to spend more quality time with Sporty, even now that he is back in school. This week we went and painted our own pottery--it was fun and we both loved it.</div>
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The saddest part of our holiday was losing our sweet Emmalee. 16 years old, Emma was our 3rd-ever cat; she came from my very first vet job--her owner was pregnant and decided she didn't want a 4 month old kitten, claiming the litter box made her nauseous (whatever). Emma was in a cage that first day right next to my computer at work--big mistake. She was so outgoing and reaching through the bars, begging for attention, I took her home at the end of the day. We refer to that time as her "homeless hours". Smartest cat I ever met. She will be remembered for her "dinner table run-bys". At our old house, when the cats lived amongst us, she would jump on the dinner table. She knew she would get swatted right off when she did it, so she'd wait until dinner was served, jump onto one end of the long farm table, and RUN accross it, to check out what we were having each night--just enough to see if it was worth the risk of going back.</div>
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Oh, Emma, such a big personality...and her absence leaves such a hole.</div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-57097216667255797562011-12-20T06:58:00.000-08:002011-12-20T06:58:55.006-08:00Welcome To My House Tour!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This Christmas, our third in this house, it is actually starting to feel more like a home! Every Christmas I seem to find one thing, be it baking, finding special gifts, something, that is my favorite part of that year's holidays. This year, it seems to be decorating my house! My favorite thing has been to be at home in the evenings, with all my Christmas lights on, and even better if there is Christmas music playing! <br />
So come on in. If you were here, I would serve you some sugar free cocoa and healthy cookies when you came to the front door. And you'd be greeeted by this snowman.<br />
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And some birds of different species.<br />
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Come on in to the entry way...<br />
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This is the "formal" living room, still not entirely furnished, but fun to decorate as my "vintage Christmas" room! Sporty Spice has set up his Disneyworld monorail set at the bottom of the tree there.<br />
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My chairs I got last summer...now if only I could find a matching setee...sigh.<br />
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Glittery ornaments from Big Lots!<br />
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And ones I made from yard sale goodies!<br />
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Possibly my favorite thing is my light up vintage village.<br />
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Got that whole bowl of vintage beads at a yard sale for four dollars last week.<br />
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And into the dining area...snowmen on the buffet...<br />
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And on into the living room...come on in and sit down for a bit.<br />
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I love this little white feather tree and sure wish I could get a better picture of it.<br />
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The big tree is being circled by a remote control lego train this year.<br />
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And welcome to my kitchen..<br />
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And my bedroom...<br />
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Bedroom tree.<br />
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It's even Christmas on the nightstand.<br />
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I have a fireplace in my bedroom. How decadent is that?<br />
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A nod to the tacky.<br />
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And finally, what self respecting flock of chickens and a duck wouldn't want lights on their house as well? The feral kitty house also has lights this year.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed your stay and you are invited for New Year's as well...Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-77494999606692843852011-12-08T11:43:00.001-08:002011-12-08T12:18:30.472-08:00November....and Into December we Go!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://basno.com/store/2171.png" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: undefined;"><img border="0" src="http://basno.com/store/2171.png" style="width: 150px;" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">I finished the Cal International Marathon last Sunday! 5 hours and 45 seconds, including the 7 minute (I timed it) Porta Potty line at mile 10. Not a speed record by any means (I did it in just under 4 and a half 3 years ago), but I was really happy just to finish and to know I never walked. I had gotten a cold earlier in the week that really settled in my lungs by Sunday, so I was on the fence whether I should even go or not, but I really didn't want to miss it. So I took it slow and enjoyed the new scenery and people and their dogs (so many dogs!) along the way. It was warmer than 2008 and the horrible winds we'd had last week had died down. And they had pancakes, beer and tomato soup at the end!</span></div>
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To back up, we had a great Thanksgiving week, with Sporty Spice out of school and The Mister off work. We went to Arnold and enjoyed a quiet couple of days, did some training (my last long run!) and watched the last 2 Harry Potter Movies. The only oddity of the weekend was finding this:</div>
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under our deck. No collar, no microchip, and UNfixed! Her name is now Jane and she is a sweet little thing with a coat as soft as a rabbit.</div>
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We came home the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so Lance could get to his chemo treatment on Wednesday. It's been a tough month and the doctor is changing his drugs, which has made him feel a lot better this week. Every day with my sweet boy is a gift.</div>
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As a follow up, Bobette the last little rescue cat is doing wonderful and she is the "squatiest" little ball of cat with a funny little corkscrew pig tail! This week I rode through the meadow where I trapped her and there was this mangy looking coyote just sitting out there staring me down. I SWEAR he was saying, "YOU took my meaty little cat morsel, you b&#@h."</div>
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Thanksgiving morning we woke to rain, but undaunted, the Schaefer family set out for our local Turkey Trot! There was some whining from the small man, but he was all smiles when he finished the 5K and wants to go back next year.<br />
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And yes, that is his special Turkey Trot Hat, which came in handy with the weather.<br />
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I made the entire Thanksgiving meal from my favorite Clean Eating Magazine, including this healthy Pear Pomegranate Pie:<br />
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It was very good. I also made the Spice Rubbed Turkey, Apple Fig Stuffing, Souffle'd Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Apple Sauce, and Roasted Brussel Sprouts. All healthy and delicious. LOVE that magazine!<br />
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We spent the weekend after putting up our Christmas decorations! This year we've finally made the big move to a fake tree! <br />
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And I'm already thrilled about it! Every year, we finally go pick one out, and then it sits in a bucket of water until the Mister can get time to put the lights on, and then we have to find busy mid-week time to decorate it, and it is a constant source of stress for me because it doesn't get done entirely until the week before Christmas and I never get to enjoy it. NOT this year! Oh no. Ten luscious feet of pre-lit goodness was up on Friday morning and completely decorated by Saturday. This left time to get all the rest of the decorations out and lights up and we've been enjoying them immensely every night! We even have lights on our chicken coop. </div>
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And in the Christmas spirit, I took 2 classes at one of my favorite shops in Berkeley, Castles in the Air. SO fun. In the first one, we made this:</div>
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I wish I knew the official name of these things, but it has all these movable parts, so that when you move that tab at the bottom, the guy turns into a one man band. It took a surprisingly long time to put together. But my kid thinks it's cool, so that's all that really matters.<br />
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I think I enjoyed the second one even more. We made Victorian Christmas Dioramas:<br />
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Each person's was similar, but different, as we could choose the images and embellishments we wanted to use. Mine features cats a little heavily. But again, my kid thinks that's hilarious.<br />
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I have made a big move this "off" season. (Drum roll) I've up and hired myself a professional coach! I met with him for the first time yesterday. He's a level 2 coach from Australia and a very nice guy. Stay tuned. It's gonna be an interesting 2012!<br />
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</div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-41835102805079832792011-11-06T11:36:00.000-08:002011-11-06T11:36:45.827-08:00OFF-SEASON: Bring It On!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Time to check in on my crazy-monster-training-experiment! Came up just slightly short of my big 5 100-mile ride goal when I woke up in Arnold yesterday to see THIS. I had even packed some pretty heavy duty winter cycling clothing, but it was 30 degrees out when I left. I tried. I did. I'm pretty tough. But I made it 15 miles and my toes hurt so bad I was crying. So I had to scrap it. Turned out we had to scrap the whole weekend pretty much when the dog started barfing (he had his chemo treatment 48 hours earlier, and it usually doesn't cause him many problems at all) and we came home early just to be sure we were nearer to the vet. (He is eating thismorning and seems to have stopped vomitting.) I made pretty much all the rest of my goals in the swimming and riding and running departments, and am happy to declare it Officially Offseason! Of course the Cal International Marathon is in four short weeks, so running will not slow down much until then. It is also time to pay some serious attention to cleaning up my diet! Yikes, it veered off course after Vineman, what with all the animal fiascos, scheduling and crazy training. I'm actually excited to have the time to start cooking "cleaner" fall meals and do more prep so that I have food with me and don't have to improvise, which never turns out well for me.</div>
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My monster training also took a brief week "down" (to about half hours-wise) as we had a spay/neuter clinic on October 23rd. It went really really well, and left me with a good feeling for the first time in awihle. We fixed 79 cats in just under 3 hours surgery time! And it went safely and smoothly. We also admitted four cats that turned out to be already fixed, but they received medical attention and one big boy got some much needed dental work in addition to a foxtail being removed from his mouth, which I'm sure he appreciated.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleepy head waking up after surgery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volunteers watching cats in "Recovery", making sure they are waking up after surgery without any problems.<br />
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And of course, there was HALLOWEEN last week! This is Luke Skywalker. We had a good Halloween, although I feel like I didn't do it justice at all. I barely got any Halloween decorations up. We didn't go to any "activities", like in past years. But Sporty Spice had a good time with his class party and parade and trick or treating with friends. I'm thinking I'll just hang little Christmas wreaths on the giant spiders I've got out and call it a day.</td></tr>
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THIS was my major project of Halloween week! Meet Bobette (she has no tail). I happened upon Bobette in one of our East Bay Parks last weekend while doing my long trail run. Now, this isn't a park you can just drive up to, like a kid park. No..this one is out in the middle of nowhere, far from any kind of houses, and she was way far from the access road, down near some picnic tables. I see these abandoned cats often on the trails, which KILLS me, me being me, and usually I can tell they are too feral for me to get near or I'm in a place where there is no way I can schlep a trap in to catch them. Bobette wouldn't let me closer than about 20 feet, but kept looking at me and meowing. I knew my fate for the week was sealed. For the next three days, I drove back and forth, an hour each way, to the closest entry to the meadow where she was, carried traps, up and down a hill about half a mile, and SAT in the meadow waiting to see if she'd get in the trap(s). Finally, on day 4...I got up and headed out there at dawn. Set my traps, brought my coffee and a book....figured out which bushes she was hanging out in that day...and about 4 hours later, I caught her! I did my little victory dance in the middle of the meadow, and drove her straight to the vet to be checked out, spayed, vaccinated and "de-bugged" (she had earmites). I wasn't really sure how friendly this cat was going to be, or how much socializing I was going to have to do. But when I went to pick her up from the vet the next day, the technician brought me this purring, headbutting little bundle in her arms! </div>
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She is sweet as sugar and cannot believe the turn her life has taken! From coyote bait to this! Full tummy, warm "shnuggy" blanket; she fell asleep the first night home purring. SO nice to finally have a happy ending to something!</div>
