First Duathlon

I ran my first ever duathlon this weekend which consisted of a 2 mile beach run, 10 mile bike and then a 3.1 mile beach run. My brother-in-law did the triathlon the same day which swapped the 2 mile run for a 1/4 mile swim.

The race was a lot of fun... I beat myself up well. Wore my bikila's the whole time too. My initial run was okay - around a 10 min mile. Then was the 10 mile bike... which was terrible! Everyone was going faster than me on my mountain bike and I mean at least 10 mph faster. I really need a better bike for the next race (if I do one). Last was a 3.1 mile run which I did really well even though my legs felt like jelly. I was surprised to see that my time for the 2nd run was 27 minutes which is almost a personal best. Overall my time was 1:36:35 and my brother-in-law finished in an amazing 1:19:10.

Well, I really would like to try a triathlon sprint next.. just have to practice my swimming.

Here are some pictures...

-s

Identity Theft

I experienced first hand how Identity Theft can be as little as stealing your email address but cause a huge upset impacting your friends and family...
On Thursday as I was beginning a long weekend away with family, my husband received an email from an account using my firstname.lastname@yahoo.com.  I thought it was just spam as I do not have any Yahoo accounts.  However, as I began receiving email after email and phone call after phone call, I realized that this was much more than a SPAM email.  Someone hacked into my Gmail account on August 19, 2010 and changed the settings and password.  They then created a yahoo email account under my name.  They also hacked into my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts at the same time stopping all of my methods of online communication (except Twitter).  Next they sent an email to all my 700+ contacts through both my email account and the new Yahoo account they had created.  They set up my Gmail account so that all emails would be forwarded to the Yahoo account.  The email they sent to my contacts was as follows:

 

:::START EMAIL:::

Subject: My Plight

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to London, United Kingdom for a short vacation.unfortunately,we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We've been to the Embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Well I really need your financially assistance..Please, let me know if you can help us out? Am freaked out at the moment!!

Stefana.

:::END EMAIL:::

If a person would respond to that email, they would respond with the following:

:::START EMAIL:::

Subject: Western Union Details

Glad you replied back to my email..My phone as been stolen by the muggers i have nothing left on me and I'm grateful to God that i still have my life and my passport cos it would have been worst if they made away with my passport. all i need is 1,450 pounds you can have it wired to me via Western Union. Here's my info below

Stefana [MYLASTNAME]

30 Leicester Square, WC2H 7LA,

London United Kingdom

As soon as it is done, kindly get back to me with the confirmation number. Let me know if you are heading to the WU outlet now???

Keep me posted.

Stefana.

:::END EMAIL:::

The email was tailored based on the message or questions sent from my contacts.  On Facebook they prevented anyone from posting to my wall so I was not able to warn anyone and they changed both my password and my password reset information.  Also on LinkedIN they changed my password and password reset information. After about 24 hours of working to reset my passwords, shut down transactions to the western union account and tell everyone this is a hoax, I was able to get everything back under my control.  All my passwords have been changed and all computers scanned for viruses/spyware.  It’s a good thing I have layers of passwords that I use (some are for banking, some for credit card payments, some for email/Facebook).  For my email, Facebook and LinkedIN accounts, I had the same login information.  Well that has surely changed as of today. What upset me the most is that these people were actively conversing with my friends telling them where to send money, etc.  Also, being that I was in the car when this happened (and about 6 hours from my destination) I had to try to resolve all of this via my iPhone, which was not easy!  I’ve reported the incident to the FTC and the police.  My friend James had Western Union shut down all transactions to the address identified above (thank you for the support James!!!) while I emailed each of my contacts through my iPhone letting them know to ignore the “My Plight” email. I wanted to apologize to everyone who received this hoax and ask that if anyone did send money to the hackers – please let me know immediately so that I can report it to the police and FTC.  Lastly, I want to remind all of you that I would never ask you to send me money through email.  If I have access to email, I would have access to call you (SKYPE!!!).  Also, as a few friends suggested, you should know better than to believe that someone mugged me… me? of all people!?  I would definitely hurt them severely and probably steal their wallet too. J

 

Thank you to all of you who were able to assist and warn me on Thursday.  You are all great friends… and if you really do want to send me money… you can send it to my house J

 

-S

I'm not in London and I don't need money

Everyone,

I am not in london and don't need $$. Please don't respond to the email requesting help as a hacker has gotten into all of my accounts and is actively asking my contacts for money... Even as far as sending western union details.

