Year of Sarah

So I knew I might have a problem when the first thing Debi and Cheryl said when they visited our house for the first time was “you really like to collect Febreze don’t you”.  I will admit, I do have a lot of Febreze.  I have two dogs…everyone with two dogs should have some Febreze. And sometimes I like to have a bottle in the front of the house and one in the back of the house. And generally one in the middle just in case the mood strikes me and I feel the urge to spray.  I can tell you that Target makes a generic version which works equally well, comes in a bigger bottle, and is half the price. The downside though is the bottle leaks. Which is part of the reason why when Chebi was walking through the house that there were 2 bottles in the back of the house, 2 in the middle, and 2 or 3 in the front (and those were the obvious bottles – there’s a few hidden in other places).

So knowing this, and knowing that I have been on a quest for the past 6 months to keep our sports laundry smelling clean.  (Just as an FYI Dreft does not work as well as the Fleet Feet guy claimed, and it or the 10 pound box of Oxi-Clean (which also didn’t work) gave me an allergic reaction where one should not have allergies. ).Anyway, on a quest to find a run this weekend that was not on a trail I’ve been on, I came across this: http://www.mapmyrun.com/febreze

Yes, of course I signed up for a free sample. Umm an ability to clean smelly workout clothes is like the final frontier for me.  Not only do I get to add a new bottle of Febreze to my collection, but there’s a potential I might not end up with an allergic reaction and another trip to the doctor. 

Oh, and when I remember your addresses, you will be receiving a free bottle of this as well. Think of it as the beginning of your collection.

So on Friday one of my coworkers sent me this link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28527841?gt1=43001

Now, although I found this a little sketchy, ok, whatever.  I suppose men have every right to wear pantyhose, although I can’t imagine why men would want to subject themselves to control top panty hose, even for warmth.  And I do not buy the whole “oh I couldn’t find any compression garments anywhere” – umm Walmart carries compression tights (thanks David for that tidbit on TriTalk).  But I do draw the line when I sent this link to Darren (in the category of “hey, bet you haven’t seen this yet”), and he responds with the following link: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=2061362.  Now granted this thread is all about Torbjorn Sinballe (Denmark triathlete) who wears all white compression clothing when racing.  A bit odd, but he is from Denmark, and I can agree that racing in the heat at Kona is probably not all that great for him.  More interesting in this forum though is post 19 which has the following statement by Davetallo:

“…for the record, I’m planning to register the brand name “Mantyhose” with the appropriate copyright authorities…”

Yes, that’s right, the mantyhose man is a triathlete…which logically can only mean one thing, we’re going to start seeing some mantyhose soon.  It should start with Kona, but I’m betting it will end up at local TBF races soon.  I’m not exactly sure what added benefit the mantyhose will give to men triathletes, other than the removal of their man card, as well as good entertainment for all the women as we watch these men try to put on their mantyhose.

I suppose even slightly less disturbing, but still up there on the “why does Darren know this” list is that not only had Darren noticed the mantyhose the day before, but had investigated the option of purchasing the website, because he thought and I quote “it’s clever”.  I’m not sure if I should be terrified or amused, but I do know that if any of you see him wearing mantyhose at the next race, that you please take some pictures.

So while at IMAZ there was a screaming deal on Cervelos (test bikes from Kona), and even though it was still technically YOD, D made a special exception and let me borrow a couple minutes of his year to make my purchase.  So that was the good side.  The bad side since we didn’t have our bike box with us in Arizona, I had to wait for the bike to be shipped back from AZ to Charleston to have it then shipped back to CA, so it took about 3 weeks for it to arrive. And it did…in a box…in the hallway for 2 weeks. 

It's a nice bike, trust me...

But see there was a method to my madness – Darren’s birthday present was a bike work stand (ok, so maybe the bike stand was more for my bike, and not really for his bike, but he did request it, and I figured, maybe that would mean my bike could be constructed sooner).  So I had to wait for his birthday before he could open his box.

So what’s the point of all of this – just that last night, the bike stand was constructed:

The Stand The Stand!!!

AND…we don’t have anything planned for Sunday, AND my new shifters have arrived…So I’m thinking I might have a bike, and not a box with a bike by the end of this weekend!!! Woohooooo!!!!