Team In Training -A Proud Moment

Not too long ago I was on my way to work. I was driving in to the studio and thought that I should not break my daily habit. My daily habit, my morning weakness, is a large Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Not just any Iced Coffee. For those of you who are unfamiliar to DD's coffee on ice let me share a small little pleasure with you. You have your choice of 9 different flavors and if you combine some of those flavors well, that changes everything. The girls at my local Dunkin Donuts know my favorite. I digress. This isn't really about my coffee. Well, sort of it is, because if I had not made the command decision to stop for coffee this particular morning I would have missed a wonderful act of kindness.

So, there I was, right turn signal on and slowing down to turn into the driveway for the express lane of Dunkin Donuts. I saw a girl on her road bike about to cross over the drive just as I was coming up on my turn. I slowed down and waited for her to pass. As she did I said a silent prayer and prayed for a safe ride for her. I noticed she was outfitted in her Team in Training Tri gear. I added an extra little thank you for the TNT rider in my quick prayer and proceeded towards the express window for my waiting coffee. The girls in the express lane need only see my car pull in and they have my coffee made before I ever make it to the window. I love those girls!!!

So, here we go. I leave Dunkin Donuts and pull out onto Speedway 60. Brandon Blvd, or highway 60, is infamous for it's high rate of speed even though it runs right through the center of our town. This is partly why I said a quick prayer for the girl on the bike. She was definitely risking life and limb by cycling on this particular road. 2 miles up the road is the last stop light before I take my exit of hwy 60 and enter onto Interstate 75 north. I was sitting at the light and I looked to my right. There was a bike leaning against a metal sign post on the curb. When I recognized the bike as the one the TnT girl was riding my heart started to pound and I could feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes. Frantically I searched the shoulder and the road for this young TnT girl's body. As my eyes searched for some sign of where she might be I scanned to my left and saw the girl. She was behind and old Ford Focus and was pushing this car (all by herself) across four lanes of cars. There was an older (probably 70's) woman trying to steer it. I was about 4 cars back from her and 3 lanes over. I looked at the vehicles in front of me and the majority of them were full of single occupants who were men. I was wearing high heels and a skirt this morning. If I had had flats on I could have run up quick enough to help. In heels, forget it. Not one solitary man got out of his car and offered to help or attempted to engage with this lone girl in her efforts to help out a stranded old woman.

Now, I realize I don't know this girl who broke from her ride to help this stranded woman. What I do know, is that I was moved. Yes I felt like a schmuck sitting in my car and watching instead of helping. In all honesty though, I really was helpless in my pumps. At my age and klutzy ways, walking in them is a feat. Seeing 4 lanes of traffic with atleast 10 men behind the wheels of pick ups just sit and watch the event happen made me furious. Instantly I was proud to be a part of the triathlon community. I was proud to know that she exemplifies the majority of the people we have met over the past two years and I was proud of her without ever having met her. I wish I could find out who she was and buy her lunch. Her efforts to help others doesn't stop with the team shirt she was wearing. That was obvious as she pushed this car off the road in her bike shoes. She was AWESOME. Bearing witness was my privilege.

p.s. for those of you who read this blog and are not familiar with the "Team in Training" group, they ride, swim, run, for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They are always at the races Bigun and I attend. Their goal is to make a difference in a different way. They are a great group and it's always fun to see them cross the finish line at the Tris. Click on "Team in Training" if you would like to visit their web site and learn more.

Marital Impasse....maybe

Hello Friends, Comrades and Fellow Bloggers,

This post is entirely unrelated to Bigun's Triathlons. Sort of. Being the clever and ever thinking woman that I am there is no doubt I can find a way to tie it in to Tris.

Those of you who know us personally know that we do not have any "Children" in the normal sense of the word. Bigun would say we do not have any children in ANY sense of the word. We all know he is wrong. I just lost my cat Jake in August. Merely talking about it still makes me cry. She had been with me since right after I graduated High School. That made her 23 years old. She was the most loving cat you could know. Unusual too. Well, our cocker spaniel Chournie(we Americanized the Russian word for black) just turned 12. She has been deaf now for almost a year. I am starting to have that sick panicked feeling in my chest that it won't be long before we'll have to pick up her ashes from the vet too. I can barely stand it. Our chihuahua, 'Biner, (named after the trusty climbing device, Carabiner) is 11. We also have a 3 year old cat named Briscoe(named after Bruce Campbell's character Briscoe County Junior- a Sam Raimi show). He's a charmer.

