The Skinny on Shawnda

My Dearest Niki

2011-03-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

As I write this blog today it has been a little over a week since my dearest sweetest Niki has passed. She was the light of my life and I loved her more than life itself. She was there to greet me everyday when I came home from work and was there every morning before I even woke up. She was my best friend and has been there for me when no others could.

She lost her battle with seizures. We helped her with these as much as we could and she finally couldn't fight it anymore. They got the best of her and they did alot of damage. The brain damage was so bad that she wasn't herself anymore. She couldn't see or walk. Poor Rex wanted her so badly to see him she just couldn't. I cried that Tuesday and Wednesday. I was not ready to let her go. But just as I wasn't ready to let go she was ready to let go of the battle she had fought for so long.

She was the best thing that had ever happened to us. She made the house fill full when it was empty and gave Rex the best friend he never had.

Funny story about her, we got her because Collin really wanted her and wanted a big dog and was hell bent on have a shepherd. I just went along with it and was like ok, hopefully she won't eat my baby Rex. We rescued her from people who didn't love her. We have her shelter, food and love. And wouldn't you know, she became my dog! She was mine and we laugh about it to this day. I was the one who showed her what real love was when there wasn't anyone around.

She has been laid to rest and is now rest in the living room watching over us and protecting us. Collin swears he heard someone creepy around the other night at 2:30am but I really think it was niki wondering around making sure we were ok and protecting us. I know that sounds crazy but I really think she is. I do find comfort knowing she is at home with me now and knowing that one day we will all meet again at the rainbow bridge. I hope she is healthy and running free and making new friends in heaven.

Here's to you Niki, the best dog that has ever entered our lives! We love and miss you and will never forget you miss beautiful!

Just happenings...

2011-01-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

So I don't get alot of things going on right now. Maybe I'm not suppose to. Maybe it is my time to sit back, shut up and just lay low and that is what I'm doing now.

Seems there are some hawk eyes watching my facebook these days. If people actually believe anything on there is true for one minute, then you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself. So I've started cleaning house on facebook, really setting privacy settings and deleting those hawk eyes that are bothering me so much. I do facebook for fun and once the fun is taken out of it, well I'm done with it.

I'm trying to get back to the fun things in life. Trying out new fitness classes. Trying to get back in better shape and just lose some pounds. As much as it is killing me, it is good for me.

Ok, here is to hoping and praying that other things in my life start improving and things start moving in a more positive direction.

No desire...at least right now

2011-01-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

I just have no desire to do a triathlon. Over the last month I've said I would enter Galveston Half Ironman and as the new year rolls around and I have to face getting on the bike and doing spin class in the evenings, I'm really not liking it all that much.

I kinda feel that I'm almost done with triathlons. I want to ride my bike, but I want to do it outdoors and the weather right now is not allowing me to do that.

If I do a tri, I just want to to keep it short and simple. I want to have something to train for but nothing long.

I really enjoy my life right now of going home and doing P90x or running a few miles in the hood and that is about it.

Lets see what 2011 will bring.....

2011-01-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

Wow...2010 was a was a great year. Of course, just like everything else it had its ups and downs, but overall it was a great year. Collin and I made new friends, caught up with old friends, found out that we love "camping" on the Frio and that I don't have to train for a triathlon or be a part of a group do exercise all the time.

So now that 2011 has started I'm going to see if I can better a few things in my life. I need to eat better a few times a week. I'm always complaining about my weight...well I need to drink less vodka and eat less burgers and fries and eat more fruits and veggies. This mean that Collin and I will have to cook more at home. But I'm going to make an attempt at this a few times a week and on the weekends.

Encourage Collin more to workout. He complains just like I do about weight, being out of shape and whatever else, so I'm going to start encouraging him to workout out with me. Doing the workouts together will also help both of us.

I've already signed up for a few events just so I will somewhat train. I'm doing the Tough Mudder on January 29th. 10 miles, 16 obstacles, I think I can manage this. On February 20th I'm doing a half marathon. Even if I have to walk part of it, I'm doing it. It is about having fun and doing my first half marathon that isn't tied to a swim and a bike before hand. On April 10th I'm saying I'm doing Herman Memorial Half Ironman. I haven't signed up, don't know why maybe I'm trying to fight that inner demon that says why do this when you don't have to and fighting the other one saying go ahead you will already be trained for the running portion.

I'm hoping we will get to make it to San Francisco in May for Bay to Breakers. With the way gas prices and airline tickets are going up, who knows if we will be able to.

For now, these are just some of the things that I have in mind for 2011. I'm not making them a resolution, goals, or whatever they are suppose to be, but something I'm just hoping I can do and if not, well I did my best and I have to forget the rest.

Wowwzzzzaaaaa

2010-11-08T19:25:00.001-08:00

Well what can I say. I haven't been on here in a while. I haven't really had much to blog about these days. Kinda crazy for me.

Well since July, I really haven't accomplished much. I've manged to pick up shooting a shot gun which I LOVE! I love trap and skeet shooting. I have my own gun and I have all the gear to look the part I'm just not that great. Better than the boys I go with but hey, that's a woman with a gun for you. We are just better :)

I've managed to go camping at Garner State Park twice. And when I say camping, I mean, staying in a full air conditioned cabin with full kitchen and bath rooms and beds. So I'm not roughing it.

We have started hanging out with some of the best people ever. Cliff and Jessica mean the world to us and I'm very grateful for their friends.

After much though over the last month and watching everyone finish Ironman Florida, Arizona and Kona, I'm committed to signing up for another half ironman in Galveston! That's right, and actual official MDOT sanctioned race! I've completed two halves before just not the official ironman backing it. So it will be fun to do. It isn't until the end of April, so I have lots of time.

I've also committed to running the Austin Half Marathon. I figure what the heck, I can do 13 miles in my sleep, ok I used to could do 13 miles in my sleep. But I think it won't be much of a problem. I'm just out there to complete it and have a good time.

As for everything else, I'm getting ready to put of the Christmas Tree (pictures to come), help with Christmas Affair in Austin with Hillary, travel to Tempe, Arizona for IMAZ, do the Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving, enjoy lots of food with the in-laws, shop, go to Christmas parties, travel home for the holidays, camping at Garner State Park for the New Year, travel to New York for my first ever Jewish Wedding for my dear penpal, Austin Half Marathon, Hermann Memorial Half Ironman, Bay to Breakers in Cali.

WOOWWWZZZZAAAAA...that is alot to do in the next 6-7 months but hey, it will keep me on my toes and hopefully help me lose my weight and get to enjoy some of the best friends in my entire life.

Been a while...but here it goes

2010-07-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

So back in May I did two races...I did the Rookie Tri once again. I completely surprised myself with my time! 1 hour and 8 minutes! WHOOO HOOOO! I beat my time from the last two times I did this race. I had a good race and a good run.

Then came Bay to Breakers in California. This was the best race, funniest race I've ever done. I am going back out next year just to do it again! Plus I just love Cali.

In June I did Pflugerville Tri. I did good. The swim and bike were great for me and the run, well, it could have been better. It was hot and humid and I was just hurting. I had dehydration that week so I was going into this not feeling 100%. But I finish in 1 hour and 33 minutes. Not bad, That was my best overall sprint distance time.

July 5th, well, not such a good day. I was hit by a car on my bike. She was turning into whataburger and nailed me. Still nursing the scrapes and bruises, need to get the bike fixed but other than that I'm fine. Thank God she wasn't moving any faster than what she was. Stupid woman.

So I sit here now and say "Now What"? Well I'm for sure doing the Austin Half Marathon on Feb 20th. I'm also going to do Austin Tri to finish the season up. I can't decide if I want to do a tri in August or not. We will see what happens.

LoneStar Sprint Triathlon

2010-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend. Thursday night, my pen pal Leslie came into town for a bachelorette weekend with other friends. We were able to spend some time together which was great. Friday we dropped her off downtown and we headed to Galveston.

We get down there and of course the wind is blowing. Go figure. I have yet to be down there and it not blow it's butt off. Friday night I went to bed to wake up sweating at about 2am. The electricity had gone out. They were having 75mph winds that night. So 5am came early and quickly after that point.

I get up get dressed, eat and we make our way down to the race site. I set up my transition and meet up with Collin and we make our way down to the swim start. I did my warm up swim and get out and think well, it's only 500 meters I have to swim in this rough water, I can do this.

We wait around and it starts raining a little. Then the wind just gets worse and wave are rolling in now in the bay. They delay the start 15 minutes. Before I know it they cancel the swim and we all head back to transition to get on our bikes to do a bike and a run.

At this point, I'm mentally over this race. I pack up all my gear and hand it to Collin and get my bike and head out and make it back to the motel.

I came in FIRST...first one back to the hotel from the race I think as I just bailed. I didn't want to ride in the wind with those rookies and have my race wheels and the wind yank me all over the road.

So there it is. The no race race report.

Decisions...

2010-03-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well I decided that I will be doing the sprint in Galveston. I want it to be over with quicker so I can enjoy my weekend :)

Finally some spring weather in the ATX!

2010-03-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. The time has changed, the trees and flowers are starting to bloom and it is starting to get warmer! I'm ready for some much needed warmer weather. This cold crap has lasted long enough here in Austin.

I'm ready to start racing some small triathlons. I think more than anything, I'm ready to get out there and have some fun and do some traveling.

I'm ready to spend sometime in my yard. I need to get out there and get some flowers planted and make it look better. I'm going to go with native stuff this year so it last.

Where has the time gone....

2010-03-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

The last month and a half has just been flat out crazy for me. Work has been super busy with all kinds of fun stuff. I'm trying to get back into triathlon training mode. My teeth are finally feeling somewhat better. I finally recovered from a chest cold. My dogs are still a mess with medical issues. We had to Boston on Friday. I go home the first part of April for a wedding. The end of April not only brings my PenPal back to Texas but I also do my first triathlon of the season in Galveston.

I sit back and wonder what have I even accomplished. It sure hasn't been weight loss. I have managed to get work back under control. But everything else is still kinda lacking. I feel I should be working out more. I ask myself if that is the crazy ironman talk I still have inside me.

I swear...I don't know how I managed to do this all while ironman training.

2010 Winter Olympics

2010-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

OMG! This has to be some the best winter Olympics I've watched. I'm a huge sports fan to begin with but give me some downhill skiing and some speed skating and I can be entertained for hours and wishing that my parents would have pushed me harder as a child and lived somewhere that had lots of snow for me to train for something like that. But since that didn't happen, I will sit back on my couch and cheer on the US Teams!

From the start, Apolo Ohno and JR Celski rocked the speed skating to win sliver and bronze. Shani Davis rocked the long track to take the gold. Lindsey Vonn was lighting fast on the downhill to take the gold and Julie Mancuso with the silver. Bode Miller took charge in the men's downhill to win the bronze and Shaun White, well he is the rock of the Olympics! You can't even come close to snowboarding against this guy. He tears it up every time he straps that snowboard to his feet. The women snowboarders showed they are strong also and walked away with sliver and bronze last night.

I can't seem to get enough of the Olympics. I wish they came around every year.

The US is standing strong with a medal count of 18 as of this morning. Congrats to TEAM USA!

Craziness in ATX!

2010-02-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

So about 10am yesterday, a small single engine plane flew into a building here in North Austin. Of course these days, our first thought are well, and act of terrorism and someone wanting to do this intentionally. Well, we are all right. Some loon from Austin, decided to be pissed off at the IRS and fly his plane into a building. Why can't people just kill themselves without involving others? Really, we are still trying to fly planes into buildings for being angry? Those people in those buildings didn't do anything to you. How about you take responsibility for your actions? Try that for starters and suck it up and put your big girl panties on and just deal with it. I don't feel that anyone other than myself and God has the right to choose how and when I die. Call me crazy, but I prefer to leave that up to the big guy in the sky for that.

