Injury Update

Leigh decided to get a second opinion on her leg injury by an orthopedic doctor last Friday. As I suspected early on, she does in fact have a small stress fracture. Unfortunately, she won't be able to run the Marathon in February. She's suppose to avoid running for at least six weeks and then see how it feels. She's pretty bummed out about it, but she'll keep supporting Dana and Adria throughout their training.

Leigh had done a great job in her training up to the point she got injured, and I think she learned a lot of lessons about taking her of her body both pre and post-training. I suspect she'll give it another go soon.

Trip to LA!

Ok, I made it back from California, and wanted to share the details with you guys. First off, I'd like to just say it was an awesome trip, and we had a fantastic time! My wife and I weren't exactly sure what to expect, but it definitely exceeded our expectations! In my opinion, these are the type of things that separate Isatori from other companies...and not just supplement companies. Customer appreciation and the personal outreach are things they don't HAVE to do, but they choose to because they want to....and it means a lot to me and to a lot of you I assume.

So Leigh and I drove over to the airport last Thursday for our 5:50pm flight to LAX, and as soon as we walked in, our flight was delayed until 8:45pm...hate that. All the weather in the northeast had all of the flight crew schedules messed up, so that caused the delay. Shortly after that, they delayed until 9:30pm!! It's not even 5pm yet, so we have a 4+ hour delay...not fun! Leigh and I both used to travel extensively for work, so we knew there was only one thing to do...hand over a little extra $$ and go wait out the delay in Continental's President's Club. While I would have still rather been on a plane heading to LA, at least we had a "comfortable" delay. Unfortunately, we didn't get in until almost midnight and missed dinner that night with Stephen and Mike. The hotel we stayed at is in Santa Monica and it was great...right on the beach!!

Alarm went off pretty early, but I met Stephen down in the lobby of the hotel about 7am. The hotel actually has a really nice fitness center, so did some cardio on the bikes for about 45 minutes. It's funny because I had never met Stephen before, but I've been using his products, reading his magazines, and participating on the board for so many years, that I felt like I already knew him in a way. We ended up talking the entire time about the company, the business, the industry, and a host of other things. I really enjoyed learning some of the history behind the company and the products. I even got the skinny on Eat Smart, and he let me try a new supplement they are about to roll out. I won't say anything until they do, but the new supplement isn't even for adults...it's for kids, and it's cool!!!

Later that morning, Leigh and I met Stephen and Sean (head of Operations at Isatori) for some breakfast. While we waited for them in the lobby, I see the coach of the San Antonio Spurs walk by...which was cool for me because I'm a huge basketball fan. After him, we see each player come down one at a time to check out of the hotel...Tim Duncan, Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, etc... Of course my wife was hoping to see Tony Parker and Eva Longoria, but they must have stayed elsewhere. Anyway, breakfast was good and we headed out to the beach to walk down Santa Monica/Venice Beach. The weather out there was so nice...clear and 60s. We walked all the way down to the Venice Boardwalk which is a big tourist attraction in and of itself...real ecclectic stuff for sale, and some very interesting people to say the least. Along that way is the Venice Muscle Beach, an outdoor gym...which Stephen says is pretty popular during the summer time and weekends. So we decide to head back up to the street and take a cab back, and as we're walking down a residential alley, we here someone yell "hey"! We look over and it's Mike Ryan sitting in his house. Pure chance that we walked down his street and he saw us walking by. So we hung out there for a bit before he had to leave for a training session. We grabbed some smoothies and got ready for my workout with Mike at 1pm.

We head over to the Mecca, Gold's Gym Venice at 1pm to train with Mike, and do the photoshoot. First of all, Gold's is MASSIVE! It has equipment everywhere!! Nothing too fancy, just weights and machines filling up every space...true body building going on there! We saw some pro body builders, a few minor celebrities, and just a lot of others working out. Mike, Stephen, and I trained for about an hour or so, and they snapped photos throughout. It was a great learning experience training with those guys! What I liked about Mike is, he's keeps it to the basics....but trains extremely hard. He pushed me for sure! We did this one exercise, that I'll just call the "death rope". You sit down on a seat and just reach up for this rope, hand over hand, pulling down as hard as you can. You set the rope to a certain resistance, then do it for a minute...the longest minute in the gym for sure!! I'm telling you, it will work every part of your arm, your back, and will test your cardio/muscular endurance. We each did 2 sets of 1 minute. When you get done, it shows how high you climbed, and I have to brag, I clipped Stephen by a few feet!!! After that, we did some curls, pull-ups, shoulder presses, tricep-pull downs, hanging eb exercise, and a couple more. Leigh even got in on the action and got some sets of abs in...and got photographed! All in all, great workout, I had a blast! I'd love to be able to train with Mike for a few months and see what I could do. Turns out the photoshoot will be in 2 magazine, Real Solutions and Planet Muscle!