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So, with that I declare it OFFseason. If you need me, I'll be in my scrapbook room! I've finally started scrapping our Hawaii Ironman trip (from 2 years ago!).</div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-44655891766278848392011-10-16T11:13:00.000-07:002011-10-16T11:13:13.353-07:00A Little Bit of Training...and A Little Bit of Crafting...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello October!! In a moment of probable insanity, I have decided to wrap up this disappointing triathlon season with a really solid, if not completely demented month of training before the inclement weather sets in. So, we have: <strong>Swimming! </strong>Masters always goes on hiatus from about November to March, SO, I hereby decree that I shall go to both Tuesday and Tursday workouts all month. </div>
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Next up, <strong>Riding! </strong>As planned, I finished the Foxy's Fall Century in Davis yesterday. One of my favorite rides, it was beatiful this year, no wind! The Mister and Sporty Spice actually did the 50K on the Trail-a-Bike. We are pretty impressed with a six year old who can ride over 30 miles. Must be all that training I've been doing with him, riding that Trail-a-Bike back and forth over the hill to and from school a couple of times a day. Oh, and that's not all on the riding front. One century-great! Five--even better! How about one a weekend (the other four self-supported)? I've already knocked out three. And how's about a trip to the summit of Mt. Diablo every Tuesday this month? Bingo. We have a winner.</div>
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And last but not least, <strong>Running! </strong>With the Cal International Marathon coming up the first weekend in December, it's time to step that up. Running at least some five days a week. Long runs inching up. Last weekend my long run consisted of running to the start line of the Primo's Half Marathon about a mile into town, ran the race (with amazingly even 11 minute miles) and then shunned, <em>shunned</em> I tell you, the shuttle bus back to the start, and ran in true Forrest Gump fashion, all the way back home! 21.5 miles.</div>
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Some might look at this as late season training. But no! I see it as EARLY base training for next year!! </div>
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And believe it or not, despite psychotic training, I completed a couple of crafting goals! I'm participating in the Christmas ABC swap and I finished my 27 cards!! Doing anything with a deadline these days freaks me out a little, but I did it and they are in the mail.</div>
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I also took my second class at Castles In The Air: Vintage Crepe Paper Decorations and Garlands. Not the greatest picture, and I definitely need practice, but it was fun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq9rwrSdmKN4rzZDGcBXcNr5pEy9k3bttZYWf1B8xTiYwp01WkC_Q28lFaOK64yoHOVXmSxkab_Gb0KR9GnObgBwH8DhjMSnbW85aHvHr6OekcJ3KTRuYJTjIV314d3xBOwW-dQF0ieCm/s1600/IMG_3120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTq9rwrSdmKN4rzZDGcBXcNr5pEy9k3bttZYWf1B8xTiYwp01WkC_Q28lFaOK64yoHOVXmSxkab_Gb0KR9GnObgBwH8DhjMSnbW85aHvHr6OekcJ3KTRuYJTjIV314d3xBOwW-dQF0ieCm/s320/IMG_3120.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-63548713504838178612011-09-29T15:01:00.000-07:002011-09-29T15:34:01.269-07:00I Didn't See This One Coming.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnroklXdKR6X8JoZrsD1uU92qZF65aEp9lCr8zzT_0CB2d4SDzz34hkBpxYtqQIWKfRiXLjbTKFCAasHqYws8ihBmaVzP1xckZ_QuU-Zn34en-zWVXymH7grQUCm7z01eMEXMMtzeTriV_/s1600/Winter+2011+049.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657906824484072578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnroklXdKR6X8JoZrsD1uU92qZF65aEp9lCr8zzT_0CB2d4SDzz34hkBpxYtqQIWKfRiXLjbTKFCAasHqYws8ihBmaVzP1xckZ_QuU-Zn34en-zWVXymH7grQUCm7z01eMEXMMtzeTriV_/s320/Winter+2011+049.JPG" /></a> Well, no wonder I hardly have any followers--my little blog has been downrigt depressing lately! After that last post, I was sure Priscilla would be the next cat of our crossing the rainbow bridge, but I was wrong. We had to say goodbye to Peet this week, rather unexpectedly. And Peet, being one of our "original" (pre-crazy-cat-lady) cats, this one hit me hard. To make a long story short, he'd been looking like he had been losing weight, but otherwise seemed pretty fine, and I took him in for an exam on Monday. Within 24 hours he was diagnosed with renal failure and a kidney infection. An ultrasound and biopsies also revealed lymphoma in his kidneys and liver. The decision to let him go did not take a lot of thinking. <br /><br />Peet was one of our first rescues way back in 1998, which meant he was 13. We had volunteered to be available to foster kittens at our local shelter and that Father's Day I got a call, went up to the shelter, and was handed 2 litters of kittens, 15 in all, and a surrogate-mother cat who had just weaned her own kittens and might possibly still keep lactating and feed some of these kittens. That whole thing was a pretty rough introduction to bottle-baby-fostering, but we ended up with one kitten from each of those litters, Peet, and our dear sweet Starbuck, who is also gone now. We were told to bring the Momma cat back to the shelter to be adopted or more probably to end up "euthanized" after all her heroic work, and there was no way that was going to happen! We still have her, and she is hands-down the most affectionate cat we've ever had. <br /><br />I'm surprised we haven't received condolences from the construction industry. Peet was the most prolific behavioral urinator I've ever come accross. Peet peed on everything! Sometimes even us. He was responsible for the building of our first cat-patio at our old house, as well as our old bedroom being tiled. Our cats are 100% indoors, and we did what we had to do. This also led to the construction of the whole cattery in the new house. Peet allowed many contractors to feed their families and I'm sure he will be missed. In heaven, Peet can pee on anything he wants.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0fVvzLSQESxhss6GCyNMIBonFZ0hVi6SI6Y1UGxWBBdtHAWlPY80IEzeEFKLwOiWyWJNr_nTVtU3oBt9QS-yxljSkggO5LCqwPSfoVhi7RPJqVPdjXWqrKBMBHBlr-GakGEbRwX634Og/s1600/IMG_3116.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657906814198537842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0fVvzLSQESxhss6GCyNMIBonFZ0hVi6SI6Y1UGxWBBdtHAWlPY80IEzeEFKLwOiWyWJNr_nTVtU3oBt9QS-yxljSkggO5LCqwPSfoVhi7RPJqVPdjXWqrKBMBHBlr-GakGEbRwX634Og/s320/IMG_3116.JPG" /></a> So, I've been having myself a pretty good pitty party this week and basically checked out of life. But the upside is that even during a pitty party, I'm pretty productive. <br />We finally found the bedroom furniture I wanted in June--I LOVE IT! But I hadn't been able to find a duvet cover I liked anywhere. So, I had bought two sheets I was going to stitch together, but could NOT find time to do it, until this week. <br /><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPPmiAZiB9Fku9lH691EYL7yEFTV3TFTi_SderRcayNLJiHfTHjkFWGbZHNMwS1ibELQFzOo0SKCceFNxVaubvRtPjRDKV19FgrUHIUwVdoJtdjur65ocT1oOOKxekLZxHTyII4teP28I/s1600/IMG_3117.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657906805641779810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPPmiAZiB9Fku9lH691EYL7yEFTV3TFTi_SderRcayNLJiHfTHjkFWGbZHNMwS1ibELQFzOo0SKCceFNxVaubvRtPjRDKV19FgrUHIUwVdoJtdjur65ocT1oOOKxekLZxHTyII4teP28I/s320/IMG_3117.JPG" /></a><br />This is the fabric closer up. <br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTRRlxxE0YX_fm4sRHELwmgv4SGhPeSo7oHs991T0sLfbSqXq2ZciN056_6kPsgIZFzWTzPwpWbj_0mFKeY5cdGHyLNGtEcDQgeXFd6FUc4QNqftuX63kmyezCt6DrlHEMKIWHcfh02lM/s1600/IMG_3118.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657906796142663682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKTRRlxxE0YX_fm4sRHELwmgv4SGhPeSo7oHs991T0sLfbSqXq2ZciN056_6kPsgIZFzWTzPwpWbj_0mFKeY5cdGHyLNGtEcDQgeXFd6FUc4QNqftuX63kmyezCt6DrlHEMKIWHcfh02lM/s320/IMG_3118.JPG" /></a> And this is the giant armoire that goes with it. The nightstands match too. And my new little bedside lamps are from Target. This is pretty exciting because we slept on our mattress on the floor like starving college students for 2 years after moving into this house. I feel like a grown up again!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-61841175307085173002011-09-25T17:20:00.000-07:002011-09-25T17:47:42.144-07:00Cats, Crafts, Quilts and Swimming...My Cup Runneth Over<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4HbJeL71svDhb5N5dZsAUr_VfCt-yktVcoMKsJHyjWEGdO1E46v1ZRKj9d2MLOtgHfk6A26e27mJNqBc2GDz1uQC5vHTSdMPA6Iw94nWRQd2e7pk3XYC2eh0XNTw35LmsWARCQLDBnh2/s1600/Winter+2011+080.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656457440652031186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4HbJeL71svDhb5N5dZsAUr_VfCt-yktVcoMKsJHyjWEGdO1E46v1ZRKj9d2MLOtgHfk6A26e27mJNqBc2GDz1uQC5vHTSdMPA6Iw94nWRQd2e7pk3XYC2eh0XNTw35LmsWARCQLDBnh2/s320/Winter+2011+080.JPG" /></a>The animal travails continue here, as can probably be expected with a largely geriatric population. This is Priscilla Birdbreath. She showed up at one of the locations where I was feeding cats during the time I was unable to drive with my broken leg and the Mister was the primary dinner server to all my feral cats. I went along with him one night and there was Priscilla, sitting in a planter box near our feeding station (in a somewhat rough neighborhood), waiting for him. I said, "Who is<br />that?" and he said, "I don't know, I just feed 'em. I thought she was part of the group." Poor Priscilla had been abandoned and managed to find our food and water and had been showing up every day for weeks. Shortly thereafter we moved, and I trapped up all the cats and we brought them with us. Priscilla is a very social friendly girl, and adjusted to living with our indoor cats just fine. She was by no means a spring chicken, the vet guessed at over ten years, and shortly after we rescued her she developed skin cancer on her eyelid and had her eye and that lid removed and all has been well. Last week she was drooling and the minute I looked in her mouth I knew I was looking at mouth cancer. The vet confirmed it. Unfortunately, mouth cancers are almost always a lost cause to treat, and always extremely painful when messed with. She is still eating well and not in pain so we will give her these last few weeks as best we can. I'm so glad we found her when we did. Who dumps these animals??...it is my eternal "big question". The day I figure it out will probably be the same day my family has to come bail me out of jail. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzx70lwQJR-oItUanTam0yLbJHFdjmYDIa2sArkFyKxkMPhBn_bm-9nCD8qhihyphenhyphenUAa_l-EogVF1-yghbxXlmLlYPOtIEluJX3I8R3jH7wHr03LYafpYBFe82KMJ6f39m4XI-yrXFZXNt28/s1600/IMG_0134.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656457431179308818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzx70lwQJR-oItUanTam0yLbJHFdjmYDIa2sArkFyKxkMPhBn_bm-9nCD8qhihyphenhyphenUAa_l-EogVF1-yghbxXlmLlYPOtIEluJX3I8R3jH7wHr03LYafpYBFe82KMJ6f39m4XI-yrXFZXNt28/s320/IMG_0134.JPG" /></a> On a brighter note:</div><br /><div>Even though 2011 has been a fairly low-quantity craft year, I decided to sign up for some classes at one of my favorite art stores, Castles In The Air on 4th Street in Berkeley. I took the first one this past week, a quick Monday night class on making crepe paper flowers! It was fun and I will have to spend some more time practicing at it. These are my initial attempts, a rose, a daffodil and a carnation. The carnation was last and made past my bedtime and it shows.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEDLR32yiaTMGYm4w2jMn0MfZKVonyQ-5NycQ8CZ7-fYHhzJhCG2OMSPowXaZUAdyMGdpg9w-gTgu3dtBtS64YC9hgHXkHxFc0IQCj-Ormu96Z-SkaAyUHI5LOQvZ4WhdLZuweV_UYxTA/s1600/IMG_0121.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656457428114907042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEDLR32yiaTMGYm4w2jMn0MfZKVonyQ-5NycQ8CZ7-fYHhzJhCG2OMSPowXaZUAdyMGdpg9w-gTgu3dtBtS64YC9hgHXkHxFc0IQCj-Ormu96Z-SkaAyUHI5LOQvZ4WhdLZuweV_UYxTA/s320/IMG_0121.JPG" /></a> Training has just been weird. Schedules have been messed up with unanticipated emergencies and I'm still nursing the mental wounds of a very disappointing triathlon season. My goals for these last few months of this year are really thinly disguised attempts at starting my 2012 base training a little early. </div><br /><div>Yesterday was the Folsom Lake 2.4 mile swim. It was a beautiful day and I actually had a friend to go with! My swimmin' veterinarian friend, Joy Hollenback came over and we had a Friday night slumber party, got up at 5am Saturday and headed out. This race was put on by a high school swim team and so the crowd was heavily weighted on the very young and the very fast. Most of them were actually swimming a 5K/3.1 mi race. About 25 of us were doing the 2.4 mi. My goal was under 1.30. Not lightening pace in the swimming world, but I've only made that time once before, 9 years ago. I came in DFL--but I did not cry, which was a HUGE growth step for me! And I was only about 4 minutes over my goal. I went non-wetsuit, so it's actually not that bad!<br /></div><br /><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlAtPYCOKdbm60_ZoEEkKwlUSeB0uoDlZ4KaLsBOzC0g218kDwDjxhwG6vqLhqoVTAb4yhCoSyiAoaCr14pBNdZcy3v65HS7Wg7CBLSfNeow2c7sBA2E5U7zGEpJFWUulY8b3WrHh7vJZ/s1600/IMG_0129.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656457421297663362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlAtPYCOKdbm60_ZoEEkKwlUSeB0uoDlZ4KaLsBOzC0g218kDwDjxhwG6vqLhqoVTAb4yhCoSyiAoaCr14pBNdZcy3v65HS7Wg7CBLSfNeow2c7sBA2E5U7zGEpJFWUulY8b3WrHh7vJZ/s320/IMG_0129.JPG" /></a><br />Rare is the Saturday when I don't have to spend all day training, so even with the two hour drive each way, we got home from the swim around noon! I scurried through animal chores, grabbed the kid, got in the Miata and high tailed it for a quilt show I've wanted to go to for years! The Alden Lane Quilting In the Garden Quilt Show is held every fall. They hang the quilts, clothesline-style, all through the Alden Lane Nursery. It was so beautiful, and they had started to put out some Halloween decor. Very festive. Both Sporty Spice and I enjoyed it. And THEN we were lucky enough to just hit the right show time to see Lion King 3-D at the I-Max on the way home! That was the best day I'd had in a while!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-27210083919782535442011-08-28T09:44:00.000-07:002011-08-28T10:13:33.544-07:00Goodnight Sweet Daisy Bean<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVTjnWIrr0SJWGCVI3lfOwVfZpMrLmmfTwRPjwRG41yjL6dIIDQwRjy42B_4sftNOzKc3W7IqwIBb0OO_Xl8lTz3aXMJWokkXThudwKc8SUXWyVilspyjH9q3eyZeYTSLXNyKfvPbaT0V/s1600/IMG_0039.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645949330682448370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVTjnWIrr0SJWGCVI3lfOwVfZpMrLmmfTwRPjwRG41yjL6dIIDQwRjy42B_4sftNOzKc3W7IqwIBb0OO_Xl8lTz3aXMJWokkXThudwKc8SUXWyVilspyjH9q3eyZeYTSLXNyKfvPbaT0V/s320/IMG_0039.JPG" /></a> or, "The Animals Ate My Week--Part 2".