More tooth drama

2010-02-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

So for the past 2 weeks, I've still been having headaches. WTF? Will it ever go away? So I call the oral surgeon and asked if this was normal. Well I guess not, as they wanted me to come back in. They determined there wasn't any infection. So they needed/wanted to take some x-rays to see what was going on. It looked like there still might be a small portion of my tooth that was in there. So they reopened the sockets and went to scrapping on my jaw bone and pulled something small out. Really, you didn't get it all out the first time? So they packed me for dry sockets and I was on my way.

Thursday I decided to work from home to make sure I could take my pain meds. Thank goodness I did. I was so sick. I was fighting off a cold or something and had some antibiotics for it. I took one and was sicker than a dog. My back and lower body was just in horrible pain. I took more pain meds and slept the day away.

Friday was a little better. And the weekend was ok. Monday night brought on some throbbing. Glad I still have my pain meds to take.

New outlook...

2010-02-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

After sitting around and thinking about what I was doing a year ago, I have to say I'm very thankful that I'm not training for an Ironman. This weather right now, is terrible for Ironman training. I said that last year for about 18 weeks of non-stop wind and cold and well I was out there every weekend putting in the miles.

This year, I have a new outlook. I'm training for shorter races. My quality of life just means so much to me right now. I've missed out on my family, dogs, friends and God knows what else. I'm keeping it short. I will probably not be happy with my times that I will post but I'm bound and determined to have some fun this year.

I've started a new boot camp here at work with a gal pal, Mallory. She is kicking my butt every Tuesday and Thursday but I have to say I'm having fun and it is the best workout I've ever had. Regardless what anyone tells me, this is has to be the best strength building workout I've done to date. Mallory is great at was she does.

I'm looking forward to this season of triathlons. I feel like I'm blowing my wad all in May, but oh well. It'll be worth it.

On the up and up...

2010-01-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

I went for my final packing of dry socket today. It taste awful and my tongue is numb. I feel like I could puke from whatever they put in those stupid holes. I still say that was the worst and most painful experience of my life I've had to go through. Thank goodness it only comes once in your life or I would never do this again.

I finally get to start working out again. A week of doing nothing has been long enough. I need to get my fat butt moving again.

Oh my aching tooth!

2010-01-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

For about the last 2 weeks I've been battling some bad headaches due to my wisdom teeth still being in my head. Yep, 30 years old and I still have them. So I finally arrived at that point where I couldn't handle it anymore and I just wanted them out. I went in on a Thursday afternoon for x-rays and on Friday morning I was having them cut out.

Believe it or not, I was not one bit nervous for this. I'm usually a basket case when it comes to going to the dentist. We arrive and start the waiting game. Alison shows up so Collin can leave to head to work. We take a few pics and then head back to get me prepped.

They stick me with the IV twice, ask me a few questions and before I know it, I'm out. I guess they continued to ask questions and I answered with, "I only eat BEEF, and is this what heroin feels like?"

I wake up and don't remember how I got from the lethal injection chair to the recovery chair. All I know is I wanted my teeth and wanted to see them NOW! So they showed me. And I looked at Alison and said lets go, I'm hungry. I grabbed a ton of latex gloves(remember I'm out of it)and we head out.

On our way out of the building walking through some construction, I was trying to find Alison a boyfriend. And then once at the car, I tapped on the window of a truck and asked if he needed a girlfriend. She puts my drunk butt in the car and I start drunk dialing people. I have to say, it was freakin funny to hear the voicemail that Hillary saved.

We went for yogurt and I had it running all down my face, blood coming out of my mouth and God knows what else was going on. We make it home and we both crash in bed and take a really good nap.

Pain is still not bad, I'm still numb and kinda out of it. I continue on about my day and taking my pain meds. All I wanted for dinner was pasta from whole foods. So we left for some pasta and come back home to walk in the door to niki having another seizure. I didn't freak out. Poor thing. I'm just glad we were there when she had it.

Saturday the pain wasn't bad. I slept alot. Sunday, well, the pain was kinda worse. Monday I worked from home and slept and it was a good thing I did. I felt great on Monday. Tuesday was the worst day of pain. I made my way into work, took my meds and slept on the couch for over 2 hours until I was sober to drive. Made my way back to the dentist to find out I had dry sockets. So they start packing them and holy crap was that the most painful experience of my life. I needed an injection for that. And they offered it to me after the fact, hello, I'm done now, no need to do that. I cried and left. Finally some relief.

I walk in the door to find Niki had an upset tummy and had pooped everywhere! The smell was terrible. So I'm crying and cleaning. I finally finish and just lay on my couch hoping that the pain will go away.

Hillary came over and we went to do some retail therapy and I was home and in bed by 9pm. I woke up this morning feeling better. The pain is creeping back on my I'm taking my meds.

My Plans For 2010

2010-01-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that a year ago I was seating here freaking out about training for an Ironman. I sit here here in this same spot at my desk and have a sense of calmness about not doing another one ever again.

So I've planned out most of 2010 for myself. I'm such a planner that I typically do this to begin with.

April 24th and 25th - Lonestar Olympic Triathlon
May 9th - The Rookie Triathlon
May 16th - Bay to Breakers in San Francisco with Kelsey
May 31st - Cap Tex Tri
June 6th - Danskin Triathlon with Hillary and Rachael
October - Nike Women's HALF Marathon
November - I'm going to AZ to with Ironman Arizona

I'm also hoping that I can score US Open tickets at Pebble Beach for June. I'm hoping to fly home Amarillo on April 10th to see a wedding and spend time with my family.

Tentative Plans:
June 20th - Pflugerville Tri
August 1st - Jack's Generic
Sweet and Twisted

2009 in review

2009-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

I sit here at my desk and think about what a year 2009 was and where it went so quickly. 2009 started off with a bang and a swift kick in the butt. I threw myself right into training for an ironman. For 6 months, I left behind a husband and 2 adorable dogs to do what...train for an ironman that I didn't finish. That's right, I DIDN'T FINISH. I feel that even though I didn't finish I walked away discovering so much more about myself. I've learned to control most of my anxiety with the help of a great doctor or two. I've learned that no matter who much I worked for something and wanted it so badly, that in reality not finishing was the best thing that probably happened to me.

I can't thank my loving husband enough for being there for me when I was never home but to eat and sleep and probably complain about something.

In April, we headed down to Galveston so I could participate in the Galveston half ironman. I was mentally and physically ready for this day until I cut my feet on some oyster beds. I dropped out at mile 7 on the run. I was pissed. But oh well, it happens.

In June, not only did we travel to Idaho for me to participate in my first Ironman, but e had an awesome vacation in CDA and Montana. We spent time with some of our dearest friends ever.

July came and I was just so happy to finally get back to being normal and hanging out with my friends I ditched for 6 months. If your friends don't train with you, well kiss them goodbye during ironman training.

August...on word...HOT!

September came and I started to just ease into things. I started playing tennis which I loved! I reconnected with an old friend that is now my best friend. I never knew we had so much in common.

On to October. Wow, I had the best 30th surprise birthday party of my life. Never saw it coming. I also went home and surprised my family for a weekend that they had no clue that I was doing.

November started the craziness for the holidays. My in laws showed up for Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving in San Marcos again. I just love that tradition now.

Now to December. This has been the craziest month of all. We had our first Christmas party at our house. My sales guys gave me cash once again this year..WOOO HOOO! We took both dogs home for Christmas this year. We have decided that we need a much bigger car for the 4 of us. The dune buggy(Nissan Rogue)just isn't big enough for road trips.

Fatty Fat Fatso...

2009-12-15T07:37:00.001-08:00

Well here I am once again complaining about my weight. I feel like I weigh and look like I did before I started triathlons...so not the case but that is what I feel like. I got on the scale last night and about had a breakdown right there. I didn't want to see those numbers but I did. I sent a text message to Ali complaining about it.

I know I can't keep the ironman training for the rest of my life, but things have to change! I can't keep gaining weight. I'm putting my self back on my no bread diet and going to make sure I work out more often without killing myself. I for sure have to get off my ass on Saturday's and Sunday's and do something. Whether I ride my bike or go run, I have to do something.

Ehh...I'm just so frustrated with myself. How did I let this happen?

It's COLD in ATX!

2009-12-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

So we are at that time of year were it is COLD here and I don't want to work out because of it! But I'm come to the conclusion that I just can't sit around anymore and I have to get my fat butt up and do something or it is going to keep getting fatter.

I wanted to work out on Monday night and well, I forgot my shoes. By the time I got home, it was late, the rain was coming down and I was tired from the weekend and was asleep on the couch at 7pm.

Tuesday night I decided to do a double header. I went to corefit and got my but kicked once again. Then I went to spin class and my legs just didn't want to turn those pedals over. It got a little better but not much.

Today I'm suppose to run in the freakin cold. Don't know how I feel about that but I guess we will give it a go.

December 2009

2009-12-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Wow...here we are at month 12 of 2009! Where has the time gone? Seems like this month is going to be crazy. We have parties after parties and several houses to go to at Christmas. When will the chaos end!

This Christmas we are traveling with both dogs. This is just going to down right hilarious and miserable at the same time. Since both of them seems to keep having medical problems, I just can't subject anyone else to dealing with all the medications and problems.

Once in the Texas Panhandle...we will be either at Motel del Stinnett(yeah, I named it this) or in Guymon with both of them. We can't have them at my parents house as my sisters dog is to aggressive and then Niki in turn will eat her and then Ozzie the Weiner Dog is to scared and will hide the whole time. And they can stay in Guymon only if we are there since there are so many pills they need and well Rex has to sleep with a human. Don't think my inlaws want a dog in bed with them.

What a Christmas this is going to be. It might turn out to be the best Christmas we have ever had or the worst. Who knows. We will have to wait and see.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Wow..what a year up to this point. Training for half ironman's and full ironman's...going on vacation and getting to see old friends. It has been great. I sure do have alot of things to be thankful for. My health, family, dogs, and friends.

My in-laws showed up on Tuesday night where we ventured out to Mandola's. I love that place. We came home and watched TV and went to bed as Thanksgiving Day is always crazy.

We get up and make our dishes for that day and make our way down to San Marcos to spend it with some of our closest friends.

After we ate and visited we came back to Austin so Ali and I could do our post Turkey/Ham ride. Well lets just say we didn't make it very far. We started off and it wasn't to bad. My legs were having a hard time. As we make it to Southwest Parkway Ali is having some problems breathing, but she wants to keep going. So we push ahead and we almost make it to HWY 71. We take a turnaround and head back on SWPKWY. Not a few miles later she ends up having a flat. 4 tubes and 4 co2 cartridges later and about 30 minutes later we are back on our bikes heading to our cars.

We get back to our cars and head home to rest. What a day.

Rumors have it....

2009-11-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

So word on the street is that there could possibly be an IRONMAN in TEXAS! Just when I said I would never do another one, something like this breaks through the rumor mill. It would probably be held in Galveston on the flattest course known to man. I would totally be in for this one as it would not cost near as much money as the first one I did. I think I could mentally prepare my self for a 2011 Ironman.

What a week...

2009-11-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

This week was crazy. With emergency vet visit, another vet visit, two close friends getting lap band surgery on the same day and work just being crazy busy...I'm about ready to put myself in the funny farm.

I took the day off on Friday to clean my house...how sick is that. And I was doing work and cleaning! Hello...I TOOK THE DAY OFF! GET IT DAY OFF!

I finally sent out an email and said I'm out the rest of the day and that was at about 2:30.

I went over to Hillary's and pretty much laid on the bed and vegged out with her. I should have laid there and napped but of course we have the gift of gab.

The rest of the weekend is going to be pretty crazy. I have to FINISH cleaning house since I couldn't get to most of it today, go see New Moon, and take Hillary and Rachael to Christmas Affair.

If it's not one dog its the other...

2009-11-20T21:31:00.000-08:00

So about 3 weeks ago, I noticed Rex was kinda hurting if you picked him up wrong. So right away, I rushed him to the vet as any over protect mommy would do. The vet game him some anti-inflammatory and some pain meds and sent us on our way. I asked from shots but he didn't think it was necessary. I swore to him that about 3 years ago(read the records)we were in here for the exact same thing.

