Andrea is affectionately referred to as "Rat" by her closest friends and competitors.  She acquired this name in junior high when her track coach had a hard time pronouncing her last name during roll call.  Hence, it was shortened to "Rat."

Okay, remember that girl I told you about just about a week ago?  Well, get this?  That crazy $%#^$(*& is getting married now!!!  Oh, excuse me---she's having a committment ceremony.  How do you commit your LIFE to someone after only "knowing" them for 2 weeks?  Please, can somebody tell me that?  Are these lesbians THAT desperate?!!  Give me a break on that whole oh-she's-the-one bullcrap.  Yeah, she's the one until she snores her ass off at night and doesn't shave her armpits and leaves the toothpaste oozing all over the sink.  She's the one who flips the hell out when you so much as glance at another woman and who calls you 15 times a day because she just wants to know how you're doing.  She's the one who gains 82 pounds over the next year because now you're "married", and neither of you can cook, so you eat out all the time, and she chews with her mouth open and talks at the same time and slurps her cola.

LOL!!  

Oh, and that rock--in--my--shoe thing?  Forget that crap!!

Hey, thank you for the comments saying that my blog isn't boring.  Sometimes I feel like it is because my life isn't that super exciting all of the time.  Doidy doh.  But thank you thank you.

You "newbie" peeps out there---who are you?  I can't be referring to you as "newbie1" or "newbie2" or whatever.  I'm gonna hafta start naming ya'll like hurricanes and stuff.  So, you want to know more about my personal life, eh?  Hmmmmmmm.  Well, I ain't tellin' ya nuthin'!!  LOL!  I'm feeling quite the smartass right now.  Can you tell?  heh heh

Are any of ya'll on myspace.com?  I'm on there too, so join up pals.  I'm ratandrea.

Are my blogs boring? You all can make comments on my blogs, and I wish you would so that I know what you think about what I'm saying. Not that I care (just kidding). I DO care. I often think of lots of things to write, but then I forget them by the time I get to a computer. I should start jotting notes. My mind is FULL of all sorts of bizarros. I wonder if kids read this blog. See because then I can't cuss. Not that I have to cuss, but sometimes it just sounds better. So, I do kind of screen what I write.

End of a nation. Start of a survey. Scream at your mother. Your dad's at the doorway.

For real, what the heck kind of crap is that?!!

Las Vegas is warm. I like Vegas except that I like leaving it too! It's a bit too noisy for me. I'm here celebrating my grandma's 85th and my dad's 65th. Alot of my family flew in from all over to this party in the Sahara. Open bar. Stiff drinks. Good time.
I won $275 at the craps table. That game kicks ass.
I went running, and it didn't take too long before I was sitting on the curb trying to figure out why my Achilles was hurting so much. I remember getting so frustrated over a month ago on a run that I took this big rock and put it in my shoe. It relieved the pain in my Achilles, but it was too painful to run on, so I took it out, but I saved the rock. Today, I found a rock and put it in my shoe. It's about a half an inch thick and about an inch long. It felt brilliant. The rock is a bit painful but not so painful that I can't run. The mechanism of action, I presume, is that it digs in to my plantar fascia thereby alleviating tension on my heel at the attachment of my Achilles. I think the rock also provides a firm support so that my foot doesn't pronate which also alleviates tension on my Achilles. Really, it does hurt quite a bit, but since I don't feel pain in my Achilles I really don't care!! Maybe I'm on to something here. If I could develop some sort of small hard thing to put under my arch instead of a full orthotic which causes my entire foot to supinate too much, I think I could help my Achilles problem and maybe some other people's problems. Sometimes you only need a little bit, not a lot as 50 cent would say.
Well, I'll let you know how it goes. I'll be running with this rock from here on out monitoring changes in my Achilles pain and stuff.

October is my most "off" month.  I tend to play more during this month than train.  I decided to do a local duathlon in Bethany, OK. which happened to be the last duathlon of a series AND the Oklahoma State Championship.  Athletes from all over came to race.  I was really surprised at the caliber of the competition.  There were some very fast people there; I have to say that I was impressed, and you won't hear me say that very often.  This race was very well put on, and the course was fabulous.  It went around and near Lake Overholser, AND there was free locally brewed beer afterwards! 

