You had me at footstrike #1

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love my new running aide. No, it's not an oxygen tank, as great as that sounds, it is actually a quite simple piece of equipment. It's this. Oh how I love this little knee strap! I have only used it twice, but so far with good results. Previously my left knee had major pain every time that I ran. Now it only hurts when I run really fast, and I think this little contraption is helping.

In other news, I am totally jonesing for any type of competition. I am dying over here! It's so bad that I am racing people at the grocery store down the aisles! Kidding, but you get the picture. Things are pretty boring in the workout department with nothing to train for. But I am also way too busy for anything too significant right now. I have started planning my 2009 race calendar and it looks pretty sweet. I will probably be running a half marathon trail run in February, and that looks like my next "race".

Totally random odd thing that happened to me: In class last week one of my professors asked me if I had a sister. I told him "no" and he said that he only asked because his neighbor and I look so much alike. I told him that "everyone has a twin" and he asked me if I was part Japanese because his neighbor was. What?!? Me Japanese? Um no. The professor is Chinese, which was so funny to me because he should know that I am not Asian! Funny thing is that this is about the 10th time someone has mistaken me for a ethnicity other than my own: Hispanic, Brazilian, Asian, I have heard it ALL!

I am watching the live Ironman Arizona coverage of the finish line. I miss the feeling of crossing that finish line and falling into someones arms already....

ZZZZZZOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

BRRRRRRRR!!!!!! Ya'll are some lucky ladies that I supported today because when my alarm went off at 5am I surely didn't want to get up! I went to bed late last night because we went to the Hawk's game (thanks to Pee Wee for the great tickets!!) and was super sleepy this morning. My job was to go to the Zooma half marathon and 5k and ride around on my bike, with a first aide kit and my phone, in case of emergency or someone needing a little medical attention.

I froze to death.

Literally, I have never been so cold in my life. I wore fleece lined pants, compression socks, shoe covers, a Sugoi sub-zero fleece lined top, a vest, another fleece lined jacket, and a windbreaker. It did nothing for me! The weather was about 35 degrees at the start but with the wind blowing and me riding so slow I just never warmed up, I got colder.

It was super fun despite being ultra-uncomfortable. I rode with the winner for a while, then rode around and found Tat, Michelle, Misty, Laurie, Sue, Sandy and some other peeps I knew riding the half. Then I rode some more until I absolutely could not bear to ride anymore for fear that I was hypothermic. I met Kevin who was there supporting his wife. I saw Kate win the 5k after 3 weeks of running coming off a stress fracture, go Kate! I mulled around the Luna tent and handed out some samples.

I did score a long sleeve technical shirt for volunteering! I love long sleeve tech shirts! It's a wee bit short on account of my bosom but I can figure out a way to make it work. There was one guy who did the whole run in drag, full on wig and everything! This was a woman's race series, but men were allowed to race. I was riding behind "it" thinking "wow, really hairy legs!" Then realized it was a guy in one of those running skirts! He was second overall, totally by himself and all the homeless people were having a really hard time figuring out what the heck was going on. I mean the run WAS in downtown and all, so it couldn't have been that unusual!

Suck it up buttercup!

Poncey contemplates what to do when tri season is over!

First of all, did ya'll know Bond went Gangsta? Don't want to ruin the new movie for you but it was a surprise for me. Actually anything would have been a surprise since I don't really follow Bond movies that much. Anyways....

I was really ill last week. A sinus infection, ear infection and what I think was a touch of the flu all combined together left me feeling horrible. I didn't workout for what felt like FOREVER but it was actually only 4 days. That's the longest I have gone without swimming biking or running since I broke my leg! But I had no choice, I felt really crappy. Thanks to Scoots and Tat for helping me along in my healing process with yummy soup, thera flu, and cough drops. It was appreciated!

Getting back into the swing of things I realized that I am seriously out of shape. Not just out of swim/bike/run, but out of all of it shape. A couple weeks ago I was happy that I wasn't doing any structured training/racing, but now I am bored. I am trying new things:cardio salsa :(, holding plank as long as I can (2:30 minutes) jumping rope (10 minutes, also hard) the evil stair climber on level 14, running up and down Stone Mountain twice (1000 feet elevation gain in one mile, that is a keeper!!) but sadly, these things just leave me feeling sweaty, not really satisfied. So today I am sucking it up and going on a good ole' fashioned run around Stone Mountain followed by a swim. This is going to be tough because I has reintroduced weights the past several weeks and I can't lift my arms. Not so sure how far I will get with the swimming, but it's worth a tri...ha..ha...try.

In other news, school done (as in I am finished!) This means I need a job to save up some money for medical school! (kidding mom! PA school really!) Let me know if you know of anything health related!

Do you want a puppy????

Vanessa forwarded me an e-mail that someone abandoned these 8 precious little puppies! They are so adorable looking and it just breaks me heart to think that people could be so cruel to just dump their unwanted dogs off in the street!

They are free to a good home, no clue what they are but look like maybe a lab mix. There are 3 black ones and the rest are a brown or brown and white mix. If you are interested please leave a comment and I can put you in touch with the person who is fostering them. Puppies are hard work, but worth all the unconditional love you get in return!

A new president....

Well, one thing is for sure, we have elected a new president! Go America! We rock the democracy monkey! I did my civic duty and went out and voted yesterday. I researched both candidates and watched all the speeches BEFORE making my decision. I was not swayed by my parent's, friend's, or the usual "voting for a certain party". I let the issues be the reason why I voted who I voted for. I am proud of everyone who gave their time up to vote!

That being said, there was something very disturbing on Facebook yesterday. Someone I know posted their status as "F$%& (candidates name) and anyone who voted for him is a F$#%&$% idiot!". Comments like that are ignorant and totally uncalled for. You simply cannot call someone an idiot because they exercised their right to vote for someone-and that person was not who you voted for! I was so disturbed by her comment status, that I deleted her as my friend.

