“So this is it, huh?” she asked as they walked down the sidewalk. The Apple Cider Century was already in place. Riders were zooming back and forth from the parking lot to the registration area and to the start and finish line. We got to Three Oaks, MI for the Apple Cider Century around 9:00am Michigan time. It was a pleasant drive up. My poor bird with his broken wing came up with me to enjoy the day. He looked at me and said, “You mean ‘this is it’ for the season?” he asked me? “Yep,” I replied sadly. Pete said, “You had a really good season. Enjoy this last tour and then you can rest and get prepped for next year.”

Pete was right. It was time to put my bike away and get ready for next season. But I still had one more ride left in me for the year. It turned out to be a quarter of a century ride because of severe sleeplessness but that’s okay. The day was beautiful and I so enjoyed this last ride of my race season.

The Apple Cider Century is a bicycle tour. A tour is not a race. It’s a relaxed reason to ride anywhere up to 100 miles. I love it. You show up with your helmet and your bike and you take off. There are SAG stops along the way with food (often vegan!) to eat and, in this case, cider to drink. People are so friendly no matter what distance you are doing.

As I picked walked my bike to the race line I had a feeling that today was going to be a tough ride for me and I turned out to be right. I hadn’t and haven’t been sleeping well and that always hinders my athletic performance. Quite honestly it turns me into a weeping, whining baby. And that’s ok. It’s my event and I can act how I want to act as long as I don’t bother anyone in the process.

I was supposed to do the Apple Cider Century with Pete but since he broke his collar bone there was no way that was an option. I missed my little bird with his broken wing bound in a sling. I think psychologically he would’ve helped me get through the 37 miles I’d wanted to ride instead of giving up and only doing the 25 miles which I knew I could finish. I was falling asleep at the wheel of my bike so it’s a good thing I turned back, but there’s always something to be said for a buddy that will keep you awake and not let you down. A good buddy, whether it’s a running or biking or swimming buddy, will not let you down.

As I started my tour I noticed how crisp the air was and how the fall breezes wrapped themselves around my body and gave my bones that cool chill. I coasted at first until I got to the first country road and picked up the pace a little bit. Then I saw it…the first hill. No matter what you read about Michigan, if you read the word “flat” don’t believe it. Michigan doesn’t have flat hills. In fact, flat and hills shouldn’t be in the same sentence with the exception of this blog post!

The Michigan colors were exquisite. There were so many sights to be seen like a mother and daughter on a tandem bike and their dad behind them pulling the dog in a bike trailer. I noticed a Christmas tree farm with lots of baby trees, a few daddy trees and one full grandfather tree. Off in the distance was a bright, orange maple tree burning like a beacon in distance. My favorite sight of all was seeing the leaves fall from the trees and twirl and dance around as they got caught in a breath of air and then waver as they shimmied to the ground. I remember as a girl crunching through large leaf piles in the fall and it gave me a good memory of my mother.

No matter how many sights I describe to you I can’t describe how much I wanted to have a buddy there to share the sights with me. There was no one to chatter with about how beautiful the fall colors were or laugh at me as my porta-john got broken into because I forgot to lock the door! Oops!

Hopefully my little man with the broken wing can go with me next year.

Tours are so relaxing compared to races. Tours are about being with people and experiencing the sights. Races are about getting it done. I like both experiences for different reasons. Sometimes having the clock is a good thing and sometimes using your senses to get you through the ride is a good thing.

This time I used my senses. I intend to incorporate both next year.

As I crossed the finish line whiny and cranky my broken wing was there to greet me and take my picture. I put my bike back inside when we got home and wished it fair well for the winter. My “season” of racing and touring is over until next year. Next year will hopefully hold great things in store for me. I’m running a half marathon this winter and doing a training program for it through Fleet Feet Sports. I’ve got a half Ironman program all picked out. Once my tattoos heal I’ll be back in the pool. And I plan on pumping my pistons at some spinning classes once or twice a week. And for cross training there’s always pole dance!