My calves are sore today as are my biceps and stomach muscles.  I was in good cardio. shape especially from being in my altitude tent, but I was not in good muscular shape, so basically I was able to push myself beyond my fitness level.  For instance, I have only been running for about a month, and it's been sporadic because of my Achilles tendon.  I've been doing about 4 miles here and there on my good days at about 7:30/mile pace.  On some days I only ran for 10 minutes.  I kid you not.  One of my friends can verify this.  Anyway, I was shocked when I saw my 2 mile time in the duathlon; it was like 11:08!!  Yeah, okay, I don't know where THAT came from.  My legs were really tired for the bike, though, and now I know why!  I rode pretty good on the bike.  I just used my road bike.  My time trial bike would have been better, but it's taken apart.  I put parts from it on to my road bike.  I'm hoping Javelin will come through for me with a COMPLETE time trial bike.  I think I've marketed them pretty darn well.  Now, lots of people are riding Javelin, but back when Scott started out and stuff it was just a few of us riding his frames.

There was lots of drafting going on during the bike leg.  That happens.  You can't see everything all of the time; there just aren't that many officials.  You have to rely on people's integrity.  Anyway, all I know is that I can say that I did the race solo like I was suppose to.

On the second run I got passed by this guy who hollered out, "I know you.  You used to run marathons.  We trained together in 1995 in Stillwater."  I trained in Stillwater, OK. for a few months before the 1996 Olympic Trials because they have lots of dirt roads.  I found out who the guy was.  His name is Chuck Sloan, and if I remember correctly this dude was an outstanding steeplechaser.  Well, now he's a great duathlete.  I hope I get to see him again and chat with him.  I miss my marathon days...

I was pretty exhausted during this race because I went out Friday night and didn't get to sleep until about 4:30am Saturday.  I got up and rode Saturday morning for about 2.5 hours with some friends and averaged 18.5mph which includes getting in and out of town.  We probably averaged closer to 19mph.  I pulled the whole time except for about 3 minutes, so I had a good time trial on Saturday and then had to do one again on Sunday!  It's all good.  I had a great time at the race and met some really wonderful people.  I've never done a local race, so it was a real treat for me.

Oh yeah, this one gal---well, I arrived late as usual and had only about a half hour to get my crap together.  I heard this gal asking someone for a tube as she was explaining what happened to hers (something about the valve stem).  The person said he/she didn't have one, so I offered one up.  Well, I didn't have one, but my friend did, so she gave it to her.  Well, the woman didn't know how to change a tube!!  I chuckled and walked over to her.  She said, "I'm ready to go home."  I said, "Ah, no you're not.  You're going to do fine."  I guess it was her first duathlon.  I changed her tube and showed her how to do it.  I pumped up her tube/tire and got her on her way.  After the race, I asked her how she did, and she told me she crashed and got stung by a bee on her inner thigh!  Her elbow was all scraped up.  She had a smile on her face, though, and was happy with her time, so I was glad for her. 

I'm not going to be coaching/directing the OKC Velo Women's Team.  I'm actually sort of relieved because I'm more interested in working with my athletes at this time.  I'm also leaving the country for 3 months which is a concern for them.  They wanted someone that would be there for them more.  They are more of a developmental team and need more direction which is understandable.  I may be racing for a different local team anyway.  I spoke with the "go to" guy about that at the duathlon and told him that I would bring the most locally talented ladies with me.  He was excited about that.  You know in cycling though, it ain't true unless it's happenin'.  It would be great to get all of us together, though.  We all get along great, and my goal would be to help them reach theirs.

My gunshot wound is healing nicely.  My lower back is a bit sore, and that's about it.  My wonderful friends are calling me "bullet butt" and "target practice."  Aren't they nice?  LOL!!  They would say that stuff if they didn't love me...

Let's see---what else has been going on?  Well, one of my friends owes me some money, but he's acting like an ass about the whole thing.  It's shocking really.  It is truly AMAZING what happens to people when money is brought into the picture.  This dude and I used to talk all the time, but now he doesn't call me, come see me, email me----nothing!  He's owed me this money for nearly 6 months now.  The thing is, I even told the bastard that I don't care if he pays it, but just let me know one way or another.  He's acting like a woman!!  What I mean by that is generally women tend to hold grudges and let things just build and build and build until they blow, or they just will steer clear of the problem.  They withdraw from a confrontational situation instead of just dealing with it like most men do.  Men tend to be more rational; hence, they deal with things on a more practical level instead of on an emotional one.  They like to fix the problem.  Women like to stew about it and talk about it to everyone else EXCEPT to the person who they need to.  Anyway, to say the least, it's been a rather diappointing revelation about this guy.  I never would have thought...  He's willing to throw away a friendship for a few hundred bucks.  That's just sick.

Another person I know has decided she's fallen in love with this woman in Dallas after knowing her for only a few days.  LOL!!  I guess some people just have that U-Haul Syndrome thing going.  Oh, and this comes after, "Well, I don't want a relationship right now.  I'm just dating around."  She just got out of a 7 month relationship.  So, we're talking, and I'm asking her some things, and she finally says, "I want a parternship."  Okay, but I thought you just said that you didn't want a relationship.  Aren't women the most fascinating creatures?  LOL!