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<br />Last week started with one of our Tri-Valley Fix our Ferals clinics. 42 cats fixed, a lower number than usual, due to many of our veterinarians and volunteers being on vacation. But 42 is 42, and I know that every single cat fixed saves lives SOMEwhere down the line that is overpopulation. But it was an exhausting clinic to pull together.
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<br />Sporty Spice headed north to grandma and grandpa's for clinic weekend, and I have to admit, it is easier to have him there during all the chaos and stress. And it nice to have just a bit of quiet when we get home that evening. The mister left Monday to get him and to do a little fishing and I had 48 hours of blissful "hookey playing". I really let myself do what I wanted, put together some scrapbooks I've been meaning to get to, napping, and (ssshhh...) I went to see The Help all by myself and did just a bit of shopping and even more napping. And soooo glad I did when on Tuesday night stuff started going sideways.
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<br />Wednesday was Sporty's first day of school and so we all went to bed early, and I was so eager to get back on SOME kind of schedule (any kind...please!). Lo and behold my cell phone starts going off about 11pm and it's one of the caretakers of a cat who came to Sunday's clinic. I'll spare you the gory details, but this kitty was in dire shape and they were at the emergency clinic. It didn't end well and not much sleep was had that night. Wednesday morning I get up all ready to be Super-Mom and make Sporty a really special breakfast before his first day of 1st grade. But before I get him up I go about my animal chores.
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<br />I get to the goats and there is no Daisy in the pasture....if you remember, Daisy is the old, lumpy, lopsided goat who was delivered to us on 4th of July. She looked so bad, I truly didn't know if she was going to make it through the weekend. With some amazing veterinary care, love and good food, Daisy has had a truly amazing 6 weeks. She perked up and spent her days hiking about the 2 acres, sitting under Oak trees enjoying her view, and head-butting her friend Isabel. And if I didn't get her hay to her fast enough in the mornings, she'd be hollering at me, with her front hooves up on the gate. That is until Wednesday. I found her on the far side of the pasture, "down", but alert, and happy to have food and water I offered her. I scrambled to get Sporty to school and immediately called the vet. She came out and we administered fluids and tossed about theories of what was going on. The vet had already uncovered "issues" with Daisy, including a large hernia that made her lopsided, but also signs of a really bad goat disease where they can get abscesses not only on their skin, but they are actually internal and can infiltrate the organs. The vet postulated that this might be the underlying problem, but her ultrasound machine was not set up to see those internal abscesses, but that they could do that at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. OR we could assume that's what it was and send her over the rainbow bridge directly. I'll tell ya, was SO exhausted by that afternoon, and Daisy was so alert and her usual sweet self lying there, having to make that decision I sat in the pasture and cried for half an hour. Finally I made my plan, the Mister came home to help me lift her into the car, I picked up Sporty and the three of us set off in rush hour traffic for a 90 minute drive north to Davis. Just me, a six year old and a goat in a Volvo. They were so kind when we arrived and the veterinarian on staff suggested we leave her for the night and they could do the ultrasound next morning. Not every kid gets a tour of the UC Davis Large Animal Emergency Clinic the first night after school starts; mine did.
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<br />The next afternoon the vet called and gave us the report: all bad--abscesses everywhere, including her liver and spleen. So I knew there was no choice and that we had done all we possibly could for her. Since she was happy, alert, eating, and not in pain, we decided to keep her there until Friday, when I could pick Sporty up from school early and drive back up there so we could be with her for her euthanasia. It is truly the one last gift I believe you can give and animal and part of Sporty and my "No Animal Left Behind" policy. We bought her her own box of animal crackers, her favorite, and she was so happy to see us. She passed away very peacefully, with the taste of cookies in her mouth (personally, it's also the way I'd like to go) and with us telling her we loved her. Contrasted with a cold shelter death she was looking at 6 weeks ago, it was all worth it. She had that and she had us and she knew it.
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<br />Goodnight Sweet Daisy Bean. You've left a hole and you will be missed.
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<br />Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-47605634873289984982011-08-09T20:53:00.000-07:002011-08-12T17:45:22.191-07:00The Animals Ate My Week!<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCNdzyEyowqtamMxaVFMp9D7rPPmEq-NPkgSrL034n4cayw8Z2mImVGuVlxpBlGNawFUjMIf3dm4RjlGeh0zK9VZpQ_WUCU-d-OpkTC9MfPRGk2RAfvQ2HHGdMoLeAPMVfEb91nvM7MLY/s1600/IMG_3099.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639072764027164754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCNdzyEyowqtamMxaVFMp9D7rPPmEq-NPkgSrL034n4cayw8Z2mImVGuVlxpBlGNawFUjMIf3dm4RjlGeh0zK9VZpQ_WUCU-d-OpkTC9MfPRGk2RAfvQ2HHGdMoLeAPMVfEb91nvM7MLY/s320/IMG_3099.JPG" /></a> I'm actually pretty lucky that my animal rescue lifestyle rarely completely obliterates my triathlon lifestyle, but this past week or so have been one of those times. What a week! It started off with Bodie, pictured above. My friend's rescue group rescued Bodie as a pup, a little over a year ago and he was placed with a family who has recently decided they no longer want him (nice). Long story short, Bodie needed an "emergency foster" for a week and like I always say, "I can do anything for a week!" Bodie is a super sweet and happy dog, but he sure put us to the test! I've always joked that I don't need a smart dog (sorry Lance), and I'm now convinced of it. At 15 months, this Australian Shepherd is a busy guy and super active. Much of the week was spent either cleaning up destruction or taking him for hours to the dog park. And to top it off, poor Bodie is deaf. His trainer taught him hand signals, and he knows them amazingly well, but it was an eye opener to have a dog you can't actually verbally communicate with. Imagine if your pet couldn't hear you praise him...and also if they couldn't hear you say "no!" to get a behavior to stop. But we made it, and Bodie is off to another foster home and soon onto what will hopefully be a forever home. Most rescues are amazing in the intricacy of the network that gets them from initial rescue to permanent loving home. I was happy we could be even a piece in the puzzle. We even managed to get to Arnold, with both Lance and Bodie in tow, for a scant but meaningful 48 hours weekend before last.</div><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div></div><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div>The work-week then started with the usual madness of coordinating getting Sporty Spice to his daycamps (when does school start?!?!?) and various animals to various veterinary appointments. Emmalee has chronic kidney failure and had to be dropped off for her usual tests, Cerie had an annual checkup. 40 minutes each way. Then back. Then Cerie needed dental work, which necessitated the same drive back and forth this week. Emma also needed an additional test this week, so double the drive..again. </div><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div></div><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div>Lance was scheduled for his second treatment of this round of chemo last Thursday but he has been having, shall we say, "potty problems", for which he has been getting me up at all hours of the night to let him out. So, after the half hour drive each way, and appointment, I ended up doing it all again on Monday morning, when he did get his chemo. He seems to feel really pretty good, but his appetite is low and he's been losing weight which has me TOTALLY stressed out. </div><br />
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<br /><div>Where are we now? Thursday? Went out to do morning animal chores and my big white bunny Mavis (below) looked a little "pokey". Off to the 40 minute away vet with her. Poor Mavas. I found her on a bike ride<br /></div><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-gbSPcPt0YpRPzwnUVTjI1YHPlT58JS_EDpix6lqr55mcDdqzkWvaP5RZzVABqYDdcl6a7PwQyIQOIFWOKtKCDpc4xBTW_WKdqzW8KKYCWD6ZYgx9LKPAvm-VR9W22peB-dncSEnPfyg/s1600/Winter+2011+027.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639072760122046322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-gbSPcPt0YpRPzwnUVTjI1YHPlT58JS_EDpix6lqr55mcDdqzkWvaP5RZzVABqYDdcl6a7PwQyIQOIFWOKtKCDpc4xBTW_WKdqzW8KKYCWD6ZYgx9LKPAvm-VR9W22peB-dncSEnPfyg/s320/Winter+2011+027.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNJ17GufIWTttAkT1DWn4NB-xKuszf1WiQjepQobYZQz_eH7MQLHVB3xAYEHn60Tmvk5Spd1Sfjz0unCXKjjAowGoXJ5TwXxCesPcipTZE2wkv13CR2HsMgyRFiDU8FA5CZ0wlOnL_2E-/s1600/IMG_0072.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639072750394917858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNJ17GufIWTttAkT1DWn4NB-xKuszf1WiQjepQobYZQz_eH7MQLHVB3xAYEHn60Tmvk5Spd1Sfjz0unCXKjjAowGoXJ5TwXxCesPcipTZE2wkv13CR2HsMgyRFiDU8FA5CZ0wlOnL_2E-/s320/IMG_0072.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzXaIxwWOtC-zjBIzu-uyvZVr49ScZ7xjA6hYw7TNibB2Ey5EOXaNKqR6Yuv7BK4WlkrQAetCEXJRcbTAtovigmcUEh81BQxF4iK_InHGrX7dh7t0y1PY3f9bK4qZDu6BBTF6hbmO-gyg/s1600/IMG_3100.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639072746734297698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzXaIxwWOtC-zjBIzu-uyvZVr49ScZ7xjA6hYw7TNibB2Ey5EOXaNKqR6Yuv7BK4WlkrQAetCEXJRcbTAtovigmcUEh81BQxF4iK_InHGrX7dh7t0y1PY3f9bK4qZDu6BBTF6hbmO-gyg/s320/IMG_3100.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<br /><div></div></div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-39908813967630080112011-07-26T21:33:00.000-07:002011-07-26T22:00:56.292-07:00My Boy Is Nine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FeitzhhNnIMjkErYu9tFbWIZGy-RISvMKpHH-nKqzTOyp6S0Nx0aj-J59YvDvgbEaSdJrRmUGezVSM1Y4Ck0UJffk9yHSwyNPa5vlO_G0M-FTCYJUk7umUEwvGDtrDCYCtVzSC1J3DuU/s1600/IMG_3094.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633886730798643906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4FeitzhhNnIMjkErYu9tFbWIZGy-RISvMKpHH-nKqzTOyp6S0Nx0aj-J59YvDvgbEaSdJrRmUGezVSM1Y4Ck0UJffk9yHSwyNPa5vlO_G0M-FTCYJUk7umUEwvGDtrDCYCtVzSC1J3DuU/s320/IMG_3094.JPG" /></a> My sweet Lance is nine years old today. He got a birthday walk thismorning, and a trip to the dog park this afternoon...<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5K7xmon-N2f6fHMR_a_gZzPVGxU5dVHa7OkMEiL4qjLcHM4XgPMwHt1qawpLIVjBkiNMtBBYGaWMqObnC1DU3j16Gfy69fHmqju65q-LMAQoqZNYsjRw2U1rvX2PIva_VLNbUsvYPjCz/s1600/IMG_3088.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633886724013552418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5K7xmon-N2f6fHMR_a_gZzPVGxU5dVHa7OkMEiL4qjLcHM4XgPMwHt1qawpLIVjBkiNMtBBYGaWMqObnC1DU3j16Gfy69fHmqju65q-LMAQoqZNYsjRw2U1rvX2PIva_VLNbUsvYPjCz/s320/IMG_3088.JPG" /></a> and a dozen "pupcakes" to share with his friends, doggie ice-cream, and a week long sleep-over party with a foster dog named Bodie who will be here for a week (more on him later).