Warrior Sparky?

I really wish I had as much motivation as Sparky does when it goes to running on the treadmill. I finished my work on the treadmill this evening and then went for a glass of water and not so surprisingly got distracted by something shiny.

When I still heard Sheryl Crow singing in the other room I realized I needed to turn everything off. This is who I found waiting for me.

So, what else can I do but to let him go for a bit longer.


What exactly is his motivation for hopping on the treadmill for a jog? Well, it's as simple as a rawhide chip. I wish I was motivated just as easily.





Maybe I can substitute him for me in the Warrior Dash race?... Warrior Sparky? The race is about 2.5 weeks away. It'll be interesting to see how it all goes, that 3.08 Hellish Miles.

I did learn several things while watching Emily and her friends do the dash in Denver. It won't help me do it any faster, but still some helpful hints.

1. Bring a complete change of clothes
2. Bring an extra pair of shoes/sandals so you can donate muddy kicks
3. Where sunglasses, safety glasses, or goggles through the mud pit (much splashing)
4. Arm floaties and innertubes are not needed in the pit, but are amusing for people to watch
5. Wipe of race number upon exiting the mud (then you can find your pic online)
6. Don't wear overly baggy clothes because more mud collects and it's heavy
7. They have bag checks for your belongings
8. They have outdoor "showers" for you to rinse yourself off, in case you want to try to salvage your muddy clothes (good luck getting mud off your back without a shower buddy)
9. Bring a towel to keep warm and plastic bag for messy clothes
10. I'm sure I learned more, but I'm stuck on the image of "Trojan Man" in my head from the day of Emily's race... just one of hundred's of costumes I saw.

A Day of Softball!

Several weeks ago I was asked by Carrie from my summer softball team if I'd like to be the 6th woman for their team in a softball tournament. I'd be in town, so why not.

First game was scheduled for 9:30 Saturday morning, so I'd have a chance to sleep in. All I had to do was pay a $20 player fee and show up. When I showed up, I got a orange team shirt and saw that the team had staked out a spot for us to hang out in between games. They had an EZ-up, one of those pop-up "roofs".

Carrie let our manager Jeremy know that I could pitch, so he had me slotted to pitch inning 2 through 7 after his wife pitched the 1st. The combination proved well and we won the first game... I believe against the neon yellow team. Game 2, we kept the same rotation, but our bats fell asleep and we fell to the pink team.

Game 3 against light blue was back-to-back to game 2 and I requested a slight break, so I played catcher this game. We were down early and had to make a 5th inning comeback by scoring 11 runs. After we held them in the 6th, we came out victorious, 13-15, after we hit the time limit.. Breaktime! While we waited to see where we placed finished in Pool B and where we'd end up in the bracket, I took a quick break to go home, shower, change most of my clothes, and grab a bite to eat.

We were back at it at 3:00pm for game 4. We were a 2 seed vs a 3 seed. Back to the original lineup we went and with no mercy rule, the green team called it quits. Next up in game 5 was facing the number 1 seed, yellow team. We upset them and left their a$$hole "team leader" complaining and pouting. For a "bush leaguer" like me... it was sweet, sweet victory! Dude hit a homerun off of me, so I played it safer and pitched him crap while trying to hit the back right corner of mat... thus making me a bush leaguer in his eyes. He just couldn't keep his trap shut the hole game and all the other teams had the same experience.

After the upset, we watched a bit of the semi-finals game and came to realize we'd be playing the pink team again. We got our bats going in the previous two games, so we new we had a fighting chance. By game 6, fatigue was starting to set in for many of us and our play was not quite up to par, but we were able to stay in the game, only a few runs behind. We just couldn't find that bigger inning of runs to overtake them. Gosh darn pink team.

After, I found out we'd get a plaque for placing second, so I met up with most of the team and others from the tournament at the after party. I hobbled my way into the Stadium Club, grabbed a free "ballpark" meal and waited for the award ceremony.

Below is a picture of the plaque and by blistered foot from playing 6 games of softball in my uncomfortable cleats. Gotta hit the end of season sales and get new batting gloves and comfortable cleats, if they exist.
$20 player fee = 1 t-shirt, 6 games with fun team, 2nd place plaque, and free meal. I feel like I came out on top during this Easter Seals Softball Tournament. I'll have to find a way to help support this group in thanks for such a fun day.