Sorry about this!
BTW... My cell 5168183981 and CA email are the only things that aren't hacked right now.

Thx,
Stefana

Sent from my iPhone 

Race Log 2009-2010

Date	Race Name	Race Length	Time	Pace
5/10/2009	Elizabeth T. McNamee Memorial Run (w/Liv)	5k (3.1 Miles)	35:19	11:23
7/5/2009	Massapequa Firecracker	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:18	9:27
8/23/2009	Babylon Classic Dirty Sock	10k (6.2 Miles)	1:04:25	10:23
9/13/2009	Ryde Bridge-To-Bridge Run, Sydney, Australia	10k (6.2 Miles)	1:08:33	11:03
11/8/2009	Long Island Run for the Warriors	5k (3.1 Miles)	30:14	9:45
12/19/2009	Ho Ho Ho Holiday Run	5k (3.1 Miles)	34:16	11:03
1/24/2010	Winter Series, Caumsett	5k (3.1 Miles)	28:26	9:10
1/31/2010	Winter Series, Jones Beach	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:36	9:32
2/14/2010	Snowflake Run, Long Beach	4 Miles	38:22	9:35
3/6/2010	Little Cow Harbor	4 Miles	36:53	9:13
3/27/2010	Run for Aspire	10K (6.2 Miles)	58:11	9:23
4/11/2010	Jack Dowling	10 Miles	1:38:00	9:48
5/2/2010	LI Half Marathon	13.1 Miles	2:10:09	9:56
5/9/2010	Elizabeth T. McNamee Memorial Run (w/Liv)	5k (3.1 Miles)	31:51	10:16
6/19/2010	Shelter Island 10k	10k (6.2 Miles)	58:03	9:21
6/27/2010	Massapequa Firecracker	5k (3.1 Miles)	26:12	8:26
8/3/2010	Marcum Workplace Challenge (w/Liv)	3.5 Miles	38:00	10:51
8/21/2010	7th Annual Tri/Du/Run the Wildwoods	2mi run/10mi bike/3.1mi run	1:36:35	n/a
10/16/2010	Post Office 5k	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:36	9:32
11/14/2010	Long Island Run for the Warriors	10k (6.2 Miles)	59:19	9:34
11/25/2010	Garden City Turkey Trot	5 Miles	46:52	9:23

My New Avatar Feet

Fuzzy Feet

Liv has been potty training and doing a great job lately. She tells us when she has to go and hasn't had an accident in about 2 weeks. Very exciting! She even lasts through naps without a pull up and we're now working on lasting through the night. So last night before bed she was sitting on the toilet saying she had to go but playing at the same time. I think it's her new 'go to bed' stall tactic. She's sitting there for about 15 minutes (yea, she takes a while) when she starts tearing up. Sniffling she says, "Mommy, my foot." I ask her what happened and the tears start falling "my foot is fuzzy!". I look at her foot and say "there's no hair on your foot, you didn't cut it, no bug bites... what's wrong?". She insists that her foot is fuzzy so I take her off the bowl and she falls to the floor. Now I'm thinking the worst and feel her head for a fever. Nothing. I then look at her and she says, "now it's cold". It then clicks... "my foot is fuzzy" means her foot fell asleep and she was feeling pins and needles. How funny is that! I will be using this as my new way to describe the pins and needles feeling... "Fuzzy Feet".

-s

SUPERSCAPES UNLIMITED INC.