</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>This dog is the love of my life. I have not had the heart to write much about it, but Lance was diagnosed with lymphoma last November. He went through one course of chemo and has been in remission until since about April. Upon his recheck this past week, his oncologist told me it looks like he is coming out of remission. We started another round of chemo last week and Lance is doing well. Ever since he started the first round, you would never know he was sick. But the future looks uncertain and I am readying to have my heart broken into a million pieces. But in the meantime, we will make is every day count. Happy Birthday Lance! Remembering when we found out you were born, and the day we picked you up and you were a fuzzy little 15 pounds.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>On an oddly related triathlon note, Lance was born on July 26, 2002...the same weekend the Mister and I were in Lake Placid, NY, doing the only Ironman we have done together (and his one and only IM). With the thought that I'd do Lake Placid 2012, almost ten years to the day of Lance's birthday, as a bit of a tribute and way to grieve when we eventually lose him, I signed up when registration opened at 9am yesterday. The mister super-surprised me....he signed up too. Now, I hardly EVER bring this up (ok, not), but I beat him 10 years ago (I did wait so we could cross the line together!). This next endeavor ought to finish the marriage right off. But Lake Placid, here we come!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I had a fun post-Vineman rest week and actually did some of the "wild and crazy normal person things" I promised myself as a reward. Tuesday I went to (ready for this?) a movie! in the middle of the day! by myself! I went to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris --loved it. And I made it on my little adventure to find "Annie's Annuals and Perennials" the nursery I hear everyone talking about--worth it!--and to Scrapbook Territory and Castles in the Air, 2 stores on 4t St. in Berkeley! All these things so close to home, but it is just so rare to have a block of time to ever go. I had to scramble and didn't have a lot of time at any one place, but I did it!!<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-66177060104812738892011-07-18T07:42:00.000-07:002011-07-18T08:14:24.559-07:00Vineman Half Race Report OR At Least I Didn't Walk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqShLdfxeeQBJ3HOy_-JM65I8evHepTaGxpW-UakFehAL35jfn38r41B6M3YD9_DE1UVk3l22qMOEs57F6g7eZI3K4BI5kUgULxVcdt4g3cMvbncH7iUwOO4QR1Vn_KE95U4qj1VimF2PV/s1600/vineman"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 153px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 128px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630703294020991778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqShLdfxeeQBJ3HOy_-JM65I8evHepTaGxpW-UakFehAL35jfn38r41B6M3YD9_DE1UVk3l22qMOEs57F6g7eZI3K4BI5kUgULxVcdt4g3cMvbncH7iUwOO4QR1Vn_KE95U4qj1VimF2PV/s320/vineman" /></a> Well, it's over. And a mixed bag it was. <br /><br />The week leading up to the race was unusually cool, and luckily that trend continued into yesterday. Taper week was great, workouts good, some down-time, and miracle of miracles, that diet finally paid off and the scale on Friday showed me a number in the 130's (albeit 139.8) for the first time in a long time. That was a nice confidence booster as I finished all my animal chores and left for check-in on Saturday. Navigated the check in process, including the mandatory athlete meeting and expo, and headed to my usual Motel 6 to set up the bike, knit and contemplate my "big goal". I wanted dearly to finish this race in under 6 hours. Over a decade ago, I once did a 5.58, and that goal has been elusive ever since! It torments me. The past few years I've done a 6.12, and last year was a 6.05. SO so close. Totally do-able. <br /><br />The swim is always a deja-vu; oh, are we already here again? Looking up the canyon of the Russian River, unable to see the turnaround bouy. I read on swimsmooth.com recently how it pays to start the swim a little harder than you might. So I tried it. Usually I let myself ease in and warm-up so to speak. Stayed in a pretty straight line, which was good. I do love this swim; it's pretty and straight. Came out in 43.09, roughly 3 minutes faster than last year. Not much, considering I've been swimming 5 days a week as of late, including 2 masters workouts each week. But I'll take it. I would have been ticked it it was slower.<br /><br />The bike: the lesson to be gleaned from this painful sub-3 hour 56 mile ride is probably not to use too big of gears or you will pay (hear me? PAY) for it later. I think I was lured in by that seductress known as strength, and simply stopped using my head. It's been awihle since I haven't had my own personal gear-mashing warning, the residual pain from my broken leg. So, without that, I think I got a little giddy in search of my goal and really should have been geared one easier MOST of that ride. The moral? Just because you can use them doesn't mean you should. 2.53.46. Yes, people, that was an average speed of 19.3 mph, and about fifteen minutes faster than last year.<br /><br />But that's when the payment plan began to kick in...The Run: or Why Won't My Legs Work? It was just a sufferfest. Ugly shuffling for 13.1 miles. Mile 5 I seriously started to wonder if I could even finish. I just did NOT want to walk! And technically I didn't, but the speed was hardly discernable from a walk. Why I have come to the conclusion that my major mistake was the bike gear mashing, is that my heart rate wasn't even that high! I just couldn't turn my legs over. I had to actually talk myself into pushing hard enough to keep my heart rate in the target zone. But it hurt! Almost 15 minutes slower than last year. So, between my bike and my run, it was pretty much a wash.<br /><br />6.08.39<br /><br />I will now spend the next 364 days trying to figure out how to shave off this 8 minutes and 39 seconds.Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-91587960464638927022011-07-14T11:54:00.000-07:002011-07-14T12:29:27.250-07:00A Weekend In The Mountains....Finally!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp3UcyPOG6Cg1Ufr7-Spv-MXI0KGK88kRwRXNyI5_y5xODjqPNTE6mmkgRXEWhUxFPm_-Tf3LDupNOj49yOf1tfxyUOwPijgelJDqvsavRDqcnF2bFOwc2guyiIc3-qIYlMC8aWm2qBhS/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629284844014674946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjp3UcyPOG6Cg1Ufr7-Spv-MXI0KGK88kRwRXNyI5_y5xODjqPNTE6mmkgRXEWhUxFPm_-Tf3LDupNOj49yOf1tfxyUOwPijgelJDqvsavRDqcnF2bFOwc2guyiIc3-qIYlMC8aWm2qBhS/s320/019.JPG" /></a> Our summer has been so busy so far! We haven't been able to make it up to our Arnold house for at least 2 months. So we were so thrilled to get up there this past weekend. My goals were simple.<br />#1: To train. The picture above is of Lake Alpine. This amazing place is a 30 mile, uphill bike ride from our front door and 30 miles back down the mountain to get back. It is one of my favorite rides of all times. Sunday I got in a three hour trail run just south of the house, and was happy, again, not to have to answer the question, "How fast can a bear run?". The weather was gorgeous both days.<br /><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6K7LD-gmIsuGOX0HP27ZhHWMod8MtXwOr9X_emFHHI_PiFCL3mT5Tqyh8MaHmDCSQ9G-GSpR47QsVfMTcI7j9TlELUy1GqsdjEgDUQGGLOn1d5EGk35nkhcgaOyHFZQgvj91vLqx7fYYR/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629284839091109570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6K7LD-gmIsuGOX0HP27ZhHWMod8MtXwOr9X_emFHHI_PiFCL3mT5Tqyh8MaHmDCSQ9G-GSpR47QsVfMTcI7j9TlELUy1GqsdjEgDUQGGLOn1d5EGk35nkhcgaOyHFZQgvj91vLqx7fYYR/s320/022.JPG" /></a><br />#2: To knit. I got started on a baby blanket for my friend's new baby. But all I have to show you is this ball of yarn. My love-hate relationship with knitting continues. I got 17 rows in before having to rip the whole thing apart due to an irreparable mistake. I started another go at it yesterday and am 3 rows safely in.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgux9UVt7z3OzbqNE2HsBf5QYwegPNvoBBwR9FgP0rs9bzGBAkCbo07C41wK3ROnsZAFeRXO19EctSG5XkvctrnztRoGG7jRmdXfXFoujU9uwnjZxseO3WiUm303vVyV3zWkCbXhY0f8U40/s1600/24580332.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 117px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 193px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629284830864496706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgux9UVt7z3OzbqNE2HsBf5QYwegPNvoBBwR9FgP0rs9bzGBAkCbo07C41wK3ROnsZAFeRXO19EctSG5XkvctrnztRoGG7jRmdXfXFoujU9uwnjZxseO3WiUm303vVyV3zWkCbXhY0f8U40/s320/24580332.jpg" /></a> #3: To read. My guilty pleasure of the summer--going back to re-read the second half of the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series (I'm on book 5, above), in order to get to this:<br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 102px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629284828749695506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRR0H33car-NpLWZgjlfswZZBXZ5Ik0zrbR-cpI6HhJSDwyreuxYxBwNB_e2KwEyuU6kw_k7Cl2Sd70WDou8JT2L4bXC0LKquwIJAC9ebbIAJosKFmsNWw_wfrWyX8xNiQPf9_ClfM_0iX/s320/echointhebone.jpg" /><br />The new one! I read this series about ten years ago and was honestly surprised at how much I liked it, knowing my usual taste in fiction. This series is about a woman who travels back in time, to Scotland 200 years ago, where she falls in love. Part historical fiction, part romance, it is history made fun as you get to know the main characters Claire and Jamie in every 1000-plus page volume. Fun, fun summer reading.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Animal update:</div><br /><div>Little black bunny from the previous post made a visit to the vet that same day and unfortunately it was a one-way trip. Poor little bunny was very sick and diagnosed with probable kidney failure. She is buried in our yard under a large oak tree.</div><br /><div>Daisy the goat has had quite the week! The first 2 days she was here, she sat by the gate and was rather subdued. That first Monday I gave her a medicated bath for her dirty, flaky skin, and she seemed to immediately perk up! I knew she still had some sort of serious medical issues most likely, but she sure seemed to feel better. And she sure did eat a lot! I'm not sure how well she was fed where she came from. This week the goat vet came out to the house. I doubt she had ever seen one of those--let alone one as nice as Dr. Dana Conley. She brought her mobile ultrasound unit and we took a peek. It appears her lopsidedness comes from hernias, so parts of her insided are less protected by a body cavity wall. This is something she can live with and even if they could be repaired surgically, her advanced age (she is indeed ancient) would probably preclude it. She was wormed, de-flead, had blood drawn, put on some arthritis medication, and had her hooves trimmed. She is like a girl who just got new shoes. She is all OVER the couple-acres-hill! But her true nirvana seemed to arrive this week in the form of a whole bale of alfalfa hay! I put out the first flake and she spent the next 12 hours sitting there, chewing and chewing. When I brought her down to the driveway for the vet yesterday, the she got so excited and the look on her face said one thing: "The Mother Ship!!". This week she has even started talking to me when I approach the gate to bring food or come pet her. I'm so glad she has come here for her retirement and hope we can make her time left the best it can be.