Lessons learned this season: always look for a buddy. I missed having a good buddy this season. I made it through somehow without one. The one time I got a buddy he wound up cracking his collarbone. So I’m looking for another running/biking/swimming buddy. If you want to be that person then just email me! I’ve done 5 triathlons and two tours this summer. I didn’t do hardly any running this season so I will be working on that next.

Sara Sawochka

The box was waiting for me outside on my front porch on a blustery, chilly fall day. It was gloomy and cloudy outside and there sat the box that would brighten my mood after a day at work.

The box from Leigh Ann!

Smooth purple tissue paper was wrapped around lots of goodies inside the box. Oh it was hard to resist the urge to tear the paper into shreds and not keep it nice. I was able to recycle it for my foodie pen pal who also happens to love the color purple.

The inside of the box. What are the contents?

Here’s what was in the box!

We start with some delectable fruit snacks. These tasted really good with no added sugar. They gave your mouth a good chomp for fruit snacks.

Fruit snacks from Leigh Ann!

After the sweet, you gotta go salty. There were some yummy pistachios in this box that came in quite handy one day at work when I was hungry and looking for something to nosh on. Here’s a clue: you cannot eat the shell! I tried and it doesn’t work!

Oh how I love Pistachios!

For breakfast, Leigh Ann sent me some oatmeal which I wound up purchasing at Costco earlier this week because I liked it so much. I put chia seeds, soy milk, blueberries and a banana in there and mix it all up. It’s fabulous!

Raw oatmeal from Leigh Ann.

After breakfast you must have dinner. What could be better for dinner than a quinoa. Eat it plain, it it with vegan eggs and vegan ham, eat it however you wish just eat it in a dish!

For dessert we have to have chocolate. Through my blog people found out Oreos are vegan and now everyone buys me Oreos. Leigh Ann was no exception. In her letter to me, she said that both she and her husband were skeptical that Oreos were vegan but read the ingredient list and became believers! So here’s what’s becoming my favorite dessert:

The dessert I cannot get enough of!

I also received these from Leigh Ann. I wound up giving these to my foodie pen pal, Alyson, as a way to try and trick her. When I send things to my non-vegan foodie pen pals, I always send one thing that’s not vegan and this was it. It was perfect! It is a brand name everyone knows and that couldn’t possibly be vegan, right? Wrong!

Twilight Delight that I gave to my foodie pen pal Alyson! I have tasted these before and they are delicious!

I saved my favorite for last. This is a jelly from a local farm nearby where Leigh Ann lives and it was fabulous on Ezekiel bread. It went great with organic, crunchy peanut butter for PB&Js. My husband loved it too. Gotta love local!

Blueberry jam from a local farm in Leigh Ann’s town!

This is my second foodie pen pal experience and it has been fabulous. I highly recommend it. If you have any questions for me then please ask me about it. I’d love it if one person tried it this month just to see what it’s like. Here’s a link to the website for newbies to signup. Just click here.

Sara Sawochka

You can read about the box she got from me with the Chocolate and Nut Butter theme by clicking right here!

I will be posting about my Foodie Pen Pal, Leigh Ann, and the box she sent me soon!

Sara Sawochka

World Farm Animals Day (WFAD) is coming up on October 2nd. WFAD is always on October 2nd in correlation to Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Gandhi, who was a champion of moral vegetarianism, believed that speaking out on behalf of animals is both a necessity and an obligation.

World Farm Animals Day exposes and memorializes the 65 billion land animals whom suffer and die every day year in the world including the 10 billion of those who die in just the United States alone. The state of our food production system today is disgraceful.

By celebrating World Farm Animals Day on October 2nd, we turn Gandhi’s ideals into action by making visible the cruel and unnecessary tragedy of factory farms and slaughterhouses. WFAD observances are hosted by volunteers in communities in all 50 U.S. states and 2 dozen other countries. Participants include animal protection groups, individual citizens, and everyone in between – anyone who cares about animals is encouraged to join us in this global outcry.

Gandhi said, “Progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.” The less animals that die each year means a better world for all of us.

