January 16, 2014

The FURminator

I had plans to get together with some friends this morning for coffee at Panera, so I basically just rolled out of bed and onto the treadmill at 6:30. I love this Hal Higdon schedule, because the mileage seems so minute compared to when I was training for Chicago! Today I only had three miles on the schedule, at half-marathon pace. I have no idea what my half-marathon pace is right now, but since it was only three miles, I figured I'd just try to do it at my ultimate goal pace for a 1:50 half-marathon.

Lately, all of my runs have felt hard, so I wasn't really sure if I'd even be able to do it. I set the treadmill at 7.2 mph and distracted myself with Medium on Netflix. I actually felt okay today; it was a tougher run, but I knew I'd be able to stick it out. My heart rate was in the mid- to high-Zone 4 range, which is fine for a tempo run, but it was still higher than it would have been a few weeks ago before the strange issue started.

As soon as my run was done, I hopped off the treadmill and into the shower so that I could get the kids ready for school. It felt good after walking them to the bus stop, knowing that I'd already done my run for the day! After breakfast, I headed out to stop at PetSmart before going to Panera. Paolo's fur has been getting matted in spots, even though I brush him every day, and I wanted to get a good brush.

After reading reviews about a brush called the FURminator, I was intrigued. I couldn't fathom spending $45 on a cat brush, but the reviews were all so great that I was convinced. With four cats, if it worked as well as people claimed, it would be worth it. So I went into PetSmart to buy that.

There were four to choose from: large cat with long hair, large cat with short hair, small cat with long hair, and small cat with short hair. (A "large" cat was defined as 10+ pounds). I have a small cat with long hair, an extra-large cat with short hair, and two small cats with short hair. There was no way I was going to buy three different brushes, so I ended up going with the small cat with long hair one.


After that, I went to Panera to meet up with friends: Renee, Jessica, Andrea, Courtney, and Alicia. Andrea just did the Dopey challenge at Disney World (a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and full-marathon in four days), so we were there to hear about her experience (all of us are runners, and we love talking about/hearing about running!). It was SO nice to have some adult conversation after spending three weeks at home with the kids for their Christmas break.

I planned to go right to the nursing home to see Mark, but on the way there, I called to make sure he was done with his treatment at the hospital. They said he was still at the hospital, and to call back at around 1:00. I couldn't go that late, because the kids get out of school at 3:30. I decided to just go home, and then take the kids (and Jerry) with me after dinner to visit.

When I got home, I FURminated Paolo and Chandler. The comb worked good, but it wasn't mind-blowing, like I'd hoped. I'm not really sure what to think yet. Chandler definitely liked this comb better than the brush I usually use. Paolo always likes being groomed, but it didn't get a ton of hair off of him. I'll try it again tomorrow.

While I was FURminating Chandler, FedEx dropped off a package for me. From Runner's World! I knew they were sending me some clothes to wear during my photo shoot on Tuesday, but I had NO idea just how many clothes they were going to send... my mind was blown when I opened the box.


There were SO many things to choose from! I was told to put together a few outfits, and whatever I ended up wearing for the shoot, was mine to keep. I spent all afternoon trying everything on, mixing and matching, and trying to put together some outfits. I ended up putting together four(!) different outfits.


It started snowing pretty hard this afternoon, which put a damper on my plans of going to visit Mark. Jerry said the roads were really slippery on his way home from work, so we decided not to go out after all. I will definitely go tomorrow, though. I just wish his treatment at the hospital didn't last all morning! That's the easiest time for me to go, because the kids are in school.

Tomorrow is my long run day, and for the first time in a very long time, I'm not dreading it. I only have six miles on the schedule! I might try to go to the Metropark to run, for a change of scenery.

8 comments:

  1. We have two dogs who shed a lot and bought the Furminator. Our dogs shed at totally different times of the year so sometimes we will brush one and hardly any fur will come off and we will brush the other and we will have BAGS of fur. I think once you brush all the cats you'll see the difference between each of them. Good luck!

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  2. My long hair cat HATES the furminator. HATES it. The only brush that seems to work with her is actually a heavy duty dog comb. It gets out lots of fur during shedding season and helps me get the mats that seem to pop up out of nowhere. I still have to attack her while she's distracted eating though, but there's a lot less growling at me.

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  3. I have a furminator. I think you have to be very careful to not keep brushing the same place multiple times. I do think it pulls out the undercoat which definitely helps. Generally I can get a lot of my cat, but she still mats. So she get shaved every so often. She doesn't like to be combed in the places she gets mats. So it's kind of a losing battle.

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  4. Score on the clothes! I'd be trying to figure out how to wear them all haha.

    I have the same problem for flea stuff with my cats. One big fat one and one little one. 2x the money!

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  5. I am waiting for a pregnancy announcement! In the past 6 months, three of my running friends have come down with a mysterious fatigue they originally blamed on over training. Nope, pregnant! Seriously, though, it's good that you ease up when you need to!

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  6. That is an awesome amount of clothing! Congrats on getting to pick your favorites and keep them. I have my very first 6.5 mile run on the training schedule for Saturday (and I am scared to death). It makes me feel good to know that if I stick with it I will also one day be able to say I ONLY have 6 miles on the schedule as if it is nothing LOL.

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  7. I love the Furminator. i have dogs with wire coats and the Furminator removes the undercoat so easily that saves me a lot of time and energy.

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  8. I have a furminator for both my dog and my cats. Such a great tool. But FYI for those that may be thinking of purchasing, Amazon usually runs them cheaper than the pet stores. I got the one for my cats last year for under $15.

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