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And alas, this week is the Vineman taper week! It is so nice to have some time and energy for some other things. Saw a friend yesterday, took Sporty to the library, pulled some weeds. And the great short workouts where I come home convinced someone has swapped my legs out for Chrissie Wellington's....taper week indeed!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Vineman or Bust.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-71156718149953081982011-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:002011-07-05T14:19:51.473-07:00Never a dull moment<u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><br /><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><br /><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4IBzAXAFmybaL74IFBRACnzs_xLIh85Ii8WN5QppE0ES5cyhjk5XvpiiRUtM7sn87Of-znQVl5dElSaPyIpVmvYGy5GMArZ5O0V3LKz1eLhiP1hlCFBwivGS2jgA2M-I4wblyVFEeGfw/s1600/024.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625976991283010898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4IBzAXAFmybaL74IFBRACnzs_xLIh85Ii8WN5QppE0ES5cyhjk5XvpiiRUtM7sn87Of-znQVl5dElSaPyIpVmvYGy5GMArZ5O0V3LKz1eLhiP1hlCFBwivGS2jgA2M-I4wblyVFEeGfw/s320/024.JPG" /></a> So. My neighbor does dog-rescue and runs a "traditional" rescue group (fostering/adopting out) out of our local animal shelter. We have become friends in the symbiotically dysfunctional way that animal rescue people form most relationships (I'm joking...sort of). So, she calls me on Friday before the holiday weekend with the "euthanasia list" in her hand. Not many people know, but around the country in shelters everywhere, the staff gears up for fireworks and 4th festivities by clearing out space for all the animals who will become spooked, run away, and end up in the shelter by the end of the long weekend. And they do this in the most logical way, of course. They kill everything. Problem solved. So, there are 76 healthy adoptable cats on this list she is reading to me. It took everything I had to remain in my right mind and stick to the fact that I'm at my unofficial "cat-limit" and say no. But I did definitely have room for 2 rabbits. So, she dropped off the two above. Eunice is the black and white bunny and is doing well with the resident bunnies here. The little black one has a vet appointment this afternoon as she has some definite "issues" and she may or may not be coming back home today, depending on the prognosis for quality of life.<br />But oh, no, I didn't stop there! I said bring me one of THESE....<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmM24O3RNC1YIW0HpFysNtRLrtzLKzipReVvKsUjDAcw1cx6O_nW1s1WMSQn5lq8UKU5ftz4MPmBD9gst40QlbAUwkx-BRb0x1q_ZBDqT1UyTqf_dcNYScJkWnBxpuGyT4esF6b_5Er7gx/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625976987584843010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmM24O3RNC1YIW0HpFysNtRLrtzLKzipReVvKsUjDAcw1cx6O_nW1s1WMSQn5lq8UKU5ftz4MPmBD9gst40QlbAUwkx-BRb0x1q_ZBDqT1UyTqf_dcNYScJkWnBxpuGyT4esF6b_5Er7gx/s320/025.JPG" /></a><br />Meet Daisy. Daisy arrived in my rescue friend's mini-van. Daisy has been seriously neglected. She is so thin you can feel all of her bones. And her hooves are so grown out she can hardly walk. She has some sort of growths all over her "saddlebags", and her skin is a mess.</div><br /><div>But she is sweet as can be and loves to be loved. And our other little lonely goat has been doing a goat happy dance (seriously...it's hilarious) all over the pasture all weekend. She is SO happy to have a friend since she has been alone since Thunder died last year. Daisy has been eating and drinking like a champ and let me subject her to grooming and a medicated bath yesterday. Thismorning, all though she still looks lumpy and lopsided, and the farrier has yet to fix her feet, she was so full of herself she was up at the top of the hill munching away on grass. I don't know what her prognosis will be once the vet comes, but at least we will provide her with some dignity at this end of her life. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I got in an itty bitty bit of crafting this weekend between Sporty's race and sorting out animals. I finished this 9 X 9 scrapbook for my friend's new baby girl. I won't post all 20 pages, but it came out really really cute. I had a boatload of girl-baby scrapbook stuff.<br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPa3upQ-kZI2wOP34BVIzMrk-7ESTTZlvPBgwBSlTYSnFZxIPFhhJvb5Dgnv-BWlhLqnjYSrlLo-Fucz8uSi3WcfUJ_homw1aXiCGsEreA8Z9A7DsywhIpoS9jlfNnGCrQKsjmSsau0be/s1600/020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625976981080459058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPa3upQ-kZI2wOP34BVIzMrk-7ESTTZlvPBgwBSlTYSnFZxIPFhhJvb5Dgnv-BWlhLqnjYSrlLo-Fucz8uSi3WcfUJ_homw1aXiCGsEreA8Z9A7DsywhIpoS9jlfNnGCrQKsjmSsau0be/s320/020.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gBbsFej3gchFlAsFreH6_oVoj-u5au46SkIgdiXgKXao914pInDJvTGwKig8ZSM8jUgSvOnGBeIiEIHdMfhS2nHJ9ass9xPK5GLykaDm4ZtJySXHipPngl0AnQnKxLYZF_eOYKrNvSeS/s1600/021.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625976972039331122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gBbsFej3gchFlAsFreH6_oVoj-u5au46SkIgdiXgKXao914pInDJvTGwKig8ZSM8jUgSvOnGBeIiEIHdMfhS2nHJ9ass9xPK5GLykaDm4ZtJySXHipPngl0AnQnKxLYZF_eOYKrNvSeS/s320/021.JPG" /></a><br />sorry, this last one is sideways.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjOfc5whSBobARZYaw54yqRRae8XafwnQRVd19NoLodGmMEuettO7XnrxekST65p_pFKGbWCG160sLijDbgrur6usRBNxjCW9d62elFm01ZUXzM2uVMq56Vl_MahnZiSkfTsRZPyvuLRN/s1600/022.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625976965675341426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjOfc5whSBobARZYaw54yqRRae8XafwnQRVd19NoLodGmMEuettO7XnrxekST65p_pFKGbWCG160sLijDbgrur6usRBNxjCW9d62elFm01ZUXzM2uVMq56Vl_MahnZiSkfTsRZPyvuLRN/s320/022.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-72160094841853966212011-07-04T21:09:00.001-07:002011-07-04T21:34:02.400-07:00And The World Contains Another Triathlete<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrEIke3TSC4e-gBd1ioaS-MaZzMPiRR39mv_cgwW2dpwYWCgycFaFL14bw4TqXGhNXbezYztxAC0nR2nMJni9KrhpJKAY_rbc1Vjn-5YXDzMgcMAyD2CTm_e6edjHsUXGMqLng2Z4p0lR/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625718234402146882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrEIke3TSC4e-gBd1ioaS-MaZzMPiRR39mv_cgwW2dpwYWCgycFaFL14bw4TqXGhNXbezYztxAC0nR2nMJni9KrhpJKAY_rbc1Vjn-5YXDzMgcMAyD2CTm_e6edjHsUXGMqLng2Z4p0lR/s320/004.JPG" /></a> Setting up Transition.<br /><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZM-N1Xtpjpj4huG0CH00_pgZEEQOlUELgoXjHaQ992noqe9RawsyN4ERneIwvhL9evX_-Ww_iGdG4h2yKeg6aDPsHMpIaN9nHrnJAgNgw2kdcCAn8ErrkpJKlhOUx1nmDGEW-b1OOnI7U/s1600/002.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625717215877511698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZM-N1Xtpjpj4huG0CH00_pgZEEQOlUELgoXjHaQ992noqe9RawsyN4ERneIwvhL9evX_-Ww_iGdG4h2yKeg6aDPsHMpIaN9nHrnJAgNgw2kdcCAn8ErrkpJKlhOUx1nmDGEW-b1OOnI7U/s320/002.JPG" /></a> Bodymarking!<br /></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoob2C6ezP-JZU4fcxvhUnHe6-FqnsJYHUtTElgzhofqze08xhmbcRGmh1SHuk6sOAe8ij0zKIRLa9VNUZWLhlRLBCBA5NvTSXK63_bwcAGJrplEneozPNHmaC6275qvUGxZbcyXHDPQ1/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625716750482118194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeoob2C6ezP-JZU4fcxvhUnHe6-FqnsJYHUtTElgzhofqze08xhmbcRGmh1SHuk6sOAe8ij0zKIRLa9VNUZWLhlRLBCBA5NvTSXK63_bwcAGJrplEneozPNHmaC6275qvUGxZbcyXHDPQ1/s320/008.JPG" /></a>The start.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBOgyYYQeYUshIK_KT-EmuKctsH5wkzkrJ3ajSpDInxlAVA7p5pZdPcxsauZefGRnxkppy-SMD7uTCFcniemMvhyIEsjc9WbaHNRgnQvxH_nD13oO6CVJ0WUTcxPkzLrK55Vano38HssO/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625716744789756130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBOgyYYQeYUshIK_KT-EmuKctsH5wkzkrJ3ajSpDInxlAVA7p5pZdPcxsauZefGRnxkppy-SMD7uTCFcniemMvhyIEsjc9WbaHNRgnQvxH_nD13oO6CVJ0WUTcxPkzLrK55Vano38HssO/s320/012.JPG" /></a> Bike Out.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXh7sLXaRlJ8wFnptCYtL6bjYIRXE5cfhff_fXZ6n57fvZcLlMABUEjI4F8epq4SOdSHni1hnT_8fyq1D2-Tv6N73tm6wWcpoOEhI9J99la4tw57p66BSe4vchqPqrWeB_a9TcJixyxz2/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625716741547080274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXh7sLXaRlJ8wFnptCYtL6bjYIRXE5cfhff_fXZ6n57fvZcLlMABUEjI4F8epq4SOdSHni1hnT_8fyq1D2-Tv6N73tm6wWcpoOEhI9J99la4tw57p66BSe4vchqPqrWeB_a9TcJixyxz2/s320/016.JPG" /></a> The finish!</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Sporty Spice did it! He finished is very first triathlon! This race was part of the Jenny's Light Kids Triathlon series. It was held at the College of San Mateo, which was a beautiful campus. We were all up and in the car by 6:30. It was going to be a really hot day and Sporty's wave was last. We got there, set up his transition area, checked in and got body marked (what a proud moment!). Then we had almost a two hour wait by the pool, for the older kids to start. There were maybe 80 kids in all, ages five to twelve. Lots of parents, some with M-dot tatoos, and at least a couple of recognizable pro-women with their kids. The announcer was very funny, making comments on the p.a. system like, "ok, kids you've trained for years for this, and you're almost ready to live your parents' dream."</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Sporty had a mini-crisis at the start and there was a little crying. I had a feeling there was going to be, only because the pool at his swim school is an indoor wading-type pool, and this one was a big, bright, deep, Olympic sized pool. It had to look intimidating. Luckily for us, they were allowed to use kickboards for the 50 yards! And still, my kid was last out of the pool--takes after his mother. And like me, he was pretty happy to get that swim behind him and get on that bike. Sixteen inch wheels rolling as fast as they could, off he went for the mile loop (2 laps!), powered up the little hill and back down without wiping out (whew!). And on to the run--half a mile--he took off running as fast as he possibly could--and through the finish chute! Professional Becky LaVelle gave him his medal and took his timing chip. He was so proud! It was absolutely one of the cutest things I've ever seen and I couldn't be prouder. When we got back to the car he asked if his race was going to be on tv.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjS36PorhYE2vv1w0iRXtgFAJWSpzPRBeUonk2RRyI68Gq3hFi7nKbHrZoNdGwS8LneeVJKcBK2PBaEYxZZBKRZ3uQPdpZPxDMIEJx8uU6MnRY6f_EfRPiUjanI6WjIRojF663Yzc7_2X/s1600/019.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625716730204627474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjS36PorhYE2vv1w0iRXtgFAJWSpzPRBeUonk2RRyI68Gq3hFi7nKbHrZoNdGwS8LneeVJKcBK2PBaEYxZZBKRZ3uQPdpZPxDMIEJx8uU6MnRY6f_EfRPiUjanI6WjIRojF663Yzc7_2X/s320/019.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div><br /></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-68618736582542497592011-06-29T10:51:00.001-07:002011-06-29T11:56:05.014-07:00Lookie What Sporty Got!<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rjh50JmDRBRPvp3as7qd695CfH50ewao8diND0vmLVQzDuK4H2jYvKRXD2EpIz-Un9d4zgC1oyJRGAXBIRwhtuLbyWFo5m-PNWnWf5BuDJEjSj8ZkQuv6EPJ0vn6tyaiGdnf-GuX4foK/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623705722771342258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rjh50JmDRBRPvp3as7qd695CfH50ewao8diND0vmLVQzDuK4H2jYvKRXD2EpIz-Un9d4zgC1oyJRGAXBIRwhtuLbyWFo5m-PNWnWf5BuDJEjSj8ZkQuv6EPJ0vn6tyaiGdnf-GuX4foK/s320/001.JPG" /></a> MAIL?? FOR ME?? WELL, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE??...