A bunch of people have asked me who did our backyard over so here are the details:

We hired Craig Fauth from Superscapes Unlimited to come in and design our full outdoor space (front and back yards). After about 10 minutes of listening to what we want to do in our yard and looking around, Craig sat down and drew up a sketch of the design which we absolutely loved. So after that, he went back to the office and drew up a more official plan (in color and including plantings) and we were on our way.

The full work for the backyard probably took about 3-4 full days but unfortunately we were hit with some big rain storms in between delaying the project. Craig was there every dry day to get the job done and was one of the first builders to put a Cambridge fireplace in a backyard on Long Island (see Cambridge Pre-Packaged Olde English Paver Fireplace Kit with Cast Stone Surround).

We absolutely love our yard and really had a wonderful experience with Craig and his staff. They were clean, efficient and honest throughout the project keeping me feeling at ease. Also, Craig stopped by about 2 weeks after to check to see how everything was going. I couldn't have asked for better service.

We can't wait to have our front yard done over at the end of the summer!

Here are Craig's details in case you want to get a design of your own:

SUPERSCAPES UNLIMITED INC.
Landscape Design & Construction
Designs by Craig Fauth
Phone: (631) 269-5304
Website: http://www.superscapesunlimited.com

-s

Eggplant, Chicken and Spinach...

I walked into the house at 6:30 pm with nothing planned for dinner. Now if you know me, you're probably saying "S doesn't cook". Exactly what I said to myself when I looked in the fridge. I found a small purple eggplant, chicken cutlets and baby spinach and I thought WWGD?

Yes, what would Google do? So I typed into Google "chicken spinach and eggplant" and the first site that came back was Chicken Eggplant Lasagna - No Noodles Recipe. I didn't even read the entire recipe. I just started throwing things together starting with step 1 and by the end I had made an amazing impromptu meal. Here's how I improvised in case anyone was wondering... It was really delicious.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts; pounded thin
adobo seasoning OR salt, pepper, garlic powder [Used SPG combo not adobo]

1 package frozen chopped spinach; thawed and drained [Used a handful of fresh baby spinach chopped]

2 garlic cloves; chopped
1 onion; chopped
15 oz ricotta cheese (more or less) [Didn't have any so I didn't use it.]

1 large eggplant; peeled and sliced very thinly (breading optional) [Breaded with seasoned breadcrumbs and egg/salt/pepper combo.]

olive oil [EVOO]

butter
tomato sauce [about 1/2 cup of Mom's fresh sauce that was left over from Monday night's dinner]

shredded mozzarella cheese (optional) [Used it.]
graded cheese

Modified Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
After you've pounded out the chicken breasts, sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder.
Pan sear in a pan barely coated with olive oil.
Meanwhile place sliced and breaded eggplant onto a baking sheet sprayed with Pam and sprinkle a bit of EVOO on top. Bake for 15 minutes flip and then bake for another 5 minutes.
Once chicken is just browned on both sides, remove from the pan.
Add a little bit of EV olive oil and a little bit of butter to the pan.
Add the chopped garlic and onion and saute.
Add the chopped spinach, left over eggplant (chopped not breaded) and cook through adding graded cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder along the way.
Pour all the tomato sauce in the bottom of baking pan.
Place some of the eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.
Top the first eggplant layer with the spinach mixture and spread over.
Place the chicken on top of the spinach mixture.
Top the chicken with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes on 400 degrees.

Enjoy!
-s

Backyard Makeover Part 3 - FINAL

We're finally there, the backyard makeover is complete!

Before Pictures...

Backyard Makeover

Backyard Makeover Part 2

Setting up Plantronics USB Headset on Windows 7

Ok - here goes a semi-technical rant about my USB headset trouble today. Looking for some guidance if anyone knows how to fix this...

On Windows XP on my Dell laptop D600 I had no trouble setting up my Plantronics Audio 470 USB Headset and Microphone. So when I upgraded to Windows 7 and a new Lenovo T400, I figured things would be similar. Stupid me thinking Windows would be consistant at all.