Here I am a woman, and it sounds like I'm dogging women.  I'm not.  I don't dog women or men.  I simply take note of their similarities and differences and reflect on them occasionally.  Speaking of, I rented the movie "Kinsey" last night.  It's a good one. 

It's Wednesday, and today is good. Monday wasn't as good. I was out for a training ride when I got shot in my lower back by a small caliber gun of some sort. Judging by the way it sounded I'd say it was a high powered pellet gun. It left a hole in my back, but it didn't stay in me. Only one bullet of several actually hit me. I was riding on a bike path when a car with two teenage looking boys opened fire on me from the road. It felt like a sting and then fire. I prayed for a red light up ahead, and I got one, so I was able to chase the car down and approach it. I was livid. I rode right up to the passenger window only momentarily thinking that I may get shot in the face. At that point, however, I felt like it was more important that I be able to identify the shooter. I gave the boys a "what for" and told them I was reporting them to the police. The light turned green, and they sped off. I called the police at a nearby gas station and then had a co-worker from the hospital take me to the ER. She had alerted everyone to the situation, so I was seen right away when I arrived. I felt like so much attention was being paid to me. It was almost embarassing, but I was also amazed by the worry people had. It made me feel really cared for. Anyway, unbeknownst to me, my body was in shock. My temperature was only 95.4 degrees. They got me some warm blankets, took some xrays, cleaned the wound, and that was about it. I'm good friends with the ER doc who saw me, so we chatted about cycling and stuff since he, too, is an avid cyclist.
I am humbled by the amount of support I've received by both people I know and those who I don't. I've had people in the street stop their cars and talk to me. One guy this morning told me to bring the boys to house when I find them so that he can kick their asses. LOL!!
I guess I'm glad that I'm the one who got shot as opposed to someone who may have panicked or an elderly person or a small child. Lots of commuters use that bike path too.
The next day I went for a ride. My back was sore, but really when something like this happens it's more of the emotional trauma that gets to you as opposed to the physical trauma. I was sick to my stomach while I was riding. I was very anxious. Once I was riding with my friends it was better, and today it was all good. I just have to keep moving in a positive direction with this.
When I was riding Tuesday before meeting up with my friends I did take some time to ponder some things. I was looking out across the grass noticing how green it was. The sky was so blue too without a cloud in the sky. Then it came to me. It came to me how very careless we are. We are careless with our bodies, with the way we drive, with the things we say, with the things we do. We are careless with our thoughts and our behavior. We are careless with our loves and with our lives. Why is that?

I went to Port Arthur, TX. yesterday to deliver supplies and stuff to the survivors of Hurricane Rita.  Wow.  The devastation was something.  There were lots of trees uprooted and firmly placed upon cars and in roofs of houses.  The residential neighborhoods were deserted.  I mean there were NO people or animals anywhere to be found except for a few brave souls who were busy cleaning up.  I imagine that most everyone is still in shelters.  I approached some people and spoke with them offering words of encouragement.  They looked at me with bewilerment when I handed them free stuff, and they thanked me.  I didn't feel any heroism; I wanted to be anonymous.  I just wanted to give people what they needed and get on my way which is what I did.  There was a curfew from 7p-7a, and none of the streetlights were working.  There were no gas stations, and Wal-Mart was closed as was the local H.E.B. (grocery store).  There were lots of disaster relief vehicles around town, and the Red Cross was giving away free food.  The town was relatively quiet not getting near the attention that New Orleans had gotten and is still getting even though tiny Port Arthur was the latest victim.  The people down there, though, aren't being jerks to each other or to anyone else.  They are calmly trying to get their lives back together.  They are coming together as a town, ethnic background meaning nothing.  I saw racially diverse people helping one another instead of shooting one another and looting one another.  I wanted to stay longer and help, but I had to work today at the hospital.  I'm glad I made the trip down there, though.

I didn't want ya'll to think I'd disappeared.  I just haven't been on the internet.  Heading down to Texas tomorrow to deliver money and supplies to the Port Arthur area.

I've decided that shopping in Wal-Mart is similar to racing in a criterium.  I have learned to "read" the other shoppers in order to make my moves.  I try to anticipate where they are going to go before they actually go there.  It makes my shopping experience all the more pleasant and rewarding for me!

I'm out of shape right now, but that is how October usually is; although, I'll be doing a small duathlon right here in Bethany, OK.  It will be my first "local" duathlon.  I'm looking forward to it, and I've gotten a few other people to sign up who've never done duathlons.  All 3 of them are purely cyclists, but they have all run before.

When I get into my email I will continue posting fanmail.  I love getting fanmail!!  I hope to get to meet all of my fans one day.