Looking for My Lost Shaker of Salt

Yesterday I went shopping for a few things and came home with a surprise Doug has been yearning for for quite some time now...

the Margaritaville Margarita Maker.

It's sooo fun.

Gotta love a happy man.

First up...strawberry margaritas with, of course, fresh strawberries.

Then blueberry margaritas.

Then cantaloupe margaritas!
Getting in your five servings of fruit a day was never so easy.

More home construction. Doug removed the door to our downstairs and installed an arch. Now he's tiled the inside of the arch and is getting ready to finish up around the outside. He's awesome!

And Mols says, "Hello!"

Found: Inspiration

I found some much needed inspiration.
It came in several ways.

First, with Born to Run, a book that was suggested by Cynical Dirt Doll. I'm sure I'm the only runner that had not read it, but so glad I waited for when I really needed a pick me up. I loved this book. It made me laugh, cry, shout out, 'I know!' and wowed me to no end. If by one in a million chance you have not read this, DO! It really is a must read and is fabulous.

Cynical Dirt Doll inspires me as well. She's headed to Leadville in August to run the Leadville Trail 100. Yes! An amazing 100 mile trail run in the Colorado Rockies. This girl goes out and runs 30-50 miles on the trails at the drop of a hat...all the time and then turns around and congratulates me on running a marathon, when she did much more than that on a training run.

Another inspiration came to me recently from a comment I received on my blog. I had to sit on it for a couple days because it still brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. It's from Craig of Running Our Butts Off:
I know first hand that you are none of those things. What I do know you are is an amazing person and athlete! Both you and Doug. I can't imagine how you must feel when you help change a life for the better. I've never ran more than a mile or so my whole life and you convinced me I could actually get off my ass and finish a marathon. I never in a million years thought I'd ever do that but you're encouragment and coaching helped me reach the goal. You were there every step of the way...LITERALLY! You are not a selfish, burnt out slacker and you care more about other peoples success than your own and speaks volumes about who you really are and where your spirit really lies. A year ago I never though I'd finish a half marathon in my lifetime but you convinced me that I could not only finish a half but 2 halfs, a full, an oly tri and now on to Redman, KC Marathon, Gobbler Grind and who knows what else all in the same year. My life has changed dramtically and I owe the motivation to do all this to you. You are no where close to the quitter category so get over it and do what YOU want! Now go run in the rain or something! ;0)

And thanks to every one of you that inspires me every day by posting your achievements as well as your tribulations. Reading stories of your running and life push me to be a better runner and person. Thanks and Luvs!

Throwing in the Tri Towel

I think for now I'm throwing in the tri towel.
I'm just not enjoying myself.
And this is what it was supposed to be about.
I need to decompress a bit.
Swim when I want.
Bike when I want.
Run...well...that's just a part of who I am.

It's not thinking I can't do it.
Because I know I can.
I could do it tomorrow.
It's not about fear.
It's not about being a slacker.
It's not about being burnt out.
It's not about the will power.
It's about just not having the spirit.

I'm still kinda torn cuz I don't quit.
I always follow things through.
But I think for my mind, heart, body and spirit this is the best thing.
And if it takes throwing in the tri towel for getting the above mentioned back in order, then so be it.

Thanks Guys...

Thank you all for your kind words and direction with my confusion on this training stuff. It means a lot to me to have your great advice. You are the best!
I did take some time off from training.
Not quite as planned though.
I think I'm more exhausted and worn out than if I would have worked out without any time off.
Some of you know, I was derailed again.
This time with a family member in the hospital.
And when you spend 8-12 hours a day for 5 days, it tends to wear a girl out.
Why is that? All I did was sit on my arse.
But hopefully now, things will return to normal.
I didn't get to ride Lizard Under the Skillet on Sunday. It was rained out.
I'm even more confused now if I want to continue with this training.
Tomorrow I'll attempt a short workout and see how things go.
I have about a month til race day, so we'll take it one day at a time.
Thank you again for all the kind words. It means the world to me.
Hopefully this will be the last whiney post for a long, long time.

What Am I Doing?

I have no clue.
I'm supposed to be training for this thing called Pigman.
A Half Ironman distance triathlon.
I feel I haven't been doing what I'm supposed to be.
Some days I care.
Others I don't.
I ride 40 miles and have a great time.
I bike 7 miles and it kills me.
What is going on?
Swimming is going well.
Biking is so hit or miss.
Running...I'm a big slug.
I'm not sure if I really want to even do this anymore.
What to do?
What to do?
Sunday is supposed to be a 65 mile bike ride.
My longest bike ride ever.
I'd like to get in a good brick of maybe 6 miles after my bike.
I guess I'll take it day by day and see how things go.
Suggestions?
Motivation?
I'll take any of it!

The New York Whirlwind

Things have finally settled a bit and I feel comfortable about posting about my New York crazy experience...

If you've watched the news at all several weeks ago, I'm sure you've seen the story of the 'Michigan Man Claiming to be Missing Boy from 1955'. There are over 1600 articles on the internet about this story. It's been on FOX, CNN, NBC, ABC, the local news...it was everywhere. It so happens this story hits home as the missing boy is my mother's brother, my uncle.

