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.