Mad Manatees 2015.3 CLOSED (or Poptarts? Pet pics?) (Page 63)

Good day all. I hope the middle of the week isn't treating you too badly.  Lots of good stuff in here.

Robin - It's good to see you among the living, I hope you are recovering nicely.  BTW, I have to agree with Janyne, you are a fast fish!  Great job, did you end up 12th out of the water in your division?

Erin - How cool to have found an outlet to enjoy yourself on horseback again.  I know that it is one of TW's happy places, and it is really cool to see you enjoying it as well.

Janyne - New avi looks good. It looks as if your trip to the left coast went very well!..

Steve - Those are some great views!  It's good to see you getting out and running after the scare with your son.

TJ - I'm fairly certain I'll never see that kind of terrain in person, so keep the pics coming! Enjoy your time at the Vuelta 

Adrienne - It is really cool to see yours as well, even cooler that you are finding that happiest of happy places.

Mary - I'm sure you had a great time in Boulder this weekend.  It is pretty neat to be able to see those kinds of races, and especially cool of you to support so many folks.

Sean - Great job this weekend. AG win is quite the accomplishment!  Way to work.

Kirsten - How good did it feel to get off the bike after 6 hours knowing that it was a good ride.  How did your back react to the position?

Yanti - Keep us updated on Oscar, it looks like he is full of potential.  Hopefully the life challenges he is up against can be worked through.  I'm sure your support is helping him indeed. 

I have been testing saddles on the road bike after switching my ISM back and forth between bikes for about a month. I'm on saddle 2, a Specialized Power. I tried the Romin and it just wasn't quite right. I may end up with it, but I have one more to test (the Toupe) after this. The folks at Real Bikes Englewood have been really cool with me testing out a variety of them.

Enjoy the rest of the week!!

Lots of good manatee happenings lately!  BIG congrats to Robin, Salty, Sean, Steve, and Tom on good races this past weekend, congrats to TJ on surviving some of those trails, yikes!  Great pics, Steve, Salty and TJ.  I love seeing such beautiful areas.

Hey, just saw this. Thanks for posting!

Yeah, I am confident that I made the right choice. We've certainly all made mistakes. This program really does seem to make a difference. And it's not exactly like they are getting off the hook. It's a big commitment. 

I just wanted to share some shoe stuff with you all.

My Brooks Cascadias failed. The seam in the toebox where it meets the sole in the forefoot ripped on both shoes. Because it was both shoes I knew it was a product issue and not just simply wear and tear from terrain. I wrote Brooks and had the newest version in my possession within 2 days. I also received a follow-up, asking what they could do better and if I was willing to share photos etc. So, long story short yet another good experience with Brooks. 

Second, I ordered some other trail shoes (Salomon) from Zozi. My package was stolen off of our doorstep. I started a claim with fedex and contacted Zozi to let them know I had made a claim with fedex and to see if I could just order the same pair and have it shipped elsewhere. They replaced my order, free of charge. This was clearly not their fault. 

So, two stores of amazing customer service. Sometimes it is hard to be a consumer but customer service like this makes me feel confident in my purchases. Just thought I would share

Allright, Salty has me hooked on this trail running thing. I need to hone my MTB skillz so I can do xterras.

 I found this that looks absolutely amazing!

Kudos to both companies. I like dealing with companies that have more of a human face to them. Another reason to love my Brooks.

trail races are the best!  that looks like a fun series.

Glad you are enjoying it! Yeah, I am totally hooked too.

Although a lot of my big aspirations are leaning away from racing and more about exploration.

I do have a running list of events for next year though but I am going to have to be really careful not to sign up for too many so that I have time free to see some stuff!

I am loving challenging myself and seeing some amazing scenery. Talking with the ultra trail runner dude on friday gave me some great insight. I asked him if he'd done the Badwater. He said he hadn't because its on a road. That got me thinking about the fact that off-road has plenty of options as well.

Funny you mention that, I am scheming an ascent of something nearby the Badwater course, and much more interesting

Mid-day surprise!  Three of the therapy dogs (and their handlers) that frequent the hospital stopped over in my building to add awareness of the service and to allow people to meet them.  I got to meet Sophie, a mini schnauzer, Fiona, a collie, and KC, a brittany spaniel.  My right hand now smells like dogs .  Sophie was in a child's stroller and dressed in a doggie sundress, sunglasses and a hat.  Her owner said she has to put clothes on her to bring her to the hospital so she know's she's working, otherwise she thinks it's play time.  Fiona is 12, so she was very mellow and just laid by her master's feet.  KC did a few tricks for treats, he took them so gently from me.  Sweet dogs!  In my next life I'd love to do pet therapy work.

That's so awesome! I especially love the sound of Sophie in a sundress.

Another quiet day in the Pod!!  What's up with that?

I wasn't going to write a RR for my race, but changed my mind; so here it is!

Sleeeepy.  And lots of work.  Just been stalking lately.

Quick recap of my XC race yesterday:  91* when the race started. Started out great (8:59, 9:27--good times for me in any circumstance) on the easy mostly downhill dirt road, blew up at mi. 2.25 when I hit the uphill grassy single track, walked a bunch, ran at the end and nearly threw up. 3rd woman out of 5, got bling and a bag of gourmet dog treats. I only got 3rd because other faster racers didn't show up.  4th and 5th place women finished 20 min. behind me; one was diabetic and blood sugar issues and they mostly walked. Not my best race to say the least, but it was a beautiful venue in the foothills above a reservoir and a very interesting course with a variety of surfaces.

Still catching up at work

Podium is podium, you can't control who shows up; so YAY!!

Originally posted by mtnbikerchk

Originally posted by laffinrock

Originally posted by amd723

Another quiet day in the Pod!!  What's up with that?

I wasn't going to write a RR for my race, but changed my mind; so here it is!

 

Sleeeepy.  And lots of work.  Just been stalking lately.

Quick recap of my XC race yesterday:  91* when the race started. Started out great (8:59, 9:27--good times for me in any circumstance) on the easy mostly downhill dirt road, blew up at mi. 2.25 when I hit the uphill grassy single track, walked a bunch, ran at the end and nearly threw up. 3rd woman out of 5, got bling and a bag of gourmet dog treats. I only got 3rd because other faster racers didn't show up.  4th and 5th place women finished 20 min. behind me; one was diabetic and blood sugar issues and they mostly walked. Not my best race to say the least, but it was a beautiful venue in the foothills above a reservoir and a very interesting course with a variety of surfaces.

Hey you can't control who shows up! You got 3rd!!! WOOT! well, condo is paid for, Verizon international plan has started, credit card company has been notified we will be in Canada, Yakima box for car ordered (don't ask)......I guess all that's left to do is pack - and clean my house so my mom can come over and feed the cats

I guess there's no backing out now

Mary - dogs treats and 3rd OA woman?!  Pure win right there!  Glad to hear your hip and knee held out.

Randee - It's so exciting that your big day is so close!  Watch out, Canada, here she comes!

Great job! Hey, the only reason anyone ever places well in a race is because someone faster didn't show up. 

Gourmet dog treats, eh? 

I'm skeered.  

Good job Mary!!  Congrats!

Made with human-grade ingredients.  The dog was thrilled! 

I just looked at the series results and discovered that I'm 2nd woman and far enough ahead in points that I won't get bumped out of that spot!!!!!  It pays to show up for all the races, even if I don't always have stellar times.

That's awesome!  Consistency does it every time!