I signed up for a thing and I’m terrified

So here we go. October 19-22 I’ll be attempting 29029 which is basically climbing a trail on Stratton 17 times in 36 hours. Each ascent is 1.35 miles with a total of 22.4 miles should I complete all 17. Though it’s the shortest of the 29029 moutains, it is the steepest. I just don’t have the desire for the tri life anymore. trying to be good at 3 sports (and flailing), idk, I just don’t have it in me right now. Once I left my tri team last year, the flame really died. I figured, ok, this is walking. I can do that (and yes, I’m aware it’s much more than that but you get my drift)

Right now, my fitness level ain’t great. After years of doing triathlons and 5ks, I’ve spent the last 6 years letting my fitness journey be delayed by big things at first and then little things. I’m not gonna rehash it all here. You can look at previous posts for all the dirty laundry.

For now, I’m not gonna let fear stop me. Fear of failure, fear of looking foolish.

I’ve been working out with HAOS strength training off and on (ok, mostly off) since November and I’m definitely stronger. My goal is to amp that up and be more consistent.

I (stupidly? jk) signed up for the BAA 5k which is 7 weeks from tomorrow. I started training for that way late, waiting til last week. I’ve started the Couch to 5k program for the fifty billionth time. My friend Landon has been a big inspiration as I’ve followed his running journey. Of course, his amazing fiancee Tricia really started getting my gears going towards running again as she tackles personal milestone after milestone with grace. And Shultzy. Watching him complete the Marathon last year was nothing short of inspiring. Funny how my Key West peeps still impact my life in a huge way. thanks guys!

Heather Gaines did this a couple of years ago and just blew me away with her dedication. I’ve been following Jesse Itzler for years (I was first, LD girls!) and have always been intrigued by the events he does. So with HG’s brand of enthusiasm, I bit the bullet and signed up for this. I know she’ll be in my corner every step of the way!!!

There was another person that I told at the beginning and I was met with instant discouragement. Proving this person wrong is another movitivater for sure.

My buddy Will is serving as my accountability coach for sure. he’s already a pain in my ass so he’s perfect for it. (i kid, I kid).

So here we go…….

subscribe to this blog for all the good, bad and the ugly about this journey.

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Real Fit podcast with Pam Moore

Pam Moore found me on social media and asked me to be a guest on her podcast. I’ve since listened to amazing discussions she’s had with other athletes and I’ve learned, laughed and shed a few tears. I highly recommend subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for having me, Pam!

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Comedy Key West 2/10/2022

prove me wrong! I take gift certificates in all denominations šŸ˜‰
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Comedy Key West Summah 2021

Comedy Key West! quick little clip from a show in July 2021 šŸ™‚

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It’s Too Early with Hays Blinckmann

Lots of Laughs with my pal Hays when I filled in for Gwen on “it’s too early” on Island 106.9

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Reality Charmed on It’s Too Early 106.9

 

 

I covered Gwen Filosa’s show “it’s too early” on Island 106.9 and had my pal Stephanie Kaple as my guest and despite everything going on in the world, we only talked about Bravo.

 

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Flamingo Comedy Festival Showcase:Orlando Improv

ok. here’s my set from Wednesday 1/8. I have mixed feelings about it. for some reason, I decided to throw in something on the spot at the beginning. and I definitely got psyched out by the end. Overall, had a great time and I’m glad I got into the competition!

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Streaking Back to Life

Hey Campers!
I’ve been very neglectful of this blog. And my health, quite frankly. It’s been a rough couple of years and I haven’t gotten up off the mat as quickly as I usually do. Plus when I’ve started to stand up, something else would come and knock me down again. It just became easier to stay down. What’s been happening? Since 3/17: dog died, Hurricane Irma, suicides of acquaintances, suicide of close friend, big/stressful work audit, injuries, illness, I got a splinter, had a tummy ache, someone looked at me (when you’re down, doesn’t every little thing get you down?) blah blah blah and on and on. Bored yet? I am too. We all have stuff going on that can be just overwhelming. You feel like you’re just beneath the surface of the ocean and you can see daylight above but you just can’t get to it. Or you do but then a giant wave comes and back down you go. But I got help. I’ve asked for it professionally and personally and to quote CJ Gregg: “The help’s helped”.

Anyway, I’ve barely worked out. I’ve barely kept a hold on my healthy eating. I’ve slipped more than I’ve stood solid, yada, yada, yada. The past couple months, I’ve finally felt back to normal (whatever that is). I’m still struggling with training. I’ll be fully kitted out in my bike gear and it’s just like there’s a physical wall blocking the door. It’s crazy! I’ve experienced that before to some degree but never to this level. I’m basically having to start from scratch. Again. For like the 92nd time. And then it just becomes a habit NOT to work out. Doesn’t even cross my mind some days!

