Our big hunk-a-lunk of loving Donkey is taking a nap – he still favors sleeping on his non-cancerous side. His shaved square is so silly looking, but we love him still. The report from the vet says the cancer was well removed and he has an 85% chance of a full recovery. He goes in for a check up soon and I’ll give you the full report then.

Zoe, Rowdy and I logged about 2.5 hours of peaceful protesting today on FM 407. And holy crap, the fumes by the Blessing Well are down right obnoxious – we had to put masks and we still ended up with headaches. My sinuses are blazing, but it’s a price we have to pay to get our message out. Fantastic reception from almost everyone.  Even the Argyle police officer was super nice, he set out cones so no one would run over us. What a great guy!

Next time you see us on the road, give us a honk and show your support! Rowdy loves that kind of attention.

On April 15th our Donkey had a biopsy done and was diagnosed with probable carcinoma. Yesterday he underwent surgery to remove the mass, we are awaiting the extensive test results.  All you religious types out there, please say a prayer for our Donkey boy. He’s home today and resting comfortably. (Although a little embarrassed about his recent hair cut.)

Are we not in Texas anymore? They said the windchill around White Rock Lake was -2 degrees. Wind blowing sideways. Really. Sideways. The bridges were covered with ice. Ice, in Texas. Ice. Real, live icy stuff. Where is global warming when you need it? I don’t know if that is accurate or not, but it seriously felt like we were in Antarctica. I have never, ever, ever, ever been so cold. The last four miles of the race absolutely brutal – there wasn’t a place on my body that wasn’t numb. I’m still cold. Really. And I’m chaffed so bad I’m still oozing puss. Gross, I know.

My time: 2:14:05 – which, considering the wind was blowing sideways and it was either move or die of frostbite, I’m okay with. If it wasn’t for Jeanne and Nod I would have bailed. I’m so glad they are here!! And I can’t wait to share our shopping extravaganza reports with you.

Are we the cutest Popsicles on the planet or what? Jeanne did great, Nod did great, Donkey did great, I did great. When in Antarctica, survival is the only thing that matters.

More photos here. And funny thing is, this was the smallest part of our vacation. I almost forgot we ran a half marathon. Silly  me. More on that later. Fun. Fun. Fun. I love them both – I want to adopt them and force them to live with me.

So, you voted, Internet People and “Running Stuff” won by 3 votes. What is this a Running Blog or something? Seriously, is the RS shoe collection so bad that it loses by THREE whole votes to come in second? Jon, did you not vote? In third place was the “Other” category – and let me enlighten you with the interesting “other” suggestions:

• Wine! (hello, is it noon yet?)
• run, bike, rowdy all the time.
• how about a new ‘under construction’ banner with you just wearing a tool belt? (creative, if anything)
• nude can be done tastefully (and stretch marks cannot)
• Running and biking
• RS doing Cindy sessions (who doesn’t miss the paper plates?)
• All cleavage all the time? (hmmm  . . . . No)
• shoes and wine
• The Chef! (how about Chef in the nude?)
• Roses
• with a little help from her friends (awww, how sweet)
• The pretty pink you had
• Sometimes running, sometimes shoes, sometimes something else. (sometimes I think that’s what I had and maybe a good thing shouldn’t change?)
• RS in the nude x 13 that I kept deleted as fast as he or she was voting

And in fourth was “All Rowdy All the Time”.  I’m glad some of you love Master Rowdy, but I’m secretly glad you voted RS shoe collection before him, even if it was second.

So, it’s all good and well that you’ve voted, but guess what? I have the flu. I have a headache. I have a sore throat and I am partially delirious and really bored of doing nothing but staring at the ceiling. With all that in mind I decided it’s “All Unicorns All the Time” as the new masthead.  Maybe it’s the fever or perhaps I’m just feverish all the time, but let me enlighten you with my inspiration from The Magical Unicorn Collection:

If you ever had a reason to question my sanity, now you don’t. Yes, this near 40 year-old-woman sits around in front of her computer and take pictures of her  gravity-defying hair in unicorn poses. It’s a gift, I know you wish your hair could defy gravity too.

So the masthead will change with boring “Running Stuff” (maybe)  just as soon as I feel well enough to do something more creative than unicorn stuff.

Another question? Do you Internet People like it on the top or the way it was on the side? I’m undecided, so I’m doing both right now. And if you like the unicorns, maybe I’ll keep them. FOREVER!

Garmina Sr. died over a year ago; I’m not sure what took me so long to order another. I’m in love again. So you knew this was coming. I felt great until about mile 4 and then I started to lose speed – 4 AM is getting earlier and earlier.

In other news, I went to make the bed after my run and was surprised to find this:

I have no clue what it is. I’m thinking baby bunny, but it has no fur and it’s eyes weren’t even open yet. I’m pretty sure (hoping) one of the dogs brought it to bed with them during the middle of the night. Probably Rowdy since the Aussies would have just thought it were a midnight snack. And despite the one tooth puncture, it was still alive. I put it back outside (other side of fence) to see if it’s mom would come back and get it, but to no avail – sadly, it’s dead now. Any guesses as to what it is?

