Redman 2010

Redman was this weekend.  It was a crazy busy weekend, but as always, it was a BLAST!
The celebration started Friday after work in transition.  Checking in bikes, getting athletes settled, and soaking in the pre-race excitement.  Good times.

Saturday started at 4 a.m. at the transition check in line.  It was harried and hectic (only me and someone else checking everyone in), but it got done.  The weather was beautiful, and we got all the athletes all settled into the starting pen and ready to race.

Rian was doing the half Ironman distance.  The water was calm and beautiful and his swim went well.  I manned my post in transition and caught a glimpse of him as he came out of the water.

His bike ride went very well.  He said he went out a little too hard on the first loop and then paid for it later during the race, but he sure looked good on the bike!!

He finished in just over 7 hours.  The run was painful for him.  Had a cramp in his thigh for 12 miles and found it painful to just finish.  I'm very proud of him, though.  He did a great job racing in some hot, but nice weather.

While he was racing, I was working the mount/dismount line.  I had a lot of fun with Alicia and some other friends directing athletes back into the transition area. 
Good times with some of my favorite people.

We stuck around the race site until 12:30 am watching finishers cross the finish line.  So inspirational, so incredible, so amazing!!!  I got to see many of my friends complete their Ironman journeys: Sarah, Tracy, Larry, Brad, and Creighton.

I love Redman weekend!  It's totally exhausting both mentally and physically, but I love it like nothing else.  I have already decided I'm doing the IM again next year (on the 5 year anniversary of my 1st IM).  I can't wait!!!

A little doggie funeral

Today my sweet Max was buried in our backyard under the big tree she loved to frequent.  We emptied the baggie and spread her ashes in the hole.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  On top we planted a beautiful selection of pansies.  I suppose that seems fitting for my Max- she *was* kind of a pansy. ;)

Since Max was the only dog who liked to play ball, Rian got a ball from the house and we buried one with her.  It just seemed fitting that Max be buried with one of her favorite toys.  She sure did love to play catch.  She wasn't so big on the returning of the ball, but boy did she love to gallop through the yard and go get that ball you'd thrown to her.


Jimbo and Cookie scoped out the place where we buried her, and gave their approval... 

...and then Jimbo peed on the flowers. 

Then Jimbo and I played and loved on each other.  

He's a good dog.  A very, very good dog...

After I played with Jimbo, I sat under the tree for almost an hour and watched the light play with the shadows and with the leaves on the tree.  The clouds rolled by and the breeze rustled the leaves overhead.

The flowers make me smile.  They'll remind me of Max every time I see them. 

Goodbye a final time, my sweet doggie.  I'll always remember and love you.  Thank you for 12 years of happiness, tail wags, and unconditional love.  I hope you're happy and romping wherever you are.

A little Friday night training adventure

So I'm training for something again.  A long race.  a 24 hour trail race.  Some might say it's crazy, but I say it's perfectly normal to abuse your body for 24 hours in the name of chasing fitness.
For the last couple months my friends and I have been meeting at the trails on Friday afternoons (after work) to spend some time on the trails.  The training lengths have varied. We started out with 3 hours, and last week we went for 7.5.  That will be our longest training session before the race next month.

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It's nice to have women out there who are willing to suffer with me.  We laugh, talk, gripe, moan, giggle, hurt, and complain about the pain together.  We also support each other and help drag the others along when the miles get long and the muscles are fatiguing.  It's a great support system we have.  We always BYOAS (bring your own aid station) and  fill up after each loop.   I'm so glad I have these friends to train with, as I can't imagine doing it on my own every week.  I can only be alone with my thoughts for so long...before I go insane.

Last year I did this race, but I did the 6 hour version.  It was fun.  I used part of it as a training hike for our Grand Canyon trip.  I  walked most of it, and had the best time.  My friend, Jane, was out there with me, so we enjoyed some good company with each other during the event.

My goal for this year was to lose some weight and be able to fit into my little Nike running dress much better.  Well... it doesn't appear that worked out like I'd hoped it would.  I have lost a little weight, but not enough to look smokin' hot in my little yellow running dress. Oh well- I'll still probably rock that dress and have fun while wearing it. 

The morning of the 25th at 9 am the race will be over.  Last year it was very cold and I was dressed in my warmest layers to greet all the finishers at the finish line.

 

This year I might not be so cold (since I'll be participating), but I'll certainly be just as glad to see the finish line as I was glad to see the runners finish last year.  We're a little over a month away.  I doubt my ability to stay on my feet comfortably for that long, but I don't doubt my mind- which is in fact the strongest muscle you own!  I can't wait!!