I’ve decided to try to kickstart myself with something a friend posted this morning, My friend Katie Pridemore has a Runs Streak going for 1,792 days!! that’s almost 5 YEARS!!!! I’ve followed her through it as she’s run through illness, pregnancies and more. And every day, she gets out there and runs (at least) a mile. It’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen anyone do. She happened to post an article about Run Streaks today: Ā Runner’s World Run StreakingĀ And it got me thinking. Tomorrow it’ll have me doing. I’ve always done well with streaks (though I’ve never gone streaking). Maybe this will be the kick start I need. I’ve got to start over in training and maybe this will help.

One Mile a Day. 35 Days. Now, I won’t be able to run the whole mile right now which is definitely embarrassing. I’m starting with run/walk and hoping to run (at least) a mile by the end of it.

Who wants to join me?

Facebook group:

GilmourGirl Run Streak 2019 Holidays

 

 

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Florida’s Funniest Female Entry

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The Ballad of Bonny Lass

The following has been a work in progress since I lost my Bonny Lass on March 13, 2017. I’ve finally finished it March 13, 2019. Though I’m sure I’ll add to it occasionally.

I am fully aware of all the bad things going on in the world and people have certainly lost more in their lives than a dog. In fact we’ve lost a lot since I started writing this entry. This is just my story and one I wanted to write for me.

A girl and her dog

bonny beach

I never had a dog of my own until Bonny Lass. I always wanted one. When I was a kid, I didn’t have an imaginary friend. I had an imaginary dog named King. He was a lovely, protective German Shepherd. Anyway, Bonny and I met in March of 2003 when my roommate at the time, Fiona decided she wanted a dog. She found a rescue outside of Orlando that specialized in young border collies and off we went with our friend Sue. It was quite a long, fun drive and when we got to the rescue place, we were excited to meet Fiona’s new dog. The rescue was interesting to say the least. It had a HUGE outdoor space for the dogs, but the dogs were kept in cages in a shed on the property and the woman that ran it kind of left a bad taste in our mouths. Fiona was deciding between two dogs: Bonny Lass and another one. The woman let all the dogs out of their cages to run around and then put them back in and brought the two dogs she was interested in one at a time to meet Fiona. Well, I took one look at Bonny Lass and fell in love. Sue and I were sitting off to the side so as not to influence Fiona on what was a personal choice. I remember saying to Sue that I didn’t know what I would do if Fiona didn’t choose Bonny Lass. I couldn’t leave without that dog. At the time, I was still living in the Boston area in the summers and coming down just for the winters. I worked on boats up there 6-7 long days a week and the condo I had didn’t allow dogs. There wasn’t a way for me to take her. Sue and I still laugh when we remember when the rescue lady had us put Bonny Lass back in her cage so Fiona could spend some time with contestant number two. Bonny splayed out and was like ā€œI am NOT getting back in thereā€ (a stubbornness that endeared her to me from the beginning that she always kept. She never did anything she didn’t want to do). As Sue and I wrestled her back in, Sue told her in her dog whisperer Sue way ā€œDon’t worry, this is just for now. You’re coming home with usā€. It worked, we got Bonny back in the cage easily and lo and behold, Fiona picked her! Bonny’s first ride with us was in my car back to Key West. We stopped at Petco on the way back while Fiona bought her all sorts of supples and we were all just so happy for Fiona and Bonny Lass.

Over the next few years, Bonny Lass had quite the life. I was just a part time player in it. There are so many stories with Bonny that I wasn’t a part of: she was kidnapped! She survived hurricanes! She made friends, played softball, boated and had many adventures. It’s funny to me to think about all the stuff she did before she came into my life full time! She was loved by all that met her. The original bond Bonny and I shared stayed strong even though I only saw here for a few months at a time. Whenever I came back to Key West Bonny would lose her mind when she saw me. It was always a great reunion!

In October of 2007, I moved to Key West year round. I stayed with Sue and Robyn right down the street from Fiona, Dave, Tallulah, Bonny Lass and their other dog Gunny. I saw a lot of Bonny as we all worked at Lazy Dog together. Fiona and I would take her daughter Tallulah and Bonny for walks a couple of mornings a week (I would always have to hold Bonny’s leash. I was like a little kid with her). Dave and Fiona had a TON of construction going on at the time. It was just too much with a toddler so Fiona took off for her parents on the West Coast with Tallulah for a few weeks. That left Bonny Lass home with Dave and Gunny. I was working full time for Lazy Dog and started picking up Bonny in the mornings, taking her to work with me and then bringing her back at night. Then I stopped bringing her back lol. I finally dropped her off the day before Fiona got back. It was kind of funny cause after that, whenever I’d see Fiona either out or at their house, Bonny would try to go home with me. Fiona provided her with a fantastic life but I think Bonny knew how obsessed I was with her. One morning, Fiona met me for a walk and gave me my Christmas present. I opened the box and inside was a dog tag that had Bonny Lass on the front and my phone number on the back. I was in disbelief. Fiona said that it was obvious how happy we made each other and she thought that Bonny should be mine. the dog that stole my heart 4 years before belonged to me and me to her. It was the best present that I ever received.

