Tag

Thanks to Carolina John for tagging me! I actually finally did an update today and then I got tagged too. I know I got tagged last year and did a post about it but I will be darned...I can't find it anywhere. Maybe it was my imagination!?

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 Years Ago (1998): I admit I had just graduated from college, yes, a bit later than I should have. I landed a great job at Lockwood Greene Engineers in Project Controls. I lived in the middle of a 3000 acre farm with tons of trails and I only had 1 dog. I drove a beat up old BMW which I would still be driving today if my father had not sold it for me during one of my trips for work. I was still riding the same road bike I got when I was 11. I think I did the Boston Marathon this year and the Assault on Mt. Mitchell. So I was fit. I still swam like a rock back then.

5 Things on Today’s “To Do” List:
1. Make a distribution list for Ache Around the Lake - only about 400 names - DONE!
2. Drink lots of water to help me get over this cold/flu
3. Update my Malone Coaching website - not done, problems with the server. I love technology!
4. Nap - to get over the cold/flu
5. Reschedule all the things that I could not do this week due to cold/flu. I LOVE being sick!


5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Rescue all the unwanted animals and give them loving families - that would probably be all I could afford.
2. Not necessarily in 2nd - would be to rescue all unwanted children. Maybe the kids and the pets could all live together on a big commune.
3. Live strictly off the land like in the old days - since I would have enough money to pay for the farm I would have time to do all the work. I know this is crazy but I do spend time thinking about it...then all the kids and pets could live/work there too..now I am going somewhere with this!
4. Travel around the world and do random acts of kindness, like build schools, provide medical relief - yeah, I know I would be out of money very quickly
5. Invest wisely so that the money would grow and be able to take care of more people.


5 Places I have lived:
1. Tryon, NC
2. Bielefeld, Germany
3. Groningen, The Netherlands
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Campobello, SC


5 Jobs I have had:
1. Waffle House waitress
2. Worked for my father in his machine shop
3. Groom (this is where you clean the horse, stall and tack for someone else for .25 and hour...AKA Slave). I did it for the love of the horses NOT the people!
4. Pro Triathlete - unfortunately I was not fast enough to make any money
5. Gold's Gym - Sales (worst job ever - best commission)


Now I’m tagging:
1. Chris D.
2. Ashley
3. Gretchen
4. Frank
5. Jim

Motivation

I just got all these great quotes off of a girl's website called Chasing Iron. I thought they were great so I posted them here for myself and for everyone who reads along with me.


If there were ever a time to dare, to make a difference, to embark on something worth doing, it is now. Not for any grand cause, necessarily, but for something that tugs at your heart, something that's your aspiration, something that's your dream. You owe it to yourself to make your days here count. Have fun. Dig deep. Stretch. Dream big.


"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. Fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward." - Amelia Earhart


Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain


I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. -Red from Shawshank Redemption


Our biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs. The burning in your legs. And that voice in your head that yells “CAN’T,” but you don’t listen. You just push harder. And then you hear that voice whisper, “can” and you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the person you really are.


The reason you want every single thing that you want, is because you think you will feel really good when you get there. But, if you don't feel really good on your way to there, you can't get there. You have to be satisfied with what-is while you're reaching for more.

Update about my time off from training and blogging!

This photo was taken by Brittany Wright to be used for a coffee table book she is working on about...rescue dogs. I tried to take pictures of Boca while he was with me but just could not ever get him to be still enough or far enough away from me to get a good shot. Brittany is an animal lover and it really comes through in her photography. A link to her blog with lots of great photos is on my blog too - check her out! Boca has a new home now and is living the good life. More to come about that in a moment.

Below is a picture of my beloved Ziggy. Just last week we went for a visit in a nursing home and he amazed me yet again with his intuition. This time he licked the hands of every person who had a arm or hand that no longer worked properly due to a stroke or accident. He brought smiles to so many as I simply followed him through the halls as he worked. I am so lucky to have a dog like Ziggy.

This is a picture of Boca (now named Pre - after Steve PreFontaine). He lives with Joyce and her family in Columbia and is her faithful running partner. He has also learned to swim, ride in the boat and behave with a baby, a kitty and a Jack Russell Terrible...oops, I mean Terrier. At any rate he is living the good life. It feels so good to be able to place Weims in homes where they are happy...ironically it almost always seems that a happy home is a running home.