Now that I have properly introduced you to the family I can explain the reason behind the title of this blog. Due to the fact that Chournie is visibly aging now, I think we need a puppy. For many real and solid reasons. Bigun is pretending not to hear me when I try chatting about the next addition to our family. He is hearing "wah wah wah wah wah" each and every time I bring up the subject of our next adopted son. Now why in the world he would not want a son who he could run/train with is beyond me. (told you I could work it in) Why in the world he wouldn't want a son who could go to the triathlons and cheer him on is beyond me. (pretty good ah?)

Who wouldn't love a guy like this?

and who wouldn't love these guys? Old English Sheepdogs are the best family pets out there. They are fun loving, loyal, obedient, easy to train, protective, they don't shed and well, just too damned cute!!! Not to mention, I miss my OES Arthur. He died years ago. Before I knew Bigun. I actually lost custody of him when I split with my ex-fiance. What a great dog he was. -Arthur, not the ex.

So, you have heard my plight and hopefully you will agree with me. Adding a new son to the family is the right thing to do. For everyone involved. Bigun will have a training companion, Briscoe the cat, will have a playmate (he is of the knowledge and understanding that he is a dog himself). 'Biner will have someone to boss around, when she isn't cuddled up in his fur. Chournie will have someone to keep her younger longer and Mommy (me) will have a new baby to cuddle along with 'Biner at night. This is a win-win for everyone involved. How could anyone disagree? How can Bigun get past this temporary deafness he is experiencing and bring himself to see it my way.

Did anyone see that movie with John Cusack, Rachel Weiss, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman? You know, the one "Runaway Jury". There was a scene in the movie where they show Gene Hackman's character riding in the back of the cab. Now, he has never met this cabbie but by the power of astute observation Gene H. begins to tell this cabbie the cabbie's own life story. The gist of the conversation ended this way "...Better to have an unhappy Mother than an unhappy Wife." Now, I am not saying this issue concerns anyone's mother. But, that "...happy Wife" part really sticks out in my memory.

What do you think? BTW if you don't agree with me, keep it to yourself okay? lol

Di

aka "Mrs Bigun"

A friend of mine, okay a couple of friends, who live far far away in a distant land (states). Busted me out for the "Mrs Bigun" assumed identity. Well folks, I hate to break it to you- No the name is not placed upon me do to my large butt or tubby arms or whatevah. I've dropped 30 pounds since last spring. The big butt is considerably smaller and the arms are NOT tubby dammit. I am back into my old jeans and only one size away from where I was in high school and let me tell ya, I looked pretty good in HS. The name comes from my darling husband. Bigun was his nick name in college and he has retained it as his blog identity. Thank you very much. Assholes. Thank God I love you guys so much or I would never talk to you again. At the very least I would give you the silent treatment for 2 or 3 hours!!!

This is a picture of myself (on the right) with my great friend and Tri Compadre "Perez".

Chocolate martinis hadn't started flowing at this point. This is only one Mojito into the evening on New Year's Eve at the Bigun Household. We had a great time! Wish you were here.

Escape from Alcatraz

Explains the multitude of canoes in the Bay during the race. Distraction?

I have met a number of Pit Bulls who are the sweetest, kindest, loving dogs in the world. I say this because I don't want to add to their bad rep. Point is, you know those other Pit Bulls (with the bad owners) who possess the deserved bad reps? Well, that's me right now....misaligned priorities seem to get me feeling more like a Pit Bull these past couple of days. I am unsuccessfully getting it under control. Bear with me folks.

Wah wah wah wah wah

Remember Charlie Brown shorts/toons with the teacher/adults/etc talking. You know what I'm talking about. I was talking computereze to my girlfriend the other day and she looked at me with her heavily glazed eyes and started saying "wah wah wah wah wahwah." She was right.

Marc and I are chatting about the day, what is on the schedule, I am soaping up my hair as I sort of listen....... okay maybe I wasn't really listening. I found myself trying to listen to Marc about his training and how the progress is going and all I could hear was, well, I don't remember. He might as well have been speaking in "charlie brown adulteze" for all that registered. I felt my eyes glazing, getting heavy and my head dropping as I began to doze(dangerous as by now I am trying to shave my legs). Just as I started to nod I caught myself and snapped my head up in time to catch "...8 minutes..." and "...run". Well, I know he has been trying to get his time down so I quickly did the math and congratulated him on improving his run time. Whew!!! Right answer!! He was indeed telling me about his run times and where he wanted to see them before.....crap. I lost him again. I don't even know which freakin' race he is trying to get his times in by. Is it the 101, is it St Anthony, is it Alcatraz....????I swear to all the powers that be I am genuinely interested in Marc's training, his times, his progress and all of the crap- I mean stuff- that comes with Tri'ing. Swear.