Sara Sawochka

I felt cold, icy fingers pressing on my shoulders. It was like a cold shawl dipped in ice that had draped itself along my shoulder blades and the coolness thrust through my body like a cold-stone sword. It wasn’t pain I felt. It was more of a whisper of frost whisking its way around my body.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was all alone. No one was there. I cried. He was gone and wasn’t coming back. My beloved Pete was gone from me. He died in a tragic car accident. I was alone now—all alone.

I was awake and the dawning sun was peering through my window curtains and peeking around the shades. I had learned to hate the sun. Since he left me sunlight was always a reminder that I shouldn’t be sad. It was a reminder to go out and enjoy life and yet it was the last thing I wanted to do.

I punched my hand into the mattress and felt the coils spring back into my fingers. It hurt for a moment. That hurt I felt made me realize that I was still alive and had to move forward. I couldn’t curl up under the covers, cry, hide and wait for him to come back to me because he wasn’t going to.

I forced myself to do three simple things everyday since he died: take a shower, brush my teeth and get dressed. Doing these things took effort. The sadness I felt inside was like a brick pulling at my heart and the tears that would pool up in my eyes would make me panic uncontrollably. I still had to move on. I still had to punch the mattress and keep going.

After dressing myself in my dark denim jeans, high-heeled black boots and grey sweater, I wandered downstairs to look outside. It was fall now and the maple trees shone with their glossy orange, yellow and red leaves. Beauty no camera could ever capture. Autumn is a fleeting season. There are only a few short days that are truly crisp and sunny with fresh autumn air.

I made myself some oatmeal with almond milk and berries for breakfast. I paid some bills. I checked my Facebook page. Then I went outside to the garage. I looked at 2 cars staring back at me. One was Pete’s car and the other was mine. I decided to take my car that day which was a simple, white, speedy Toyota Corolla. After backing the car down the driveway and putting it in reverse, I decided to just drive somewhere. I didn’t know where I was going. I just drove. I wound up at my favorite place we used to go: Indiana Dunes. It was where we had our second date. It was also a beautiful place to enjoy the fresh, autumn day.

I took my boots off and rolled my pant-legs up and started to walk through the sand letting it squish and squash in between my toes. I let the water of Lake Michigan wash up my legs and splash backwards and repeat. The water wrapped itself around my feet in a complete circle, like it was giving me a hug and then it was gone so quickly. It was like my life with Pete. After eight years together and nearly 6 months of marriage, it was all gone like that.

I put my head down into the wind, slouched my shoulders and shoved my hands in my pocket as I felt the breeze off the lake roll around my body. I sauntered on down the lakeshore with no purpose. Tears came rolling down my cheek. The wind rustled my long, golden curls which got stuck in the tears that streamed down my face. As I wiped my hair out of my eyes, I stopped suddenly and looked up. I’d nearly tripped over someone’s feet.

“I’m so sorry sir,” I said as I continued to apologize profusely. I’d nearly run over an old, weathered-looking man who I’d seen here but had never talked too. Pete and I had seen him there often. Pete and I had never made the time to stop and talk to him. He spoke to me softly and gently, “Why are you alone today beautiful woman?” he asked. I told him my spouse had passed on. He spoke to me one more time before moving on saying, “You must not cry over what you’ve lost young one but of what you didn’t have.”

Suddenly I a three sharp taps on my shoulder rousing me from my sleep. “Sara, Sara, wake up—you’ll be late for work,” said the voice. With teary eyes I looked up and saw Pete looking back at me wearing his lavender shirt and black pants and radiant smile. I hugged him quickly. I woke up immediately.

The dream I’d had reminded me how short life is and how, when I do lose Pete, I can’t cry over what we didn’t have but remember the good times we did have.

Make every moment count.

I love you Pete.

Sara Sawochka

Why did you get the second tattoo so soon?

There are two answers to this question. The first is that I honestly miss the water and want to get back to swimming as soon as possible. The longer I space out getting the tattoos the longer I’ll have to wait to get back in the water. So, much like a lot of things in my life, I made the decision to get them done close together and get them done with because I knew they were things/experiences I really wanted to have done.

