Pirates of the Ohio Valley…

Halloween came and went. We carved out pumpkins, gave out about 20 lbs worth of candy, watched scary movies, drank cider, and raked leaves… wait, did we miss something we must do during the Halloween…?

Yes! Of course we also had the chance to dress up and have our creative juices flow to prepare the best pirate customs we could make with what we had available… This year we had the chance to attend a pretty sweet Halloween party with a pirate theme. The host went to town to decorate his barn and make it look very original with sails, cargo nets, and of course a plank. It was a blast to see all the people dressed up in their customs. Some people out there have a tremendous imagination I have to confess…

But don’t be out there thinking now that I am out there just partying away… Here in November I will have my yearly showdown in the city of Cincinnati at the biggest Thanksgiving Day race that I have ever been a part of. The 10K course always proves to be a challenge for me and every year I try to put the hammer down and see if I can improve on my times. Stay tuned to see what happens this year. This weekend I had the chance to go for a nice long 50+ minute run to keep the legs aware that one more time this year the Clot Buster colors will be out full force.

At this point I continue to debate about my racing next season. Not sure yet about what I would like to do. I may try to increase the racing mileage to see if it’s possible to get more donations for NATT. Soon enough, I will be able to define everything and we can go from there.

I probably don’t say it enough, but a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you out there you read my ramblings and have donated to help NATT in it’s mission. We are making tremendous strides in creating awareness and educating people about blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

 

How sore can you become?

That is the question I am asking myself these days. Last Sunday, I got the chance to play my first indoor “football” games of the year and if you consider the way I’ve been feeling you would think that I am nothing more than a couch potato. Everything is sore, even my eyelids are sore for some reason…

It is been while since the last time I played and although I did not play bad my body sure was not ready to leave the “two dimensional” world of swimming, biking, and running. It is amazing to realize how many other muscles groups I can exercise during a “football” match. Definitely during the game you have to move from side to side, change directions suddenly, change speeds suddenly, and even fall to the ground when needed. All of these contributes to movements that are multi dimensional compared to triathlon racing.

Can you believe that I am sore between my toes? I did not know that I could feel soreness there. Thankfully this should be the last of it because with games every weekend my muscles will be able to remember that for a while now I will be moving in all sorts of directions chasing a ball around the carpeted indoor facility.

One of my games this weekend was early on Sunday morning and much to my surprise the indoor facility was packed with people already playing. I could not believe it when I pulled in into the parking lot. Although some of the people I saw looked like they were still a sleep it was very good to see people out there early starting off their Sunday with some competition. Luckily for my opponents at that time in the morning there is generally no need to get into their heads as with the sleepy eyes they are sporting no trash talking would penetrate at all…

I believe that raking leaves should be an Olympic sport if curling can be one. I’ve lost count of all the bags we have filled up but I think we are on pace for some sort of world record…!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

Ahhhh, aren't we cute?

Skills

Look at Mrs. Clot Buster do the Limbo...!!! I did not even know she could go that low. I guess that all the Pilates and Yoga help with the flexibilty.

Check out all the people admiring her skills... I could never do that.

So, there is your Friday "Moment of Zen"

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for Reading,

The Clot Buster

 

Cooling Off...

This weather is not helping much in terms of setting the stage and provide the additional motivation to get out and workout. This is the time of the year when I find it increasingly difficult to stay in track. Thankfully, I don’t have many races coming up that would require me to put away some workouts in the “fitness bank.” Especially with the time change the day light is almost gone by the time you get home and with the sun setting there goes my motivation as well… usually not with a beautiful display of colors like the sunset but with a shrug of shoulders and PTI recorded on the DVR. Of course that is not the case all the time because most days I do crave some physical activity outside of just sitting at my desk at work.

Although at times I don’t enjoy the cold as much, I have to confess that I am a VERY BIG fan of fall. Every year, I am amazed at the colors some of the trees can produce. You can’t even begin to describe the different yellows, reds, and oranges that you can see on some of the leaves. At times the colors can just take your breath away. I don’t think that we could ever mix enough of our artificial colors to produce some of those colors you can see in nature.

