Happy Halloween!

The Clot Buster will be dressing up to pass out the candy tonight. I hope that I don’t scare anyone with my outfit. The only polka dots the kids will be able to see will be on my wrists. The Clot Buster is trying out his new custom… we will see how it turns out.

What is your favorite candy for Halloween? I am a late comer to this tradition so I never really had the chance to go trick or treating (back home in Venezuela there is no Halloween… We have “Carneval” in February as the time to dress up associated to the Mardi Grass festivities) while living in the US. I hope that down the road when my kids come to age I get the chance to dress up and go out with them. That will be fun. So, back to the candy, I love Kit Kat’s, 3 Musketeers, and the new Butterfinger Crisp. Mrs. Clot Buster does not know but I have my own little private stash at work for me to celebrate my own little Halloween every year… I am lucky that the “fun size” candy is only really available this time of the year. Otherwise I would be in big trouble…!

Did you know that you can get tired from raking leaves? My wife and I have been hard at work attempting to keep up with our maple trees and their daily leaf dropping that covers our house regularly. Slowly we are learning the best techniques to get around the process as fast as possible. We have so much to learn…

Finally, indoor soccer season is about to start for me. Couple of games on Sundays will become the core part of my workout for the months to follow. I will attempt to do some swimming and trainer riding here and there whenever possible. It is time to let the body recover a little from the efforts this summer. I am already starting to think about next year’s race schedule. How many miles should I race to grab peoples attention and raise fund for NATT? The polka dots will be back in the racing circuit next summer ready to roll again.

If you would like some wristbands please drop me a line and let me know how many you would like. Every dollar we can make will help NATT in its mission to spread the work about blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

Have a safe Halloween.

Thanks for reading.

The Clot Buster 

Come and get them...!

After recovering from our adventures attempting to reach Boston and participating at the Boston seminar we are back home keeping at it.

It was a long day Friday as we attempted to reach Boston. Due to some harsh weather in the East coast all flights heading out that way were either delayed significantly or cancelled all together. At first we did not think we would make it to Boston at all for the weekend but after about 3 hours of running around through the different ticket counters and one “very special” ticket agent we were able to find our way to Boston after doing a stop in Chicago. We arrived in Boston close to 1AM and thought we were in the clear… just grab a taxi and zip over to the our hotel. Well, I wish it would have been that easy. Remember I told you that a lot of plane were delayed, well, the airport was packed full of people looking for cabs that late in the day. The lines at the taxi stations were incredibly long, I could not believe my eyes. Luckily as we waited in line Mrs. Clot Buster overheard a couple boarding a cab saying that they were heading to the same hotel we were staying at and she jumped to the chase to ask if they would not mind sharing the cab with us. Thankfully they did and we saved at least another hour on this journey of ours. So, after four short hours of sleep we were back in our feet ready to join the NATT troops at the conference room for the education seminar.

We had a GREAT turn out for this seminar and as far as I can tell from my un-official exit interviews the seminar was well worth it for everyone I got the chance to talk to. Outside of the tremendous medical professional we had as speakers my favorite part of the seminar is the patient experience sharing exercise. It does not matter who you are or what you do anyone of us can be affected by blood clots. Being aware of the symptoms can save your life. At the same time being aware of the medications available is also a very important topic that can help you along the process of surviving a clot. Knowing that there is other people out there going through the same troubles as you are is a very powerful tool that can help you along the way. I am always amazed of the connections people can make during these seminars.

We had some great interest on the NATT wristbands. I was very pleased to see people interested. We have decided that the price per wristband is $3.00. All the green backs we can obtain will go directly to NATT and the fulfillment of their mission.

If you like to get a wristband to show your support in creating awareness about blood clots and blood clotting disorders through the display of the NATT colors please get in touch with me at polka40@hotmail.com or irvarga@aep.com to place an order.

I wish that I could post some of the pictures I was able to take during the seminar but somehow at the time we were putting things away my camera “got some legs” and decided to “walk away.” I am very much disappointed about the incident but at this point there is not much we can do.

Let me know about the wristbands if you would like to have some.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster 

Boston Seminar – Saturday, October 19, 2006

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster 

Let’s continue re-capping the season…

Spreading the word about blood clots and blood clotting disorders by letting people know about NATT was the main goal of the Clot Buster project this summer. I think I did everything that I could from racing in my jersey to manufacture and distribute well over 3000 flyers to reach out and maintain this blog updated. I hope that through all of these efforts somehow, someway people had the opportunity to get introduced to NATT and their mission.

