Vokoun taken out by teammate

Maybe it's because I'm in a bad mood, grumpy that I didn't get to eat dinner, but I have to rant a bit so bare with me.

I know that anyone that actually reads this blog might not be interested in hockey, sorry!

Here is a link to an article regarding Keith Ballard taking out his own goalie, Tomas Vokoun, because in anger he swung his stick at the goal and whacked Vokoun in the head, after Ilya Kovalchuk schooled Richards and scored a goal.

Vokoun left the game on a stretcher and had to get stitches, fortunately nothing worse. I can only imagine how much it's going to hurt when he puts that goalie mask back on.

Now, yes I do have a soft spot for Thomas Vokoun because he was my #1 goalie on my fantasy hockey team last year and yes I do have a soft spot for goalies in general because that is my favorite position in hockey (yes that is true, despite Mike Green being a defensemen, I still love the goalies)!

The article informs us that the Florida Panthers nor the NHL will penalize Ballard for his actions. OK, I was not at the game, and I have only seen the replays that I can find online or that have been on every sports channel. The article indicates that Ballard was "visibly" upset, I didn't see that in any of the footage. But beside that what the was he thinking???? The net belongs to the goalie, if they get angry and want to crack their stick on the side of the goal then great, because obviously they won't be in goal but you make that decision when your goalie is in goal. Where did you think he went??

OK, Ballard is upset and I'm sure regrets his actions and would love to roll back time, but he unleashed uncalled for fury. Yes I said that about a hockey player.

The number of injuries for goalies has increased significantly over the past couple of years and yet referees continue to let players intentionally take out goalies with no penalties but if a goalie retaliates they get a penalty.

My theory is that the little blue space in between those pipes belongs to the goalie and if you enter that realm then good luck to you because you are now at the mercy of some of the most amazing goalies!

Now that doesn't resolve this current situation, I do think that Ballard should be penalized, I agree he didn't mean to do it but he did deliberately swing that stick at the goal. Why is that any different than someone that intentionally head hunts or a player that intentionally leaves his skates to take someone out?

Just my thoughts, thus the title of this blog "Talking to Myself."

Get well soon Tomas Vokoun! and no I'm not a Florida Panthers fan, just a hockey / goalie fan :>)

Training Update

I realized it's been awhile since my last fitness/training update and I'm sure everyone thinks I've been off my game.....well not completely.

Back in September I wrote what my goals were going to be for the next 16 weeks, so I thought I would do a quick check in to let everyone know that I'm not too far off track.

1. Get back on track with my weight loss and actually get to my goal weight of 145-150.
UPDATE: Well I must admit while in Texas I enjoyed all the BBQ and Tex Mex I could find and did gain a few lbs but tomorrow is weigh in day and I think I'm going to be back down to the weight I was before I left. Still not at the 145-150 goal but I'm making progress. While my weight loss has been slow, I'm definitely committed to keeping it off.
2. Get back on track with healthy eating.
UPDATE: Before heading to Texas and since we have been back, I have been eating very healthy. I'm very pleased that I can have a small splurge every once in awhile.
3. Stick to 16 week fitness plan.
UPDATE: The 16 week plan has been adjusted more than a few times but I'm happy to say that my running, biking and strength training are going well. My swimming has been non-existent, but I'm committed to getting to the pool in the next 2 weeks.
4. Improve swimming.
UPDATE: See update for #2.
5. Improve strength training.
UPDATE: This is going well. The past 3-4 weeks I've increased my reps and weights and in the next week or two I need to change up the actual exercises I do.

So there you have it, not great but still doing well.

I'm registered for 2 sprint tri's in 2010, Columbia Sprint Tri in June, which is the same distance as the Iron Girl and of course the Iron Girl in August.

I was hoping to enter an Olympic distance tri next year but think that goal will need to hold off till 2011. I'm also planning on doing some mini tri's and as you all know I need to really focus on the swimming.

Texas Trip Summary

We have returned from a 10 day trip to Texas. We flew into San Antonio, TX on Fri, Nov 6th, after getting our luggage and rental car (PT Cruiser) our first stop was The County Line for some yummy BBQ. We fell in love with County Line a couple years ago and have vowed to eat there every time we are in Texas. They have the best baby back ribs and Pepper Jack Cheese Bites.

After filling our bellies, we headed South to Corpus Christi. We didn't book a hotel because the hubby thought it would be best to play it by ear and we are very glad that we did.

Corpus Christi was not the beach town we expected but we did enjoy visiting the USS Lexington - We spent several hours touring this WWII Aircraft Carrier. This was our favorite thing about Corpus Christi, we spent at least 3 hours touring around.


We also visited the Texas State Aquarium - We are clearly spoiled by the National Aquarium here in Maryland but we still had fun.

To see more photos of our trip go here -

Corpus Christi, TX

We of course went to the golf coast but didn't get any pictures. It was very cold and windy and the beaches were full of debris (not sure if that was from Hurricane Ida). The hotels and few houses were extremely rundown.

Sunday morning we made our way to our favorite place in Texas, Fredericksburg. We did some shopping, both Rob and Vince style and Nicol and mom style (inside joke) but most of all enjoyed the quietness of this wonderful town.

Tuesday we then made our way to Austin, where we stayed till Sunday and enjoyed the sites (UT, Warehouse district, 6th Street, Town Lake, etc).

While we are very glad to be back in the comfort of our home we are also sad to have left. Here is a list of our favorites from this trip:

1. County Line
2. Chuys http://www.chuys.com/#/home - I found out this was a favorite Tex Mex place of Lance Armstrong's and Frommers gave it a great write up. We actually made 2 trips to Chuys and LOVE their food. This will be a must for every trip to Austin in the future.
3. USS Lexington
4. Fredericksburg
5. The beautiful weather - 70-80's the entire time, we could have not asked for better.

Time to get back on track

The Iron Girl is now 3 weeks in the past and it's about time I work on getting back on track. I have definitely splurged over these past 3 weeks and have gained several pounds, I'm actually afraid to get on the scale :<( So I have just completed a new training plan for the rest of the year. My main focus is strength training and swimming.

I'm definitely signing up for the 2010 Iron Girl and am considering an Olympic distance Triathlon but I will make that decision at the beginning of 2010 when I reassess my swimming.

So for the next 16 weeks my goals are:

1. Get back on track with my weight loss and actually get to my goal weight of 145-150.
2. Get back on track with healthy eating.
3. Stick to 16 week fitness plan.
4. Improve swimming.
5. Improve strength training.

As always I hope anyone reading is establishing their own goals for the remainder fo the year!

Hockey , Hockey, Hockey

Hockey is finally here!! Today hubby and I spent all day watching the Washington Capitals practice at Kettler. This was our first time watching their practice and we both realized just how much we have missed hockey. For the most part everyone looks pretty good. Sad to hear that Flash is going to be out till October, we miss him. Practice Group B was the most disappointing, looked lazy and not ready to play. Overall, practice group C looked the best. Maybe I'm a bit biased since this was the group that Mike Green was in but Laich, Clark, Steckel, Schultz, Bourque and others looked great.

We have tickets for 7 home games this year, including the Home Opener on October 3rd and the last home regular season home game in March.

Is this the year? I sure hope so, it was heart breaking watching them last year play such a horrible 7th game against the Pens, this year has to be different.

YEA!!!! HOCKEY IS HERE!!!!!!