CO Vacation: Sunday, Day 6

Sunday was my day to attempt to sleep in, but it did not work nearly as planned. Gosh darn internal clock. If Emily and Joe hadn't drug me to Dave and Buster's one night and forced me to get my photo taken with Canaan Smith another night, I would have been getting to bed earlier.

Well, either way, Sunday was bound to come around and I was dragging butt. Emily actually let me drink caffeinated coffee at breakfast! Unfortunately, it never quite knocked me out of my semi-zombie state.

Luckily Emily was more awake than me and was able to navigate the car safely to the Denver Zoo where we got to see Casper's cousins. Did I mention it was another super hot and sunny day and most of the animals were snoozing.
I was hoping to hear the zookeepers speak about the elephants, but they never made they way over to them after the hippos. I wanted to learn a bit more about the Asian Tropics exhibit they are building and is scheduled to open next year. There were 2 huge metal "Pod-like" containers in their enclosure (surely for them to get acclimated to before getting moved next year).

As we walked to their enclosure we heard some loud metal banging and soon realized it was one of the elephants playing the metal container like a drum. At the conclusion of the song, a huge trumpet was let out by the elephant... pretty sweet!
Here's the latest animal that has me fascinated. Meet my friend the Okapi.

I love his super cool markings and need to learn more about him. Maybe I'll be able to adopt one somehow!

After the zoo, we ate at a wonderful place called Larkburger. If you ever see one, I would strongly suggest trying it. Soon after, I was packing and headed out on a plane for home.

I can't believe I had such a fun, jam-packed vacation. I had a blast, but totally wore myself out. Monday was the day of sleeping, and I can't remember sleeping that much except for when I'm hit with the flu.

CO Vacation: Saturday, Day 5

I kind of gave myself a break on Saturday, seeing that I did not compete in the Warrior Dash, but not getting to sleep in and spending all day in the heat kind of took its toll on me. Don't get me wrong, I had quite a bit of fun, but my gas tank was starting to get real close to empty.

Here's a pic of Emily and her friends Trevor and Melanie sporting their viking helmets before the race.
There were only a few areas that were easy to try to catch the runners as they passed by. I chose the mud pit because I'm guessing it was also the most fun for spectators.
Glad they had the fire at the end so I could get a pic of that also. It was cool to watch how people entered the mud and also how they decided how to clear the fire.
Here are the victorious racers after their Warrior Dash. Thank goodness Emily had the purple bandanna, otherwise I would not have been able to easily spot her out of the muddy racers running towards the finish line.
Yes, this is the race Tom convinced me to participate in this September. I know I'll be able to complete the length of it at some point, but the obstacles look to be a bit daunting.

CO Vacation: Friday, Day 4

Emily was so kind to take a vacation day the Friday I was in town. We headed over to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO. Last year I decided to adopt one of their animals after having visited their facility. I wish I could have adopted a Tiger, but Casper, the Coati Mundi, is just as cool. Below is a pic of Casper, I think. If not, it's his roommate Sassy.The facility has grown leaps and bounds since I last visited. The day before our visit they opened the new walkway as seen below. They plan on adding onto this walkway so it goes over top of not only the lion area, but the bears and tigers, and then end at the new facility that was erected when 25 African lions that were saved and flown in from Bolivia last December.The shot below was of a lion that was "playing" with a snake that had wandered into her habitat. Amazing how these big cats have the same mannerisms as my small little Jinkies.
We visited on a day that came close to setting a heat record in the area. Most of the animals were enjoying sleeping in the shade.


Moving along to the evening, bring on SUGARLAND!!! and Canaan Smith?!?!?
Who needs an elaborate set to make a show, not Sugarland.
Emily and I were about 6 seats from the center section in row 10 behind the pit. I'm not sure I could have been any happier with our seats.
I didn't get a chance to take many photos because it started raining, but I did manage to capture the shot of Kristian I was looking for.
Sara Bareilles was originally scheduled to open for Sugarland, but ended up having a scheduling conflict. I'm guessing Sugarland's management or record label gave Canaan Smith, a newly signed artist, the push to open for Sugarland. It was great to see Kristian come out on stage and play with him. Canaan had great energy and fun songs.
So, when I got the opportunity to meet him after the show was over, I couldn't resist. Sure, I was bit on the damp side, but look at his smile. He was like a kid in a candy store, living his dream in front of 18,000 Sugarland fans.
Yes, I am now officially a Canaanite.