Catching My Breathe!

It was a busy week!  I feel like I’m just starting to recover from this last weekend.  I’m finally almost back to normal; if ever I would consider myself as such.  Last Friday,  I forgot to do my weekly check in and I also didn’t do my month end report as I was driving on my way to Lewiston, UT to set up my art booth.

 Last weekend (Friday night and Saturday day) I had a booth full of my artwork and various other items featuring my art up in Lewiston Fairgrounds in the Little Red Riding Hood Expo while the wonderful all female Little Red ride took place on Saturday.  When it came time for me to head out on the bike, I started feeling a bit under the weather.  I never did venture with my bike on to the scenic route.  That was a bit disappointing.  I think it was all of the stress of setting up and manning my booth.  It was the first time I had ever done anything like that and I felt like I was a chicken running around with my head cut off.  I will admit that it was FUN and I did manage to sale some of my art which was also fun too!

Friday night ended up being pretty busy in my booth after the costume contest which I entered.  They had all the costumed individuals get up on stage and dance.  How do hippies dance?  I didn’t know so I went up there and just wiggled around.  I imagine I looked quite foolish but isn’t that the name of the game with any costume contest.  It was fun but there were costumes a great deal better than mine that came up on stage.  I was the second one out of almost 20 on the stage.  But here’s me doing my wiggling thing…

Photo of myself "Wiggling" on Stage.

I do however have the stats for last month….

428 Miles Cycling

16.75 Miles Running

1 hour 25 minutes on Elliptical Machine

3 Pilates Classes

And

I’m up to 24 books read for the year.

Cinco de Mayo, Merchandise & Checking in

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  
Yep, that’s tomorrow.  I had a co-worker wish it to me as she was leaving the office.  She asked if I had any plans and I said,” Yeah!  Hopefully not slaughtering the Spanish language!”  I’m still struggling with the speaking part of Spanish.  I keep on trying to break that habit of using the French vowels.  Last Saturday afternoon, shortly after running with the bulls (see prior blog entry) I took an hour and half and just practiced speaking.  I got these two different CD with books from the library and went over the first few lessons repeating over and over and over again the words out loud till I actually kind of sounded like the voice speaking the language correctly.  This last Monday, the teacher did comment that I did sound better; like I was starting to catch on.  So this Cinco de Mayo, I may be working on practicing via CD’s on my laptop some more.

Example of "Allgood Amish Triangle" T-shirt
available at Zazzle.

Example of "Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed"
T-shirt available through Zazzle.

I got into RAGBRAI, this I found out on the first of May.  Between that and getting ready for a bike art booth of my artwork for Little Red Riding Hood, I’ve managed to get more things/ideas lined up for doing a little merchandising of my own art work.  I’ve set up t-shirts, key chains, and a messenger bag on the Zazzle website; at my store called AllgoodArt.  There's a couple of the t-shirts available above but click here to visit and see more.  Only had my store up a couple of days and I've already sold one shirt.  Cool!   I even sent out some emails to friends and people that have purchased my art and suggested some of these items would make a great Mother's Day gifts. 

Example of a Two-Tone Tote Bag I ordered some of.

I’ve also gone on to various other sites and designed/ordered various items such as; totes, bumper stickers, and magnets.  I’m hoping that by doing all of this I’ll be able to recoup some of the fees and other costs involved in RAGBRAI.  But worse, come to worse, I figure I can always see about peddling some of these items during RAGBRAI.  Why not a double opportunity of selling bike artwork to bicyclists?  It sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Checking In…

The Good News is…I was at the same weight this morning as last Friday morning.  I guess I’m okay with that; I would much rather have it the same than showing that it’s gone up.  I think I did pretty well and I logged in some good workout stats during the week- such as; 7.5 miles running, 87 miles cycling, and 13 minutes on the elliptical machine. 