So we head home and I do the whole med thing and well...he seemed to be getting better. So I stopped the meds after about a week. The next week he seemed fine and then well week 3 came along. He was kinda not being himself and we just kinda went on about it. I started the meds back up again. We got home on Friday and I noticed he was super uncomfortable. I was going to try and get him out to the vet that day and I just couldn't get away from work. So I begged collin to let me take him to the 24 hour vet and he said, "I'm not paying $85 for them to see him, he can wait until 8am to go to our vet for cheaper." So I had to go along with it. We left for a while came home and went to bed. At about 4:15am he just started screaming like someone had run over him. We rush him to the vet to get muscle spasm medicine. We finally got home at 6:15 am to take a nap and baby him the rest of the day and night.

On Monday, we take him back to our vet to have x-rays run as he was still in bad pain. Even barking was hurting him. The vet gives more meds, x-rays, and steroid shots and we are finally home and feeling like a dog again.

I take him to work on Tuesday and he was fine. Collin was with him Wednesday and Thursday and I was home all day on Friday. But today he started to cry out again when he was barking so we are back on pain meds.

I just want to stay out of the vet for 2 weeks at a time!

The Weekend

2009-11-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was a crazy weekend for us. Friday night, we went to dinner with some of our best friends to celebrate. We dined at Fogo de Chao. I love that place even though it is expensive. We had a great time with everyone.

Saturday Ali and I were suppose to get up and do the Wurstfest ride to New Braunfels. She called around 6am and said she was up all night coughing. I was kinda glad we didn't ride as I just didn't want to go. I stayed up that morning and cleaned the house and took breakfast to Hillary and the girls. Since we had tickets to Wurstfest we went down there for lunch. I swear the boys ate their weight in sausage.

Saturday night we ended up back out at Hillary's to shop and just hang out with them.

Sunday Ali and I were suppose to ride 50 miles or 3 hours and well, it started to mist and before I knew it, it was raining pretty good. We decided to head to church with Hillary and Jack and make the most of it. At this point, I had cough syrup the night before and I'm still drunk off this stuff. We get to church and I could barely keep my eyes open during the service. I started to cough about 15 minutes before services was up and I had to get up and leave.

We head home and I could barely stay awake. I though heading to the mall and hanging with Hillary and seeing a movie would do the trick and well I slept during the movie. I was in bed by 9:30pm on Sunday night. I was tired.

Surprising the Family!

2009-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

So I went home this last weekend and didn't tell anyone but people here in Austin. It was AWESOME! My family had no clue. I get off the plain and make my way to my Granny's place to get her and take her to lunch. We did lunch and some shopping. From there I started my drive to Panhandle to do a little more shopping and see my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. They were all doing great.

From there I headed to Stinnett and made sure I didn't get there until around 5pm to make sure everyone was in the same place for the big surprise. I went to my Grandma's as everyone was going to probably be there. And they were. The boys were outside and I had to make sure they didn't see me. I went to the front door and rang the doorbell and my sister came to the door. No one ever rings the doorbell at grandma's house so I think they were wondering who was there. She had a hotdog in her mouth and about spit it out everywhere. My aunt was going crazy and my mom kept saying oh you are such a liar. Well my mom finally looked and there her daughter was!

We had a great weekend. Birthday parties...more shopping...spending time with my nephew and cousins...playing the wii and getting my butt beat by a 6 year old. Best time ever.

Bring on CHRISTMAS with these crazy people.

Niki..another seizure

2009-10-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

On Thursday October 22nd at about 12:30am Niki had another seizure. Poor thing. Collin and I woke up to her having it once again. We were up for about 20-30 minutes with her before we could get her calmed down and resting again. I had to get up at 4:45 that morning and head to Amarillo to SURPRISE my family! That makes for a short night and a long day.

U2 Concert

2009-10-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

OMG! Best concert I have ever seen. I love U2 and have been wanting to see them for a few years now. So my best guy friend David and his wife Kelly have 4 tickets. I snagged them back in April I think.

We leave on Sunday and head up to Dallas. We get there and meet up with an old friend of Collins and head back to the hotel. Monday was boring. I should have just worked that day. But a day off is nice to have. We rush around all day and get ready for the concert. We had to the new cowboys stadium and have to pay $30.00 for parking...are you kidding me!

We get in and Kelly and myself have seat and Collin and David have floor tickets.

Muse comes out and rocked it! They were AMAZING also!

Then U2 comes out and it was just AWESOME!

Ironman...decisions...

2009-10-07T12:30:00.001-07:00

After have a great weekend with friends who don't do triathlons, I came to the conclusion that I just don't want to do another Ironman. I don't want to give 6 months of my life to be tried, hungry and beat up. I'm going to stick with Half Ironman's and Sprints. I figure that will keep the weight off and keep my busy.

I'm getting fat...

2009-10-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

During Ironman training I couldn't gain weight if I wanted to. Now, I can't take it off. I'm taking all cookies and cake and fried food out of my diet. All breads and pasta's. I'm eating meat and veggies for a few weeks to see if that will help. I'm working out but I guess I'm making poor choices on food.

Ehhh...why can't I stay thin!

My poor Niki...

2009-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, October 6th at 7:15am, Niki had another seizure. This time I caught it and work up my husband to retreat back into the bathroom to not watch anymore of it. After about 45 seconds, I came out and greeted both dogs and she was just a slobbering mess. Collin made her lay there to catch her breath and try to get her bearings or she would get up with not a lot of function in her legs or in her head.

So we get her up and outside and she is just pacing and ready to get some love and possibly play. Crazy girl.

I call the vet and since she had two of them within about 2 weeks of each other, the vet said it was time for meds. So we started her on them. I'm now looking at some holistic meds to give her in conjunction with the meds from the vet.

Cutest Dogs Ever!

2009-10-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking of getting some nice pictures of my dogs printed up so I can have them forever! I know strange but I just love my two dogs.

So this weekend I took them outside and took pics of them. They did so good.

Post Birthday Updates...

2009-10-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 1st, was my 30th birthday. We ended up at Hula Hut with some of my closest friends for drinks and dinner. We came home early and that was that.

On Friday October 2nd, I went to work and my best girlfriend Alison called me to do drinks at Maudies at 5pm. So we went there knowing we were to end up at a Brazilian steak house around 7pmish. So we had one drink and headed to the mall as I need a new watch with some bling on it.

So Collin calls me while I'm at the mall and says I have to come home and get him as his car is not starting. No big deal, this has happened before and Alison had to go pick up her boyfriend.

So I head home pull into the driveway and he comes out to say, come inside the house...there is something wrong with the new flooring and I can't believe we signed off on this. So I get out of my and walk in to find the lights are off...I flip on the switch and see rose pedals down the halls and walk in the living room to find candles lite. All of a sudden the kitchen light comes on and all my best friends are there to SURPRISE ME! OMG, I was so surprised and excited. I had no freakin clue. We had BBQ that my husband cooked, along with cake, cookies, vodka, beer and whatever else was out.

It was such a great night!

So I had a bad day...

2009-10-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday = Quarter End = Sales Guys In Panic Mode = Me Pissed At All Of Them = Me Getting Home Late = My Anxiety Out Of Control = Me Crying!

Well the day started off to be quite. No one was in panic mode and my company had made their numbers for the quarter so what was all the hub bub about. I was expecting to leave at about 4:45pm and make it to corefit and well that all got turned upside down.

I did however get a new gal pal out at lunch time and walk 3 miles of hills. So I did feel good about doing something even if it was only walking. I was out there for someone else and that made me feel better.

So at about 4:30 shit hit the fan. I was suppose to have had everything I need by 2:30pm and well nothing at 4:30pm. I finished off somethings and now it was 5:30pm. I'm all alone in the office and pondering if I should just leave if I don't have it by 6pm. So I hang out feeling guilty about leaving and what do you know...6:15pm rolls around and I have a large order to process. We are talking at least an hour of work if all the money matches. Well being as it never does I knew I was going to be here for a while. Finally I find that people who send their work to me can't operate excel very well and formulas. So that fixed everything. Finally, I get it processed and I get out of work at about 8pm and home by about 8:30pm.

I'm on my way out the door and I have to walk in the dark, by myself to the parking garage. Can you just say SCARY! I'm walking along looking in some windows going hmmm...what if there is a masked man about to jump at the window at me. So I just quit looking. Then I wonder if he is on the other side of the cement wall waiting for me...well nothing...so I'm still alive...good thing...I get going to the car and I hear a loud car in the bottom garage making its way up and I PANIC! I start running to my car throw all my stuff in and lock the doors and just cry. Can you say basket case!

I start my drive home and just cry. I don't know why I'm not normal and can't control this. I lay awake at night right now, listening for my big dog to have another seizure and now I'm worried about masked men getting me in the dark. FREAK SHOW I KNOW!

CoreFit Fusion

2009-09-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to jump on the workout wagon again and start a new thing...CoreFit Fusion. It is a total body workout for an hour that has kicked my butt everytime. I love it! I didn't think I would say that. I have found myself already thinking about going 3 times a week.

Maybe this is the motivation that I need to get my butt going again. I'm still undecieded about what triathlons I'm doing next year. I have an itch to do Vineman to experience something new. I just don't know about another Ironman.

Ok, enough ramblings for a day.

My poor Niki...

2009-09-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

My love for my two dogs run far and deep. I tell both of them everyday I think I love them more than life itself. They are what gets me up and going every morning and what puts a smile on my face when I walk in the door everyday.

On Thursday's night 9/24/09, about 1am...Collin and Niki were in the living room. She was sleeping on her pillow and Collin was doing work and watching the football game. Since we just put in new floors both dogs are like a moose on ice and just slide everywhere and have no footing.

It sounded like she was trying to get up. Collin just kept thinking and maybe saying Nik, just get up already. He walked over to the couch and she was having a seizure. He tried to wake her but she was completely out of it. She had bit down on her pillow and her eyes were wide open and her legs were moving like they were running.

He rushed into the room and hollered at me to come and help and all I could do was grab Rex and sit there and cry. She came too, and he rushed her to the vet. I got up after they walked out and cleaned up the mess of pee from the seizure.

They made it home about an hour or so later and she acted like nothing was wrong. I had to take her to the vet on Friday morning for a full blood workup and nothing turned up.

I was a basket case. I didn't think I would react like that but I can't stand to see my dogs in pain and suffer. I hope there won't be a next time and if there is I hope I can handle it a little better.

I've not been sleeping very well the last few nights just worrying that it might happen again.

A week of being sick

2009-09-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

It all started on Monday. I my throat was starting to itch and just be tender. So I went to a concert to see Stoney La Rue and Jason Boland and drink some Vodka thinking well, if you can clean with it and it kill things, then maybe it will make my throat feel better...and well, not so much.

Tuesday, I was taking in lots of zinc, airborne, and immune fizz. Trying to fight off whatever was hitting me. I decided what better way to make yourself feel better than to go play some tennis with Hillary. At least we would be laughing for an hour or more.

Wednesday, I woke up and felt like crap. I was having hot flashes and my head was hurting. I went to work and toughed it out and pulled myself together to go run 4 miles with some of my fave gal pals. I felt great during and after the run.

Thursday, I woke up and felt even worse. I didn't sleep at all and my head was killing me and my nose was running. I had to work from home for the first half of the morning so I laid on the couch and slept and worked. Finally got up and got dressed and made my way to lunch and the office. I was there for maybe an hour and left and came home and worked and slept some more. I felt fine at about 6pm so I went and played another round of tennis. By this time the voice was going south.

Friday morning comes, and well, no voice. I felt somewhat ok until my head started hurting. I made my way to work to have people laugh at me and to have my boss and VP tell me they had better not see me at my desk when they come back from lunch. So I came home, laid on my couch worked, and took a nice long nap.

I'm hoping by Saturday my voice is back to normal.

Blaze of Glory

2009-09-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

For the last month our family has been on their knees praying to our heavenly Father above to heal my cousin James Blaze Coffee. He was in a tragic accident and on Tuesday he went home to be with the Lord.

