Turtles and Beavers

Since my training is on a bit of a hold right now I have been enjoying running with the dogs every morning. Blue, one of the rescue dogs, returned to us this weekend after a family that had adopted him deceided he was too much work and just was not going to fit. Poor Blue! We are back up to 6 Weimaraners so they HAVE TO run everyday - which means I do too! (Picture of Blue)

Today was a fun adventure run. Duke has taken to sniffing out turtles during every run. He absolutly loves them. Today while we were running I thought Duke picked up and old tennis ball and was running with it, but a few minutes later he dropped it and it made a strange noise. So I went back to check out what he had and sure enough Duke had been carrying around a baby tutle! The turtle wasn't hurt at all so I placed him in the grass to recover from his scary ride with Duke.

After that we made out way to what we call the "upper" pond. Basically it is the upper pond because we have to run uphill for a 1/2 mile to get to it. As usuall the Beaver was swimming his laps which drives the dogs nuts. They all jump in an try to swim after him. The Beaver gets mad and smacks his tail on the water which only makes the dogs more wild instead of the desired effect of scaring them. After they have a good swim I call them back up into the field with me and watch from the hill as the beaver resurfaces and completes his morning rounds.

A morning run is always a good way to start the day!

TriAmerica

I went to Anderson, SC this morning ready to race if it was in the cards for me. After a quick warm-up of about 10 strokes I walked out of the water and turned in my timing chip - my shoulder is not ready to swim despite the fact that my mind wants to. I went from participant to volunteer in a matter of moments and found that my services as a volunteer were needed. I took off with a car full of others to man the bike course. After I dropped them all off I made my way to the point where the bike course and run course connected. It was here that 3 loose dogs were waiting for unsuspecting cyclists. I was able to deter 2 of the dogs but the 3rd who was a little yellow lab/mix pup of about 6 months was not going to be scared away so easily. So for close to 3 hours I held the little pup on a piece of rope to keep her out of the way. She was just an accident waiting to happen. At the point when I knew there were only another 1 or 2 cyclists on the course I needed to get back in my car and pick up the other volunteers so I let the crazy little dog loose. She went charging after the runners and within minutes of my departure she had taken her first cyclist down. The girl suffered a broken wrist and I just feel guilty as hell about it. Seems some bad injury karma is following me around!

On a happier note Malone Coaching athletes had a good day and cleaned up in the hardware department. Three of the guys were in the top 10 so that has to be a good day at my office!

Pee Dee

Here is the little fellow I picked up at the race at Pee Dee. He was full of fleas and heart worms but is now on his way to a better life. He has already undergone his first heartworm treatment and is living at Doxie Haven which is a Dachshund Rescue. I would still love to find this guy a good home. He is about 4 years old and will be ready to go to an approved forever home in a few months when he is done with treatment.

Greenville Sprint

Last weekend I went and watched the Greenville Sprint Triathlon. I watched almost everyone I coach PR on the course by minutes. I cheered for all, encouraged people to run the hill and in general had a really fun day.

The morning started when before 6 AM I pulled out my marker to body mark a friend and within moments I had 100 people standing behind me. So that is where I stayed until the marker ran out. Little did I know at the end of the other body marking line was Amy. Amy is my fellow team-mate (Set-Up Events) and friend who is also taking a break from racing after some heart trouble. So you see at least those of us on the bench are in good company!

(Picture is of Amy and her daughter Peyton last year at Hickory Knob)

Here are some photos - although I admit I am not good with the camera. Results are posted on my coaching website or Set-Up Events.

Kimberley Westbury - 2nd Overall in good company with new comer Elite athlete Kelly taking first and Lindsey holding on for 3rd.

Chris Smutzer taking 3rd in the Masters division despite not having an "on" day.

Ironman Lake Placid Report

As most of you already know my race at Lake Placid was interrupted by a trip to the emergency room. However my day started out really well and the race was going as I had planned - well at least until a fellow competitor "bumped" me from my bike. For fear of writing one of those race reports that includes trips to the Porto-let I will try to just be short sweet and to the point.

