Couch to ATHLETE!

Good intentions On the mind Although I sit on the couch Listening to the same old noise So now to make some goals...

Updated 5/28/2014 to update fundraising goals. If you are interested in donating, pay special attention to the individuals highlighted in yellow below, as they could still use some assistance in reaching their goals. As you all know, I very publicly announced on my blog that I have Multiple Sclerosis. You can read that post here . MS is a sliver of my life that will probably shrink and grow and shrink and grow throughout my lifetime. It will not take over my life by any stretch of the imagination as it is only part of me, not all of me. With that said, I appreciate every person who has supported me over the last eight months since I was diagnosed. In true Sarah fashion, I am doing the MS ride, Pedal to the Point, as many of you already know. I want to acknowledge every person who has joined my team, We're 'A MESS', as they are committing to this ride in an effort to raise money to fund MS research and supports. Take the time to read a very short blurb about every ...

Piper and Dukie It was four weeks ago yesterday that I filled out the paperwork to adopt Piper. I went to the Pet Smart with Sue and Piper proudly followed me, on the other side of the glass wall, from one side of the cage to the other. I fell in extremely like with this cat, not wanting to fall in love because the adoption wasn't yet approved. After picking out Piper and filling out the paperwork, in true Sarah and Sue fashion, we walked around the store talking about the things we loved while picking up items for the pets we both already had at home. We came upon the cat towers to which Sue announced that Tucker (Sue's cat) would LOVE one of those. We checked out the prices and in true SARAH fashion I announced that we could easily make one of those for a fraction of the cost!!! Two hours is all it would take!!! We took a couple of pictures and headed to Home Depot. I started building the tower that, or the next day... Can't remember which. I made a number of error...

The last time the Olympics were taking place, I was participating in my first Olympic Distance triathlon. Since then I have had other significant athletic accomplishments. I love the Olympics and will probably spend more time watching TV than I'd like to admit, over the next several weeks. I am partial to a few sports, and there are a few sports I wish they didn't televise because I find them painfully boring, but that doesn't discredit the athleticism that goes into each sport, even the sports I don't quite understand.  The last time the Winter Olympics were on, there were a few gems that inspired me and motivated me in my training efforts. One gem that I still think about from time to time is this quote by Apolo Ohno: "Before every day you go to sleep, ask yourself one question; Did you do every single thing you could today to make sure that you did your best? It's hard to answer yes, every single day. I don't want to look at in terms of me o...

I've had quite the couple of weeks, don't want to say they have been bad, because they haven't, they have just been... I found myself exceptionally cranky yesterday. Things that typically don't bother me, lines at the grocery store or my neighbor parking outside of the parking lines or the mess in my house, annoyed the crap out of me. I walked around with my grumpy face, while not being very nice to anyone. Short answers are all that came out of me when anyone texted or called. It is funny, because my mom often hangs up with me when I am short, it is like she knows the fuse on my internal grenade is slowly shortening. Smart woman I say... I could say that certain events over the past couple of weeks created my mood yesterday, but that wouldn't be fair. After all, we all have control over our reactions to things, even if we lose that control from time to time; so to blame my frustrations on other people, would be to say I lost control. Anyway, the secret has b...

Again, you would have to be living in a cave to NOT know about the weather situation across the US. My mom and I have talked about it at great length and it does seem that people are starting to get used to it, maybe not enjoying it, but are at least used to it. The weather is making the run difficult. Now, I do have a gym membership, but it has been so cold, I haven't wanted to leave my house after getting home from work. I feel really bad for people who have Seasonal Affective Disorder because this winter is probably producing even more profound impacts on those folks. Anyway, all week, I made the choice to curl up in front of my fireplace rather than brave the bone chilling cold. Saturday morning was a different story, I woke up, looked at the several inches of fresh snow and knew I had to take on this 5 mile run. Plus I had plans after the run and needed to get myself moving and motivated to leave my house. Off to Westerville, Ohio I went. The usual 20 minute drive, took a...

This girl did some Oly and Half Iron Tris. OK, so I totally outed myself this week. If you have had a secret, you probably know what it feels like to finally let it off your chest. At first it is almost exhilarating and then you go into that whole 'What the heck did I just do' mode; and then back to relief. You see, you feel relief because once you tell that secret, you notice nothing really changes. Sure, people may look at you differently, but they look at you differently after you run your first half or full marathon too. Who cares, right? Well just to clarify, I'm in relief mode. You likely won't see me post about MS on my blog because it is such a personal disease, and I can't offer any medical or health advice because I am not a health professional. Plus, I have those poor friends who 'love'?, ok so they get to hear my stories, in some cases daily. Trust me, you don't want me to take all that to my blog, plus I don't want to. Instead,...