More good news is…I’ve noticed that the usual Friday morning donuts; didn’t look as appealing as they usually do.  This morning, I cut the apple fritter in half and took it with coffee back to my desk.  I nursed the apple fritter along for a couple of hours and was tempted to throw the last bit away.  Sugar is losing its appeal which is always a good thing.  Now if I can just work on those late night munchies I think I would have it made.

Little Red 2010!!

“You took the RED part of Little Red literally”, said the manager of the Smokin’ Blues Barbeque laughed as he looked at my beet red arms. It’s Saturday night after the 2010 Little Red Riding Hood Ride, and I’m at a funky new barbeque restaurant in Logan, Utah. By the way I highly recommend the Smokin’ Blues Barbeque if you are ever in Logan, UT. It is wonderful balance of southern barbeque food, GREAT Service, and LIVE music. It was THE perfect way to end a very busy, long, and FUN day. I also enjoyed a blue berry crepe that was VERY blue and AMAZING!
The day started at 4:45AM when I scrambled out of bed to across the room to turn off my phone alarm. I wasn’t taking any chances with sleeping in. I MADE myself get out of that King size bed. Not an easy feat when I only managed to start getting some “Z’s” at 1AM the night before. You see there was this rowdy bunch down the hall… that I was kind of part of. You could say I’m my own worst enemy!

After swinging by the hotel continental breakfast for a quick bowl of fruit loops (a weakness and the only time I eat sugared cereal is on vacations), I jumped in my car and headed to the start. There were still some clouds in the sky and I was hoping that they would go away.

(Here's Diane and myself with fellow blogger- Sallie and her friend Karen.  They flew in from Chicago to ride Little Red.)

There were major concerns about the weather. It was raining the night before. In fact, it was a good down pour in some instances but the Saliva Sisters, a local legend, still went on with the show. These gals were very much worth standing/sitting in the rain to watch, and they are REAL troopers. The show went on through some spots of drizzling. I found myself cracking up to their witty parodies of songs. Here are a few pictures of their various costumes…

So at 6AM I arrived at the volunteer booth and was busy most of the morning checking in volunteers. There were quite a few family members (husbands, mothers, daughters, and sons) that just showed up that morning to offer their help. I was amazed at the turn out and we definitely needed the help. It worked out pretty well.
As I was doing my thing in the volunteer booth, there was a costume contest going on. It was all kind of fun watching what these ladies came up with costumes. My friend, Sofia won a first place for her costume. She was in her homemade Wonder Woman costume. Then, there was the Big BAD wolf wondering around in his Superman outfit, and another gent running around in a Super Red Costume. Here he is with me…

I finally managed to get a late start on the ride for the 80 mile distance. The ride and the weather turned out to be BEAU-ti-FUL! The first 35 miles went wonderful and then I started getting cramping in my inside of my thighs. OUCH! At the VERY busy Newton Lunch stop I ate cantaloupe and drank quite a bit of water in hopes that it would take away some of the cramping away. It worked for awhile but then the cramping came back. I cut the planned 80 mile ride back to 73 and took a shorter route back to the start/finish in Lewiston.

The finish was SO much fun! Everyone was cheering you on and then there was wonderful cold lemonade with a HUGE strawberry in it that was served. It was SO good! Such Fun! I visited for a bit and then got to work back in the volunteer booth that was now a lost&found, etc…

About 3:30PM, they did the raffle drawing for the Halloween Bike ride that I had donated. I saw a gal jump up and down across the field as her name was announced. She lost her flip flops and her hands were waving in the air as she ran up to the stage. I signed a little note to her on the back of the painting and got a photo taken with her. It was cute how excited she was. Her friend told me that she was more excited about the painting drawing than the bike drawing. Shortly afterwards they did the bike drawing and then there was quite the exodus of people leaving the field.

About 5PM, we started breaking down and cleaning up. Sofia and Kim came in from their fist century as we were working on clean up. They both looked tired but were in good shape I thought considering it was their first.