<br />ah<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdo3og_etxiZtD88hrCYaSMfYYyrvtLLz3IGRzNl-On2cZlWvIvo65Oja9bQlmvZByQE8yZmVIoiXkKf9LUfH_tSYxXUtX5YYpeinbwR8iD2QjHFo7PwDCQxjjSYyGDNtI6WJ4N71QoZh/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623705714457249730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdo3og_etxiZtD88hrCYaSMfYYyrvtLLz3IGRzNl-On2cZlWvIvo65Oja9bQlmvZByQE8yZmVIoiXkKf9LUfH_tSYxXUtX5YYpeinbwR8iD2QjHFo7PwDCQxjjSYyGDNtI6WJ4N71QoZh/s320/005.JPG" /></a><br />AH, MY FIRST USA TRIATHLON LICENSE!<br />AND I'M ONLY SIX!<br />WATCHOUT MACCA!!<br /><br /><div align="left">Yes, it is upon us. Sporty's first triathlon is this coming weekend and we are training hard. Stay tuned....</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">As promised, June in our household was nuts. It started off with our aforementioned visitors. Brett has just posted his podcast from Escape From Alcatraz on <a href="http://www.zentri.com/">www.zentri.com</a> so both his Ironman Texas podcast and this latest ones contains bits of audio from their trip here and glimpses of life at our house. So fun to listen to on my runs this week.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">While our houseguests were here, our little family actually had to leave for an overnight to the Mister's parents' up north several hours where we attended a graduation party for our eldest neice as well as a 50th anniversary party for his parents. The next week contained Sporty's kindergarten graduation and end-of-year festivities. The weekend before last, the Mister did his third-this-year 200 mile ride so Sporty and I were on our own and made it to the local Wildlife Museum and to see Mr. Popper's Penguins, which we very much enjoyed. The following Monday my good friend gave birth to her first baby, a little girl named Madeline and I was lucky enough to see both mommy and baby in the first 12 hours after her arrival. So amazing! And I couldn't be more thrilled for her. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">And all along, I was finishing 3 weeks of major training (some might say overtraining--but I had the time and it felt ok). 70 mile rides, 15 mile runs and trips to the summit of Diablo each week for starters. And getting ready for a June 26th feral cat spay neuter clinic....<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGxfsqrtRxa1OcIaSYY_gR3r3HidasFjJ1Z4dXhEslRojs77WlHzvT0_onPKyagd3QoJap23I4UU1tlu2r_TNdLEKXHicUe-sC9avXwpSu4mbk9zdWnyiOMCP4zDgBsSk4DuD9PbgUqC5/s1600/Winter-into-Summer+128.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623705706455495986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGxfsqrtRxa1OcIaSYY_gR3r3HidasFjJ1Z4dXhEslRojs77WlHzvT0_onPKyagd3QoJap23I4UU1tlu2r_TNdLEKXHicUe-sC9avXwpSu4mbk9zdWnyiOMCP4zDgBsSk4DuD9PbgUqC5/s320/Winter-into-Summer+128.jpg" /></a> NO KITTENS FOR ME! NO SIR!!<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left">Our clinic went well, if a bit smaller than we'd like. We fixed 60 cats. One cat didn't make it through surgery, which is always hard. He turned out to have an enlarged heart that we couldn't have known about and which just couldn't handle the anesthesia. But on the upside, one little itty bitty calico kitten with the saddest eyes I've ever seen, who was too tiny to be fixed that day, went home with one of our volunteers, and is going to live her life in one of the best homes I know of.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYNtpcI5mlew4m1wbVGnVninDdZrGmdU7q-y5M5T9yxNWG7RzNpYxfegxEy0XpJaUZuoa-qPSyZV4efvMEQP1-qGX3rNLp3se5T0PgGxhyW2ymlqAGK5ls7toZK-_ixFzX5oewSILyc-T/s1600/SVIT-2011md.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 178px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 178px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623705703594229890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYNtpcI5mlew4m1wbVGnVninDdZrGmdU7q-y5M5T9yxNWG7RzNpYxfegxEy0XpJaUZuoa-qPSyZV4efvMEQP1-qGX3rNLp3se5T0PgGxhyW2ymlqAGK5ls7toZK-_ixFzX5oewSILyc-T/s320/SVIT-2011md.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Belated Race Report: San Jose International Triathlon--1500 yard swim, 26 mile bike, 10K run.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">It dawned on me the morning of the race that it had been about 3 years since I've done a race this short! This race is flat and fast! And the weather was very cool, which I have never experienced there. The swim start was chilly and almost everyone was shivering, despite the wetsuits. A great improvement this year was that they changed the swim course, from the old one where you practically need a map and a gps unit not to get lost on all the weird turns, to two nice triangles. The sun came out soon into the bike and I was moving! My bike time turned out to be third fastest in my age group. I met my own goal on the run: just get it under an hour, which I was happy with after going so hard on the bike. All told, I placed 13th out of about 60 women in my age group. If I could just learn to swim, I could see top ten!</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">I did this race in the midst of my Cambiati diet experience which I have yet to give an update on. I finally finished my 28 days that involved the cleanse. Parts were tough, but other parts were easier than I expected. It was interesting, and the diet was rather involved and hard to sum up in a nutshell. But I accomplished my bottom line goal. In six weeks total, I lost 10 pounds and a significant percentage body fat, which has made such a difference training. And I must say, that I was able to put in these three high volume weeks without feeling nearly as beat up as I think I would have before. </div><br /><div align="left">SO, my plan, until Vineman 70.3, which is three weeks away, is to basically stick to the primary list of foods that you start this diet with (non-inflammatory, non-allergenic) and then start adding some foods back to do the last part, where you figure out what foods you might have reactions to. It's just working too well to mess with before that. One other thing I have grown fond of as part of this diet is the post-workout protien and fruit smoothie. I hadn't really tried this before, although so many people I know do it, and I swear it makes recovery faster. I also like the eating only at certain times of day thing. Only ten pounds away from ideal race weight now!<br />I am drinking my first cup of coffee as I write (in almost 8 weeks!)--although it's decaf. I'm a hard core coffee drinker and had never successfully kicked it before. So I'm loathe to ever go through that process again. And I must admit that my energy level is much more even without the massive caffeine intake. My ART person told me not to even go back to the decaf, that I was looking for my old habits, which I'm sure has some truth to it. So I thought about it for several days...and decided that if a cup of of decaf coffee with some lowfat coconut milk is my worst habit, then cling to it I shall!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-59076269285926381662011-06-21T18:21:00.001-07:002011-06-21T19:00:51.955-07:00Help! There is a Triathlete in My House!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CVVrLxneQvBZYs2lPtiq_AANzlIZ6IC3JzD_SOhDciSCfNzLD43GdQMmOGUI_98pyeID0-I4YUVom-FR_BF3UZ0qRkV2X56C9goX0dQtd_IL9QlPLe8ra63Gi9YE-JkQFwCnSM8Uu0UU/s1600/summer2011+003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620849875248380514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CVVrLxneQvBZYs2lPtiq_AANzlIZ6IC3JzD_SOhDciSCfNzLD43GdQMmOGUI_98pyeID0-I4YUVom-FR_BF3UZ0qRkV2X56C9goX0dQtd_IL9QlPLe8ra63Gi9YE-JkQFwCnSM8Uu0UU/s320/summer2011+003.JPG" /></a> Or, there was! This is now a very belated post, but I cannot miss writing about one of my most exciting parts of June!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w2alHi166s-5bDjrZ4wZXEYmm8hVyI3_GdAEAzGkAp8hsBP66MNh_VeXIOrzomx_UYRa-NQJGGLDgpG7YbNYRNriHCk7v2TjV7k4nzWXb8egYjRvJgkfbON8QgMdIAPmKR_0zgX5e08O/s1600/summer2011+005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620849356002229826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8w2alHi166s-5bDjrZ4wZXEYmm8hVyI3_GdAEAzGkAp8hsBP66MNh_VeXIOrzomx_UYRa-NQJGGLDgpG7YbNYRNriHCk7v2TjV7k4nzWXb8egYjRvJgkfbON8QgMdIAPmKR_0zgX5e08O/s320/summer2011+005.JPG" /></a><br />THIS is the Blankner family from College Station, Texas! That's Emily, her husband Brett, and their six year old son, Kai. Now, they did not know me before they arrived, nor did I know them, perse, but I felt like I was the hostess to rock stars! Coach Brett does the most wonderful podcasts about triathlon and balancing life and family that can be downloaded at his website <a href="http://www.zentri.com/">www.zentri.com</a>. I started listening to him after finding them while rehabbing my broken leg. Brett's podcasts <em>got me through </em>my rehab and training, all alone, for Ironman Hawaii. I had to train at a walk, for anybody that remembers, and sometimes the only thing that got me out on that silly 6 hour training walk (ugh, hurts to even think about it!) was knowing I had one of his episodes to listen to. It was like having somebody there to train with, and not only was the guy a character and had a family just like mine (one triathlete, one other athlete/supporter and a six year old son), but he was funny and informative at the same time. SO, for the past couple of years I'd been thinking in my head, "wouldn't it be cool if I could somehow repay this Coach Brett fellow for all he has done for me, that he doesn't even have any clue about?!". Lo, and behold, a couple of months ago, Brett anounced in a podcast that he had qualified for the hard-to-get-into Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. I emailed him straight away and said, "Bring the family! Come stay at my house! I'll loan you one of our cars! Come and do this race!". </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And out they came! I picked up my little adopted family at the airport the Thursday before the race and they were delightful! I felt like I had famous people visiting. We enjoyed their stay so much! Emily, who is a nurse and a runner, was so enjoyable to be with and Kai and Sporty Spice were a match made in heaven. And to get to talk tri with Brett in person was like a crazy dream come true. Brett met up with Jamie Patrick, the ultra swimmer who is planning to swim down the Sacramento river this summer, and that was interesting to hear about even second hand. We took the boys to the Space and Science Center which was fun. And Brett had a great race and got to check one of his dreams of his list at Escape From Alcatraz. It was so fun to have them here, it was actually a bummer when they left. I'm so glad I took a chance and sent my email to invite them. Triathlon truly is more than a sport. I know it is a lifestyle, but it is also a sort of family in many ways.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Check out Brett's podcasts and website at <a href="http://www.zentri.com/">www.zentri.com</a>!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2BHwEvGtcRVUgp9IJGCqimJuugGp8UlQSk7B-jUDhr8wLOih596mTx0DoTc40QeeBJvFhsUclvQW6dCO-Sqa9yfcEcjk3lxfunlGmnYbgfrgBGRBHjwXDJqAOYMvD5DoDJclBELNCnqd/s1600/summer2011+003.JPG"></a></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-55353463234167539482011-05-15T11:08:00.001-07:002011-05-15T11:37:28.536-07:00Single Parenting Weekend<u><span style="color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span></u><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2Ki_Pnh6ivFGF0wysGMw2FNlimGFOWmqyheDYQaQx7D1stMffRI9QIHWam7Mu5SRZWkYHJ3-ra8rke9Fo5p7n93dQDntXiSlueCWw3hPHux7HvogO4TAyiYINFSFHiYGg08sQcoDD36q/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607006868846307538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2Ki_Pnh6ivFGF0wysGMw2FNlimGFOWmqyheDYQaQx7D1stMffRI9QIHWam7Mu5SRZWkYHJ3-ra8rke9Fo5p7n93dQDntXiSlueCWw3hPHux7HvogO4TAyiYINFSFHiYGg08sQcoDD36q/s320/004.