I was working at Lazy Dog as a kayak guide and I had a dog that went with me every time. We used to have her go with others at first if I was stuck on land but that didn’t last long. If she could see me, she’d jump out of the guide’s kayak and swim all the back to shore. I took her to work with me every day. Back when I was at the shack every day I never had her on a lead or leash. She would just hang out at the Shack. Her 3 favorite places to hang out at the Shack:Ā 

  1. right in the doorway so everyone had to constantly step over her
  2. under the kayak rack (some of her ashes are there). This was when it was super hot. So like every day. She’d dig a hole under there and sleep.Ā 
  3. ON TOP of the picnic table. She was the Queen and we her royal subjects. We were to bring her the finest turkey in all the land.

Not having her on a leash did lead to Bonny’s greatest trick: The ability to completely disappear in 30 seconds. She’d be in the doorway. I’d turn to help a customer and then POOF, she was gone. It got more and more impressive as she got older. She could fly for an old girl. We’d all wait a few minutes and then collectively sigh as the search began. She could usually be found at the restaurant, on the back dock or somewhere in the parking lot. On many occasions we’d get a call from the bike shop that was way on the opposite side of the parking lot ā€œwe have Bonny. We’ll bring her back in a fewā€. She always looked so proud when she returned from her walkabout. Even when she had to go on the ā€œleash of Shameā€ after. She probably mostly thought I was an idiot for continuing to not tie her up.

Even though she liked to wander, she always wanted to know where I was. I would need to drive guests back and forth from downtown. I didn’t always take her especially when the van was full. If I didn’t tell her to ā€œstayā€ and ā€œI’ll be right backā€, I would come back and find her laying by my car. That always impressed me as it’s not like I parked in the same spot every day. When she was tied up and I was gone, the second she saw me coming down the path she would start her Bonny howling as if I had left her for years. That always made me feel loved. Though she was probably more just complaining about the indignity of being tied up.Ā 

Part of my job involved going to the cruise ship pier pretty much every day to meet our guests. On 2 of the 3 piers, she could come right to the ship with me. The security staff would take such good care of her. They had treats for her and let her grab ice out of the cooler (like she grabbed it herself. If she wanted some, she’d walk right to the cooler and one of us would open it up and she’d grab some ice and sit down for a chew). The security guys loved her so much that they made her her own Port Pass. All of the guests were missing their own dogs and would come right up to Bonny to pet her. This is where she won over those of us that live here. Because Bonny Lass hardly ever gave the time of day to anyone she didn’t know. A guest would fawn over her and Bonny would just sigh and not even acknowledge the petting. When we got to Pier B, she would go right to the first palm tree and just camp out. Without fail, when there was 5 minutes left to go, she’d come right over to me like ā€œlet’s go, let’s wrap it upā€. Now most days we had two tours to meet. I’d bring one group to the vans and would have about 20-30 mins before I needed to go meet the next group. We’d go to the Fury Surf Shack where she had her own water bowl for a water and ac break. Bonny was often ā€œone and doneā€ with the groups. She almost never wanted to got out to the ship for a second tour. She’d either stay in the Surf Shack or most of the time, she’d hang out at the Fury Jet Ski booth. We’d be walking back to the pier and she’d just make a left and go behind their rope and lay down. It was hilarious. Everyone at Fury took such great care of her. At the Mallory Square Pier I had to keep a close eye on her as she liked to wander around a bit more there. Usually though, she’d find some shade at security with the police officer friends she loved. She knew all of them well because when a ship was at the Outer Mole, Bonny wasn’t allowed to ride the shuttles out to the ship. No problem, the guys at that security were happy to have her stick around while she waited for me. Now one Officer (Mike) was known as a cat lover. And I think Bonny knew it because though she knew him, she never really gave him the time of day. Until that one day when a squall ran through and Bonny was freaked out. Mike put her in his police truck to get her out of the storm. She warmed up to him after that.Ā 

Back then we could bring dogs to the Conch Farm so me and Jerry would hop on his boat with Bonny and her boyfriend Cash and head to happy hour a couple of times a week. Whenever I lost sight of her, I knew where to look. She would inevitably be sitting by the fish tank just staring lol. Lots of Fridays she was as much a fixture at the Conch Farm Happy Hour as I was. Richard would bring Tucker and often times both dogs would do the crawl with us and be sleeping away at La Te Da at 2 in the morning waiting to go home while we solved the world’s problems with Sassy over Complicateds.

