Virtual Run For Sherry- Grapevine, TX

There are a lot of good things going on in the blog world, lately. I know I've been a little absent from posting, but I wanted to catch you up on a few things.

Run for Sherry

On Saturday,  I met up with Jason from CookTrainEatRace, his wife, Karen and our good friend, Carla at Nutrition Addiction in Grapevine, Texas and participated in the Run For Sherry Arnold.

This Virtual run was a true testament to the power of social media and what the running community is able to accomplish. Organized by Sherry's cousin, Beth at ShutUpandRun, more than 20,000 race bibs were downloaded and countless more runners participated all over the United States and in different countries.  She put up a very touching video of pictures sent in from runners, here.

Jim Calhoun CardioRaiser 

Kurt from Becoming An Ironman is participating in the Jim Calhoun CardioRaiser, which is a benefit for Autism Speaks.  To raise awareness and money he has committed to a 6-hours of spinning!!!  That's right!  6 hours on the spin bike. Not many people would donate that much effort for charity.

His goal is to raise $500 and he's even giving away some raffle items, so if you can, hop on over to his site and give a donation to help this great charity.  I'm sure any amount would help.  Perhaps forgo the Starbucks tomorrow and donate $5 today?  The event is being held on Sunday, February 26th, so time is of the essence.   Great job Kurt and I look forward to hearing how the event goes!



Send A Care Greeting to a Fellow Triathlete

The other day I read about a fellow triathlete, Scott Whitney that was critically injured in a cycling accident two weeks ago from this blog post by Carole Sharpless.   It hit me close to home, like it did Carole, about how easily something like this could happen to any one of us or our close friends. 

Scott will have a very long road to recovery, but is thankfully, showing improvement - including being taken off a ventilator as he is able to breathe on his own. 

Support from family, friends and loved ones can make a huge difference in someone's recovery and for the morale of the family, so this Valentine's Day, I'm going to ask you to please... go to his Caring Bridge site and write some words of encouragement in his guestbook and let them know that even though they don't know you, you're wishing him the best in his recovery.

Scott's Guestbook



Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

<----   Apparently my Valentine, according to BigDaddyDiesel's quiz!  :)

I had a little bet going with
Jason over at CookTrainEatRace
on yesterday's game.

He's a NY boy, I'm a CA girl. 

On the line?  A $20 donation to the charity of choice for the person's team that didn't win. 

It was a close game.  Overtime.  20-17 with a field goal clinching the Giants bid to the Superbowl.  It wasn't a landslide.  It was a well played game.

And, it actually made it hard for me to root against the Giants because the first touchdown by the Giants was made by Bear Pascoe, a former standout of my alma mater, Fresno State.  Oh! And David Carr is back on the Giants as well, former 1st round QB draft pick from Fresno as well.  (Go Bulldogs!)

So, I decided that the best way to make this a win-win situation is to make my donation to Jason's charity, ShapeUpAmerica.  There's really no loss in this.


So, congratulations to Jason and the Giants!  I'll try to figure out how to get this check in the mail!  :)

This one is for Jeff

Every once in awhile, a fellow blogger will post something that either is so funny or inspiring or so moving that either I laugh out loud, want to go workout or am moved to tears.

Those posts are usually brought up in conversations with other bloggers and become the inside jokes/references for years to come.


So, after reading Jon's post today about silencing the over-used word, "Epic" that has taken over blog world, I decided to add a column, "Blog Posts of Legend" to the right hand column. 

Maybe for purely selfish reasons... because on a bad day, re-reading Jeff's post about his cat, minivan and overly emotional dude rant makes me laugh.  And, these others do, too.

 Before I finish this, however, I do have to make one very funny call out on Jon for his recent rant against the word, "Epic".....

 Bear with me, because I'm still giggling...


Click on the link I posted to Jeff's Blog about "Things That Bother Me" .... scroll down the comments and see how Jon responded.    Bwhahahaahah! 



OK, suggestions for any other "Legendary" posts that should be listed??

Thanks to a few bloggers (Lesley, Jeff, Jason, BDD..) I found myself with an account on Twitter to keep up with the chatter.

I'm following a whopping 26 people right now... which will change, I'm sure when I get the hang of things. And while Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga and the like won't make my Follow list, one of the people I did chose to follow was Chrissie Wellington because she is such an amazing and inspiring athlete.

So, yesterday she posted that they were looking for suggestions on where to stop on her upcoming book tour, for her new book, "A Life Without Limits."

I tweeted, "Dallas, of course, and it would be her biggest stop, because everything is bigger in Texas!"

Well, that tweet caught the eye of her book publicist and she contacted me to see if I'd like an advanced copy to review on my blog!

It took me about a millisecond to say, "Absolutely!" I was already planning on buying the book, so I can't tell you how excited I am going to be able to review it! Can't wait! I'll let you know when I receive it.

If you're on Twitter, let me know so that I can follow you!

I'm at @IronTexasMommy

Alright newbie swimmer at the pool who decided to try something new for your New Year's resolution, listen up.

Normally, I'm welcoming with open arms. If you ask questions, I'll probably even stop- in the middle of a set- to answer them. I'll smile and give you a head nod while I'm using the kickboard. I'll even forgive you for walking across my lane while I'm swimming. I'm nice like that.

However, Mr. Too Much Testosterone, do not race me every time I come to the wall. I know you're trying hard. But, guess what? I'm doing drills. I'm only swimming with one arm. Yeah. One arm. And, I'm still beating you. Notice my fists are closed? I'm still beating you.

If you want to race, call me on it. Say, "Hey! I want to prove to you how fast I am, so let's race!"

I'll smile.

I'll say Ready... Set... Go!

I might even let you get to the flags before I start, just so that your ego isn't bruised, too badly.

So, check your ego at the door. I'm not trying to race you. If you want to know if you can keep up, then start after me and see if you can stay on my toes. I'm not that fast. Lots of people can put my ego in check, but I'm smart enough not to leave the wall at the same time they do.

When I lap you twice on a 400 set, it's not necessary to get out and stomp out of the pool. We have different goals. You don't need to prove anything. Let's just be friends.

P.S. You might want to try putting your head "IN" the water.

Is it wrong to be so giddy about this?

I've known about Marathon Maniacs for years, but quite honestly I've been a 1x/year marathoner pretty much since I started doing them, so I never thought I'd be able to join.

I was secretly in awe of those that wore the jerseys (not that you could really miss them.) So, thanks to the New Year's Double and a little bravado on my part for signing up for a double marathon, I was able to achieve a four-star, Iridium level status.

So, don't mind me... I'm going to do a little 'wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle' and celebrate this bucket list item crossed off!

Have a great weekend!

Today is the 2-year anniversary that I lost one of my close friends.

Brandon was the life of the party. He was outgoing, funny, genuine, caring, gracious and would make you smile no matter what the situation. I was lucky enough to call him a friend for almost 5 years.

Unfortunately, he let some hard times in his personal life get to him and took his own life.

These aren't the types of posts that I want to share, but suicide affects so many people and families and can be something that no one saw coming because they hide their pain down to the very last minute.

Brandon's decision to end his life that night took away a friend, a son, a brother, an uncle and so many years of memories that were yet to come and left so much hurt, tears and emptiness for those of us he left behind.

So, I hope that what I can do - as his friend, as a blogger- is to reach out to anyone who reads this, and to remind you that there are people who care about you and the effects of a decision like this cause pain in those you leave behind forever.

If what the world sees on the outside... is different from what you see on the inside, please talk to someone or visit:

http://www.save.org/