Courtenay Brown

Munchie gets to eat grass for an hour or two a day. The spring grass is really rich and ponies are prone to laminitis, a hoof disease, and nutrients in the grass are a direct cause. So Munchie's grass is rationed, and his feet are healthy. Anyhow he gets pretty pumped for his couple hours of grass.

I was laughing way too hard when I took this. It's a bit blurry because she was mowing really fast, like 20 mph. But then I felt bad for laughing, so I went out and picked up sticks that were in the way.

I got home to my mom's house in Maryland last night. I feel like I have been here a week already, we did so much today! Put the bike together, visited with friends, visited with other friends, said hi to approx. 7 horses and ponies and the same amount of cats and dogs, swam, went to a bike shop, rode the bike, hung out with mom, watched Sarabi's flatwork, etc. Oh and had several conversations about where I am going in life. Thus even though it's been a good 7 years since I've come home from college, something about this trip is making me feel like I am a slightly aimless 22 year-old again. Anyhow here's a sampler of ...

Now we all know I love ponies. And horses. But when my mom says "I don't know if I can watch your race on Sunday because Sarabi is competing that day," I temporarily don't love them. (Sarabi is her horse).Are you kidding me?!?!?!She wasn't kidding me.Nevermind the fact that I am her first-born daughter. Nevermind the fact that this is the only race I am doing all year that my mom can attend. Nevermind the fact that is the reason I have been planning to do the race for the last 6 months. Nevermind the fact that even though it's going to be a great race, there were definitely plenty of events much closer ...

Today I learned two great lessons that I'd like to share.1. Splish says that their white suits are not see-through, because they use a liner. So if I decide I want a white birthday suit to race in, I will not be indecent!2. Pomeranians are vicious and apparently don't like bikes. They are also embarrassingly fast over short distances... one tried to eat me today on my ride and I only barely beat it to the top of the hill. (I was laughing while sprinting though, if that counts for anything).In other news, I am ...

And that's all I have to say about that. Thankfully my mom sees Mother's Day for what it truly is, a marketing scam courtesy of Hallmark, Hyatt brunches, and 1-800-Flowers.Today I swam short-course down at the Carson pool. I did a set that I last did about 3 weeks ago, and was pleased to note that the intervals seemed easier and I finished the set way stronger. That was a nice way to start the day, especially considering I was up for two hours in the middle of the night with some weird chest pain that made me afraid to go back to sleep in case if I was having a heart attack (I wasn't). Then I went ...

With Greg still on the east coast, I have a lot of time on my hands. Favourite activities seem to be photographing the cat, talking to the cat, doing Sudoku puzzles (yes I know they are so 2005) and planning my Birthday which is 4 months from this past Wednesday.When I registered for the LA Triathlon which is the same day as my 30th birthday, I was dismayed to see that the entry form didn't have any of those nosy questions that I typically leave blank because I think they are annoying - "is this your first tri", "are you any good and do you have any notable results", "can the announcer say anything interesting about ...

My plans to unveil a wicked fast swimmer (me) next weekend are already feeling a bit foiled. The Carson pool has a big swim meet this weekend, so no long course at all till next weekend. They actually said Monday was a "maybe" but I have learned not to count on "maybe" under any circumstances, be they swimming or can-I-get-a-puppy or otherwise.I also called the Arundel Swim Center, a big 50-meter facility about 15 minutes from my mom's house in Maryland, where I'll be next week. "Long course?" the guy sounded way too confused to be a real live employee but he was indeed a real live employee. "You mean like 50 meters? No we don't never do ...

I have been hitting "refresh" on the race photo site for Wildflower all week. Well lo and behold, my wishes were finally answered. I got to see what I *really* looked like out there. Here I am on the bike...And here I am responding to a complete stranger ordering me to smile 30 seconds after an only moderately glorious finish: So the answer to "how did I look?!" is basically the same answer as "how did I race?!": not bad but definitely room for improvement. (I did not post the photos ...

He is also my favourite let's-have-our-own-personal-speedracer-derby-around-the-apartment-at-5 a.m. kitty... Good thing he is cute!