(no really, he did)
(I'm not planning to go slow, per se, but it's nice to know that Confucius thinks it's ok if I do)
Triathlon is Saturday. This is 95% of the gear I need for the race. Whoa.
Swim Bike Run, here I come!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Confucius Say...
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
(no really, he did)
(I'm not planning to go slow, per se, but it's nice to know that Confucius thinks it's ok if I do)
Triathlon is Saturday. This is 95% of the gear I need for the race. Whoa.
Swim Bike Run, here I come!
(no really, he did)
(I'm not planning to go slow, per se, but it's nice to know that Confucius thinks it's ok if I do)
Triathlon is Saturday. This is 95% of the gear I need for the race. Whoa.
Swim Bike Run, here I come!
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Phở Sho
Yummmmmm.
Have you ever had Phở? It is a DELICIOUS Vietnamese soup. About 10 of us went out for some Phở tonight after swim practice - we kind of took over the little place with our chlorine-y aroma and bursts of laughter. I love this group.
In other news, I CAN SWIM. Holy crap. After more than three months of struggling to complete a measly 50 yards in the pool without feeling like I was going to die, I breezily strung together multiple sets of 200s tonight. I did 100s like they were going out of style. 50 yards? No problemo, señor. So what was it, you ask? What was holding me back all this time, making me feel like the worst swimmer in the history of ever? I was KICKING TOO DAMN HARD. That's it. CCCLLLLLLLLL.
I started to wonder at our last open water swim if that was the problem. My friend Marta mentioned that sometimes she actually forgets to kick. "Wha...?," I thought. "How can you forget to kick? You have to kick really hard to keep your back end up and reduce drag. ...don't you?" Turns out, NO YOU DON'T. Once you have your swimming form correct (as I have for months and months), your back end is already up. Light flutter kicking just gives you a little boost in forward propulsion. The main power is your arms (duh) and the rotation of your trunk. The minute I backed off on my kicking, voila! - I can swim.
I'm still ridiculously slow, but I could care less. I can move consistently through the water without feeling like I'm on the verge of aspirating large quantities of H2O. Finally.
Have you ever had Phở? It is a DELICIOUS Vietnamese soup. About 10 of us went out for some Phở tonight after swim practice - we kind of took over the little place with our chlorine-y aroma and bursts of laughter. I love this group.
In other news, I CAN SWIM. Holy crap. After more than three months of struggling to complete a measly 50 yards in the pool without feeling like I was going to die, I breezily strung together multiple sets of 200s tonight. I did 100s like they were going out of style. 50 yards? No problemo, señor. So what was it, you ask? What was holding me back all this time, making me feel like the worst swimmer in the history of ever? I was KICKING TOO DAMN HARD. That's it. CCCLLLLLLLLL.
I started to wonder at our last open water swim if that was the problem. My friend Marta mentioned that sometimes she actually forgets to kick. "Wha...?," I thought. "How can you forget to kick? You have to kick really hard to keep your back end up and reduce drag. ...don't you?" Turns out, NO YOU DON'T. Once you have your swimming form correct (as I have for months and months), your back end is already up. Light flutter kicking just gives you a little boost in forward propulsion. The main power is your arms (duh) and the rotation of your trunk. The minute I backed off on my kicking, voila! - I can swim.
I'm still ridiculously slow, but I could care less. I can move consistently through the water without feeling like I'm on the verge of aspirating large quantities of H2O. Finally.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Wetsuit Up!
I heart the wetsuit - I do not heart skintight neoprene. o_O
We got our official Team in Training wetsuits this past week! We also got our Tri suits (you wear the Tri suit for the whole event and wear the wetsuit over the Tri suit for the swim), so we're all set for the big day. I can't believe it's only four weeks away...yikes!
Saturday was a ridiculous day of training. We had a 33-mile bike ride in the morning. The first half was fantastic, but we spent the second half battling a horrible headwind. UGH, it was awful. And we had to do a 2-mile transition run right after the ride. Needless to say, I was BEAT by the time I got home.
I read an entire book Saturday afternoon, which I haven't done in ages. Htd and I sat outside at Starbucks and enjoyed some iced chais and the beautiful weather.
THEN, Saturday night I ran the Night Run for the Arts - 5.1 miles through the darkened streets of Scottsdale. Everyone had glow necklaces and colored lights and things and the weather was perfect. So much fun!
So Saturday ended up being a 40-mile day. Oof. I was just a little sore this morning... nothing a little yard work can't cure. Blurg.