After Gold's, Stephen, Sean, Leigh and I did some shopping on Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade...which is a very nice outdoor mall. There's a lot of street acts and musicians performing up and down the street, so it's a cool atmosphere. About 8pm we met up with Mike again, and his buddy Chris...hometown friend who is a sportscaster back in Boston. We went to eat at The Ivy in Santa Monica. As soon as we walk in, the first person I see right in front of me is Bill Murray. He makes me laugh just looking at him! Caddyshack is still one my favorite movies of all-time, which we all know he is classic in! He's talking with someone that acts on ER...a red-head guy, not sure his name though. Anyway, we have a fantastic meal and had some hilarious conversation...most of which can't be repeated :-) It was honestly like hanging out with a bunch of buddies on a Friday...really laid back and easy guys to get along with. After dinner, Mike took us over to an outdoor bar called Hidden, where we all had some drinks and hung out until about 1:00am. Very cool bar, good atmosphere. Only celeb there was a guy from CSI Miami...I think his character name on the show is Eric.

We got up the next morning and rode to the airport with Stephen and Sean, and flew home. All in all, it was a great trip! I thouroughly enjoyed myself and learned a lot from Stephen and Mike! I'm lucky to have won the trip and tried to take full advantage of it!

-MD

Benched - temporarily

It's me again - taking over the keyboard from Matt. Turns out maybe I wasn't meant to be a marathoner afterall - perhaps shopping is truly the only sport I am cut out for :-). After my long run a couple of weeks ago, I started having some sharps pains in my left leg and right ankle. I tried a few more days of running only to make things worse. I could hardly walk and had to resort to wearing flip flops to work as my 3 inch heels just weren't very comfortable! My friend Jill referred me to a chiropractor that she went to while training for a marathon and I had my first visit this Monday. Turns out I have sprained my left fibula and have torn some ligaments in my right ankle - nice. He still thinks I can run the marathon -so I have taken this week off of running with hopes to resume on Monday. Let's hope I can keep up with Dana and Adria and I don't drag anyone down!

Matt and I leave for LA on Thursday - and we both just have no clue what to expect on this big adventure! Matt did get an itinerary and he has his "photoshoot" on Friday afternoon along with his workout. Of course, we all know my major concern is what do I need to bring to wear for this little journey! I will definitely be sure to document everything and share with everyone.

Until next time....

What an Opportunity!

Like I've mentioned before, if you know me at all, you know I've always been interested in fitness in nutrition. Whether playing sports, completing body-for-life, or other types of programs, I've always enjoyed the challenges of pushing myself and seeing the results I can achieve. For me, it's all about living and feeling better.

As part of my health and nutrition, I really believe in supplementation. It's extremely difficult to get everything you need in just your whole foods each day. So supplementing with various things can help get the levels I need. One of the supplement companies I've been with for about 5 years now is called Isatori. Not only do they make great products, but they run a great organization. They have always been upfront and honest about the products they manufacture and provide plenty of education behind them. In a booming and somewhat unregulated industry, Isatori is one of the few companies I've felt comfortable dealing with over the years.

With that said, Isatori recently released a new product to the market called Morph. It's a very scientific and revolutionary type of product that I was definitely intrigued with. So I bought a bottle of it, and in doing so, entered myself into a contest (unknowingly). Well, the week of Thanksgiving, I recieved a call from one of the guys at Isatori, and he informed that I had actually been chosen as the winner of the contest! I was shocked obviously, and initially, I couldn't really remember what the winner recieved. Well, the prize is a paid for 2-night trip (12/13-12/15) out to LA, where Leigh and I will stay at a nice resort on the beach in Santa Monica. On Friday, I get the opportunity to head over to the Gold's Gym on Venice Beach...probably the most famous gym in the world. That's where the true body builders work out....guys like the Governator! While I'm there, I get to workout with the CEO of Isatori Steven Adele, and a guy named Mike Ryan, a professional trainer who has worked with a lot of pro athletes and celebrities...guys like The Rock and Terrel Davis. I think they are suppose to take some pics of the workout and might ask me a few questions, which will be published in Real Solutions magazine. After that, Leigh I will go to dinner with those guys.