I am beginning to ponder the different races I would like to do next season. As far as I can tell only one race seems to be set in stone… The Greater Cleveland Triathlon in August. This will be a half-iron distance race so I will need to arrange some of my other races accordingly. I guess that at this point I need to define how many miles the Clot Buster needs to race to peak people’s interest and continue to develop the “racing triathlon miles against blood clots” program. How many miles should attempt to race? 255.5 miles again? How about more? Less but with longer races?

Stay tuned to see what I can come up with. In the mean time I better get back to my rake and leaf raking process I started some time ago. After filling up several bags I had to come inside and take a break. I never knew that raking would be such a workout. After 11 years in this country this is the first time I had to rake leaves in the fall. At first I thought it would be a boring project but so far I’ve enjoyed it a great deal. My body definitely appreciates the change from the normal swimming, biking, and running. Speaking of change I am looking forward to start playing soccer this weekend. I hope that I still remember how to kick the ball. It is been a while since the last time I played earlier this spring.

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster 

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

 

What are they wearing? Part II

On the last post we got to see Cheryl displaying the Clot Buster colors. So, from the West Coast we go to the East Coast and we get to see Tom and Brendan Rogers.

If you receive NATT’s newsletters you will be able to read about Brendan and his story. Although, he is not sporting the colors of NATT in this picture I understand that he has been spotted wearing our colors we just don’t have any pictures to prove it. Maybe someday we will get the chance to see how good Brendan looks in the jersey.

In the mean time, I believe his father is doing a fine job making the jersey look awesome!

Tom, Brendan, THANK YOU FOR WEARING THE CLOT BUSTER COLORS!!!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster 

What are they wearing…?

Without a question the coolest looking jersey available in the market. This is because this people have decided to support an organization that is doing a lot of great things in order to create awareness about blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

Of course you know that the Clot Buster wears this tremendous outfit and makes that jersey look sensational. However, there are plenty of other people out there who are supporting NATT and displaying the Clot Buster colors remarkably. In the coming days I hope to introduce to you some of the folks who donated to NATT by purchasing the Clot Buster jersey.

Do you want to take part in this colorful team? We have plenty of jerseys available if you are interested. Please get in touch with me and let me know so that we can start the purchasing process.

So, you have seen plenty of pictures of me with the jersey running, biking, running, biking... Well, here are some other people who make the jersey look amazing!

We can start off with my friend Cheryl. I am certain that she has ridden more miles this summer than some professional cyclists out there… Because of her constant smile the jersey looks even better…
Cheryl with her husband Tom before the start of their ride across the US.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Arrival in Washington D.C.


Cheryl, THANK YOU FOR WEARING THE CLOT BUSTER COLORS!!!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

P.S.: Stay tuned for some big news coming out from the Clot Buster headquarters here in Columbus, OH.

 

Keep them coming!

THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED SO FAR!!! Either through the flyers you received or by purchasing the Clot Buster jersey.

Firework display to celebrate the Clot Buster's completion of the 255.5 Miles Challenge!

I wish that I could say that for the triathlon racing miles this year. However, I am referring to the DONATIONS that go to support a great group of people, doing great good under NATT.
The fireworks were incredible. Imagine if I had raced more...

The Clot Buster did his part. He raced the 255.5 Miles (actually more like 257.7 Miles…so you get 2.2 extra miles of effort – FREE). Now, it is your turn to come through and provide a helping hand to the mission of education and awareness that NATT is trying to accomplish against blood clots and blood clotting disorders.

Let me tell you, the fall newsletter is well under and should be coming out. There will be an education seminar in Boston on October 21st. Since the Red Sox are out of contention what else do really have to do but come out and learn about blood clots and blood clotting disorders. The Clot Buster will be there, are you?!?! It should be very easy to find me amongst the crowd. Please stop by and say hello. If you need any more information about this seminar you can contact me if you like or you can go to www.nattinfo.org here we will have information posted very soon.
The grand finally is always the best.