Over the last month I have made a point to spend more time with my Little Sister, Hai'lee. No, she is not my little sister but part of the program, Big Sister, Little Sister. The other day after school we were at my parents' home and were able to steal a golf cart from my father to go for a ride. Willow ran along side us until Bitsy, another Jack Russell Terrible chased her into the golf cart. Bitsy is a new addition to the family. My mother lost her old Jack Russell about a month ago. I tried to offer her a nice, trained Weim but she told me it would be awhile before she got another dog. In my family we move fast. Bitsy was welcomed into the house 3 days later. She is cute, crazy and definitely has given my mother enough to do so that she will not have any time to think about anything other than what is Bitsy into.

Here is Bitsy standing still for a brief moment. She spends her days running circles around my parents yard and has an adorable habit of biting you in the face when you hold her. In her defense she does sleep nicely upside-down in your lap and chase a ball very well.

Oh - so you think that I should say a word about triathlon...well, I have not been training at all. I have managed to go mountain biking and done a few trail runs all that was before I got a super cold/flu that I have now had for a week. Enough already! I think I am going to do an Adventure Race in Nov. and a trail run but that is about it. The tri season is over. Honestly it was over for me after Ironman WI but somehow I managed to race a few more times. Next year I am officially taking off from racing. This means I will not commit to any races. We will see how it goes. I have lots of fun activities going on so I am not worried about getting bored, I just need a change of pace for a year.

She Swims, She Bikes, She Runs SheROX

Week 1 after Ironman: This was my first ever all women's triathlon. 1 week after Ironman Wisconsin I found myself at the starting line of this sprint race. Chasse had the idea for years that we all should go and do one of these all women races. Most are always so far away but with this one practically in my back yard I just could not miss it, even if it was just 1 WEEK after Ironman. My sprint in this race was more like a crawl. I had nothing left in my legs after a week of travel and trying to regroup at home. The race hurt and I was slow, BUT I still had fun. I got to catch up with my friends from Anderson (picture above) and lots of women that I have met from over the years racing. There were lots of beginners there too. The race was well done (thank you Set-Up) and the finisher awards were very cool charm bracelets. Yes, I could get into this girly racing!

SC Half Ironman

Week 3 after Ironman - I figured I had not done any training - except 1 sprint race for 3 weeks so why not do the Half Ironman. It really was fun for the first 35 miles on the bike and then my legs had enough. I had another 21 miles left to think about the fact that it was probably a bad idea to race, but since I started and was able to finish I figured I would just get through it. Off the bike and on to the run I found that someone stole my visor in the transition area (If you are reading this and you have a visor with the name MALONE printed on it - I would love to have it back! No questions - really!) Aside from the missing visor I also realized that something in my leg was causing some pain. I made myself just run through it, warm-up and then start running. I even had to stop and stretch but I was able to get back into stride by the end and enjoy myself. While my race was not my fastest ever I can boast that everyone I coached had a PR (personal record) - sure it might have been the great weather but I prefer to think that it was my great coaching :o) Another great day at the races for Malone Coaching!

Boca - another Weimaraner saved!

The day after I got home from Wisconsin I went and picked up Boca. Crazy puppy with no discipline. Boca is the Weim in the above picture. He came home with me and immediately learned some manners (still not perfect but better than none). He was 11 months old and enjoyed all the attention he got here, playing with the other dogs, running, learning to swim and learning to ride in the car. Lucky Boca (now re-named Pre after Steve Prefontaine) has already found a forever home with a runner chick in Columbia, SC. Not only will he get to be her new running partner but he also gets to live on the lake and play with a little Jack Russell. He has now begun the good life. Another happy ending!

Ache Around the Lake

Week 2 after the Ironman - put on an 8K charity run at my favorite training location. Ironman was easy compared to organizing and executing a race. Really it should not be that hard but race day is all about the details which I worked on pretty much non-stop from the time I got home from Wisconsin. Pictured above are Scarlette (founder of the race, co director and now friend). This picture was taken right before I realized that someone actually took awards as souvenirs! Yes, that really happened! Overall the event went well, turnout was a little low so I have some ideas how to make it more interesting for next year. For some reason I really want to see 500+ people show up for this race. I want to see it grow. I want it to be the biggest fund raiser of the year for the hospital. I have a long way to go with it but I have a great team. Amazingly enough we are all women too. I guess I am all about girl power lately! I don't have all the stats yet but we had 190 runners and it looks like we raised about $17,000 maybe even more. All in a days work...