Thus at about 9PM, I found myself at the end of the day enjoying some barbecue and LIVE music at the end of the day.  YUMMY!

Sick & Busy...(NOT a Good Mix!)

Hello!  I haven't written in here like I usually do.  I've been sick and busy... I feel like my life is on hold while I try to get my act together (if that's possible?).  Meanwhile, I will admit that I've been a bit of a grump, and I feel a bit like this cat in the picture or so I imagine.

I came down with the cold last Friday that's been making the rounds around the office.  YUCK!  Stuffy head, congested chest, and just general tiredness.  It came just in time so that I could enjoy the Memorial holiday in bed.  Sleep, sleep, and more sleep...I'm trying to get rid of the darn thing.  I went to bed on Friday afternoon after work and stayed mostly in bed until Sunday afternoon.  I started feeling a little more human then but only ventured from home to pick up another batch of NyQuil on Sunday night.  Otherwise, I was parked on the love seat underneath a blanket and going between watching a movie or reading a book.  Monday, I felt a bit like a hermit venturing out.  I went with a friend to dinner, a bit of shopping, and then coffee at Barnes & Nobles. 

My taste buds are still off... where they went---I don't know.  This morning I had to have one of the guys taste the coffee.  It didn't taste right to me.   He said it was my normal real strong brew as his face pucker up a bit.  Food doesn't taste right to me yet, and you would hope that maybe I would be losing weight because I'm not eating.  Nope, I'm not doing anything exercise either though.  So it's all a wash.  I will cough in spurts, usually when I need to talk to someone on the phone (Oooopps, sorry to cough in your ear.) or when I seem to have discovered I left all of the cough drops at home (Good old Murphy's Law at work).

But on top of all of this sickness, I've been pretty busy.  We had inventory at work last Friday.  Now everything that was on hold due to inventory needs to be done YESTERDAY!  Then things have stepped up on the Little Red Riding Hood ride with it approaching this Saturday.  The volunteers are pouring in or  volunteers that were set up are now unable to make it after all for whatever reasons, and then there's all of the working out the details and getting them to the volunteers.  I AM AMAZED that Diane did this all by herself last year and kept her sanity.  You are AWESOME Diane! 

So anyway that's why I haven't written in here in awhile...  I hope you understand.  Of course, that's figuring that anyone is actually reading my dribble...? ;-)

Resolutions/Goals for 2010 & The Perfect 10...

I know. I know… everyone is inundating the Internet with resolutions and goals for 2010. It like an endless barrage and you are SO tired of it all ready. Well, sorry to say here’s one more of those. If you don’t want to read any further, I will understand perfectly. Enough is enough is enough and believe me I know because I’m there myself. But for those of you that continue on, there are reasons that this occurs. The success of these goals and resolutions are greatly improved if you follow a few fundamental steps…

1) Make it public! The accountability factor does amazing stuff, and well, that’s why there are so many stating it out on the Internet like I will be below some where here.
2) Write it down. Just by forming it into actual words on paper, it clears up the ideas and narrows it down that resolution or goal.
3) KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid! Don’t get complicated and make it hard on yourself.
4) Celebrate your achievements. You’ve worked hard towards them, and you deserve to reap the rewards!
5) Make reasonable resolutions/goals. They should be close enough to be attainable but still enough out of reach to challenge you.

Follow those above and you have managed to beat the odds of success. Don’t and you might as well be flipping a coin.

Normally, I’m not a resolution type of person. I tend to be goal orientated, and once I have set that goal I tend to be stubborn and tenacious like a Pit Bull with its jaw locked on something. So with that in mind, here’s my list…

1) Save more money, honey! Last year in August, I accomplished a financial goal that I’ve been working on for two years. I became debt free. Now, I want to start putting that money into savings that I’ve been using for paying off these debts with. I have a number in mind, but for fear of being hit up for a loan, I will not state that number here.