The second answer is simply I just wanted it. Right after I got the dragonfly I knew I wanted to get another tattoo. I was addicted. As I’ve heard before tattoos can be very addicting and it’s true. After I got the dragonfly I started looking for a design pattern for the butterfly tattoo. I called up Sacred Chao and scheduled my appointment!

So I miss the water and I knew what I wanted and went after it right away. Athletics and tenacity—two words that really describe me. Shocker! Or maybe it’s not a shocker at all!

Which tattoo do you like better? The dragonfly or the butterfly?

That’s a tough question to answer. So I’m not going to answer it directly. I’ll answer it indirectly by saying I love the dragonfly because it was my first tattoo. It will always have that it-was-my-first tattoo. The butterfly is very cool looking. I love the outline with the minimal coloring that really pops. It doesn’t look like a traditional, cutesy butterfly which I really like.

Will you be getting any more tattoos?

I promised my friend Rachael that I would wait for her to get our next tattoos together. We are having a tattoo party. If anyone wants to come with us in the future let me know. I will be getting a hummingbird. If we can get the tattoos done after my half ironman next year then I may have a change of plans on what kind of tattoo I get when I go with her.

I’m happy with the two tattoos I have at the present time!

Who is your tattoo artist that does such fabulous work?

Mallory who works at Sacred Chao Tattoo at 206 Elm Street, Valparaiso, IN 46383. Call (219) 531-2020 to schedule an appointment. Or check out their website by clicking here.

Sacred Chao is a nice tattoo parlour with pleasant music and is very clean. If you’re nervous or have any questions Denise at the front desk is great at calming your nerves and answering your questions. I have so many good things to say about this

Why do you like her so much and will you keep going to her in the future?

I will definitely keep going to Mallory in the future. She does a great job. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to get a tattoo (with vegan ink especially!) or body piercing in the future.

Will you get any body piercings?

Yes, I’d like to get a small nose piercing down the road but not yet. Mallory does piercings as well. I’ve seen her work and she does a great job. However, after finding out last night that it takes 12 weeks for that to heal that put a crimp on my body piercing dreams for now. That is way too long for me to be out of the swimming pool. I’ll get one next fall when I can take some time off from swimming.

What did you name the butterfly tattoo and do you have a picture?

The butterfly tattoo is named Borealis. The colors on her look like the northern lights and are subtle and beautiful. Yes I have two pictures for you. One is the outline before the colors go in and the other is a picture of Borealis with the colors filled in.

Here’s the stencil outline Borealis before it goes gets filled in. Mallory makes a stencil drawing and puts the outline where the tattoo will go so she gets all of the lines right.

Here’s a picture of Borealis all filled in an looking gorgeous. Great job Mallory!

Lastly, can we read about the meaning of Borealis, the butterfly tattoo?

Yes you can. Just go to this link here and you can read all about it!

Sara Sawochka

She woke up one morning slowly crawled and looked in the mirror. Not liking who she saw she realized she wanted to change it. She needed balance. She needed give and take. She needed change. She felt stuck and needed to fly. Crawling slowly from one place to the next with always the fear of being stepped on didn’t work anymore.

She slowly started doing things to change. She started cleaning her act up. She started focusing on her inner beauty. She changed from a wicked princess into a glorious Queen. However this change didn’t metabolize overnight. She dreamed and hoped and wished at night that things would be different. She was ready to start anew.

In her bed she cocooned. She stopped the long slumbers and woke up. Everyday was a new day. The work she put into each day was gruesome and giving and contagious. She started to affect people’s lives and they wanted to change with her. She was no longer the girl with the excuses.

She woke up one particular morning and hatched out of her cocoon and felt as if she could fly. She felt like her hard work was finally paying off. It was as if she was radiant in color and majestic with wings that reached to a thousand seas. Beneath her was a yin yang symbol as she rose to the top of the world to remind her of the interconnectedness and interdependency we are and have on each other in the natural world.

Through her transition she went from a caterpillar trying to find her way to a girl with a motive to work as hard as she could to find herself and her own personal journey moved with her along the way to hatch out of a cocoon to become the girl with the butterfly tattoo with the yin yang symbol beneath it to always remind her of balance.