I haven't been able to get the microphone on my headset to work at all. Only the audio works.

1. No, the microphone isn't muted
2. Yes, it's plugged in and I've tried other USB ports
3. I set the microphone as the default in the control panel
4. My internal laptop microphone does work when set by default but it picks up too much background noise
5. I've installed and reinstalled and removed and installed the USB drivers for the headset 4 or 5 times
6. Plantronics was no help
7. Microsoft was even less of a help
8. Lenovo had some information but none of the things they suggested work

Anyone have any suggestions?

Happy Easter

I discovered food coloring...

Happy Birthday Tina!!!

All ready for Spring!!

David Ratner... are you nervous?

Embedded Video

Biggest Loser

There is a group at work that I joined that is playing the "Biggest Loser" to lose weight. According to the team, being on this strict low carb, no sugar, low calorie diet has put me at an "advantage". Everyone is mad at me when I win the weekly prize because according to them "you have a medical condition that keeps you on a diet". I'd like to say "WAIT A MINUTE!" This is crazy. I'm on a diet and it's no easier for me than anyone else. While you're eating your weight-watchers ice cream and drinking your morning coffee, I'm drooling over here because I can't even have that!

Lastly - in your face everyone... I won biggest loser for the 3rd time today. Bah!

I know, that's mean but this is the first time I really have to work hard to lose weight so when I'm doing good, I feel a real sense of accomplishment. BTW, my pants are loose, I think I need to go shopping... all right, all right, I'll stop rubbing it in your face. :)

-s

I made it to 10 years and...

I get an email with fake people clapping for me...

Livs lipstick

"O" for Olivia

Liv has been learning how to recognize her letters lately. Her dad showed her that her letter was "O", mommy's is "S" and daddy's is "J". So, every time she sees one of these letters, on a sign, in a book, on the TV, on a passing car, she is absolutely amazed and yells - "Look Mommy, "O" for Olivia" (substitute with S and J and Mommy and Daddy in those cases as well). One funny thing is that almost every morning we drive past a Hooters on our way to the office and my little bug yells out "Look Mommy, 'O' for Olivia!" I say, yes baby, two O's but not for you. :)

Here's a quick update on my mystery condition that makes me pass out and dizzy at random times. I had a tilt table test in the hospital a few weeks back. Besides the fact that the test made me feel horrible as they pumped adrenaline into my body, things went well. I do not have Neurocardiogenic Syncope (meaning I didn't pass out during the test) but my blood pressure did drop as I was standing which has led to the diagnosis of Orthostatic Hypotension. My heart rate is still very low and the dizziness never fully goes away though it gets better and worse at times. It's frustrating as there are many reasons why a person may have Orthostatic Hypotension but all the tests I've done haven't resulted in anything positive. For now, I will not be taking any blood pressure medication as I can't be on the medication within 6 months of being pregnant. No, I'm not pregnant, but we're hoping to try for another within the next few months. That will probably increase my blood pressure! :)

So, instead of dwelling on this, J, Liv and I are going away skiing for 5 days in Vermont. Hopefully I don't pass out! (JK) Should be some good days out in fresh powder as they're supposed to get 2 ft of snow while we're there. I'm looking forward to teaching Liv how to ski.

I'll post pictures when we're back! Bye!