2) Run a half marathon. I want to run in half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon this Spring, and maybe even give the Park City Marathon a whirl too. Who knows maybe even push myself towards a full marathon in that one but lets get the first one under my belt first. Then we’ll see…

3) Do at least one century on my bicycle. Last year, I only did an 80 mile ride at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride, and that was as close as I got. Two years ago, I did 8 centuries on my bike. Maybe I can manage a happy medium in there somewhere?

4) Participate in the Slow Salty Dog Tri (70.3) and see if I can do better than 10 hours and 25 minutes.

5) Conquer Little Mountain and then Big Mountain, and back on my bicycle. I want to make it up and over and then back up the other side and down. I’ve managed ¾ of this but the backside is a climb that can prove relentless even for someone that likes to climb like me. (I usually climb a canyon once a week during the cycling season.)

6) Participate in the Perfect 10-- For the first 10 weeks in 2010, I want to give this a real go for the money. AND here’s my list for the goals of my Perfect 10…

(1) Lose 10 lbs over the 10 weeks. I think this is doable.
(2) Build up to 10 miles running in under 2.5 hours. I think this will help me train towards doing the half marathon.
(3) Do exercises at least twice a week that work on my balance. For all of you that have read my Boot Camp blogs, you know that I have some MAJOR balance issues.
(4) Make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I bought that gym membership, and I need to make sure I get my money’s worth.

If you would like to learn more about or participate in the Perfect 10. Here's the link...

http://logmyloss.com/?p=2544

So there! That’s my list and for those that are still reading this posting. I ask for your help in encouraging me and holding me accountable to these. Thanks and Happy New Year!

The Little Red Riding Hood Ride!!!

Considering that when I got up at 4AM with it raining outside. It turned out to be a wonderful day to be on a bike! And what FUN too!

(Above Photo: Little Red Mascot- Von and myself as a Course Marshal)

After going to 3 different places in SLC I finally managed to get a caffeinated cup of joe. I guess there's something about being that early in the morning(4:30AM) that most regular coffee places are not open. I went inside a Maverik after fueling and they only had decaffeinated. Hello! I need fully leaded at that time in the morning. I'm a conditionally early morning type of person--- thus I NEED my hot black caffeinated cup of coffee before I perform very well. And I definitely needed something before driving two hours north. (Photos Below: Hawaiian shirted volunteers-Andrew and friend, Ann from BadAss Coffee being coy, Little Red-Myself-the Big Bad Wolf, and plenty of costumed gals!)

Well, the lottery winner in this case was a McDonald's. Those golden arches and their new coffees lured me off the interstate in Bountiful. Ahh, coffee! Now I was awake for the day, as I buzzed north along I-15 sipping my cup of joe and a sausage McMuffin. The weather was clearing up as the more I headed north. But as I got to Wellsville there was a fog and cloud cover. I was concerned about the weather for the ride.

I arrived in plenty of time to get a GREAT parking space! Right across from the start. I headed over to the volunteer and right away they needed help at the registration booth. I showed up and asked what they needed me to do. I kept on apologising because I had NO CLUE what I was doing but I muddled through as best as I could. As it started to slow, I left that area and managed to visit and get a few pictures. The weather was clearing up by almost every 15 minutes of time that passed.

Shortly after 8:30AM, I headed out on my bike wearing the Course Marshal bib. Mostly, I felt like the Course Marshal position gave me an instant PR position. I would go along and talk with riders and say hi. Periodically, I would point out safety hazards or make suggestions as I went along. I also notice that women would search me out at rest stops. They would ask me questions about directions of where to go for certain routes, and mention any riding concerns that they may have. If I didn't know the answer we would seek out someone of authority near by to get the answers. It was fun and I got to talk with a lot of wonderful women from all over the country. And had a bit of wind (never fun) on the way back on my 80 mile extension that I was the Course Marshal for but over all it was real FUN time, and a beautiful day too!