Without the question the best thing that came out from this summer was the luck I had to meet all the wonderful people I had the chance to meet along the way. The stories I’ve heard are impressive and very motivating. They definitely keep me going on this path to continue raising “green backs” for NATT. The triathlon racing is just a vehicle for me to provide to NATT who is already providing for so many people out there. I have learned that having information available about blood clots and blood clotting disorders is paramount for people who first come face to face with clots.

I could go on and talk about my racing and my results but I think I will leave that for some other time… on this post I want to THANK all those who have contributed in this effort. Either by giving money, wearing the jersey, checking this blog it does not matter to me, THANK YOU!!!

Next year I plan to do it all over again. At this point I am not sure about my schedule and how many racing miles I will be throwing down. One thing is for sure, The Clot Buster is not going away. If anything, I am just getting started…!

Boston seminar is coming up. The Clot Buster wristbands will be available there for the first time… I know from my sources that they have been shipped so they are on their way… I can’t wait to receive them. If you can’t make the Boston seminar get in touch with me and we can arrange to get you the bands without any trouble.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster 

Let’s start re-capping the season…

Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end at some point. In a way I was ready to stop racing but on the other hand I wish that I had one more triathlon that I could do just to finish things off… Although, I don’t have any more triathlons planned I did get the chance to race in a 10K Trail Run on Saturday at High Banks Metro Park. It was exactly what I needed to calm down my competitive edge. One more 10K on Thanksgiving Day and I should be good to go for the year…

Mrs. Clot Buster and Myself had the chance to race and we had a blast. We run a lot at this park but this is the first time we ever raced here. The nice cool morning set the stage for a nice brisk run that kept things interesting with all the ups and downs we had to face on the course. Luckily the Mrs. and I had great legs on Saturday and we both hammered away on the course to finish on top of our age groups. I could not complain with my time of 43:07. The legs responded really well to the effort considering that I have not been running much these days.

But, back to re-capping the year…

I wanted to start by showing a selection of the best Clot Buster photos of the year. The Clot Buster colors were flying high this summer so I need to dedicate this post to show the best ones in my humble opinion…

Vineyard Triathlon - The Clot Buster's first triathlon outing

Columbus Internatioinal Triathlon - One of the best 10K's of the season.

Steelhead Triathlon 70.3 - By far the best swim exit picture taken of me...

Great Lake Escape - Terrific 10K on legs that already ran a 5K and rode 40K's...

This is the first batch of my favorite pictures of the year. Let me know which one you like the most. All I know is that I make those polka dots look sensational.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

 

What are they wearing? Part II

On one of my previous posts I talked to you about Brendan and his father Tom being clot buster color wearers. You had the chance to see Mr. Rogers displaying the colors and this time around you get to see his son making the polka-dots look pretty sweet.

Brendan, practicing his cyclo-cross skills ahead of his first cyclo-cross race this weekend.

I am still debating about the pink framed shades... but I am not a style judge so to each its own... I understand that Brendan wears the pink shades to impress the ladies. He is breaking the ladies hearts all over the UCONN... that is what the Clot Buster is hearing from his sources on campus. But outside of the shades, impressing the ladies, and racing his bicylce, Brendan is doing a great good by spreading the word about NATT through wearing his jersey and letting people know to be aware of blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

If you too would like to be a banner for creating awareness against blood clots and blood clotting disorders we still have plenty of jerseys availabe along with the new wristbands that will be available very soon. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested in being part of the Clot Buster Team.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

 

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS ?!?!?!

It is time we take the Clot Buster movement one step further in order to create awareness about blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

What better way to do that than wearing the Clot Buster colors everywhere you go? I know that you are thinking “Oh no, we have to wear that goofy jersey or hat to get noticed…? Please don’t make me do that…”

NO WORRIES! Here is a better way to show your support in the quest to educate people about blood clots and blood clotting disorders…

One side

Other side...

What do you think?

The first batch of these wristbands will be available at NATT’s Boston Education Seminar. You can get more information on NATT’s website www.nattinfo.org

If you are interested in purchasing some of this good looking wristbands please let me know at polka40@hotmail.com. We have not yet determined the price but as soon as I know let you know. All the green backs from this sale will go directly to help NATT continue doing great good.

Keep an eye for the fall newsletter as well. Should be coming soon!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster