My dogs entertain me regularly

This has nothing to do with triathlon except that all the dirty clothes in the background are probably workout clothes. Question mark? I was in the process of doing laundry so the bedroom is a mess as I sorted the clothes. Despite that, I thought this was funny enough to post. Might want to turn down your volume a bit. Hee hee. Also sorry about the shaking. I was laughing pretty hard when I was video taping them.



They were conversing about a bone that Kona had and Brick thought he needed.

Earth Week

A few minor things of note:

I commuted to work on my bike this week 4/5 days! Yay. I also talked a co-worker into riding this morning. I met her near our houses and then we rode together. It was really cool to be the catalyst for even a small positive change and to see her enjoy it. Hopefully she'll do it at least a few more times.

Also, it was the first Taco Ride of the year for Mr KT, Blink, and I. It was actually Mr KT's first taco ride ever! I think he had a pretty good time. He said he really kind of liked riding home in the dark. That is pretty cool. It was perfect weather. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. Blink's bike stole the show with several new adaptations for 2009. He rigged up a cooler on the back that he can get into while he is riding as well as speakers mounted securely in the bottle cages and a bottle cage on either his handle bars or stem that seems to be the perfect size and location for a can of beer. Works perfectly. He had the tunes going and it really was good. If someone asks really, really nicely maybe Oly will post a quick picture of it on his blog. I was even pulling into my garage at about 10:00 pm. I don't do well much later than that. In addition, I learned that there should definitely be a 2 Taco Rule on the this ride. I should explain that 6 tacos and a pitcher of beer is $12 or 6 tacos and a pitcher of margaritas for about $16. Usually you split a plate of tacos with someone. I need to keep in mind that when divided up it should be 4 for you, 2 for me. :) I wasn't sick or anything, just really would have been better with two. You get it.

Lastly, I was reading on the Lincoln Marathon website or in an email that they are going to have shoe recycling at the expo. I don't usually go to Lincoln the day before. I usually just drive in the morning of the race. I am not sure if I will go the night before or not but I got out all my Asics just to see if I had any I could take. I lined them up from newest to oldest. It's funny. I have a hard time getting rid of running shoes. Sort of because I think of how good they were to my feet. Sort of because they were so much money in the first place. Sort of because I think I could use them for something else, like garden shoes, or lifting shoes, or work shoes, or something. Anywo, I will be parting with several pairs next weekend. Especially that sucky pair 4th from the left. Those suckers are the new Asics Gel Kayano and they made me bleed every time I wore them. Asics apparently redesigned them so they would have a more "anatomical lacing pattern". They sucked bad. The next two pairs were the previous year's Kayano and they are about a million times better. Gotta love www.onlineshoes.com.

Lastly, a couple pictures of the babies.


Koni was a bit tired as I was headed to work but she really wanted to say goodbye to me.


Brick had his first swim of the year on Thursday after his walk.


Mr KT and the babies getting ready to ride.

Puddle Jumping

So last week was just not that awesome. Between a funeral for a patient and other stuff I was just not myself. However, I managed to snap out of that this weekend. I had a really nice run with Mr KT, Brick and Kona on Friday after work. A 6.2 mile evening run in shorts with the family. Then Saturday, we ran with some friends. It rained for most of the morning and I was kinda hoping it would still be raining when we headed out for our run. Alas, no luck. No rain... but LOTS of puddles. We started out and did about 3/4 of a mile on the pavement and then jumped off to go off road. Looking to get wet and dirty in a hurry! First we ran thru the tall grass (glad it isn't tick season quite yet). Then we ended up in the swamp. Tall grass with ankle deep standing water. No worries, just wet shoes and paws, no alligators or snakes that we could see. Next we ran through a muddy, forested area with a couple little creek crossings. One of the water crossings had some logs to walk on but when you have 30 lbs of raw energy and excitement on the end of a leash that you can't let go of for fear the little dog will be gone, you tend to come off the log rather quickly and end up with a shoe full of mud. No worries, what's a little/lot of mud. :) After that, we ended up back on the paved trail for the last 6 miles or so. I have to say that I stomped, and I mean stomped in every.single.puddle. There were even one or two puddles that I straight up jumped in, with two feet, and accentuated knee and hip flexion. My tank top was soaked, my shorts were soaked, my socks and shoes were more than soaked but somehow, my dog stayed relatively dry. She tended to tip toe around them.


Sunday morning Koni and I did another run, about 10 miles. It was a very quiet, cool, cloudy morning. Got the run in and headed to Lincoln for a girlie afternoon with my momma. Read: pedicures! So currently, my feet are tired but pretty. Toes are looking fancy with polish and little designs. Hard to believe I know but you'll just have to trust me. That or my mom will vouch for me!

Reasons to Bike Commute

I got this in an email from one of the local bike shops. Thought it was good enough to share! Hope they don't mind.


3 Reasons to Ride for Life: For your Health, for the World, For our Future.

Your Health

* The average person loses 13 lbs. their first year of commuting by bike.
* Just 3 hours of bicycling per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
* A 140-pound cyclist burns 508 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour.

Our World

* The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gasoline a year by increasing cycling from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.
* Each U.S. rush-hour auto commuter spends an average of 50 hours a year stuck in traffic.
* In 2003, cars idling in traffic wasted 5 billion gallons of fuel.

Our Future

* In 1964 50% of kids rode to school and the obesity rate was 12%...
* in 2004, 3% rode to school and the obesity rate was 45%.
* Between 1960 and today the average weight of a 6-11 year old has increased 11pounds

Take the Challenge and Get Involved today: 1 World 2 Wheels

Don't forget to have fun while your at it!,

Kris and Julie Sonderup and the Cycle Works Staff

My First Swim Meet

Hee hee, that sounds like the title to a children's book.

Thursday at Master's practice the coach talked me into signing up for a swim meet that our team was hosting. She swore there was hardly anyone signed up. I caved. I was going to run the 12K trail race that was held in a state park close to home but what the heck. The only swimming events I've ever competed in have involved a diving board or been followed by a bike and a run. So I filled out the paperwork and paid my $15. I entered 4 events. I should have done some distance but I was too nervous. Maybe next time I will look into the 500 or 1000 yd free. Anywho, I got up early, got to the pool and took my time with my warm ups. I wasn't racing for quite a while so I had plenty of time. I did about a 10-15 minute warm up and then wrapped up in my towel and put my sweats on to watch. My first event was the 4x50 free relay. I was going to go first because I was following that back to back with the 100 IM. There were only 2 teams entered in the 4x50 and we definitely got 2nd. :) No idea how fast I swam that.
I won the women's 100 IM (there were only 2 swimmers) with a 1:23:_ _. I will have to check the official times at practice on Tuesday. My next event was the 50 breast. I swam that alone. My time was 40:23 seconds. Not bad! The last event was the 4x100 free relay. I also started that one off. Our team kinda fell apart. I swam a 1:10_ _, the second guy did pretty well also but then swimmer #3 jumped in on top of swimmer #2. Yes, this would be the 100 yd, not the 50 yd. LOL! Oops. We were DQed on that one but got a time anyway. 2nd of 2.

Overall, it really was pretty fun. I think I have said this before but I have kind of begun to realize that the things that I am the most scared off turn out to be really awesome. This was another one of those times. Another really good thing about the meet was that it motivated me to get back in the water. I have been swimming about twice a week but my heart just hasn't been in it. Maybe this was the kick in the pants that I needed.