Needless to say, I'm pretty nervous about working out with those guys...they're huge and ripped! Beyond the training, I'm looking forward to talking with them about business and the industry in general. I'm really excited about this opportunity to meet and train with such successful leaders of the industry, and Leigh and I will be able to enjoy a quick trip out to California. Afterwards, I'll post some pics of the festivities...hopefully I don't embarass myself!

Thanksgiving!

This post is a little late, but oh well. Thanksgiving was great! We spent the holiday up in Lufkin with my family this year. We drove up on Wednesday and Dad and I were able to play 18 holes before the cold got there. Golf was pretty good...we both played pretty well on the back 9 and had a good time hanging out. The cold front did blow through later that night, so we woke up to a chilly Thanksgiving morning, but it was a clear day thankfully. In my opinion, from Thanksgiving to New Years, it should be cold outside...so I actually enjoyed the weather! It was perfect for frying a turkey while drinking some cold beer outside. My Uncle and his wife drove up from Beaumont and my cousin flew in from Illinois with her 3 month old baby girl. We haven't seen them in quite a while, so it was fun to catch up with them and enjoy Thanksgiving together. My sister, Lindsey, ended up driving over later that afternoon, and my grandmother Mimi lives in Lufkin, too, so she came over as well. Everybody brought over some great food and Dad and I fried a our best turkey yet. In keeping tradition, Thanksgiving evening included drinks and game night...lots of fun!! Dad and I played some more golf Friday, which may not have been our best decision...it was really cold that morning! Saturday was more of the same but with more rain. Unfortunately, Leigh had to do a 10 mile run for her marathon training in that weather. I wasn't sure she would actually go through with it, but she did awesome and completed all 10 miles...very impressive!! We headed back Saturday afternoon and got the house ready for Christmas. All in all, it was another great Thanksgiving...always is! Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Weekend in the big "A"

Since Matt's done all of the blogging up to this point, I thought I'd take over the keyboard for this one. Since I hadn't seen my parents since September due to them cruising the Greek Isles and vacationing across Europe in October, I thought I'd take a few days off of work for a visit in Arlington with Matt and Lexi to join us on Friday. Riley and I flew up on Wednesday and enjoyed some time with Gigi and Deks. Mom and I attempted to do some old school (aka pre-baby days) leisurely shopping at North Park with Riley - but my sweet angel decided to join the terrible 2's a few months early and wanted nothing to do with strolling around the mall for a few hours while mommy shopped. She was only happy when we occasionally let her out of the stroller to run around. Note to self - I guess all my Christmas shopping will be done online this year! But all in all Riley enjoyed her visit and loved to explore Gigi's house and play. We had the whole family over Saturday night for an early birthday celebration and Riley and Hannah were thick as thieves and had a great time chasing each other and sitting next to each other reading and eating cake. And we also got great news that Rob and Erin are for sure having a boy (the last ultrasound wasn't conclusive) and we are excited about having another nephew in the mix!

I still managed to keep up with my marathon training despite being solo. I typically train with my two friends who live across the street and really needed them on the long run on Saturday. Somehow I managed with the help of my hip hop tunes on the nano. I did take a stroll down memory lane and ran up to my old elementary school, Pope. While I remember my school being a long ways away from the house and just knew it was atleast five miles - sadly it was only 2 short ones. My elementary school clan and I are still a tight group of sisters and it is fun to remember all the good times. It was funny to see the playground and all of the upgraded, safer equipment - not the tin slide that could give you a 3rd degree burn on a hot Texas day - or the monkey bars - we all remember what happened to Jason Cunningham :-). Then Meredith, I ran by your mom's house and just knew if I knocked on the door the smell of hot breakfast would greet me! And as it has been on the last couple of my long runs, Matt and Riley were there waiting to cheer me on at the end. Riley in her cute footy PJ's squealing "mommy!" with a big grin on her face running towards me - kind of like a Chariots of Fire moment :-) Just the motivation I needed to keep putting one tired foot in front of the other!
Matt told me not to ramble - and it looks like I'm headed in that direction - so I guess I will sign off until the next time I take over the keyboard! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Point Guard anyone??