-S

Race Log

Date	Race Name	Race Length	Time	Pace
5/10/2009	Elizabeth T. McNamee Memorial Run (w/Liv)	5k (3.1 Miles)	35:19	11:23
7/5/2009	Massapequa Firecracker	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:18	9:27
8/23/2009	Babylon Classic Dirty Sock	10k (6.2 Miles)	1:04:25	10:23
9/13/2009	Ryde Bridge-To-Bridge Run, Sydney, Australia	10k (6.2 Miles)	1:08:33	11:03
11/8/2009	Long Island Run for the Warriors	5k (3.1 Miles)	30:14	9:45
12/19/2009	Ho Ho Ho Holiday Run	5k (3.1 Miles)	34:16	11:03
1/24/2010	Winter Series, Caumsett	5k (3.1 Miles)	28:26	9:10
1/31/2010	Winter Series, Jones Beach	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:36	9:32
2/14/2010	Snowflake Run, Long Beach	4 Miles	38:22	9:35
3/6/2010	Little Cow Harbor	4 Miles	36:53	9:13
3/27/2010	Run for Aspire	10K (6.2 Miles)	58:11	9:23
4/11/2010	Jack Dowling	10 Miles	1:38:00	9:48
5/2/2010	LI Half Marathon	13.1 Miles	2:10:09	9:56
5/9/2010	Elizabeth T. McNamee Memorial Run (w/Liv)	5k (3.1 Miles)	31:51	10:16
6/19/2010	Shelter Island 10k	10k (6.2 Miles)	58:03	9:21
6/27/2010	Massapequa Firecracker	5k (3.1 Miles)	26:12	8:26
8/3/2010	Marcum Workplace Challenge (w/Liv)	3.5 Miles	38:00	TBD
8/21/2010	7th Annual Tri/Du/Run the Wildwoods	2mi run/10mi bike/3.1mi run	1:36:35	n/a
10/16/2010	Post Office 5k	5k (3.1 Miles)	29:36	TBD
11/14/2010	Long Island Run for the Warriors	10k (6.2 Miles)	59:19	TBD
1/9/2011	Winter Series, Heckscher	5k (3.1 Miles)	31:32	10:17
1/16/2011	Winter Series, Jones Beach	5k (3.1 Miles)	27:45	9:04
5/8/2011	Elizabeth T. McNamee Memorial Run (w/Liv Running and baby in belly)	5k (3.1 Miles)	52:49	17:00

12 weeks and counting

The thermometer said it was 27 degrees this morning when I went for a run but as I started out the first mile it felt more like 5 degrees with the wind chill. I set out on my first official training run week 1 of 12, and decided to keep it slow and steady and at least get up to 4 miles. Good strategy I think since my speed training hasn't been so positive the past week. I fell on Thursday and bruised up my right arm, thigh and knee. Not fun at all. I think I've found a slight pattern with my falling though. Most of my runs where I'm prepared (eat, drink, gear, etc.) and not tired, I seem to have no trouble making it through the run without blacking out and falling. However, if one of those items isn't done exactly correctly... I blackout for a second during the run and fall. So, pre-run ritual consists of:
- taking meds (levothyroxine) at least 1 hour before eating
- banana (1/2)
- cereal (low carb, high fiber/protein)
- 24 oz water (before and after run)
- gear on securely (no issues causing me to stop during the run)

I'm writing this down now so I don't forget. :) For my health followers, I have a tilt table test on Tuesday so hopefully that will expose evidence of my syncope and we can move on to treating it. I also have a blood test on Tuesday to check up on my Thyroid and see if there is any evidence of low levels of T3/T4. My TSH is off slightly which can be causing my heart palpitations but not really the dizziness and blacking out. I've gone on a pretty strict diet to help increase my matabolism too since I've gained about 20 lbs since August 2009. Well, in the past 2 weeks I lost 8 lbs and was the biggest loser at work (we have a group playing the game). So, I'm sticking to it.

Back to this mornings' run. It was a really beautiful morning. I ran from home, up to the lake and past into the Southards Pond trail. The trail was quite dry considering we had that "winter blizzard" yesterday that gave us about an inch of snow. As I was running along I saw a guy on a horse. The horse nodded it's head as if to say good morning so I did the same. The water was really clear in both lakes (Argyle and Southards) and both were about 50% frozen. It was a pretty sight and I decided, during this run to commit to the LI 1/2 in May. Yep, although I've been training for about 12 weeks now, I haven't really gone the distance. Now, after this mornings casual run, I got the itch to keep going. So, yes, May 2, 2010 will be my first 1/2 Marathon. I'm committed.

I'll see if I'm this positive next week for my 6 mile run. I'll check back then.