Today was tough though. Really tough. Do you ever ask someone a question in which you genuinely want to hear the reply but then 2 seconds into the reply you find yourself wishing you had just shut up and washed your hair with out conversation? Do I think this is because Marc is a sufficiently boring person? No, it's because my brain is too full of all the crap I am having to deal with and how my day's schedule is going to pan out and whether or not I actually need to shave my legs today or can I get away with wearing jeans? Or, option 2, I am just a selfish bitch with absolutely no regard for anyone but me. Well, yes option 2 sounds correct. So what? I am entitled to be so every once in a while aren't I? Bitch, yep I think that was the reason for my auditory black out this morning. Wait- that makes me think of a possible option 3- maybe my cochlea-auditory cortex is giving out in my old age. Maybe it's PMS(viable option 4). Doesn't change the fact that I still feel like being selfish. In fact, it almost intensifies the bitchy thing. Thought; maybe I should stop shaving and refuse to shave in the future until Bigun gets back on board with his shaving....wah wah wah wah wah

New Diet??? You Decide

My sister Jenn was sharing the story of a new diet she heard about and I wanted to share it with you. After all coming off of the Holidays and the food fest it entails I am on the wagon again and looking for options.....



I was in Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina for our Dog Dixie and was in line to check out. A woman behind me asked if I had a dog........ I was feeling a bit hung over so on impulse, I told her no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms. Her eyes about bugged out of her head.





I went on and on with the bogus diet story and she was totally buying it.I told her that it was an easy, inexpensive diet and that the way it works is to load your pockets or purse with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The package said the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again. I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a tall guy behind her. Horrified, she asked if something in the dog food had poisoned me and was that why I ended up in the hospital. I said no.....I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls when a car hit me. I thought the tall guy was going to have to be carried out of the store.








Thats it. So, anyone interested in the "30 day challenge"?


Di

What To Do

I realize it has been a while since I have posted here. You see, I am trying to stick to the idea that this is about my journey with Marc and the whole Triathlon experience. So, writing about every day events and the minutia that we wade through on a daily basis is not what I want to write about. Yes, I wrote about the whole weight issue thing that comes with the Holidays. Well, I find that to be a direct correlation to the nature of my blog. So, it's acceptable.

My daily mind ramblings however are a whole other issue. Not fit for display here. I also write another blog that is related to my business. (if you're interested... http://cominghometoday.blogspot.com/ ). I believe I have mentioned it before. Today was the first opportunity I have had since January 2nd to post anything there. Okay, what's my point you ask? Well, that is my point. I have none.

Marc is currently gearing up to go full blast on his training again. It has been a quiet time here at the Bigun household because he hasn't had any triathlons and his training schedule has been on the low end. He went out for his Sunday morning ride this morning and was semi stood up by his riding buddy . The buddy showed up but at the end of the ride. Insomnia is the reason the buddy was late. He has a hard time sleeping and usually doesn't accomplish any shut eye until the wee hours of the morning. I am completely sympathetic to his plight. Many nights I sit up reading a book or cruising late nite TV with the remote. Insomnia is a Bitch. Atleast he arrived even if it was late in the ride. I don't know that I would have shown with only about 4 hours or so of sleep under my belt. Kudos to Insomnia Man.

Complaining about Bigun's training schedule has never really occurred to me. Supporting this part of his life is very important to me because it is so important to him. With that said, I want to complain. This morning I found myself wishing he weren't out riding and instead here at home with me. Nice and toasty warm under the covers. Alas, he wasn't under the covers he was out pedalling his big heart out on his big bike. The best part about Bigun's Sunday morning rides is when he arrives home. We sit out on the patio and enjoy the sunshine with our bagels and coffee. We chat up what is coming down the pike for the week, the month, whatever. We plan our day and discuss what is on the priority list for the house. You homeowners know what I am talking about. Owning a home is a never ending project. There is always something, usually many things waiting to be done. So Sundays are for Bigun's rides and our morning coffee with bagel and lox. I love Sundays.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Anyone want to share their New Years' Resolutions?

Mine? Well, other than getting back into my workouts, I suppose making smarter Business decisions. Make sure that my family and my friends know how important they are to me. I plan to make homemade lemonade more often. yumm. Eat more fresh fruit and drink more Pom juice. Man is that stuff good. I intend to "dream" with awareness-once I am aware I will have the power to change "the dream" whenever I choose.

You can get a peek into our New Years Eve gathering at by clicking on the "happy new year" title... enjoy!