Race morning was cool, no cold. My feet were frozen by the time I made it to Mirror Lake. The cold mountain water actually felt warm to my frozen toes. The first plus of the day! The women pros started at 6:25, which was a full 35 min before everyone else. I had time to do a nice "warm-up" and enjoy a few moments before the race observing the Ironman scene. I love to race in these big races, but at the same time I always feel like I am having an out of body experience. I have been so fortunate to be able to race so much over the past 6 years and in the company of such great athletes. Linsey Corbin was a new face to me at this race. We talked some before the race and then wished each other well. Aside from her amazing talent (a 3:10 marathon in the Ironman) she also was kind enough to e-mail me after the race to see how I was. How thoughtful is that!? Sorry for the digression - but after all this is a blog! Before long we were off and swimming. I fell into a group and shared the pulling with another 2 athletes. Towards the second half of the second lap the age groupers started to overtake us. At that point the smooth swim got a little rough but for the most part I was able to use the draft to my advantage and managed to exit the water in 1:03 which is one of my better swim times in an Ironman race. In my mind I was really happy to be off to a good start.

After a quick transition I was out on the bike. For some unknown reason I decided that I better wear a jacket! What was I thinking? Within 10 min I was stopping to take it off. My cadence sensor was not working and my legs felt super sluggish in the cold. I tried to calm myself and just work on getting the blood flowing in my legs but it took nearly 30 miles for me to feel somewhat normal. After that I started to get into a rhythm. John was at a surprise location so that was a good moment for me. I had some other friends out on the course watching and racing who were great distractions as well. Yeah - I started having fun. I watched the pro women in front of me and marveled at their strength. The weather was warming up, my heart rate was steady and I was keeping it on the low side because I was planning to have the run of my life! I passed the 100 mile mark at 5:40 and was pleased. I talked myself through the next series of hills - Little Cherry, Big Cherry, Mama Bear, Baby Bear, Papa Bear - that is all I had left when all of a sudden I was flying over the handle bars of my bike... (Moments before the accident - giving thumbs up)

At this point I was laying on the ground and I rolled onto my back. Basically I hit the ground still in my aero position. I had the wind knocked out of me for sure, but then I felt the pain in my shoulder. A moment later everyone was encouraging me to get back on the bike and finish but I was pretty certain that there was no way I was going to finish an Ironman with a dislocated shoulder. The guy who hit me was Ryan Van Praet - the Ford Everyday Ironman Hero. He was a nice guy, very apologetic and even offered to go to the hospital with me. I encouraged him to finish for both of us since he only really had road rash. Poor guy - since I had not kept up with all the happenings I did not even know who he was until after the race. Turns out he raised money and awareness for ALS. His father is dying of it. In addition to that he has some disease that is causing him to loose his eye sight. He is legally blind. So I am going to go out on a limb here and say that he probably never even saw me.

I got a ride in a support vehicle to the emergency room since there was no way I wanted to add to the cost of the day with an even higher medical bill! At the hospital I signed myself in and was then taken to x-ray. Why on earth did they have to turn my arm in such a strange position is beyond me - but they did and when they did I had a little surprise of my own for them..nothing like pain so bad that it makes you vomit, sweat and practically pass out. At that point they decided that maybe they did not need that view after all! I was then allowed to lay down and was given some useless pain killers (clean and synthetic) that did not work at all on me. After receiving 3 doses of it they went with Morphine and I was much more comfortable. Shortly there after my shoulder was put back where it belongs and I was out of there. I had time to go back to the house and take a shower and then go back to the race and watch everyone run. It was great to see my friends and Ryan (new friend?) finish but also bitter sweet since I was really looking forward to the run.

Paul Sullivan (friend from NC) had an amazing race finishing in under 11 hours and Gerald (AKA "G") managed to pull together a great race too. Ryan Van Praet finished in the 13 hour range and Linsey Corbin secured herself a spot to Hawaii with 5th place Overall finish.

I guess if I can walk away from the day with anything it is the fact that everything happens for a reason. Lake Placid was just not meant to be for me. No matter how mentally and physically prepared I was there is a bigger, greater force dictating our lives. Sometimes I like to fight it but after Lake Placid I just took a step back, took some time to look at how wrapped up I was/am in training. Maybe I needed a break? There are so many things I enjoy doing and while I have missed training I have enjoyed catching up with friends who were neglected during Ironman training. I know that I will come back stronger and more determined than ever but for now I am still enjoying physical therapy and abbreviated training.