There was an ongoing FBI investigation into the case when a source came forward to a newspaper reporter and leaked the story. That's when ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. For the first day and a half we received hundreds and hundreds of phone calls from reporters as well as people knocking down our door. We released no statements due to the pending FBI investigation as we did not want to compromise the case.

We then received a call from the attorney stating that we were heading to New York and a car would be by to pick us up in 3 hours. The reason for this is because there was a family member that knew nothing of the case that was on his way there so we needed to be there for damage control. It was not our idea or our wish to go, but we had to go. Needless to say, I did not have time to come home to grab anything so I had to run by the store to grab everything I would need for the trip. All while fielding nonstop phone calls.

An NBC producer met us with a car and whisked us away to the airport, barely catching our flight. We arrived at the Essex House, right across from Central Park, around 11pm and got to bed around 3 am to get 2 hours of sleep. Then it was off to the Today Show.

As I wait in the green room for mom to have her make-up and hair done, I rubbed elbows with Howard Dean who is also in the green room. As they get ready to tape, I'm taken to the studio to view behind the scenes. Meredith Vieira interviewed mom. Here's a picture of Meredith waving behind the camera.
I was also able to snap a (not so good pic) of Natalie Morales and David Gregory, (Matt Lauer was on vacation).

Below is a pic of us trying to dodge the paparazzi leaving the studio. What a mess.

Immediately after the Today show, we were taken to Good Morning America. We were whisked into the studio after a sound check and met up with Robin Roberts. OMG...she is gorgeous and so very kind. She spoke with mom to make her feel relaxed and comfortable and even gave me a wave and commented on my necklace on how no one is to have a better necklace than she. And then she said she wanted my shoes as well!

After the taping, I asked if I could snap a picture and she was a doll. She suggested I get behind the news desk and sit in Diane Sawyer's seat, so of course I did!

Then she wanted to know if she could sit with me at the news desk to have her picture taken. Of course! OMG!

They knew how much I love GMA so they took us downstairs where I met Chris Cuomo. Actually took a pic with him that didn't turn out, but baby oh baby, I had my hand behind his back. Mmm.Mmm.Mmm...Next they took us into the downstairs studio where Diane, Robin, Chris and Sam were. They are watching a Father's Day piece taped by Chris's children:

Gail King (Oprah's best friend) was also there finishing up a segment. I didn't speak with her, but got a very quick (bad) snap of her as well. She's in between the two blondies:
Diane then came up to us, shook my hand, snapped a picture and wished us well on the pending case and hoped for the best.

I loved GMA. They were all so kind.
We then drove back to the Today show where we picked up my brother and stepped out on the Plaza.

Then we were driven to the other side of town where mom taped with Dateline. They interviewed my mother and Hoda Kotb was kind enough to snap a picture with us as well. I let everyone know I knew I was being a total dork, but FOR REAL, who ever gets this sort of chance?

Everything was such a whirlwind. Our spirits were so high thinking things were going to turn out as we had hoped.

Then we received the news from the attorney that this Michigan man was not my mother's brother. At this point, our hearts deflated. The story got even more crazy and we had reporters raiding the hotel and even calling our room.

***I want everyone to be aware, all of these pictures were taken before we were notified this man was not my mother's missing brother.

Although the outcome was not as we had hoped and this Michigan man is not my uncle, I hope, for my mom's sake, one day we will have some resolution to what really happened to her brother.

RNR Seattle Marathon Race Report

This is, hands down, the best RNR marathon course. I'm blaming my horrid time on the beautiful scenery. However, the stupid disposable camera took horrible pictures and does this course no justice.

Race morning we were milling around when we ran into several friends from Kansas City. Below is a picture of Doug and Randy. Everyone else musta been in the 'honey bucket' at the time.

Doug wanted to see what the day would bring him so we kissed and off he went to his corral and I to mine with Greg's wife, Michelle, who was running the half marathon. It was a beautiful morning in the low 60's and the sun shining. A great time to be standing in my corral for 45 minutes before crossing the starting line. I was already hungry and ready for a nap by the time I got there!

The scenery was beautiful. If you love the greenest trees, bluest skies and spectacular waters, this is the course for you. Oh and sprinkle in a few hills. I didn't realize Seattle was so hilly. Downtown reminded me of San Francisco. I had no idea.

Pretty much everyone on the course spotted this bald eagle. I think next year he is expected back. If he doesn't show, I think the RD will need to place a stuffed eagle in his place to appease the runners. He was a hit. Again, forgive the crappy disposable. This next picture is of me on a bridge where we ran an out and back. You could see snow covered Mt Rainier off in the distance. She is so amazing. However, again, the crappy camera didn't catch her in the background, so you just get to look at me instead!

I then ran up on Nadia. A cutie patootie that used to run with us, but now resides in Los Angeles. We chatted it up for a bit and then she went on ahead. I knew by this time, it was going to be a long day. Spectacular day. But a long day. At mile 8, I was ready for the running to be over.

I caught Doug at another out and back. Snapped a pic, a smooch, a little grief from Randy and then we were on our way again.

We finished at Questfield where I caught up with Nadia and Doug lounging about waiting for me to finish.
The better pictures come from the Post RNR Marathon. Check 'em out.