Goodbye my sweet Max

Monday we did the toughest thing that you can do as a pet parent.  We had to make the decision to put our 13 year old lab down. 
Here's the story of our first dog:

 MAX'S STORY

 
We adopted Max in March 1998 from the Edmond Animal Shelter.  We had just bought our first house, and were recently married.  We knew we wanted a puppy right away, so we visited the Edmond shelter to find us a fur baby.  She was the runt of a litter of labs that had been abandoned.  She was tiny and was so cute.  We picked her out right away and took her home to love her. So her story with us began.  

She was so tiny, and boy could she chew.  She chewed EVERYTHING.  She ate socks, shoes, wood, rugs, etc.  When she finally had eaten the support beam for our back porch, we decided that she needed a playmate to keep her company.  This is where Cookie enters the picture.  Cookie was a ~3 year old cocker spaniel.  She and Max had a tough go of it at first (Max was not very accepting), but eventually they became the best of friends.  They would play, dig, escape from the yard, and even eat brownies off the coffee table together. 

A few years passed and Max discovered along the way that she LOVED to use her voice to let us know she was around.  She barked all the time.  ALL THE TIME.  It started causing problems with our elderly neighbor, and after some uncomfortable confrontations, we decided it was best that we move.  We searched far and wide for a house with a large backyard, and fell in love with our current home.  We bought it with the dogs (specifically Max) in mind.

Max loved the new house.  She would run and play in the almost half acre backyard.  She adored all the room.  In December '03 we had a friend who found a litter of puppies on his farm land.  We picked one out and brought him home.  Enter Jimbo stage right.
At first there was some tension with the dogs, but Jimbo being a puppy helped him to realize that he was most definitely NOT the alpha dog and all learned to get along like the best of friends. 

Max and Jimbo would *fight* all day long.  They would bite and play and roll around.  They loved to chase each other. 

Time passed and the three dogs were inseparable.  Max was really my dog who would follow me around EVERYWHERE I went in the house.  I couldn't get up off the couch without her tagging along.  She was my constant companion, and although just touching her fur made me itch like crazy, I loved to pet her head.  It was so soft and smooth.  I loved to pet her ears the most.

Max was a very happy dog.  Always moving, always antsy, always energetic.  Never lazy, never one to nap and never one to sit still next to you and cuddle.  Naps were difficult for her.  She'd close her eyes, but then keep one open and watching you just in case you might get up and try to leave the room.  You certainly couldn't sneak away with her in the room.

We noticed something was wrong when she started not eating her dinner.  She's always been a little finicky, so it didn't really surprise us when she decided to not eat one day.  No worries, we thought.  We tried again the next day and still no luck.  We bought her some wet dog food the next day and she gobbled it up quickly.  We then thought she must just be getting picky, so the following day we tried the dry food again.  No luck.  We added some water to it (like the old Gravy Train dog food), and she ate it.  That worked for about 4 days, then stopped eating again.  Finally she just stopped eating even the wet food.  I took her in and the vet ran tests. 
Turns out she was VERY sick.  Running a fever, VERY anemic, and she was being lethargic.  They took x-rays and it seems that the doc thought there was something that wasn't normal on her x-ray near the liver.  A mass that didn't look normal.  I was crushed.  We were told to take her to a specialist to get an ultrasound and were given a bunch of meds to give her. 
Tried to feed her the next day, but she wouldn't eat (and since she had to have a full stomach to give the meds, I couldn't give it to her).  Called the vet Monday and they said to bring her in.  When I got home I gave Max as much love and petting as I could.  I was crying like crazy because I just knew in my gut that this was it.  We cuddled her and took her in.  The prognosis was worse than Sat.  She was going downhill FAST.  We made the painful call.  It was the worst thing I've ever had to do.  I don't even want to talk about it.  I break down in tears just thinking about it.
I'm glad I took some pictures of Max before we took her in.
These are her last photos.  She has sad eyes...

She had some annoying habits, and there were times that I wanted to strangle her (who doesn't get frustrated with a dog every now and then?), but she was a good dog.  A very good dog. 
I'm grateful for the years of unconditional love that she gave us.  She never asked for anything in return.  We made the right decision.  I know she's thankful.  Right before she went down, she ate handfuls of biscuits from me.  I'd like to think she did it as a way of saying thank you.   I miss her incredibly.  So do the other two dogs. 

Tonight I saw a little bitty lab puppy in Petsmart.  Looked JUST like Max.  I know everything will be OK...