Papillon is French for butterfly. Tomorrow I am getting a tattoo of a butterfly with a yin yang symbol beneath it. I will post pictures. I wanted you to know in advance what it means to me!

Sara Sawochka

I just completed my third week of my MFA internship. I spoke with my boss and am pleased to report that my internship has been extended which I’m really excited about!!! I can keep going for as long as I’d like. I’m hoping to stay as an intern for a while longer and get more experience.

An internship has been a great learning experience and a great way to get in on the ground floor of the animal activism field and learn from the bottom and I hope to work my way to the top. I feel joy and pride in having a sense of what I want to do with the rest of my life. We’ll see how this journey goes and where it will lead. It’s weird to think that it snowballed to an internship from an innocent party at SH Smile’s house called a Very Vegan Holiday! I’m glad I went to that party!

Anyways, this week has been rather quiet. My duties have been promoted a bit from commenting on google articles to coming up with drafts for letters to the editor and finding articles in newspapers to send letters to. I’m still working on the Walmart Cruely campaign every day. My favorite thing to do is write blog articles and I got another shot at that this week! There aren’t a lot of blog opportunities but when there are they seem to come my way and I jump at the chance at them!

We did another paid per view event outside a college dorm in the Chicago. I got to ride the elevated train for the first time. We took the brown line! I felt very Chicago-chic taking the train! The paid per view event was interesting. College kids, while you’d think they have an open mind, often think they’re too cool for the $1.00 we were offering them to watch the video. I was surprised. Leafleting was about the same. We handed out a lot of leaflets and were successful with the paid per view events but the vibe of the whole thing seemed off to me somehow.

This week, as a fun side note, I got rear-ended by a semi on a hit and run in heavy traffic on my way home on Tuesday night on 80/94. Note to self: listen to the Magellan and take the alternate rout the next time it says there’s heavy traffic….it’s not joking.

I was feeling some stress this week so I took some time off. I didn’t volunteer at any festivals this weekend. I spent some time with Pete. That’s part of the learning experience of having a 20-hour per week internship plus a full time job is learning how to balance things. We spent a relaxing weekend together just chilling. I feel more energized and ready to dive into more work now.

I’m very excited that my internship has been extended and that I can keep going. I absolutely love what I am doing and am hoping I get handed harder projects as time goes on. I get bored so easily so the more challenging for me the project is, the better off I am and more likely I am to succeed.

Have a great week!

Sara Sawochka

Currently, at age 45, Ultraman Rich Roll feels “fantastic” according to an interview done with CNN this week. According to Rich Roll an Ultraman is ultra triathlon race which is “a three-day race covering 320 miles on the big island of Hawaii, including a 10-kilometer ocean swim, more than 260 miles by bike and a double marathon run.”

Five years ago, the night before his 40th birthday, Rich had a “moment of clarity” when he feared he was close to having a hear attack while walking up the stairs in his home. He vowed to transform himself by adopting a plant-based diet and nearly 6 months later entered his first Ultraman event.

Six months before training for his first Ultraman event, Rich Roll decided “to adopt a 100 percent plat-based whole food diet. A discipline that involved removing all animal products (and most processed foods) from [his] diet. No chicken. No fish. No dairy. Nada” according to Human Factor: Rich Roll’s ‘Experiment in Fitness’ article. Here’s the web link for the entire article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/29/human-factor-rich-rolls-experiment-in-fitness

Rich Roll is currently working on a book called Finding Ultra while competing in Ultraman events. When CNN interviewed Roll, he said the following during his interview: “My hope is that people can see through the extreme endurance event aspect of the book and realize that’s purely intended as metaphor. Not everyone who reads my book will want to do Ultraman or become 100% vegan, but I hope it serves as inspiration for whatever that thing is you’ve had in the back of your mind that you always wanted to do. There is a way and a means to breathe life into those things if you’re willing to prioritize it in a way you haven’t done before.”

Adopting a vegan diet can lead to major changes in your life, whether it be weight-loss or meeting physical challenges, both of which Roll was able to do. I hope you’ll choose a vegetarian or vegan diet the way Rich Roll was able to do.

Sara Sawochka

What inspired you to get a tattoo?