Today the Heavens were crying as we laid him to rest. We know in our hearts he will be taken care of and will be watching down on each and everyone one of us.

For someone so young he had so much to share and give this world and he did. He was an amazing man from the day he was born and we will never forget him. He touched everyone he ever came into contact with.

We love you Blaze and you will remain in our hearts forever.

BLAZE OF GLORY!

Tennis...Anyone?!?!

2009-09-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was a fun weekend. Hillary asked me to play some tennis with her. If anyone knows me, I have no clue what I'm doing at tennis. I just know I can't kill it or it will go over the fence, and I have no backhand skills.

So we ventured over to the country club and we played for about an hour and as the hour went on the better we were.

I checked out a rookie tennis league that is suppose to teach us form and technique. This could be my new addiction.

After doing this and having so much fun, who knows if any more ironman events are in my future. We will have to wait and see how good I get :)

Run-Far 8 Mile Time Trials...

2009-08-26T14:20:00.001-07:00

This time trial was my 3rd time trial I've done since ever being on a bike. Last year Alison did one with me and I averaged 19 something mph. I went out two weeks ago and did 19.7 mph for 24:21 minutes/seconds. This time around I did 20.2 mph for 23:45 minutes/seconds.

It was a tough day out there. The wind was blowing...and it was 105 degrees out there! I thought for a moment I was going to puke and I just said, you have to keep going. I finished and waited for a Catherine to finish and I thought my legs were going to fall off or I was going to puke or both.

I've improved from last year until now and in two weeks I've dropped my time and improved my MPH! I'm excited and this makes me want to cycle more.

Monday night run practice - Hard and HOT!

2009-08-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

So, I've jumped back on the T3 running wagon again. One, at this point I'm not really training for anything and just can't justify the extra $$$$ to run with the Gazelle's, and well, I just can't get up to do a morning workout and that is when the Gazelle's are running right now.

This is like my 4th Monday night run practice and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier. I really need to get my butt up and run on Sunday mornings more and make sure I do a few runs during the week...if I did that, it might a little easier. Probably not, but that is what I want to tell myself.

I'm sure this heat has something to do with it...but man do I feel tired and out of shape!

The Adventures of Rex and Niki...

2009-08-24T11:42:00.001-07:00

So I kinda had a thought a while back to start blogging about my dogs maybe on a daily to weekly basis or whenever they do something freakin funny or freakin destructive...depends on their mood and the day and if its a full moon I guess...

Since I want them to be adventurous I've given them nick names...

Munchkies(Rex the wonderful weiner dog) and Stinks(my big woolly German Shepherd)

So today my hubby took a pic of them having a hard day on their job...

My randomness....

2009-08-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Back to school means crappy traffic for everyone who lives in Austin right now. Ehhh...hate this time of year.

Still trying to decide on the Austin Triathlon. Just a little to expensive this year from me but I guess I don't have to travel and pay for a hotel room if I do it.

I'm enjoying doing whatever on the weekend right now. I had a great bike ride on Saturday with some of my favorite girls. It was nice to do a nice stroll on our bikes. And Sunday, well, I didn't want to get up and run or swim so I didn't! It was AWESOME!

Still trying to decide if I want to endure another ironman or not. I talked yesterday like I'm already signed up for it mentally and then I get to the thoughts of training for 6 months in this dreadful Texas heat and go HECK NO! I don't want to do that. I'm sure I will sign up for IMAZ 2010.

My favorite little nephew goes to 1st grade today!

2009-08-24T06:41:00.001-07:00

He is the perfect age right now and well, the perfect kid if you ask his aunt! Love this little guy more than life it self! He is going to the 1st grade! They grow up so quickly!

Sweet and Twisted Triathlon

2009-08-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm behind on blogging so I'm going to try and catch up here since I'm bored at work and I just don't want to read my emails right now :)

I decided back in July that I would do the Sweet and Twisted again even though last year I swore it off as it is kinda a crappy course and I hate trail running. But the Red Licorice Gals are so much fun that I decided what the heck, just go out and have some fun and do whatever with it and enjoy the moment.

The morning was good. Collin had to work that next day so he couldn't go so I was on my own for the first time...kinda scary and nice at the same time. Gave me a chance to collect my thoughts, emotions, and anxiety all on my own.

I show up and we have our own spot! I rack it next to my fave girl Jane Kang and start my morning. I walk around see everyone, get tattooed up with the T3 logo and make my way to the bathroom and then to the start for the swim.

They changed up the course this year and I have to say I like the swim start and exit better this year than last year. I was the second wave to go off. We started and I felt well, like I haven't swam in a over a month and that is exactly what I've been doing...NOT SWIMMING as I have been battling some rotator cuff issues and some out of place ribs.(at least that is what I've been told).

I make it out of the water and up the hill to put on my tennis shoes(400 meter run to the bikes). I get to my bike and throw on my helmet and shoes and sunglasses and take off. For some reason now I have decided that to save time in transition I will not wear socks on the bike and only on the run. Seems like a good plan and I kinda like it as my feet have time to dry in my shoes.

The bike course was fun, always a challenge out there as it is rolling hills will a little bit of recovering but not much. Two loops down and I was done. I decided not to use race wheels which I still wonder why I didn't and just went with it. Oh well, I was only a minute off from last year when I used my race wheels.

Off the bike and on the run. I stopped and hugged Jim Opre on the run and he sent me on my way. The guys from T3 were on the run course cheering me on and it was awesome. I started to walk alot and just said oh well, I'm out here for fun and I don't like trail running, so just get out here and enjoy it.

On the trail I met up with a new girl named Kim. She had a heart condition and had to walk more so we talked and walked and jogged and walked. We were only about a mile or less from the finish when she grabbed my left arm and started to scream and I looked to my right and a deer was heading straight for us at full speed. I crossed in front of us about 2 feet or so and we both screamed and a few women turned around and thought we were freakshows. Kim said, "I thought it was a mountain lion about to eat us". I was about to laugh my butt off at that point.

We get see the finish line and start running and finish together. It was awesome to see her out there and hear her story.

Monday thoughts....

2009-08-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

After taking my dog to the vet and going to see my therapist...it made me realize that I think after the Sweet and Twisted Tri on Sunday, I'm done for the rest of the season. I kinda wanna take a break and enjoy life for a while. Sleep in, do some casual riding and running and just enjoy it. If we go out on Saturday night I don't want to have to get home to be in bed so I can get up at 6am or earlier to go run.

So I don't think at this point I'm doing Conroe. I think I'm going to sit back, volunteer(cheer) and just enjoy going and working out.

A GREAT weekend!

2009-08-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

I had a GREAT weekend! Saturday morning my closets friends wanted to do the NOCC Balance 5k. We made our way to down town, signed up and got on our way to walking our 5k! It was super fun being with them and then heading to breakfast with them.

I came home cleaned my house, took a nap and went out to dinner and to a get together to meet new friends. Kinda nice to meet new people.

Sunday I slept in. Seems to be my trend right now. I love it and missed it for 6 months and didn't think I would ever go back to sleeping past 6am on a Sunday morning. Boy was I wrong, I drug my butt out of bed at 8:45am this morning only because the dogs needed out.

I got dressed and forced my way to town lake trail. I told myself to go for at least a 5 mile loop and then a 3 three mile loop. I was doing well on my 5 mile loop until well....my tummy started to hurt. I only did 5 miles and headed home and walked the dogs and enjoyed my Sunday afternoon.

At this point, I'm still undecided about doing the Conroe Half-Ironman again. I don't have the motivation to want to train unless I just want to do short stuff. Like 30 miles for a Saturday ride and 5 miles for a Sunday run. LOVE IT!

Pondering...my next ironman

2009-08-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

I just keep thinking about what I want to do....IMCDA is still open and I wonder if I should go tackle that beast and beat those demons that beat me the morning of June 21st. Plus, who doesn't love CDA and cool weather and training in the winter time!

Then I start thinking, well there is always IMAZ. Flatter course, and warmer weather. But training in the heat of the summer just really doesn't appeal to me as much as I want it to.

IMCDA registration is still open and IMAZ registration hasn't even opened. It just makes me wonder what the heck I should do. I know I want to do another one, but which one.

Feeling not so skinny...

2009-07-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Man, I love that fact that I've enjoyed a month of doing what I want to do...whether it be working out because I actually wanted to or sitting my butt on my couch and petting my dogs because I missed them for the last 6 months. But my poor body is screaming, "Shawnda, you are getting chubby again." So for the sake of everyone around me and well from my own well being, I'm getting back on this workout wagon.

I've been having a lack of motivation alot lately. Can't determine the true cause of it, but I need to kick it in the butt.

I'm kinda sure I'm going to do the Conroe Half Ironman again. I need to go back and kick its butt. It almost beat me last year and I was having none of it.

Back in the Pool...

2009-07-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

I decided yesterday that I need to get back on the wagon and workout. So much easier than trying to eat "right". And for me, we know that just won't happen. So I packed my stuff to hit the pool today.

It was a good lunch time swim. Nice to get away from the desk and swim. I love the water and taking a short swim at lunch is just what I needed.

Even though my right arm has been having some issues with a pinched nerve(at least that is what I've been told it is)I felt great but didn't last to long as it was killing me. Oh well, I got in the water and that is all that matters!

Couples Triathlon

2009-07-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well I went and signed up about a week ago for another triathlon and just wanted to have some fun...and I did! It was a hot steamy day in Austin so I knew I had better back off a little as I would be wanting to kill myself.

Swim: well had a slower swim time than expected..but I haven't swam in like 3-4 weeks. Last swim, morning of Ironman...guess this means I need to get back into the pool.

T1: awesome, had no problems.

Bike: went slower than I imagined but oh well, it was suppose to be fun right? I need to work on this bike thing.

T2: good, no problems.

Run: started out running and walked a little. It was hot. Ran until I got to the big hill and well, who cares, I'm out here for fun so I made it to the top and ran again. Not the best run time I've had but it was on a crappy trail and well, I didn't like that aspect but oh well.

Finish: I have no clue what my time was. And the run-far.com website cut it off. So it doesn't matter it was all for just some fun.

Randomness...

2009-07-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last week was a hard week for me emotionally and mentally. My dogs managed to create complete destruction on my house on Wednesday night(and that was our 8 year wedding anniversary). I walked in to about 4 feet of carpet pulled up in the hallway. We had a some bad thunder and lightening roll through that morning and Niki FREAKED out! Saturday night we ventured out to hang with friends and enjoy fireworks and it happened again...but this time in more than one place! Sunday I had a tennis match with the triathlon team and Niki bit a guy! What the heck is going on with this poor dog. I felt so bad for the guy but at least it was more of bruise and not bleeding and punctured.

So we are now tracking down more carpet and getting it replaced before my mom, sister, and grandma show up next week.

Not to bad...

2009-07-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

Monday came and went without many questions from people at work. Thank GOD! I really didn't want to answer them or relive the dreadful ironman experience all over again.

Tuesday I called around for a Doctor and found one! Hopefully some much needed help is on the way.

Wednesday I met with Chrissie to discuss my triathlon future...and...there is still is one. Don't know exactly what races, but I'll eventually sign up for something and just keep with half ironman training in the mean time until I decide.

Not a bad week.

A rollercoaster...

2009-06-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here I sit on Sunday evening getting ready to go back to what I used to think was a normal life. As I sit here and think about going to work tomorrow and having to answer all the questions about what happened at ironman, I'm just so not mentally ready to do it...the question is will I ever be? Probably not, but I guess I'm going to have to.

As I try and hide from everyone, yes T3, friends and co-workers, I know that I have to get back in the swing of things and just focus on my next race. I don't know what that race will be all I know is I need to figure out what the heck I'm going to be doing. I hate training just to train, I need a goal.

Hopefully tomorrow what be as bad as I think it is going to be. I'm hoping that I can just get back into the swing of things without much talk about the big day that I failed on.

Shawnda Freeman - You are NOT an Ironman

2009-06-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I would see the day after 6 long months that I would not finish IMCDA. And it happened. I didn't finish. I became the person that I've hated for 29 years. I was a ball of freakin mess that morning of. Throwing up, having a panic attack or two..whatever you want to call it.

I make it to the race site after a few trips of having to return home for a timing chip once, another trip for goggles and swim cap. Stupid me. I make it there and Collin tries to get me as close as he can to the race site. Some nice guy on a 4 wheeler pulls up and give me a ride right to the tents. Bless his soul for that.

I make it there where Dr. Jane and Ali are there waiting on me to help me set up. I get my bike ready drop somethings in my bags and make my way over to the team. There I'm stuffed in my wetsuit by nancy and a few others while I'm crying saying I don't want to do this.

Ali takes my butt to the beach and I freak out. The water is choppy and we have some pretty big rollers. I never freak out in the water and today was my day. I'm on the beach and the shot goes off. I get in the water and believe it or not, I felt better. I got going and the waves kept hitting me in the face and then the motion sickness started. WTF! Can I be anymore of a handful?!?!

I just end my ironman in the water. Make it back to shore. What a loser I am. I shower, eat, and head back to watch all my teammates finish their race.

All in all a few lessons were learned on that given Sunday.
1. I need to seek medical attention for an anxiety problem that me and my family have brushed under the rug for 29 years. And xanax maybe part of the answer but not all.
2. I'm not signing up for another one until this problem is fixed. I didn't go into this race for the right reason.
3. Battle of demons. I had no enjoyment the last month or so for this race. I couldn't stand the sight of training and being around it just irritated me to no end some days.
4. For now, I will do some half ironmans.
5. I'm not going to get caught up in the moment.
6. I for sure want to do another one.

I wish I had a better story like I fell off my bike or a kayak hit me in the head an knocked me out but I don't.

Week 24 of IMCDA! RACE WEEK!

2009-06-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

The big dance has arrived. I didn't think I would see the light of day but it has come. Believe it or not, I'm not that nervous. I've talked with alot of people and I've battled my inner demons and had a chat with them and well we've all decided that this is just a day of training that is catered every 10 miles on the bike and every mile on the run. What more could you ask for...and well racing with 60+ of my closest friends! I'm ready. Xanax and all I'm ready!

I did a run this week, I rode my bike today and I did my swim. All in all not bad. The water here in Lake CDA is awesome! I don't have to wear my stupid neoprene cap or ear plugs. WOOO HOOOO! 64 degree water is not that bad.

But the bad thing around here...RAIN and WIND! What the hell? I'm hoping to not be wet on race day. That is all I ask for at this point.

I've managed to destroy a bedroom at the house we are staying at with all my tri gear. I have to get everything arranged tomorrow and back down to Ironman City. I get to turn in everything and just sit back and wait for Sunday morning!

My best friend from San Marcos drove all the way up here with her husband and kids in tow. Our dear friends from Montana showed up for this and the best of all will be Wilma and Georgie coming in for this! If Georgie can battle cancer and survive, I can battle ironman and survive...right?!?!

All, it's late and I'm heading to bed to sleep in tomorrow and have a nice breakfast with our friends up here in beautiful CDA.

Race Week!

2009-06-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have to say I'm a bit nervous and on edge. I just want this race to be here and be over with. I say that and then I think, wait, am I prepared? Did I do enough?

This weekend was so nice. I can't tell you the last time I was able to sleep in on a Sunday morning until 7:30am and be back on the couch at 11:15am laying down taking a nap! It was the best ever. And in the middle of all that, my hubby to me to breakfast! We haven't had breakfast with each other in probably 6 months...so that was a very nice treat.

The weekend was packed full even though I didn't even train. Friday night I had to pack my tri bike transport bag. I think I unpacked it and packed it back up 3-4 times to make sure I could fit everything and had everything. Saturday, I went and watched a little kids swim meet! They are so cute. I left there and went and had my hair cut and colored(can't cross the ironman line with gray split end hair) and went to the outlet mall and bought me another new pair of Oakley's. I have a saying, I may suck it up during the race, but dang it, I want to look good doing it. Sunday, I slept in, washed my car, went to breakfast, laid mulch in the flower beds and hibernated indoors(cleaned and napped).

Here it is Monday and I have some sort of sinus drainage going on(blaming the hubby for this as he had it Saturday and Sunday and has a headache today). I'm hoping that this is all it is and it doesn't get any worse than this.

TriBike Transport Bag...PACKED

2009-06-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

I got what I could get into the bag and everything else has to go on the plan.

Here is the finished product!

Bib Numbers for IMCDA are in -- #2103 reporting for duty!

2009-06-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

So the day finally came where I now have my official bib number to report!

BIB NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	AGE	SEX	DIVISION	CITY	OCCUPATION
2103	FREEMAN	SHAWNDA	30	F	W30-34	AUSTIN	SALES

I should have been more creative with my Occupation but all I could do was think about getting through the signing up process without puking!

I was told that you should wear you last name bib number on the bike and your first name on the run because people will be able to pronounce your first name...well probably not in my case. Oh well...I'll still wear it. I'll g by anything at that moment or scream at you to get it right :)

Packing Transition Bags/Special Needs Bag

2009-06-10T18:07:00.001-07:00

So I made a trip to Walmart! That's right, the circus of all circuses! I was trying to determine what I might/will need for transition, mile 65 on the bike, and mile 15 on the run.

I spent $90 on a bunch of crap that I probably won't use but it makes me feel better about having in my bags.

A picture to show the process....

Since my OCD on organization kicked in, I bought pill boxes, pills for tummy problems and whatever else you can imagine that could or will go wrong with me on that course! Everything is labeled and in bags just screaming pack me and ship me to IRONMAN!

Week 22 of IMCDA Training - TAPER TIME

2009-06-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I would never see the day or week that we would begin our taper for ironman. It finally happened on June 1st and it was awesome mentally and hard physically! My body has been feeling weird and I mean by weird, that there are bricks tied to every limb when I try to run or bike.

Not much to report on a low week of working out. We only had to put in 10 hours of working out and it was great!

Monday: massage
Tuesday: swim
Wednesday: swim
Thursday: spin
Friday: day off
Saturday: 50 mile bike ride
Sunday: 10 mile run

Swim Practice Surprise

2009-06-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

I went to my normal Wednesday swim practice and did my workout and got out. As I'm standing on deck I look over at the "fast as hell" lane and a guy stands up with Olympic rings tattooed on his shoulder...Brendan Hansen(swam on relay with Michael Phelps)was there swimming. All I could do was stare at him when he swam. It was amazing to watch someone like him just glide through the water with such power and ease at the same time.

Week 21 of IMCDA training

2009-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well another week down and only 3 more to go! That's right, 3 weeks and we are crossing that finish line, and I can't wait.

Not much to report other than it was a long week. I came off a hard weekend and my body was telling me rest and I was pushing onward like an insane triathlete does.

I ended up taking all of Tuesday off because I raced on Monday. I went and had dinner with Jane(our very on little mental doctor on the team). I have to say she eased alot of nerves for me.

Wednesday night I did track practice and Gilbert made me do core instead as he said I needed more recovery time. Bernard and I wanted to go have beer but that was shut down by Gilbert. Oh yeah, I swam at lunch...should have rested.

Thursday, Alisa and I did a nice easy ride on S. Mopac and I have to say it was super nice.

Friday was my day off.

Saturday, worst ride of my life. I had race wheels on and was going turtle speed on that bike. My legs were so trashed that no matter how hard I tried, they didn't want to go up another hill or push down another hill. I'm about 2 miles from my car and blow a tire. I fix it and go to put my rear will back on and break my back brakes. So I have to call Collin to come and get me. $100 later, we have new back breaks, new chain, new cassette to tackle those hard hills and a nice tune up for CDA.

Sunday I had to do a 12 mile run with David. David is a fast runner and stayed with me for the first 6 miles and I made him go run is fast pace. I trotted along and met back up and we finished it out. About the last mile or so I pushed him to go on without me and Dionn came to my rescue. She kicked my butt into gear and pushed me to run hard. I was about to puke, but didn't, and finished strong with her!

We had our final IMCDA meeting and man did I about cry. It was tough to watch the video and not cry. Emotions are high right now and nerves are thin for me. I walked away scared and somewhat sure I am going to finish this race. Today, I'M FINISHING IRONMAN!

Week 20 of IMCDA training...

2009-05-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well another week down and only like 3 more weeks to GO!!!! I can't believe it. I can't wait to hear Mike Riley say, "Shawnda Freeman, you are an IRONMAN!" I just want someone to make sure I make it to that finish line. I have to hear that! If not, I'm stuck doing this again and I don't think anyone wants that :)

Well it was a long week and weekend but we all made it through it.

The practice man was awesome! I felt great the whole time and the run was great also! I'm hoping I feel like that at ironman at mile 13!

Details for Week 20:
Monday: swim Spin and massage
Tuesday: Spin
Wednesday: open water swim and run
Thursday: night off
Friday: day off
Saturday: 40 mile ride/13 mile run
Sunday: 20 mile computrainer ride
Monday: CapTex Tri Sprint

CapTex Tri Race Report

2009-05-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

2nd in the Sprint Athena Divison!

Man, did I need this race! I had the best time ever! I raced the Sprint Athena divison and just had a blast with this race. I needed something light and fun before IMCDA rolls around. The morning started off well. I didn't have to get up early...6am is sleeping in these days. I ate some breakfast and called Ali to make sure she was awake. She was and she was off to town lake to do her race also.

Collin and I make our way down there and I get setup. No big deal since the bike was already there. I make my way down to the water and just sit and wait for my group to go off. I hate waiting for anything in life and waiting for a race to start is not much fun either.

Finally, after some chat with a few friends, I'm in the wetsuit and I'm getting ready to go.

I make it down to the dock and see some teammates and get a quick pic with one and we are in the water. Before I know it the gun has sounded and we are off! I'm cruising in the water and loving it. The water was a little cold at first but not to bad.

I make it out of the water after 750meters and I'm headed to the bike. I get the wetsuit off and put on my socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses and I'm off! I'm just hoping to not crash and end my ironman career this late in the game. The first loop went by quickly..6.25miles goes fast. The second loop seemed faster until I get to a harry turn. So jackass decides to cut the corner from the outside inward and rub his back wheel with my front wheel...what the F*&K dude! You can't do that! I'm yelling and trying to stay up right, and then I make it through that and about take out another woman during it! But we all stayed upright and kept going. I wanted to kick that guy.

I get off the bike and make it to my tennis shoes for the run. I told myself only 3 miles and you are not allowed to walk...ok, I walked but for only like a minute or less total! That is great for me! I walk to much during races and beat myself up in the end about it! I was all smiles on the run! It was so much fun!

I crossed that line and felt great! Best race for me since I've started triathlons!

The things I can't wait to to do...well that is after ironman...

2009-05-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

The things I can't wait to do that I've been putting off...

1. Spring clean my house. I need to scrub base boards, dust ceiling fans, maybe do some painting on the walls(alison, you are signed up for painter)

2. Spend some quality time with my dogs. I've only been a part-time mommy to them..poor things...

3. Visit a couple of Texas swimming spots that was featured in Texas Monthly last year.

4. PLAY GOLF! I have never wanted to play a round of 18 so bad in my life.

5. U2 concert in October with David and Kelly and Collin.

6. Maybe a trip to the East coast...NY or Myrtle Beach.

7. Sprint distances only for triathlons maybe and olympic thrown in there and a half-ironman to keep me from being fat.

8. Should be 1. on my list but here it goes SLEEP IN! I can't sleep past 6:30am right now. My weekday's are considered sleeping in...oh how that sucks.

9. Spend time with friends that don't do triathlons(yes, there are those kind of people out there)! Right now if you want to see me you have to come to watch me race or show up at the house by 5pm to eat as I'm starving at that time and leave by 8:30pm as I need to be in bed by 9pm to get up by 5am to ride my bike or run.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there are more things I will add to the list but this is a good start.