Basically, who you vote for is your business, not mine. I am responsible for myself, and of course it would be my preference if you voted for my candidate, but it's up to you to do your own research then make an educated decision based on your views, not mine. While standing in line to vote yesterday I was texting my friends, many of whom were also in line. One of my friends asked me who I was voting for, I responded with his name, but didn't ask her who she was voting for, because I am certain it wasn't the same choice as mine. Either way, I still love her the same and would never judge someone because their political views differ from mine.

I hope that those of you reading this will be respectful of your family, friends, and coworkers choices, even if they aren't the same as yours!

Two years ago today......

Two years ago today I was in Bay Medical Center in Panama City Beach Florida. I had just had surgery to repair my shattered tibia and fibula in my left leg. It looked like this:

The accident was the result of a collision between myself and a car traveling 50 mph. The car didn't see me, and hit me from behind. I went onto the windshield (and broke it) then landed in a gravel parking lot. This saved my life:

The driver of the car kept going and ran over my bicycle. It blew out his tires and he had to stop:

Yes my bike is in pieces!!!

My road to recovery seemed to last forever! I was using a walker because I couldn't bear any weight on my left leg and all my road rash on my right side prevented me from being able to use crutches. I was unable to navigate the stairs at my home and had to stay with a friend. It didn't help that Poncey was only 4 months old. Looking back on it now, I realize what tremendous pressure it was on my mother, caring for me (including driving my bored self around!), my puppy, my household (laundry, cleaning grocery shopping) all while still working and living her life! I guess my recovery really became her life! Thanks so much mom!

I will never forget all the amazing acts of kindness from some of you guys. Bob Box came to visit me in the hospital, although we had only met several times. A true friendship was born out of his concern. I hardly knew Laurie, Russ, and Kile when they insisted on taking my out to dinner once I was on crutches and getting around a little better. They are now some of the people I adore most in this world. So many of you were encouraging and patient with me, telling me that I would recover and be able to race again, when the truth is that the doctor's said my leg might heal shorter and there was a chance I would never run again.

The path to healing was a tough one. I was in a tremendous amount of pain and very unhappy at my lack of mobility and general need to depend on others. I was given a boot instead of a cast, which meant that I could still swim. The problem was that it took me almost 30 minutes just to get into the pool and my that time I was exhausted! I remember crying the first time I made it the locker room because I was sweating and so tired. I couldn't believe how my body went from being fit to totally broken and out of shape.

I tried my hardest to remain positive and thankful for being alive. People were constantly telling me how blessed I was to have lived through an accident like mine. I was constantly being praised for my optimistic attitude towards my recovery and my resilience, but those of you closest to me knew that I was really depressed and felt like I wasn't getting better quick enough. Many tears were shed during those months and when I finally heard that my boot could come off my leg and I was free to bear full weight on it, I was SO happy!

The first thing I did was walk Poncey for a whole hour! I was limping and in horrible pain by the time we had it back to the house but I was free!!!! It felt so wonderful! My leg gave me a lot of trouble in the months that followed. My patella tendon was sliced totally through to make way for a titanium rod and took several additional months before it was healed. In May I tried to run and it was just some type of painful gimp.

One year after the accident I went back to cheer on IM Florida participants. It felt really good!

One year after the accident I ran my first half-marathon. My doctor's were totally amazed. Things still hurt a lot, but I was determined to not get left behind by my training partners so I just bore down and kept going.

21 months after my accident I completed my first Ironman. I choose to do it in Louisville, KY. The thought of experiencing something so amazing at the same place that caused me so much pain seemed to weird at the time.

24 months to the exact day after my accident I was in Florida again, for IM. I met one of the race directors, who was a witness to my accident. She couldn't believe my recovery!






Everyday I feel pain. Some days are better than others. Certain days I still walk with a limp. I have a herniated disc in my back likely caused from my fall to the ground. But I am alive and that is really all the matters, everything else is just icing on the cake at this point.

While I was in Florida I realized that I really want to do this race. I have totally forgiven the person that hit me, but I need to come to Ironman Florida and not just spectate, I need to race. There is a piece of me that hasn't totally forgiven IM FL, although it clearly had nothing to do with my accident per se.

There are times when I lose sight of how far I have come in such a short period of time. Posts like this help me realize that my circle of recovery is far from complete and I am gaining ground instead of losing it! That's a wonderful feeling!

Ironman Florida 2008

Iron Cheer Squad headed to Panama City Beach again to cheer for IM Florida's racers! KP told me that he was dressing up for the race and of course, I decided to dress up a cheerleader. Then he sold me out and didn't change into his Elvis costume until the race was almost over! Keith and I were all over the course, watching the swim start then heading out to put up our signage in the park then to mile 86 on the bike course then back to the run course! It was a lot of running around and a long day but it was totally worth it!

It was a totally perfect day for IM racing! Cool, water was calm and I heard that there wasn't much wind on the bike course. Congrats to Joe, Sudie, Scott, and Bree who PR'd the course. I think that Scott (with a wicked fast 9:35 for his second IM ever!) and Shelley (11:03, her first IM) may have qualified for Kona. I was really excited that Bree Wee was racing in super stealth mode and her sister tells me that she qualified for Kona too! Go Bree!

It was so much fun cheering for everyone else racing and the Atlanta crowd did totally awesome. Paul's parent's were out there with everyone's splits and signs for Joe telling him to "turn right!" It was funny! People really seemed to enjoy my cheering (or maybe it was the cheerleading skirt they liked). I of course, will be back next year, possibly with the skirt, maybe something different.

Pictures are posted on Flickr! Congrats again everyone!!