You know, over the last couple seasons, I've defended Rafer Alston as the Rocket's point guard. I've always thought with T-Mac and Yao, we didn't need the rest of the team to be great shooters...just decent shooters. And I feel like Rafer has given us that. He's not going to score a lot, but he can give you some assists and maybe 2 or 3 from behind the arc. However, after watching him last night against Memphis, then tonight against LA, I don't know what to think anymore. I mean, his shots don't really seem to be even close right now...and it's painful to watch. With the new offense, it seems like he's getting more looks, but he is struggling terribly right now. Mike James has been streaky at best, and Stevie has yet to get off the bench. It's going to be trouble if these guys don't start knocking them down. Aaron Brooks may get a chance sooner than expected.

The other bad part about tonight's 3-point loss to LA, was T-Mac hurting his elbow. He left the game, then left for the hospital! I guess we'll hear how bad the damage is in the morning...

Dancing Machine

One thing about Riley, she loves to dance. Here's a couple samples...

Good Times

Considering I've been out of town the last few weekends and we have the holidays coming up, I was really looking forward to hanging out at home this weekend. It's funny how the older I get, the more I enjoy the lazy weekend around the house.

So on Friday, I was able to cut out of work early and get a round of golf in with Brad and Zack. I don't think it was our best round by any means, but the beer was cold and it was absolutely perfect golf weather. For whatever reason, I couldn't get off the tee box all day...really felt uncomfortable with the driver. Luckily my irons and short game were good enough to salvage a 40-46. We met the wives and kids at the grill afterwards for dinner & drinks.

On Saturday, we went over to the soccer fields and caught Blake's last game of the season. He was once again a man among boys and the Green Machine rolled to another victory. Later that night, Leigh and I went out with Brad and Dana and grabbed some sushi...excellent sushi. Afterwards, we walked over to wine bar and had a few glasses of vino. Despite Brad and I's best efforts, "Fun Sponge I and II" joined the party around 10pm claiming it was getting late. What is the deal with that??? Regardless, it was good night for sure!

Sunday was pretty lazy...church, lunch, and a little football of course. I have a pretty busy week ahead but planning to take off Thanksgiving week...so I'm looking forward to that. Until later....

Change Happens

Unfortunately for us, our neighbors of the last few years and very close friends, the Zettlers (Brad, Dana, Blake, & Brayden), found out that they will be relocating to Chicago soon. Brad works for a pharmaceutical company based out of Chicago, and to continue progression in the company, he has to take a 2 yr assignment from the home office. While we are very happy for Brad and the opportunity he has, it's a pretty bitter sweet time for us. We've known they would be making this move at some point, but I don't think it makes it any easier now that it's actually happening. Leigh and I were commenting how lucky we have felt to have friends like them AND to have them as our neighbors. We think the world of them and even asked that they be Riley's Godparents. They will be missed in a big way. It's too bad when really good things come to an end.

Halloween Recap

Halloween '07 was another success. Riley was a year older and I think Leigh had more fun this year dressing her up. A lot of the neighbor's boys were going in Star Wars costumes, so we thought about making Riley Princess Leia, but couldn't get the costume delivered in time. Instead, we went with a cat costume...one of her favorite animals. I don't think Riley could have cared less, but you gotta do it, right? Instead of handing out candy from each of our houses, all the neighbors met out in one driveway and hung out for a few hours, handed out candy, and had some drinks. Seemed like a good time enjoyed by all!

Time to Blog

Well, it seems like blogs are the new big thing on the web these days. I've seen personal blogs, professional blogs, and even blogs for fantasy football. I'm still curious where the word "blog" came from, but whatever. Leigh was interested in starting a blog for her marathon training with Dana and Adria, so I was doing a little research for her...we'll see if they actually get one up :-) I was suprised how easy it was to start a blog, so I decided what the hell, I'll give it a try.

I'm pretty sure my blog will be pretty random, but my intent is to use it as a way for our family and friends to keep up with what's going on with the Dunn's on a regular basis. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pics of Riley up here...that's what our family is most interested in anyway...right?? Luckily Leigh does a good job with the camera...around 1300 pics during Riley's first year!!!

If you know me, you know I love my sports teams, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of takes on what's happening in the sports world. Another passion of mine is exercise and nutrition, so I'll be posting on those topics occasionally as well. I'm also hoping Leigh will spread some of her wise knowledge on this blog as well. Anyway, more to come soon, including some pics....