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbf_clZBwMh_LIjMLmjcgZubB_oo_Ug_6At3Oz6t6r6t8rrVfgfXNoEIGOCdzLivvsy6ZbSOADWLHd4KaKdS5am9VWPeaizZRGXzsFwUi-gwgDZt90I5Aaeqc6kouv4R9u3dGBrzaPJ7Q/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607006864285589810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbf_clZBwMh_LIjMLmjcgZubB_oo_Ug_6At3Oz6t6r6t8rrVfgfXNoEIGOCdzLivvsy6ZbSOADWLHd4KaKdS5am9VWPeaizZRGXzsFwUi-gwgDZt90I5Aaeqc6kouv4R9u3dGBrzaPJ7Q/s320/003.JPG" /></a> Ok, so the Mister was gone this weekend for his second of three 200-mile bike rides this year and Sporty Spice and I did what we do best. Added to our menagerie. Meet Sam, the guinea pig. He is SO cute! His family and two little boys loved him very much, but found out they were severely allergic to him, so he needed a new home and a new kid. He loves to be petted around his ears and run around. The Mister is just counting his blessings because he came home to this instead of the large black sheep I was "this" close to rescuing/adopting; he was picked up as a stray at the local shelter, but someone else adopted him before I could get there. He would have been perfect for our lonely little goat Isabel.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEADIAHHufjY27ji00SI0Sdx0r_WB72PTuNUi3e_uWV7mpHgI-519NyAmGpIvck1IKIzBO72qtcmczLY0c95_oQ42Eak_9JXCtdYUf4IG2YXPwhQfz8Q_OMnVz6NpJyGxEOpOuh6sx4XV/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607006862857496418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEADIAHHufjY27ji00SI0Sdx0r_WB72PTuNUi3e_uWV7mpHgI-519NyAmGpIvck1IKIzBO72qtcmczLY0c95_oQ42Eak_9JXCtdYUf4IG2YXPwhQfz8Q_OMnVz6NpJyGxEOpOuh6sx4XV/s320/001.JPG" /></a><br /><br />And what is this, you might ask? THIS, my friends is proof....proof of the TOENAIL FAIRY! Known by few, but mostly by endurance runners, the Toenail Fairy is the much maligned step-sister of the Tooth Fairy. She wears one of those terrycloth sweatbands from the 70's and sports one of the original pairs of Nikes. She runs about at night, placing money under the pillows of all the good little runners who have left her their toenails which have fallen off as a result of running too much. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Ok, it's really hard to spend a whole weekend with a six year old and not start to think at their level. Sporty gave me the most disgusted look when I suggested we try to summon the Toenail Fairy with this latest little gift from my toes, but then thought it was pretty cool when I told him I doubted any of the other kindergarten mothers could do this trick.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>On a totally unrelated topic (well, related to running I suppose) is my report on my first week of this Cambiati Diet. I had very mixed feelings about it as the week went on. They ranged from "this might be the greatest thing!" to "F--- This!". The whole diet is a bit hard to explain, even the small part I think I understand, but nonetheless, it's gonna need some tweaking. It is a high protein diet, but not too extreme. I came home from a 15 mile run on Thursday thinking I was going to DIE; I'm clearly gonna have to add some carbs somewhere. The first two weeks of it are "practice" weeks before you start the real 28-day thing with the cleanse. Part of it is to get anti-inflammatory, possibly allergenic foods out of your diet, and I did succeed as far as not veering from that. And I started my coffee-taper, which saw my last coffee for at least 5 weeks thismorning. That's the part that scares me most. Will update after week 2!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-37535117089869575062011-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:002011-05-08T09:31:25.850-07:00Happy Mother's Day!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTfapBG6-JeK-0snhUzE4W_vP85KEGUrkFyC3wXs6kGg6xesVGu71vTv_qZvirUYSam4vGX-tIPlyrPmqQZEyvo7gzS1vNBvmeK9nkV5iv8BK8AdOTAioETbbclEpoC2dOzPsXT_Vjg01/s1600/mothersday+003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604380699980806338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTfapBG6-JeK-0snhUzE4W_vP85KEGUrkFyC3wXs6kGg6xesVGu71vTv_qZvirUYSam4vGX-tIPlyrPmqQZEyvo7gzS1vNBvmeK9nkV5iv8BK8AdOTAioETbbclEpoC2dOzPsXT_Vjg01/s320/mothersday+003.JPG" /></a> Sporty Spice's Kindergarten class had the cutest Mother's Day celebration. Yes, he made me that hat out of a paper plate. They sang songs and even did a little dance for us. Happy Mother's Day!<br /><br />Tomorrow I'm launching into an entirely new adventure in nutrition and I must admit I'm a little scared. I've never done anything "organized" with the exception of a single Weight Watchers meeting about a decade ago, which I left in tears. Tomorrow I start the Cambiati Wellness Program (<a href="http://www.cambiati.com/">www.cambiati.com</a>). And it looks like it's gonna be a full time job for awihle, until I get used to it. And I don't doubt it's gonna be tough. But something has got to be done, and it's got to be done soon. Mostly, I believe I've got to get sugar out of my life and reset things. I thought I had this done and behind me, and then somehow after IM Florida, and the holidays right after that, that nasty sugar started weasling it's way back in. And then I could go five or six days without it, and the cravings would hit again. It's horrible! And secondarily, I'm way too tired all the time, even given the training; it just doesn't seem right. This diet is primarily a 28 day cleanse (which part, for me, won't start for 2 more weeks--I'll be easing in for the next 2 weeks) to reset your body, get allergenic foods out, and it basically follows the Paleo plan. I was surprised at all the ins and outs of it, and so these first two weeks will be trying to figure some of that out. Watch out! Blogging to come! <br /><br /><div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-63090743016614757622011-05-03T17:58:00.001-07:002011-05-03T18:09:21.142-07:00Clearly, We May Have Watched Too Much...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoJJTzZ_8UHbGkH5zWXJbgvTgG0YkebdwcFAZPokgm2yReQday2Hyy40Rv1WO1TnvtDJzrTGDb_3Z0OcEdzSYzU7e6apNvnFDRXMu2nT_oQRqi6ynrMo5plfFSuZaoxvTQEadzzSA7CCz/s1600/spring2011+035.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602661769237337538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimoJJTzZ_8UHbGkH5zWXJbgvTgG0YkebdwcFAZPokgm2yReQday2Hyy40Rv1WO1TnvtDJzrTGDb_3Z0OcEdzSYzU7e6apNvnFDRXMu2nT_oQRqi6ynrMo5plfFSuZaoxvTQEadzzSA7CCz/s320/spring2011+035.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIC3wRWPjsKanOy9B_IS__cU_FWgb2EkCiELHcBc0ErkPz3eCulA6Qn9Br4c6fELWHO9UgiWolXVdX3Zy2OqXHUonzSXNHCfXTrvlNd6a2i0XFHpEiyQJ7Ik9y2K11tlzlk0ym_xsrv-uH/s1600/spring2011+033.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602661764770561522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIC3wRWPjsKanOy9B_IS__cU_FWgb2EkCiELHcBc0ErkPz3eCulA6Qn9Br4c6fELWHO9UgiWolXVdX3Zy2OqXHUonzSXNHCfXTrvlNd6a2i0XFHpEiyQJ7Ik9y2K11tlzlk0ym_xsrv-uH/s320/spring2011+033.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Sorry, we couldn't help it.</div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-66852385828298809052011-05-01T15:15:00.000-07:002011-05-01T16:09:22.728-07:00Wildflower Weekend!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7IqUXJk0d7at8f9EjA4OSeU3o6UxOi4_SaeJ_WVFDvIrJpLnn23tGoi0LtmzRH489dBh8yfcEINlqV86m_wGSGvHTO4AO-szIo3HWH2hX0Ue4NX0ighJA7JpJz3D_iWEggjlBpIIjZgt/s1600/WF_CaseyFlyerFINAL2011Web.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 219px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601875244556160898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7IqUXJk0d7at8f9EjA4OSeU3o6UxOi4_SaeJ_WVFDvIrJpLnn23tGoi0LtmzRH489dBh8yfcEINlqV86m_wGSGvHTO4AO-szIo3HWH2hX0Ue4NX0ighJA7JpJz3D_iWEggjlBpIIjZgt/s320/WF_CaseyFlyerFINAL2011Web.jpg" /></a> There is still, to me, something so WRONG about something with the word "flower" in its name being so painful. That is how I got sucked into this whole thing 12 years ago! Wildflower? It sounds pretty, and nice, like a flower! What a completely deceptive name for what I believe is the hardest Half Ironman race within driving distance. And, as usual, it lived up to the expectation, once again.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I knew going into this one that most likely I wasn't going to PR, which made it hard to get myself psyched up for this race this year. I had put in the training, but my focus has just been "off" somehow, lagging. My nutrition this year has been less than exemplary and I had a feeling I was about to have a very expensive, very visceral lesson on why holiday eating should end with the holidays (in other words it should end with Christmas, not Easter).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I've done Wildflower under so many different circumstances. The old days with the TS Tri Club. Days with friends, be it many or a few. The year I did the Mountain Bike Course less than three months after having a baby and a blood clot in my lung. The year I came out of the pit on the run course to see my friend Nancy on the way down, swearing like a truck driver about how she was reconsidering our friendship altogether for my having gotten her into this thing. Years it rained, years it was ridiculously hot out there. A year I missed due to lack of motivation and a year I missed it because I had a broken leg. Ah, Wildlower. Let me count the ways I love you. This year, having no friends to speak of, and knowing it wasn't going to be a performance worthy of uprooting a husband, six year old and large dog with cancer, I opted for the Jiffy Solo Mission. By the time I got packed and got my animals all set up on Friday, I didn't leave until 3:30 Friday; I arrived at Lake San Antonio with just enough time to get to check in before it closed and get my sleeping bag set up before dark. Got my bike and race stuff ready, ate my pre-prepped dinner, and settled down with my headlamp and book for a cozy sleep in the back of my car. Luxurious.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Up at 7:00, downed my thermos of coffee and took off for the transition area, fueled as always, by oatcakes and the Days of Thunder Soundtrack. It wasn't windy when I got there. But by the time the Old Woman division went off about noon (oh, ok, it was 9:25), there was a darn good chop on that water! The kind where if you try to bilateral breathe and come up on the choppy side, you are now gasping and sputtering for air. My new Zoot wetsuit is still great (although tighter than it was in November), and very bouyant on the waves (waves on a lake?) that were now forming. Very bouncy swim! So much for my under 45 minutes I was looking for in the only sport where my lardass wasn't going to be a defining feature....48.46 (compared to 48.17 last year...aaaaaa!). On to the bike and the goal there is ALWAYS the same: stay upright and alive long enough to get past the people doing the mountain bike course--their course starts out the same and then veers onto the trail about a mile in, right as the hill out of the lake to the ridge hits you like a ton of bricks. Made it through the sketchy masses of beginners and mountain bike people, up the bad, bad hill, and to the crest where we were met with...a...giant...HEADWIND. By the ten mile mark I was pretty sure this ride was going to be no land speed record. At the fifteen mile right turn in Lockwood it became a sidewind--the kind that seems to want to scoop up my aerodynamic (from the front at least) bike frame and sweep it inland a few miles. That always scares me and makes me a little cautious, especially knowing I had done this trip solo and there was going to be NO one nearby to claim me from the hospital. Lots of ambulances going to and fro with sirens blaring on the course, more than usual, although I never saw an actual accident like I have in years past. When we finally turned back towards the Lake about mile 35, to head towards Nasty Grade, I wouldn't exactly call it a tailwind, but it was at least less noticeable, which was nice, but also made it feel warmer. The temperature wasn't near unbearable; my best guess is that it was between 75 and 80 degrees. I'm here to say Nasty Grade isn't any flatter than it was last year. And I will admit to feeling a little tentative on the big descent given the wind. Hobbled back in with a 3.32.47 for the 56 miles (compared to last year's 3.26.28--an increase in time contributing to a mix of wind and ass fatness). Into T2 not feeling thrilled about the run, and just telling myself I was "just going out for a little 13 mile run". That run is so much more brutal than any other half, with the hilly trail! Off I went at my little jog. My new goal, since last year, is to just keep running (I want walking to be a thing of the past). I wish I could have made it faster and will admit to a bit of tentativeness due in part to knowing I was going to have to drive home right after I finished, but I did at least jog the whole thing. It was hard to be motivated too much beyond that, knowing my PR was not going to happen that day and I wanted to keep myself in one piece. 2.34 compared to last year's 2.26, and I almost felt guilty that I felt a little too good when I was done. Total time: 7.06.22 (the sub-6.30 was not to be this year. Someday.) Last year: 6.50.06. 2008, pre-broken leg: 6.41.54. And with that, I pronounce a ban on all cookies and baked goods during Christmas 2011.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Took a shower, threw my bike in the car and was out of there by exactly 6:00pm lastnight. Home by 10, just in time to crash into bed and spend much of today catching up on things and watching all my recorded shows about the Royal Wedding!Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-90727897537800860242011-03-20T14:22:00.000-07:002011-03-20T14:31:11.842-07:00Rainy Weekend and Scrapbooking<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2WDMqa2uI-HmSLvWz4tjHqXwfTLTA80ZouDdYbl0gGvxA3t4cA4IcaXnf63nneZhBJH6P-kXXdGIjctzTLibhALPpYIpQLG1hDgmLbZdURfjSmlg7mBXuUTVF7LZhI_lAI87wJtIkP2-/s1600/winter+2011+013.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586276015852295026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2WDMqa2uI-HmSLvWz4tjHqXwfTLTA80ZouDdYbl0gGvxA3t4cA4IcaXnf63nneZhBJH6P-kXXdGIjctzTLibhALPpYIpQLG1hDgmLbZdURfjSmlg7mBXuUTVF7LZhI_lAI87wJtIkP2-/s320/winter+2011+013.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YnpsI-hLuqtaZOjUbXA610eNCuVv6neLyjG3b9woNra8JzGgl3K2-77g-QQugwdpYt2W9zx0B9cuG4BfkMPKAj7ESsDnvI8UzYw6rBnZMlgCPCG82J1vgF6uM-EBBpyMhipqlECn18XI/s1600/winter+2011+012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586276008197082434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YnpsI-hLuqtaZOjUbXA610eNCuVv6neLyjG3b9woNra8JzGgl3K2-77g-QQugwdpYt2W9zx0B9cuG4BfkMPKAj7ESsDnvI8UzYw6rBnZMlgCPCG82J1vgF6uM-EBBpyMhipqlECn18XI/s320/winter+2011+012.JPG" /></a><br />I'm officially only three years behind on my scrapbooking! Hooray! I LOVE scrapbooking, and once I start it is hard for me to stop. I'm not actually 3 years total behind (I have scrapped some here and there events since then), but these are from 2008--a water park playdate and Sporty Spice at his art class. I have taken a vow this year and plan to stick to it to the very best of my ability: not to buy a single craft supply this year unless I absolutely have to have it to complete a very specific project. It's going well. I'm doing this because I have a LOT of craft supplies (a sick, unhealthy amount of craft supplies--the word hoarding is on the tip of my tongue). This weekend is the big Scrapbook Expo I have so enjoyed going to in years past. But instead of going this year, I instead took out some of the page kits I bought <em>four years ago</em> and haven't had time to use! (Sick, I tell you.)</div><div> </div><div>The weather has been crazy this weekend and I am so lucky I had the flexibility this week, upon seeing the weather forecast, to switch up some of my training days. So I got my long ride and my interval ride in the bank before the real rain started. Did my interval run on the treadmill lastnight (a first for me, I think) and look pretty doomed to a two hour treadmill at the gym this afternoon. This is the first week of Build weeks, and with the volume coming down, it feels so oddly...I don't know, moderate? It's weird, and I'm almost having difficulty adjusting to it. I have forgotten how to do anything "half way", so to speak. But it's good.<br /><div></div></div>Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7220522230192440246.post-75505845706138020462011-03-20T13:39:00.000-07:002011-03-20T14:21:51.463-07:00My Dirty Little Secret<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RkrLziKDA36RmEJ7vSLPzVgENd30yuLdzNeR5DeIA-vVvbWkv-eQM3kqL1nJgK_oUhiwKCELV2KUo38viWmC7gOSLIPMyanlaVySbvKv96ahhVYAUSDC67IAUt0H2DaT8AHqywQwBaBA/s1600/winter+2011+011.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586265081093234226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RkrLziKDA36RmEJ7vSLPzVgENd30yuLdzNeR5DeIA-vVvbWkv-eQM3kqL1nJgK_oUhiwKCELV2KUo38viWmC7gOSLIPMyanlaVySbvKv96ahhVYAUSDC67IAUt0H2DaT8AHqywQwBaBA/s320/winter+2011+011.JPG" /></a> I have admitted to my crafting addiction.<br />I have been forthcoming with my un-natural attachment to triathlon.<br />I think it's time to come out about my "cat thing".<br /><br />Quite simply, my "other passion" is for cats, namely feral cats and Trap-Neuter-Return.<br /><br /><strong>What is a feral cat, exactly?</strong><br />A feral cat is what some people might call a "stray" cat or an "alley cat". A truly feral cat is the result of a once domestic un-fixed cat...and at least one irresponsible human. The domestic cat is either lost or abandoned and it, and/or its offspring have reverted to a feral state, not knowing the love of or trusting a human. They eek out a survivial as best they can wherever they are, but left un-fixed, are able to reproduce up to four times a year (as are those offspring!) as early as four months of age. Not being easy to approach or catch, breeding goes unchecked. Overpopulation continues and suffering needlessly ensues. If these cats are taken to an animal shelter, they cannot be re-homed (unless they are caught at a very young age and rehabilitated) and are killed.<br /><br /><strong>What is Trap-Neuter-Return?</strong><br />TNR is the humane alternative. All of the cats in a group (called a colony) are humanely trapped, taken to a veterinarian for spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations and ear-tipping (a universal symbol indicating they have been neutered). Then they are returned to their home territory (where they were found) and a person (caretaker) assumes responsibility for providing them with food, water, shelter and monitoring for any newcomers to the colony.<br /><br /><strong>Why is TNR the answer?</strong><br />The bottom line, and what I tell people, is that when you encounter a feral cat or group of feral cats, there are simply 3 options.<br />ONE: Do nothing. Turn a blind eye and hope the problem will get taken care of somehow or just go away. Unfortunately, this option just results in unchecked breeding, and a problem that grows exponentially, with all of it's ensuing suffering, fast.<br />TWO: Trap-and-Kill, the traditional means of controlling feral cat populations. Trap them, take them to a shelter to be killed, and think your problem has been eradicated. Wrong. I have now seen it in action. Invariably, one or two cats will be left behind. They now have even more of whatever resources led the cats to this spot in the first place. And nature doesn't like a vaccuum, so these leftover cats will start to have even larger, healthier litters until the void is filled. Also, there is now room/resources for un-fixed cats from down the street to join in. So the colony will very quickly return right back to the number it started at.<br />THREE: Trap-Neuter-Return. Once the majority of the cats in a colony (and hopefully all of them) are fixed, the colony number stabilizes. The annoyance behaviors associated with mating (roaming, howling, spraying) disappear, the cats become healthier, there are no new kittens and the colony itself becomes a more cohesive unit, showing more assertion to it's territory, limiting un-fixed newcomers from this space. With the compassion of a caretaker, these cats are allowed to live their lives with quality and over the years, the number gradually dwindle naturally and the colony eventually disappears. It is the difference between life and a horrible terrifying death in a shelter for these cats, who are no different than our own pets.<br /><br />And THAT, my friends, is how I came to start my spay-neuter program, Tri Valley Fix our Ferals (<a href="http://www.tri-valleyfixourferals.org/">www.tri-valleyfixourferals.org</a>). Every 8 weeks I recruit about 10 veterinarians and about 40 volunteers and we borrow the clinic facilty at our local SPCA. We bring every last supply we will need, down to our own drugs, surgical instruments, autoclaves, needles, cottonballs, whatever we will need--and we fix about 80 or 90 feral cats that day brought in by concerned cat lovers who have trapped them for the clinic day. These cats lives are changed and improved immediately that day, and UNTOLD numbers of kittens are prevented. We just fixed our 2000 th cat. The math is mind boggling.<br /><br />Now, back to my cute picture up there. These two kittens, and another young black adult male I found while stopping to pee behind a bush on a bike ride up near our mountain house last month. So, last weekend, I shlepped up 3 traps, headed from our house down the mountain at 4:00am both mornings, set my traps, and waited.....I got em! ( I swear, I should take up fishing.) Brought em home and they were all fixed on Friday. Now, the only other thing about Trap-Neuter-Return: if the cats look at all like they are going to be able to be socialized (which is a ton of work, I might add, and a very imprecise science based completely on the personality of each cat), you always TRY not to have to put them back if you think you have any shot at all at giving them a life somewhere as a domestic, loved, pet cat with his or her own human. This little siamese cross (he's a boy) is a total muffin and will have no problem. The black adult male is actually showing huge promise as well. This black and white one is a pistol! But I'm not giving up yet. So, if you know of any potential homes, I will be hot on the trail very soon for some and a little stressed out that I cannot absorb even one more here.<br /><br />Besides my early morning trapping adventure, we had a wonderful day at Bear Valley Cross Country skiing...and I got to use my Skate Skis! I hadn't been able to do that since breaking my leg and was so pleasantly surprised that I could do it. The break being on the far right side of my right tibia at the knee, I was somewhat doubtful if that scar tissue would ever break up to the point of me being able to make the skate-ski motion again. So great!Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14993247649779428387noreply@blogger.com0