(working on the preventive med post now, I promise)

I’m almost certain I will forget something even though I have three bags of things needed for the sprint tri: wine, shoes and other stuff – so I should be all set – and yet there is just so much to take it’s bordering the ridiculous. A new bike would not be bordering ridiculous though, and yet I still don’t have one. No, no I don’t. If anyone out there wants to call or text the Chef and demand a new bike for Runner Susan, I’d find unmentionable and pleasurable ways to reward you.

Anyhow, I’m not freaking out about the totally not pleasurable swim since I really didn’t train AT ALL and since there is no air in the water I am totally prepared to come in last. And hopefully not last by remaining at the bottom of the pool for the rest of my life. I honestly wish Cherry Berry could do the swim for me because I’d totally win. She’s a pro-swimmer that girl.

Here I go. Reporting back on Monday! Hopefully.

(In case you are wondering, Donkey hates the water, hates to run and Michael won’t get him a trailer for the back of his bike)

Internet people, I was at Target the other day and it was 106 degrees outside and I saw a car in the parking lot with a border collie in it – granted the window was cracked, but still the dog was panting like a fool! How can people be so stupid? Honestly? Stupid! I left a not so nice note on the windshield and brought attention to the security guard on duty who paged the shopper.

With that in mind and with my new running buddy ready to go, I thought I’d post this link to an interview I did last year about running with dogs with the Good Dog Podcaster, Joanne Green.

Good Dog Podcast, Running with Dogs.

She’s finally got the okay from the vet to start her training program again. Both legs are completely healed after her luxating patella surgeries! Yay. I’ve missed my Cherry Berry Runs.

There is no denying it – we were the cutest Martini Twins on the course. Which of course means Michelle and I rode a lot faster than if we showed up completely uncute, because we all know speed is 80% cute, 15% bike, and 5% motor. That’s a little tip I picked up from BettyBetty, of course I think she might have had the priorities lined up a little differently, I just can’t recall quite accurately at the moment.

It was hilly, and a few of those hills were so steep I was only going 3 – 5 miles and hour up them because they were more like walls than hills. I felt like Spider Man in a Martini Jersey. But on the bright side, it’s good to know I can drive my bike that slow and still stay upright. I’m sure it’s a lesson I would have learned sooner or later, but all I have to say right now is THANK YOU ROLLERS.

Here we are being cute and adorable before the ride:

Here’s the cute Chef and I before the ride (he did the 100k on Saturday and the 50k on Sunday placing 2nd on both days – he’s bummed because he still only has 30% vision in his left eye from his lasik/bike crash injury and can’t see well enough to race the crits):

And here’s the Martini Twins making a stop on the way home from the ride:

We rode past this building and felt obligated to stop in for a martini. But since we didn’t know the secret knock and realized that the building didn’t have any windows, we hopped on our bikes and drove back to our hotel as fast as possible.

Here we are in true Martini Twins form back at the hotel – Daisy’s butt added for extra cuteness (in case you were wondering, dogs like to lick salty legs):

Then later that night we put on our party dresses and took the hubbands out for a nice dinner. It just so happens that we went shopping the weekend before and bought several of the exact same dresses (fashion show coming soon).

We even walked Daisy cute:

Then after we got home I dressed Donkey up in Michael’s Tulsa Tough shirt – he was quite handsome, I must say.

Team Martini tied for 41st place out of 288 and finished in 2:07 – I think that is around 15.5 mph. Not bad for no hill training or even hardly training at all. It was a fun weekend and the Martini Twins are already planning their next run, ride and possibly tri. Except that whole swimming thing is freaking me out a bit.

Donkey wears a t-shirt from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

Tulsa Tough report is on the way soon!

Donkey is terrified of the rock. He hides under the table if he thinks we are going to make him get near it. He’s even more afraid of the rock than he is of vacuum cleaners. I have no clue why. Maybe he’s afraid someone will mistake him for a goat? If we leave him in the back alone he spends all his time on the complete opposite side of the yard. We’re working with him to be one with the rock. This is progress, but I don’t think it’s completely working. The second Michael gets up, Donkey darts back under the table.

Cherry watches TV with Donkey from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

Cherry Finds Her Duck from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

When Kenza was in Kindergarten, we bought her a ten-gallon aquarium and five black tetra fish. I expected them to live maybe a few months – but here it is six years later and we still have three of those black tetras. They’ve survived everything from small kids petting them to a leaking aquarium while we were on vacation, leaving them with only a small amount of water to swim in. Sideways.

Recently, this one has grown a weirdo tumor, and I totally keep expecting him to join hamster #3 in the freezer any day now, but, remarkably, this little piece of sushi keeps on swimming.

Cherry Eats a Pig Ear from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

Cherry goes on a run from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

Be jealous! Be very jealous. We had the great pleasure of hosting our friends from Down Under last night, the world famous Toasties. It was a wonderful evening full of wine, food and good company . . . although Master Rowdy had a bit too much to drink and had to be carried around most of the evening.

Thank you, friends, for the Aussie wine; when we drink it we’ll savor the fond memories. Have a safe trip home Mark. And Katy – get ready for that 1:55 half we have coming up in a few weeks!