Week 19 of IMCDA Training...

2009-05-19T13:05:00.001-07:00

Wow, about a month out and I'm getting excited and nervous. This was our last long weekend of training and I have to say I'm glad it has come and gone. I decided early on in the week to take off Thursday evening and go home and re-do my flower beds...most if not all my poor flower had died. Friday, is always my day off so I went home and napped. It was all I could do to get up and plant a few more things in the flower beds and go to bed.

Saturday morning came early...like 5am early. So I got up and headed to meet the group for a ride I was a little concerned about. No shoulders on this road and I was going to be out in the middle of nowhere. And did I mention...possibly rain starting between 11am-4pm. We get going and I'm feeling good. We make it about 50 miles and the rain is coming down pretty good. We continue on and make it to a major intersection and I decided the roads were unsafe(wheel slide going down a hill)and started to head back to the school with a few others. We made it to Freescale and hooked it to the parking garage and waited on Collin to pick up a few of us. We load up and head back to the school in the pouring rain and unpack and everyone heads home. I went home and slept part of the day and enjoyed it.

Sunday's 5am wake up call was way to early! Collin had to get up to work and well I got up to wake up and head out on a 17 mile run with David. I had planned on running 7 miles before I met him but ended up running like 1 mile. I met David on Town Lake for the fastest 10 miles of my life, probably the slowest 10 miles of his life and knocked it out. It was great...a change of pace and a change of face did me justice! I'm hoping we can continue to run every weekend just so I can have something different to look forward to.

Week 19 Details...
Monday: Spin practice and massage
Tuesday: Spin practice and pt
Wednesday: half of swim at lunch
Thursday: night off
Friday: night off
Saturday: 62 mile ride(was suppose to ride about 120)
Sunday: 17 mile run(made it to 15, my ankle and knee were hurting)

A night off....ahhhhh......

2009-05-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

So after listening to my body and my coaches, I decided to take an extra day off this week. And let me say it was great coming home after work and sitting on my couch. I forgot how great it feels. After 3 season of triathlon training you forget how the small, simple things in life are the greatest. I was able to go outside and play with my dogs and catch up on some reality tv that I've been missing.

I'm looking forward to the weekend and riding with the girls on Parmer. I'm hoping for some nice weather and some good conversation on this ride.

Week 18 of IMCDA Training

2009-05-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Finally a weekend without wind! It's amazing what that can mentally do for someone while they are doing a 90 mile bike ride. All in all it was a great week for working out. No lows, no super high points just a steady pace with awesome weather...ok, well a little on the hot side, but that happens in Central Texas this time of year!

Week 18 details:
Monday: Spin class and massage
Tuesday: Spin class and at least a 3 mile run with linds
Wednesday: Run with Gilbert
Thursday: Cold water swim and pizza
Friday: open water swim with Coach Pain
Saturday: 90 mile bike ride, did most of this on my own. Rode with Travis for a short time, and met some nice man on 360 while some stupid police officer stopped us mid hill to let traffic go by..who does this. Rode with him to Bee Cave(have to say this is the only thing that kept me going and not quiting) finished the rest on my own. Went through over 150 ounces of water that day...can you say hot and humid!
Sunday: 6:30am run with Linds...did 19 of the 20 miles. I have to say that is good considering I'm still have some serious hip flexor issuse but my calf had no pain! But where I cut my feet on the oysters...well they have come open again and have blisters on them..weird.

Nerves are thin and Emotions are high...

2009-05-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

I remember people telling me that I would get this way come the end of April first of May during my Ironman training and well here I am. I think certain things will make me choke someone when on any other day or month...well not so much. At this point I need that extra push in my life but I don't want someone nagging me and pushing when I'm having a tough time or something is going wrong with my body. I feel like there are times when I should being doing things on my own just so I don't snap like a crazy woman at someone. So if I'm sitting in the corner at a practice or have my headphones on or my head in a book, probably should just leave me a lone for a few minutes...I can take care of me.

Now to the crying...I haven't cried yet...wait, I cried at Galveston but that was it. I've wanted to cry but I'm saving it all up for race day when I really feel like crap.

I have to say, I'm ready for this Ironman training season to end. I'm signing up for the Cap Tex Tri just to have one last race before CDA. Plus I'm doing the sprint and I'm going to have fun with it. Why not, I haven't had that much fun in a while so now is the time for it to happen.

Week 17 of IMCDA Training

2009-05-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well another week down in the record books for IMCDA training. I'm so happy to be at this point and can't believe that I can actually sit here and say that my first and well probably last ironman is happening next month! That's right, June 21st will mark the day of the big event. I'm ready to have a normal weekend life back.

This has been a crazy week. I haven't been able to get my lunch time coached swim in since the pool has been down. Hopefully this week, I'll make it to at least one coached swim and a long open water swim. I have at least been keeping up with the long open water swims.

Saturday we had a exciting and bad day. We were all signed up to head to Shiner, TX for the 100th anniversary of Shiner Beer. They have a ride every year to Shiner and I was due for 100 mile ride this weekend so why not do a ride that is supported. We got going at 7am with little to no wind that morning. No big deal. I was hoping it would have stayed that way for a while. Well I had hoped very wrong. I'm thinking the wind picked up at about mile 40 something and just got worse...20-30mph head winds all the way to Shiner and crappy chipped sealed roads. I managed to find a few nice guys to draft off of until I either got tired or they got tired on my on their back wheel. Either way it was nice. I made it to Shiner at about 2:30pm and was so happy to be off that stupid bike. We made 3 stops that day and they were awesome!

Week 17 details:
Monday: indoor spin
Tuesday: pt, core, indoor spin and run
Wednesday: 2 mile swim and run
Thursday: indoor spin
Friday: Day off
Saturday: 100 mile bike ride
Sunday: 5 mile run(suppose to be 9 but had a lot of pain in my knee and didn't want to push it to where it was going to just kill me)

Week 16 of IMCDA Training

2009-04-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well another week down and only several more to go until June 21st. And let me say, I CAN'T WAIT! I'm excited and anxious at the same time(to the point I need a xanax for it). Of course it was a windy week and weekend. Go figure. This has to be the worst year for ironman training. I'm hoping the day of the race there won't be any wind.

Not much to report on this week but a few more injuries that have come up. Seems that my hip flexor/quad, lower back and right calf seem to be all hurting on the same side. After some time in the doctor and in PT I'm hoping to be back on track. Dr. Sellers has suggested lot of strength training between now and CDA. Maybe it is time for some of Coach Chrissie's(Pain's) core classes on Wednesday morning if I can drag my butt out of bed. I can't have this pain come up at mile 17 on the run in Ironman or I will crumble!

Week 16 details:
Monday: 20 mile run that turned into 16 miles with Karen and Lindsey
Tuesday: One lap in Barton Spring(400 meters) followed by a drink at Chuys...i needed a break:)
Wednesday: 2 mile Open Water swim and I felt great
Thursday: spin class and run
Friday: day off
Saturday: 62 mile bike ride, first meltdown of the training...got back to the car and started crying about not making 75 miles. I was having mental blockage with getting through those stupid 16 mile loops, my back was hurting, I had pressure in the female region and did I mention the WIND was blowing again. So I went back to the car, stretched and cried...I felt better :) I didn't want to ruin Karen's ride with my negative self.
Sunday: 17 mile run

Week 15 of IMCDA training...WINDY

2009-04-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm getting really pissed at the weather this year. The weekdays around Central Texas are super nice, probably little to or no wind, sunny, and warm. The weekend comes and we have rain, thunder, lightening, and WIND! We haven't had one weekend this year in 15 weeks that seems worth a damn! Throw me a freakin bone one weekend on some good weather.

This past weekend we were to ride 90 miles on the bike and run 20 miles. Friday I had some thoughts of doing my 20 mile run after work and I decide to head home for a nap, time with the dogs and dinner with the hubby. Saturday came and I was at the trail at 7:15am to get my run on and the it was raining, lightening and thundering. Why risk my life for a 20 mile run, I need to make it to the start line. By about 11am the storms moved on and it was warm, no WIND and sunny! What the heck, I should have went out for my run or bike. Sunday morning I get up and hear the trees already moving. I go outside and what do you know...WIND! I get my gear together and head out to meet the group for the 90 miles we were to do. We have a tail wind on the way out...so nice. We have to turn around at mile 20 and the WIND was brutal. We make it to San Marcos with a tail wind that was oh so nice. Coach Mo made me hop on his back wheel for some drafting action for about 8 miles and I loved every minute of it. Who knew I could keep up or go that fast. Then it feel apart from there. The WIND was coming straight at us and we just had to push onward.

I get about 12 miles or so from the car and I call Collin to tell him to meet me as I'm done. I was at the grocery store so I had to keep pushing. I make it to the meeting spot and no Collin. Ok, so I keep going. He finds me at a corner with a group of the best gal pals and I told him to go home, I would make it to my car and I did.

I just want decent weather for a few weekends. My bike rides suck right now. I feel like I'm on a treadmill going nowhere fast these days.

Week 15 details:
Monday: open water swim and run
Tuesday: pt and biked outdoors
Wednesday: swim and run
Thursday: bike and short run
Friday: day off
Saturday: day off
Sunday: 90 mile bike ride
Monday: 20 mile run

Week 13 and 14 of IMCDA Training

2009-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't do much these two weeks, I figured I should just lump them together and keep them short.

Week 13 details...
Pretty much did the taper that I love to do. Keep it strong at the beginning of the week and let it work its way down from there. I was fresh and ready to go on the morning of Lonestar Half Ironman. But that quickly went to crap...(see race report).

Week 14 details...
Since I cut my feet on some oysters I spent the week cycling and taking it easy. I didn't run once and my feet thank me very much for that. I ended up taking the whole weekend off also. It felt great to do that. I haven't had that since training has started and mentally I needed that more than anything. I slept in, cleaned the house, worked in the yard and spent time with friends and the hubby. IT WAS GREAT!

Here we are on week 15 and I feel refreshed. I'm back at it and feel great about where I'm at with my training. Before I know it, June 21st will be here and be over with.

Hurt Pride

2009-04-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

As I think back about everything and look at what I could have done and what I did, I wish I would have just walked the rest of the race to finish and have my pride. My feet feel better today and it just makes me want to get out there and do it all over again and not let it beat me. What is it with this stupid sport? I have to remind myself that I'm out there training for Ironman and to shake it off.

I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that this is the first time that I have quit something that involved sports. I usually finish it out until the end and say I'm never doing that again. As people crossed the line on Sunday, I sat in medical hoping and wishing and thinking well, maybe I get up and just go finish. I have to...no wait, it hurts to even walk right now and what would that even prove.

I guess I have to make sure next time to stay out of the oyster beds and hope that I have a better bike ride.

Lonestar Triathlon = DNF(did not finish)

2009-04-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

Oh how I was excited to be doing this triathlon. I was ready physically and mentally and wanted to beat my last half ironman time. We arrive on Saturday and had some room complications but soon got our room. Went to packet pick-up and got everything squared away there. We moved into the room and went to dinner shortly after that with Anna. It was nice and low key. We made our way back to the hotel from some college basketball and race day preparation.

I head to bed and take my race day allotted xanax and was out...I woke up at 3:30am and took another to insure more rest and not tummy problems and no nerves on race day morning.

Race morning came and I was out of bed. Tried to fix me some oatmeal and the damn coffee pot for hot water wouldn't work, so Ali helped me out with hers. I got my stuff together and was downstairs at 6:45am.

We get to transition and get setup and I start taking a ton of pics of all the T3ers. Everyone seems in good spirits at this point.

We then all decide to head to the swim start to sit and wait and start putting on the blubber. I get in my wetsuit just fine and go for my practice swim like I always do. I always have to test the water. While in the water, I cut both feet and a finger on some oyster beds. My finger was bleeding and was already throbbing. I find a band-aid from some nice woman and get back in the water to swim my race. I couldn't tell what was happening with my feet as so much sand was on them.

My age group enters the water and there are a few girls that are nervous, some that are saying, I didn't realize it was salt water and some that are just like, lets get this over with. We start and we are all swimming on top of one another. I swam a little off course but that is to be expected. We exit the water and Lindsey is right behind me...so good to see a fellow teammate. We get on the bike and I try and try to gain some speed and my legs just didn't want to turn over. Then the wind was horrible! Head wind all the way out. We make the turn and head back and I'm just not feeling the bike at all. I'm hoping for a tail wind at this point and well that didn't really happen. More of a cross wind and with my race wheel's I was yanked all over the place. I make the final turn back to the start and the head wind is fierce! I was standing still. I just had about 2 miles to go.

Get to transition and get my tennis shoes on and I feel great. My back doesn't hurt, my feet are doing ok at this point and I'm already running! I can't believe it. I've never done that and felt this great. So I make it about a mile and get some water and keep going. I make my first 3.25 mile loop and keep going. I get on my second loop and I'm looking for Medics to help me with my feet. I can't find any and then they find me. They put some glue on them and send me on my way...didn't help. I get going and see Collin and David and just start crying. My feet are killing me so bad from the cuts that I don't know if I can make it. Collin says suck it up and I say F*&% you, you have no clue! Adam from Jack and Adams runs up to me and puts his arm around me and says there is no need to be a hero today, just stop. I keep going and make it to mile 7.5 and find a race official and just take a DNF. David said it was the smartest thing I could do. I didn't need to hurt myself anymore. I make my way to the Med Tent and other T3ers are there. At this point my pride is broken and all I want to do is cry. I've never quit anything I've started.

Logan was there giving his after race pep talk and checking on everyone. Good coach and nice guy. He told me I was smart to quit when I did. So I guess it is confirmed I did the right thing.

I get my feet bandaged up and Collin give me my Crocs and I go get my bike and we load up and head home.

I guess next time I won't do a practice swim and I will only do the aquabike :)

Niki...my OCD dog...

2009-04-01T07:12:00.001-07:00

So for a long time now, we have noticed something "special" with our German Shepherd, Niki. She has a obsession with toys. Mostly balls with sqeakers in them but she always has to have a toy near her or in her mouth. And the OCD part...she will eat her food and have to have the toy in sight. She sometimes drops it in her food bowl and will eat around it or drop it in the other bowl next to her food just so she can keep an eye on it, or make sure Rex doesn't steal it. This morning she just had to get the tennis ball from under the fridge before she could eat. And if she dropped it on the ground and it rolled away from her she would stop and place it within eye sight...and usually this continues until she is just focused on eating or until the ball will just be still. Poor thing..she just can't leave the toys alone.

IMCDA Training Week 12

2009-03-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

So the week got off to a rough start. I wasn't feeling well all week. I felt like I could puke at any moment morning, day or night. I managed to get in my workouts and more and just keep on trucking through all of it.

Then the weekend came and so did the wind. Saturday the wind was horrible. Lindsey(best running buddy)and I changed it up and ran on Saturday and decided to bike on Sunday. Let me just say that biking 100 miles on trashed legs is HARD! We did a pretty tough run on Saturday. Lots of freakin hills. Oh well...good training. We made it back to the rock and literally laid down on a bench and wanted to cry.

Sunday came and I'm so not feeling this ride at all. I have to meet a group of girls at about 8am to get this going. I show up and everyone is there feeling about the same as I was. We get going and manage to make it to mile marker 25 and turn around. Before I know it, we just did 50 miles. Half way home at this point. We take off our winter layer and head back out for another 50 miles. Wasn't to bad heading back out as we had a tail wind. We make the turn and the wind just about blew us over. It was gusting at this point! I keep telling myself only 25 miles to go and you are good to go! Before I knew it, I was back at the car and feeling pretty good leg wise and body wise. I hope it feels this way on race day.

All in all the week was a good week with a really long weekend thrown into the mix.

Week 12 details...
Monday: open water swim and spin
Tuesday: PT(core) run in the hood
Wednesday: swim and run
Thursday: outdoor ride and core
Friday: open water swim
Saturday: 20 mile run
Sunday: 100 mile ride

Why oh why does it have to be windy?!?!?!

2009-03-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

So after hearing the news report on the TV this morning while I was stretching before heading to the doctor, I saw that Saturday the winds are suppose to be a little rough. Something like 18mph+! I'm so sick of the wind, especially when I have to ride and run. I can handle the wind on a shorter bike ride, but not for 100 miles. Come on...call me a wuss or whatever, but I'm going to ride smarter not harder just to beat the wind. So we decided to change the days up once again to accommodate some of us.

I just wish that the weather would make up its mind on what it will be doing. Oh well, I just have to stay in the mental zone this weekend and get through a 20 mile run and a 100 mile bike ride in one piece.

Not feeling so hot...

2009-03-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I wake up this morning and I'm trying to get up and going to get to PT. I'm doing fine and all of a sudden it hits me. I start to get hot and get sick to my stomach thinking it will pass in about 5 minutes like it always does. I got let the dog out and stand outside for some fresh air and start to feel better. I continue about getting ready and sit down to watch a little news before I leave.

I walk out the door not feeling well once again and think, I may not make it very far. I get in my car and hit I-35 and start to feel worse with stop and go traffic. Do I turn around and head home or just try and get to PT this morning...????

I get to PT and told them I wasn't going to be doing this today and laid down for a few and started to feel better. I did my exercises and relaxed and felt better until I got back in my car. I think I had a motion sickness problem.

I just can't shake this feeling. If it doesn't get better, I'm not running or doing anything tonight.

Week 11 of IMCDA Training...

2009-03-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

This was a great week for training. The weather was finally GREAT for once and I felt somewhat good about my training plan and my hours I was putting in. It seems to be all coming together. Monday was kind of a bad day for me. Amy and I went to Barton Springs to get in our open water swim and we did our mile or so swim and get out and she noticed a few ants on my bag. No biggie, I still had my wetsuit on and they wouldn't be getting through that blubber anytime soon. So I get to the shower and shower up and grab my towel and start drying off and man, there were ants all over me...I was being eaten alive! I get them off me and I grab a t-shirt and it has ants all over it. I run out to where Amy is at and borrow her towel to at least dry my hair. I grab my stuff still ant infested and head to the car. I get to the car and they are all in my bag and I still feel like they are crawling all over me. I get back to work and feel like I'm being bit on my side and sure enough, there was one digging into my skin. I had to go home and clean out the entire car and bags to get rid of them.

I decided at the last minute to sign up for the Spokes and Spurs ride on Friday. Saturday was the ride and I was ready for an 80-90 mile ride. Saturday came early. 4:30am I'm up and at it. I had to be at the PTC at 6am to meet Val and Jane. We met up and drove up to Liberty Hill or BFE as I like to call it for this ride. It started out a little on the cool side but was convinced that I would warm up quickly and I did. I didn't get but 13 miles into the ride and had to stop and pee...I think it was from the cold and shivering before I got on my bike. I got back on and just settled into my pace and didn't care about the rest. I knew my nutrition was good so what else did I have to worry about. Karen catches me at about mile 20 and we ride the whole way after that together. It was nice to have her out there pushing me along. We decided not to head back to the ranch and cut the 88 mile ride to 80 miles. We just continued on and did our thing. A few rest stops and some deer and a goose flying with us and we finally made it back to the ranch. We were suppose to do a 50 minute run after that bike ride but my back was hurting and I was hungry. So I bailed on it. I ate my BEEF lunch and left. I was tired and was ready to be back home.

Sunday morning I got up and was not looking forward to a 17 mile run but knew I had Lindsey to keep me going. She is good for that. We meet at our usual spot and there is everyone else not looking so good. Everyone was having some tummy issues from the chicken they ate at the ride on Saturday. Glad I only eat BEEF at this point in my life. We made a few stops and did some walking and made it back to the car at 15 miles. We were trashed and hungry so we headed to P. Terry's for a good burger and some sunshine! I made it home and soaked in an ice bath for 15 minutes and did nothing the rest of the day.

Details for week 11.....
Monday: Open water swim and run
Tuesday: PT(core), indoor spin and short run
Wednesday: swim and run
Thursday: Outside ride
Friday: day off
Saturday: 80 mile ride
Sunday: 17 mile run

Week 10 of IMCDA Training

2009-03-15T15:28:00.001-07:00

So this week was a little off focus for me. My in-laws arrived on Monday at the house for some rest and recovery. I managed to keep working out even though they were hear. By Wednesday, the weather turned nasty. Central Texas got some much needed rain and it was nice. But the downer to it...the COLD! It felt like December this week. We had to break out the long sleeves and coats again.

So with that, I flaked out on Wednesday night run with Gilbert. Thursday I went to spin class and thought well I'll get in a few extra minutes and miles and well I ended up with a flat. Friday, I had the day off from work and well working out also. I took Niki out for a run and it started to rain and that is when she quit on me. Rex's legs are too short to run so we didn't make it very far either. Saturday, I had a pretty decent run and got in my 15 miles all on the road and only about .5 of it them on the trail. Great change of pace. Sunday I rode 32 miles with Alison, Mike, and Eric and went to S. Mopac to finish when I decided, I was trashed. I had a flat on Bee Cave and my legs didn't want to function after that. I came home, did some yard work, and crawled back on the bike and did 10 miles in the "hood" to at least give myself 50 miles for the week. I wanted to put in more hours this week but I was really not in the mood. I did more than plan C called for so I guess that is good! At least good enough for me at this point.

Week 10 details...
Monday: Run practice
Tuesday: PT and spin practice with a brick
Wednesday: too cold to run
Thursday: Spin
Friday: a really short run
Saturday: 15 mile run
Sunday: 50 mile bike ride

Rain Day...

2009-03-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

As much as we need it here in Central Texas, I really don't want it to be rainy and cold. This just puts a damper on Ironman training. It is suppose to rain until Saturday around here. Looks like it will be a lot of indoor training. I hate indoor training and want to be outside a majority of the time when the weather is great. But if it is cold and rainy, count me out. I'm a fair weather kinda of gal.

I'm just getting nervous for a few reasons...Lonestar Half Ironman is about 3 weeks away and why do I feel that I'm not ready for the bike portion? I think it has a lot to do with my new saddle that I've been testing and finally having a few good rides underneath me. I think the next is my lower back. I do feel like I'm on the road to recovery with it but I need to stay focused on it and make sure that I don't have a flare up with it. I want to be able to run a good portion of the 13 miles for this half ironman and hopefully make it in 7 hours this round and not cut it closer to 8 hours like I did on my first one.

And why does this rain just SCREAM don't swim today? I know I need to but man this rain just sucks and I did swim on Monday. Maybe I will skip :)

Week 9 of Ironman Training

2009-03-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

So we another week down for IMCDA! It was a lite week and I sure did need it. My body was tired. But it is always tired. Of course most of the week was very nice and the weekend was windy. I guess it is that time of year for the wind to blow down here. After watching the weather reports and trying to determine what the heck I was going to do...I decided to take it indoors on the computrainer for the bike ride. So that meant I had to do another run on Saturday and bike on Sunday.

I get up on Saturday morning after being able to sleep in! It was so awesome! Put on my running clothes and decide to stay near the house since I was having some tummy issues. I didn't get 4.5miles into it and had to make a mad dash home. I went back out and finished my 5miles and called it good. After that, I still didn't feel right all weekend but I managed.

Sunday rolled around and I'm up and at them come 5:40am. I didn't sleep well the night before and I was just not wanting to go sit on a computrainer for about 3.5 hours. I was at the PTC at 7am to enjoy the no wind on a bike ride. Val and Jess were there to give me some company on this boring ride. I get going and I feel somewhat good. I end up getting off my bike not to far into it because my tummy was hurting. I climb back on and continue to make it to about mile 40 before my legs are just killing me. I haven't felt this pain before on the bike. They just feel achy and my body feels dehydrated. So then it hits me...with all the stomach problems I've had in the last week and a half, I'm about 95% sure I'm dehydrated and that would be why my legs are just feeling like they do.

I call it at at 3.25 hours and get off that stupid thing. Other people were coming in and I didn't want to take their time on the trainer.

I go home and just have the worst cramps in my legs and in the oddest places. So for sure at this point it is dehydration from everything. I pretty much laid on the couch and did nothing for a few hours.

Week 9 Details:
Monday: Swam, ran and did core
Tuesday: spin class and pt(core)
Wednesday: went home and ran and only made it 2.5 miles and called it a night
Thursday: spin class, pt(core), did a short run
Friday: Day off
Saturday: 10 mile run
Sunday: 3.25 computrainer ride

Week 8 of Ironman Training

2009-03-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ugh...is all I can think and say right now. The wind this weekend was HORRIBLE! The coaches decided to change the weekend and flip-flop the bike and run days. So we ran on Saturday and biked on Sunday in hopes that our bike ride wouldn't be windy...boy were we all wrong and highly disappointed. The weekdays around here are super nice. We hit almost 90 a few days this week. And the weekends come and they just SUCK! I know, I probably sound bitter but dang, this is pushy me closer to my first mental breakdown of the season...and I prefer that the weather wasn't the contributing factor.

So Saturday we had gusts of wind between 40-50 mph! And I was out running in it?!?! Something was seriously wrong with me. I made it 17 miles and Lindsey and I called it good. Between the wind and the guy asking Lindsey to give her a massage on the trail, I think we had a decent run. I felt decent and managed to pickup my speed at the end! I think I could be on my way to be a little strong!

Sunday morning rolled around. I saw on the news it was going to be like 30 degrees in the morning but I thought, well hell, it will warm up quickly and the wind is suppose to be gone, so it can't be that bad. Boy was I wrong. I was suppose to be on my bike by 7:15am leaving Cool River, but sleep and cold pushed it to 7:30am. I got about 5 miles into it and called Alison who was meeting me later for 40 miles and said, I'm turning around, it is to FREAKIN cold out here and the head wind of 15mph is just making me mad. So I went home and laid on the couch and tried to warm up and decided, well I'm not getting any younger and neither is the day so I have to get out there and get this finished. I did some S. Mopac Loops and met up with Alison for a hilly Bee Cave ride. Amy showed up and we forced her to just get out there and ride with us. Thank goodness they were out there for the last 44 miles as I would have called it a day at about mile 40.

Monday: Swam and did spin class

Tuesday: PT and took the night off!

Wednesday: coldest open water swim ever and run class

Thursdays: PT, Yoga, took my ride outside, and a run

Friday: night off

Saturday: 17 miles of wind and whining

Sunday: 70 miles of cold, wind and what turned out to be a nice day

Quarry Lake...BURRR!!!!!

2009-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

So a few of us T3ers decided that since Barton Springs was closed that we would all head to Quarry Lake and do our open water swim for the week. I was all for it. I was thinking how bad could this be. I forgot to remind myself that I hate ice baths and don't do them because it so cold.

So we get to the dock and get our wetsuits on. I swear, I've only wore the wetsuit twice and I have another tear in it! What the heck! It is new. So I put on my neoprene cap and just jump in. I come up screaming like a freak show thinking I can't do this. I do some doggie paddling and some breast stroking in the water and try to get use to it.

At this point, I still have yet to put my face down. I finally go for it and I swear by face hurt so bad. I come up fighting and cussing. I put it down again and just fight through it. I make it about 200 meters or so before I feel like it is not that bad now.

I make it back to the dock after 750 meters. Alisa and I decide to do another loop. I get going and get to the clear back side of the loop and start to get dizzy. What the heck is going on. I can't get my bearings and I've lost sight of the buoys and the dock. I just start swimming and figure it out and make my way around to the dock again. More people went for a third loop but I think I was good with 2. I did some 100 meter swims and called it good when the group arrived.

My conclusion: I need more of the cold water so I don't freak out at CDA.

I'm exhausted!

2009-02-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

As I get closer to my "peek" weeks in training the more tired I am. I'm considering taking today off just so I can let my body rest before another long weekend of training. Coach Pain seems to think that I should do this on my longest weeks so I'm going to try it out and see how I feel. I always take Friday's off to begin with but she suggested another day during the week for me.

This training is a part-time job. I have no time for anything but eating, sleeping and training. And it probably doesn't help that I'm waking up about 5 times a night right now. So maybe I up the sleep aids and hope to stay asleep all night to let my poor body rest!

Flight is booked for IMCDA!

2009-02-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

I've got the flights booked to IMCDA, FINALLY! I've been holding out in hopes that I would find something cheap for us that wouldn't break the freakin bank. At one point only a few weeks ago, Frontier had the exact same tickets for $1200! I just bought them for $240, a lot cheaper! And we are staying with friends during this adventure, so that makes it even better for us! Who said Ironman had to be expensive!

Week 7 of Ironman Training

2009-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Finally we are done with week 7! It was a tough week for me. I was tired, I think I forgot my towel and socks on Monday. Friday, I forgot my laptop at home and Collin had to bring it to me and God knows what else happened. I think I forgot to pack my lunch one day! Not a good week.

And the weekend was even worse! We are having the best week day weather and the weekends are TERRIBLE! Saturday we were to do 70 miles out east and north of town. The ride is a really nice ride when the wind isn't blowing and it isn't raining. And what do you know, it rained, it was cold, and the wind blew its butt off! This makes for a very unhappy triathlete!

Monday: spin
Tuesday: Physical Therapy(core), run class, and open water swim after run
Wednesday: Run class
Thursday: Physical Therapy(core), spin class and swim
Friday: day off
Saturday: 70 mile bike ride that was cut off at 43 miles. We were suppose to do a 40 minute brick and well that just didn't happen.
Sunday: 15 mile run and I didn't have a break down and I did over half of it on my own! I may just enjoy running even more and more some days!

Week 6 of Ironman Training

2009-02-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

Well I've been lazy and forgetful about updating my week to week updates I like to do on my blog. But I'm going to try and get an update on Week 6 in here just so it can go down in the record books.

This is the first week I started my open water swims. I have to say I don't like doing them but oh well, it is a part of the program.

Monday: open water swim and Spin class
Tuesday: started physical Therapy and run class
Wednesday: pool swim and run
Thursday: Physical Therapy(core) and spin class
Friday: day off
Saturday: 60 mile hilly bike ride
Sunday: 13 mile run

Week 5 of IMCDA Training

2009-02-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

So here we are with a new month and another week down in the books for IMCDA training. It wasn't a bad week except I seemed to be super exhausted and my back killed me every day of the week!

Monday: Spin
Tuesday: Run and Core
Wednesday: Swim, Run and Core
Thursday: Spin
Friday: Day off
Saturday: 40 mile (windy as hell) bike ride
Sunday: 10 mile run that finally felt great!

Week 4 of IMCDA Training

2009-02-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I've completed my first month of Ironman training...and let me say, by far, this was the hardest weekend, mentally and physically for me. BACK PROBLEMS would make for the hard weekend.

Monday: swim and run and core
Tuesday: spin and core
Wednesday: yoga and run
Thursday: spin
Friday: day off
Saturday: 50 mile bike ride/30 minute brick
Sunday: 14 mile run...should have been 15 miles but who is counting.

I almost had my first meltdown of the season...can't do that, it is too freakin early. I have to save it all up for Galveston and CDA.

Flights for IMCDA

2009-01-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

So I've been searching since about September or so for flights trying to get the best deal in hopes that gas prices would lower and so would flight prices. Well they did but now every freakin website that you can possibly find a flight on with a $350 or less flight round trip seems to be sold out! WHAT!?!?! Update your website and pull that fare off there. Come ON!

At this point, we are looking at spending over a $1,000 to get to Spokane! This isn't a holiday people! It shouldn't cost this much.

And I'm picky about my flight times...I like to be there around lunch time on my arrival and when I depart, I don't want to have to get up as the ass crack of dawn but I guess if I have to then great! I just want to be home by dinner!

I need a frequent flyer card or something...these prices are going to break the bank!

Week 3 of IMCDA Training

2009-01-26T08:35:00.001-08:00

This week was a crazy week for IMCDA training. It wasn't what I had planned but I guess you have to roll with the punches.

Monday: Yoga and Spin
Tuesday: Ran 6 miles with the Gazelles
Wednesday: Had my toe cut on...see previous blog post
Thursday: Spin
Friday: 60 Mile Ride with the gals
Saturday: toe hurt to bad
Sunday: toe hurt to bad to put shoe on

I need to step it up for week 4!

A big fat PAIN in my TOE!

2009-01-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

So on Monday I felt like I was getting another ingrown toenail again. And if you know me I get them all the time and manage my own operation and take care of it and I'm on my way. Well this time, I tried, thought got ride of it and well I didn't. This morning I woke up and it hurt like hell. I touched it puss came out of it...GROSS! So I called the doctor and they got me in this morning. I called Ali for some hand holding and moral support. She came up there pretty much to bitch slap me if I started to cry.

We get back there and the thought of a needle be stuck in me just scares the shit out of me. I don't know why but it does. The shot didn't hurt, the freakin cold liquid they put on there so they can stick my foot hurt worse! But it does seem like it would be great to soak some muscles in after a long run....hummm...I wonder.... After that was over I was fine and could watch any procedure being done on me. Hell I wanted to do it myself at this point, but he is the doctor, so I guess he should do it.

It is hurting now but hopefully I can put on a pair of cycling shoes come Friday! I have 60 miles to ride!

Lonestar Triathlon...I'm signed up for another Half Ironman

2009-01-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I sat down and signed up for the Half Ironman this year for Lonstar in Galveston. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I want to go out and not let this half beat me up. Conroe was rough on me and I just can't let something do that to me. So I have a better since of what to expect during this long day. Thank God!

And since I have had a hotel room reserved since November...Thanks Alison!...I guess I thought I had better get my butt in gear and just get signed up and deal with it. It is mid point for the IMCDA training. So this will really tell me if I can hack it or not. I think I can and will!

Week 2 of IMCDA Training

2009-01-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

Since I posted for week one, I guess I feel like I should do it for every week. Not only do I think that this will be a motivating thing for me but it will also help me keep track of things on a weekly basis.

So this week was an odd week. Things at work were super busy with quarterly sales kick-off meetings and tons of people in and out of the office.

Monday: Swam at lunch
Monday Night: Spin Class
Tuesday: Run with Gilbert
Wednesday: Did nothing but eat all day
Thursday: Spin Class
Friday: I should run, ok, I will do a few miles
Saturday: 50 Mile bike ride
Sunday: 11 mile run

Looks like I need to start my yoga and make it to my Wednesday night run class! Thank goodness sales kick offs are only once a quarter!

Week 1 of IMCDA Training

2009-01-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

Monday kicked off the first of many workouts for IMCDA training. I have to say, getting back into working out again is going to be exhausting, but it is so worth it. I've been such a slug for the last two months.

So, for the first week here is the training log...

Monday - Tempo Spin Class
Tuesday - Spin Class and core
Wednesday - lunch swim and run with Gilbert and core
Thursday - Spin and core
Friday - day off from training
Saturday - 40 mile ride with group
Sunday - 9 mile run with group

All in all, it wasn't to bad of a week. Swimming was so hard...my foot has been hurting me...and well I'm just sore and tired.

Preparing for the next 6 months of my life

2008-12-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

There have been a few of us gal pals that have traded our workout schedule for what we think will get us through the next 6 months of our life...freaks me out just thinking about it. I feel mentally ready to start a new chapter in my life and by that I mean, tackling an IRONMAN!

Over the next six months, I will do a lot of swimming, biking and running in hopes to cross that line and be able to hear my name called out and that announcer tell me, "Shawnda Freeman you are an Ironman!"

Sunday it will be laid out in front of me...that is everything I'm going to have to do to get to the start line to make it to the finish line.

I hope I can stay sane through this whole process, get plenty of rest and be able to spend some time with my hubby in the process.

What have I got myself into?!?!?