Get your tissues

I recently watched Mine, a documentary on the animal rescue that occurred after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The movie followed several hurricane survivors as they tried to reunite with their lost pets after the devastation. While I cried pretty much throughout the entire movie, I found the first 20 minutes particularly hard to watch. It detailed the actual animal rescues that took place and the difficulties the rescue groups encountered due to lack of help, lack of funds, lack of space, and too many abandoned animals.


This is a short clip from the movie that I found on YouTube:







American Lab Rescue is only one group out of hundreds in the United States trying to help with the placement of abandoned and homeless pets. I really have no idea if they played a role in the aftermath of Katrina, but I do know that they face the same challenges. If you would like to donate please click on the ChipIn link to the right.

New Orleans: Working my brachioradialis

I have spent the last 6 days in New Orleans for the National Athletic Training convention. New Orleans is quite the town. Unfortunately I spent most of the time training my brachioradialis (bad PT joke) as opposed to sticking with the scheduled training plan. Althougth I must say that walking the French Quarter in flip flops is an excellent calf work out.

Kevin and I headed down last week and stayed in the heart of the French Quarter. We ate our way through the city - beignets at Cafe du Monde, fancy schmancy meal at Emeril Lagasse's NOLA, handgrenades and mudslides on Bourbon Street, and the best southern brunch at The Court of Two Sisters while serenaded by a jazz trio.

We were complete tourists - bought some local street art, took pictures on almost every street corner (that would be my doing), were in shock and awe of Bourbon Street and the open container policy, and of course, knocked 3 times on the tomb of Marie Laveau (Voodoo high priestest).

My training schedule sat in my carry-on bag the entire trip (bad Ironman-in-training). I feel like it was/is glaring at me as if to say, "glad you enjoyed your trip but now I'm going to kick your ass." Sigh.

Best part of going away.... returning home to the dog!

Day 2 of training - check.

It's amazing, I have actually stuck with the training for 2 days. (Too bad I can't say the same for the 5 half-read books sitting around the house.) The smell of chlorine is slowly seeping back into my skin.

Adorable pics as promised:

It's tiring being this cute.

Look at the size of this hole I put in your yard! I can stick my head in it.

Hug it out.

Put your paws up, baby!

I would just like to thank Lady Gaga for creating the tag line for the official start of my Ironman Arizona 2011 training. Today marks 24 weeks until the big showdown - me vs. 140.6 miles. Who's excited? This girl, that's who. I was definitely not born this way, BUT I was born 31 years ago tomorrow. Oh you forgot? That's OK. You can make it up to me with a donation to American Lab Rescue (see ChipIn link to right, check them out at www.americanlabrescue.com).


Let me re-cap my last few blog posts:

1) I have gone insane and registered for Ironman Arizona

2) I will be covering 140.6 miles (swim 2.4 mi, bike 112 mi, run 26.2 mi) in under 17 hours under my own pure will on November 20, 2011

3) I am raising money for American Lab Rescue which is the dog rescue group from whom we adopted Ellie, the greatest dog in the whole world (see adorable pic in previous post).

4) I would appreciate your support (monetary, emotional, training partners, medical, etc.)


So in honor of Ellie and American Lab Rescue I would like you to put your paws up and get them waving as I start this crazy journey now and cross that damn finish line in November.

One more thing.... I would love it if you sign up to follow my blog posts. Right now I feel like I am talking to a blank wall. Thanks!

Making the commitment

So I had all of these great intentions about staying current with these posts. As you can see from the last post date the goal was not achieved. However today I finally made a big decision and set a bigger and better goal. Over the past few months I have known that I want to use this Ironman race as a way to raise money for a good cause. But there are lots of good causes and it was pretty hard to finally choose one that I was passionate about. After thinking about it long and hard I made the commitment to American Lab Rescue (ALR) to raise $500 (hopefully more) during this journey. ALR is a non-profit, volunteer-based animal rescue group who gave us Ellie. Simply put - I love this dog! C'mon, just look at her! Yeah sure her whining gets annoying at times (as do her 4:30 AM bathroom breaks), but I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. She has brought so much love and happiness into our lives and I just wanted to thank ALR in some way. Of course I would love to adopt a second dog but Kevin just might kill me :o) The second best thing I can think to do is help them raise money for all of the dogs they save and care for. On November 20, 2011 I will be traveling 140.6 miles, but these dogs and volunteers travel much further than that on a regular basis to find the perfect home. If you would like to help me support American Lab Rescue please click on the ChipIn icon to donate or visit my fundraising page at www.efundraisingonline.com/AmericanLabRescue/JenMorin (proceeds from online purchases are given to the non-profit).
If you want to know more about ALR, you can check out their website at http://www.americanlabrescue.com/.

When the going gets tough...

It took me 20 minutes and several moments of technical difficulties but I managed to get myself registered for Ironman Arizona 2011. I had rearranged my schedule that day at work so I could be sitting at my computer, ready to log in at precisely 2 PM EST to sign my life away and dedicate the next year to swim/bike/run. As I filled out the entry form my palms were sweating and my fingers were shaking. Was I really going to sign up for this insane event? You bet I was. I was one of the "lucky" ones to get in. Rumor has it the race sold out in 35 minutes (or so I read).

The form asked the typical questions - birth date, address, credit card info, health insurance info. Uh, what? Are they assuming I will need medical attention at some point that day? They have some wise people at the World Triathlon Corporation. I intend on having at least 1 IV that night. Next question on the form, "What are your athletic accomplishments?" Well I am certainly no pro athlete. I doubt they want to hear about how I rocked the 50 yard butterfly when I was 10 years old. I think they need to get back to me next year when I can tell them that I am an Ironman.

What brought me to the day when I would rearrange my work schedule, shell out $550+, and travel across the country just so I can torture myself for 17 hours straight (and, yes, I intend to use all 17 hours)? To be honest, I'm not really sure. Endurance events are not a family pastime. I was a sprinter on my high school and college swim teams. I even have one of those bumper stickers that says, "When the going gets tough the sprinters get out." I use to read that sticker and think, "You know, it is so true." I use to be grateful for the practices where sprinters were done 20 minutes before everyone else because we had completed our yardage in practice. It is strange, but now I look back and wonder what would have happened if I had stayed those 20 extra minutes, done those few extra laps, or (heaven forbid) swim a distance workout. Ironman might be my big metaphor for life. I don't want to quit when the going gets tough. I want to tough it out, endure the emotional rollercoaster, and hopefully, in the end, come out a stronger and more determined person who knows she is able to stare a challenge in the face and not let it beat her. So this year when the going gets tough, which there is no doubt in my mind that it will, I intend to stick it out until the bitter end. Just have medical personnel on stand-by, just in case.