Boating was such a huge part of our lives. Every Saturday and often on Sunday too we all go boating. There was absolutely nothing that Bonny Lass loved more and my best memories are of boating the days away. Saturdays were with Richard and Bethany in the later years. There was exactly one official seat on Richard’s boat. And if you sat in it, you can bet that Bonny Lass would work her way up to that seat so she could see over the side on the boat ride out. She rarely slept on the way back lest she miss a dolphin sighting. Man she loved dolphins. She would whip herself up into a frenzy howling and whining, just wanting to swim with the dolphins. The three moments of dolphin chasing that were my faves:

-on the Irish Mist when we first realized her obsession. We stopped for a pretty large pod and before we knew it, she had jumped off the boat and was amongst the dolphins. We all thought she was going to drown or get attacked. But at least she would go doing what she loved!

-Jerry and Sam loved to do sunset on the boat. Before the kids we used to go out all the time and Jerry would throw the anchor and cook an amazing dinner. It was right around sunset when a dolphin popped up and sure enough, SPLASH, there went Bonny after the dolphin. The problem was we were in a sharky area at peak shark time. we pulled the anchor and motored to get her 3 times before we finally tied her up (hey, there were cocktails and it was just about dark. no idea how she kept seeing it!)

-Another time was at Boca Grande before they got super strict about dogs. All of a sudden Bonny took off down the beach and jumped in after a dolphin. I ran down after her. Everyone threw everything on the boat and had to go get her. She was relentless.

Her need to be near me was put into action the first time I took her snorkeling with me. I didn’t think anything of leaving her on the boat when I jumped off and swam away. She started HOWLING. We all figured that she’d eventually stop whining. I stuck my head up at one point as you usually do to see where I was in relation to the boat when it occurred to me that it was quiet. I figured ā€œgreat! she stoppedā€. But wait, there she was swimming out towards me. In water that I couldn’t touch the bottom. Oh boy! she was going to drown me! I had to swim back to the boat as quickly as possible so she wouldn’t use me as a floatation device! From that point on, whenever I went snorkeling, she had to get tied up. She loved boating more than anything. She knew my boat bag and would start running around as soon as I brought it out. This was tricky during mini season as dogs weren’t allowed on the boat. I legit used to wait til she was asleep and then put the bag out my front door so she wouldn’t see it.Ā  I told Jerry that I wanted him to take me out to Snipe’s Point with her ashes once I was ready. He said just let him know and he’d drop everything and go. And he did. One beautiful weekday Jerry, Tyler and I set out. It was so fitting that dolphins popped up and led us out there for a bit. I buried most of her ashes there and think of her every time I’m out there.Ā 

Another favorite beach of ours is the one across the street from my place. You could find Bonny and I there most days for sunset. And you’d find her looking for fish or collecting rocks. Some of her ashes are buried there as well.Ā 

It’s definitely hard for some folks to understand. I get it. Bonny Lass went EVERYWHERE with me. She came to work, she came with me on errands, she came out to the bars, she came with me to friends’ houses. Everywhere. I think that made things even more difficult after she died. I couldn’t really escape here memory anywhere. She was welcomed even in places that dogs weren’t allowed.

The day she died was one of the hardest days of my life. She was more than a dog to me, she was my doggy soulmate. It’s 2 years later and I’m crying as I type this. The way people rallied around me after her death was amazing. And not just my closest friends. The whole island was amazing. From friends to people I barely knew. Everywhere I went people wanted to tell me how sorry they were and how much they liked her. More than a few people would just cry when they saw me. Patti said it was just so weird to see me walk in or by and not see Bonny Lass 3 feet behind me. More than one person remarked how it just broke their hearts not to see her loping behind. I got so many amazing gifts and flowers (even from the florists themselves). It meant so much.Ā 

It’s been 2 years. When I lost my Lass, I was lost. I knew I was going to get another dog but figured it would be awhile. About 2 weeks after she died I was looking at rescues and saw this sweet little black and white dog whose eyes just kind of reminded me of Bonny. I couldn’t get the puppy out of my head. I felt like guilty about wanting her. Sue was the one that made me really think hard about getting her. She said ā€œlook at the life you can give a dog. You owe it to a dog to rescue itā€. She was right. I didn’t intend to get one so quick. But 5 weeks after Bonny died, Leia was mine. She definitely reminded me of Bonny yet for sure has her own personality. I didn’t think I could love another dog (and it’s not the same love as Bonny Lass), but man, do I love my Leia. I really think Leia saved me.Ā 

bonny memorial

 

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