Although the triathlon season is over for the Clot Buster, I am not stopping and letting my belly grow. I have some run races planned for the fall. At these events you will be able to see the jersey flying and leaving people in its wake. I just hope they can read my jersey before I blow pass them…

If you are interested in purchasing one of the snazzy looking jerseys to show your support we have some available. Please drop me a line and we can from there. If you look better than me wearing it you may be able to find yourself in this website representing the Clot Buster colors.

In the mean time I better get back to my off season Oreo cookies…

I can’t just eat one or two… this is where the discipline of training has to come out and keep me on track.
When I am not eating the Oreos I dive into some Hungarian Salami!

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster

 

Are you kidding me ?!?!

It is Thursday after completing the Great Lake Escape Triathlon in Lakeside-Marblehead, OH and I still think that the wind is going to blow me off my bike…

Saturday started as a very nice day. I was able to get to the beach and attempt some swimming so that my arms feel somewhat prepared for the swim on Sunday. It was nice a very nice day on Saturday. One that Mrs. Clot Buster and I enjoyed very much by touring around Put In Bay. It was neat to be on the island for sure. Some of the houses are incredible with their location so close to the water. The town itself is also really interesting. We had a great time just looking around and taking it all in… Don’t tell anyone but I even had some ice cream while walking around the town. I just could not resist some Eddy’s soft serve (first time I ever seen such a thing). While on the island we noticed that the wind was picking up in the afternoon but we thought it was normal for this time of the year as the sun was warming things up. We did not make much of it and went about the business of preparing for the race the night before without any concerns about what was to come the next day…

After snoring through the night all the way to 5AM it was time to get going. I woke up and got ready… but when I stepped outside to load my bike on the car I noticed something I was not expecting at all. The wind was still blowing and it was going harder than yesterday afternoon. I could not believe my sleepy eyes…

As we got going towards the race site, the wind was going strong. Once we got the transition area, which is right next to the beach I quickly came to the conclusion that there was not going to be a swim today. The wind was hauling. So much that the Coast Guard issued a “Small-Craft Advisory” as the 25+ knot winds were just hammering away at us. The water was pretty violent from what we could see. Far more white caps that I would have imagined. So, without the ability of having support boats out in the water the organizer did the right thing and cancelled the swim. The Clot Buster was very happy about this development for sure. My lack of swimming the last two weeks showed on Saturday and it would not have been pretty out there for me. So racing a duathlon was perfectly fine with me.

So, we all put away our wetsuits and got ready for the run-bike-run that would follow. 5K’s to get the blood flowing, then 40K’s battling the wind, and top it off with 10K’s just so that you can warm up from the bike ride. The wind from the NE was relentless. It would not give up at all. There were some sections on the bike where we headed right in the direction of the wind. Needless to say my average speed suffered some but I was able to mange 20.4MPH for the 40K course. Not bad at all, in my opinion.

Running in the sand is always interesting. How in the world do you manage to maintain the speed? The Clot Buster tried to hammer as much as he could to turn up a 22:43 5k and finish things up with a 49:13 10K.

All together The Clot Buster completed his last race in 2:27.16 (amazingly enough the organizers time matched exactly my watch…hard to believe) good enough for 5th place in the 25-29 age group. All things considered not a bad showing!

Throwing some numbers together here quickly, the Clot Buster finishes his racing summer totaling 257.6 Miles. Because he goes the extra mile he was able to muster 2.1 extra miles of effort for everyone’s delight.

Can you go the extra miles to help NATT? Please just consider matching a nickel, a dime, or a quarter to the 255.5 Miles I raced this summer… the additional 2.1 miles are just a bonus from me to you!

I need to go treat my wind-burn injuries…

Thanks for reading,

The Clot Buster