-s

Screenshot from iPhone

New Favorite IPhone Tip: Screenshots

This is very cool and I probably would have figured it out earlier if I actually used my iPhone for work and not play. :) Well, today a colleague asked me to send pictures of a process of opening an email and clicking on a link to approve a contract using my iPhone. Thinking I'm going to have use a camera to take pictures of my iPhone, I told her I'd have it tomorrow. Instead of giving up though, I Googled "Screenshot on iPhone" and found this site. So how do you do it?

Hit the "Home" button with the top "Lock" button at the same time and the screen blinks to show you have taken the picture. The screenshot is now in your Camera Roll.

How awesome is that?!

-s

28:26 with no falls

I'm back to running after a short stint away due to a few issues... I ended up in the hospital the first week of January due to heart palpitations, bradycardia (slow heart rate), dizziness, exhaustion, falling and a slew of other symptoms. Well, after 2 days in the ER and hospital, multiple tests (CT, MRI, MRA, etc.) they diagnosed me with vertigo and a slow heart rate and set me free.

Interestingly enough, the day after, I went back to my doctor for a follow up and to start my "vertigo" physical therapy and he does a quick test and says "you don't have vertigo". Okay, back to square one. Followed up with my Cardiologist and he concurs; "it's not vertigo". He really thinks there is something going on with my heart. Between the mitral valve prolapse they found when I was pregnant 2 1/2 years ago and the new bradycardia (my heart rate is as low as 40 bpm at times), he isn't convinced that all the symptoms are for nothing. He thinks I have "neurocardiogenic syncope" which simply is a fainting disorder of sorts that is controlled by being able to recognize the symptoms and take measures to prevent an "episode" as they call it.

Well, as you can imagine, this put a bit of a hurdle in the middle of my quest for running greatness (i.e. finishing the Long Island 1/2 Marathon on May 2, 2010 - note slight exaggeration on the "greatness"). However, I was determined to get back to running as soon as possible. I had already signed up for the Winter Run Series and missed the first race so last Saturday, 1 week after being in the hospital, I decide to run 3 miles in my neighborhood to see if I can finish the race scheduled for the next day. Doc says I can run as long as I don't feel dizzy so I was all for it. 2 miles into the run I suddenly fall. I don't know what happened... maybe I missed a step or I blacked out. I have no clue because it happened so quickly. What I do know is I was right on the side walk in town on Main Street and there were a ton of people watching. So, I peel myself off the ground and keep running, hoping no one saw me. No one said anything but I know they were thinking "idiot". Now I'm running (or rather limping) along and finally make it home 1.1 miles and 15 minutes later. That was the slowest 1.1 miles I've ever done (I think). My whole side hurt where I fell and my foot, my good foot, the one that never hurts was killing me. Another episode of... plantar fasciitis! How exciting!!! I ice all day and night and still can't really walk in the morning. Missing another race in the series was killing me. But again, I was determined to make it the next week, with no falls.

Fast forward to this Saturday, I ran 3.1 miles in 30 minutes - not too bad. My foot hurt but I iced it and did the tennis ball stretch (rolling a tennis ball under your foot with pressure to loosen up the tendon). This morning, I was ready to go. Bundled myself up in my new gear that my wonderful husband bought for me for Christmas and drove myself all the way to Caumsett State Park on the north shore. It was cold but nice out until it started to drizzle. I started out pretty good, even faster than I thought. My first mile was 9:18, second mile was at 18 something and then the third mile was at 27 something. Finished the race at 28:26, my best time ever. I'm very excited and hopeful for all the tests I have to do this week to show that my "episode" earlier this month was just a passing issue.

Tomorrow I have an Echo-cardiogram, Tuesday - blood tests, Wednesday - Endocrinologist for Thyroid, Thursday - Stress Test... it's going to be a busy week!

Picktails!

Welcome to 2010!

Livvy summed up our new motto for 2010 with this hit...




Happy New Year Everyone!!!