I honestly wanted one. A lot of people in the animal rights movement have representational tattoos and I think they’re cool. I’ve been scared for such a long time about getting one because of the pain. But I finally got past that was able to step up to the table and get the ink-jection!

Did getting the tattoo hurt?

I hate needles. I was scared of getting the tattoo. I realized at some point that I could do it because I’ve handled pain pretty well before. For instance, the marathon I did in Chicago 2011. I’ve never felt so much pain in the balls of my feet before at the last 3 miles. My body has never been in that much pain after an event before. I figured if I could handle that pain then, I could handle this pain now.

The pain of the tattoo needles wasn’t nearly as bad as the feeling of my feet during the marathon and the achiness in my body after the marathon ended.

Was anyone there with you when you got the tattoo?

Yes, my husband went with me along with my good friend Rachael and her boyfriend Scott.

Why was getting a tattoo with vegan ink so important to you?

As a vegan, I wanted to have tattoos drawn with ink that represent my lifestyle. It would be hypocritical to get a tattoo with non-vegan ink and say I’m still a vegan. It’s like a vegan that walks around wearing a leather jacket. I’m trying to embrace veganism in all aspects of my life right now and I wanted to carry that over to the tattoo as well. Vegan ink was very important.

Where sources do non-vegan ink come from?

I took this answer from the following website:

“Tattoo ink is made up of pigments which are suspended in a carrier solution. The pigments provide the color of the tattoo, while the purpose of the carrier is to disinfect the pigment suspension, keep it evenly mixed and provide for ease of application. Most pigments are made of metal salts such as iron or copper. Others may be made from plant derivatives. Black pigment (also known as Bone Black), is made by burning animal bones down to charcoal. While the carrier solution is generally made up of: ethyl alcohol, purified water, witch hazel, listerine, propylene glycol and glycerin. Although glycerin may be derived from vegetables sources, it is typically obtained from animal fats.”

Do you have a picture of the dragonfly tattoo?

Yes just click here to see her! Her name is Bella meaning beautiful.

What’s the meaning behind the dragonfly tattoo?

Was it just something cool to get or was there meaning behind it?
I did some research and everything I read is summed up in this single paragraph as to why I chose the dragonfly below. I found this on someone else’s blog and re-blogged it. I thought it was a really interesting article. I feel that the changes I’ve gone through in the last 30 years have finally led to a new life for myself and the dragonfly, to me, represents the shedding of the skin and coming into a new, joyful life.

Here’s the paragraph from the post I re-blogged:

“The first year or more of their lives, they live in the water as nymphs. When they metamorphose into the flying creatures we recognize as dragonflies, they live only a few weeks. I like to compare this pattern to a person who has spent her whole life working her way to her truest path and then finally has the strength and means to express her purest nature. Even if for a short while, this person will flit and skim across the days of her life, inspiring those around her to live joyfully, as well.”

Will you be getting another tattoo? If so, then when will you go?

I have plans for 4 more tattoos. I’m getting a butterfly done. I have a consultation this evening with Mallory to see what she can do about designing a butterfly tattoo for me. I also want to get a hummingbird.

The other two tattoos I have plans for I have to earn so I don’t know when I will be getting them. They will be the M-dot ironman triathlon tattoos. One will be for the 70.3 distance and the other will be for the 140.6 distance. I’m hoping that the M-dot can look pretty and not so masculine. I will not get those tattoos until I’ve completed these two events. The half ironman I’m planning on doing this coming fall 2013. The full ironman will most likely be in 2014 or 2015.

Last question: Where did you get the tattoo done and would you recommend them? How’d you hear about them?

I got the tattoo done at Sacred Chao at 206 Elm Street, Valparaiso, Indiana. Call (219) 531-2020. Here’s a link to their website. I heard about them because from my friend Sarah H. I was looking for a tattoo parlour that was local and used vegan ink. I posted this information on Facebook to see if anyone knew of a place and my vegan friend Sarah H. recommended Sacred Chao.

I would highly recommend them. Mallory did my dragonfly tattoo and she did a fabulous job.

Sara Sawochka