We got our official Team in Training wetsuits this past week! We also got our Tri suits (you wear the Tri suit for the whole event and wear the wetsuit over the Tri suit for the swim), so we're all set for the big day. I can't believe it's only four weeks away...yikes!
Saturday was a ridiculous day of training. We had a 33-mile bike ride in the morning. The first half was fantastic, but we spent the second half battling a horrible headwind. UGH, it was awful. And we had to do a 2-mile transition run right after the ride. Needless to say, I was BEAT by the time I got home.
I read an entire book Saturday afternoon, which I haven't done in ages. Htd and I sat outside at Starbucks and enjoyed some iced chais and the beautiful weather.
THEN, Saturday night I ran the Night Run for the Arts - 5.1 miles through the darkened streets of Scottsdale. Everyone had glow necklaces and colored lights and things and the weather was perfect. So much fun!
So Saturday ended up being a 40-mile day. Oof. I was just a little sore this morning... nothing a little yard work can't cure. Blurg.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Pat's Run
No, not that Pat. :)
A bunch of people from my tri Team participated in Pat's Run on Saturday. It's a 4.2 mile run that celebrates the life of former ASU football star and Army Ranger, Pat Tillman. His ASU number was 42, so lots of things were 42 themed. By far the coolest part was the finish line, which was located on the 42-yard-line of Sun Devil Stadium - you ran through a chute lined by current ASU football players and throngs of people cheering you on to the finish. AND that part was all broadcast on the stadium jumbo tron. Too much fun!
The race itself went so well! When I started running 15 months ago, I was averaging about a 12 minute mile. That pretty much stuck around ever since, but I've been slowly getting a little faster thanks to my insane training schedule for the triathlon. So I thought I'd be a little ambitious and place myself in the 10 min/mile corral for the race, just to see if I could do it. Ha! I ended up running the race at a 9:45 pace. WOOOO! I was so happy!
Also, one of my friends works for an orthopedic clinic and they were offering free consultations and physical therapy stretching at the expo. So we all got stretched out when we were finished - that was actually really fun. The therapist who was working on me started the hamstring stretch on me (pictured) and said "Dang, girl, you have some LONG legs!" Why, just because my leg spans the length from your knee to above your head?
Anyway, it was a really fun morning followed by a fun evening of hamburgers and mini golf with friends. Not too shabby.
A bunch of people from my tri Team participated in Pat's Run on Saturday. It's a 4.2 mile run that celebrates the life of former ASU football star and Army Ranger, Pat Tillman. His ASU number was 42, so lots of things were 42 themed. By far the coolest part was the finish line, which was located on the 42-yard-line of Sun Devil Stadium - you ran through a chute lined by current ASU football players and throngs of people cheering you on to the finish. AND that part was all broadcast on the stadium jumbo tron. Too much fun!
The race itself went so well! When I started running 15 months ago, I was averaging about a 12 minute mile. That pretty much stuck around ever since, but I've been slowly getting a little faster thanks to my insane training schedule for the triathlon. So I thought I'd be a little ambitious and place myself in the 10 min/mile corral for the race, just to see if I could do it. Ha! I ended up running the race at a 9:45 pace. WOOOO! I was so happy!
Also, one of my friends works for an orthopedic clinic and they were offering free consultations and physical therapy stretching at the expo. So we all got stretched out when we were finished - that was actually really fun. The therapist who was working on me started the hamstring stretch on me (pictured) and said "Dang, girl, you have some LONG legs!" Why, just because my leg spans the length from your knee to above your head?Anyway, it was a really fun morning followed by a fun evening of hamburgers and mini golf with friends. Not too shabby.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday 26th October, 2009
I wonder...
if they have Guinness Stations instead of water stations?
if they hand out four leaf clovers (or better yet - pots of gold) instead of medals?
if Glen Hansard will show up to sing beautiful songs to me? (fingers crossed)
if the entertainment stations will include U2 and/or Riverdance?
So... some news! I applied a few weeks ago and was just chosen to be a Team in Training Team Captain for the summer/fall season. For what event, you ask? Oh. For the adidas Dublin Marathon.
Iiiii know!
I'll act as kind of a mentor for 5-10 of the new TNT marathon participants. I'll offer encouragement and support, provide fundraising ideas and organize group activities, and try to build camaraderie within my group. Oh yeah, and train for the Dublin marathon. :) I'm so excited!
But, first things first: gotta get this triathlon tackled.
if they have Guinness Stations instead of water stations?
if they hand out four leaf clovers (or better yet - pots of gold) instead of medals?
if Glen Hansard will show up to sing beautiful songs to me? (fingers crossed)
if the entertainment stations will include U2 and/or Riverdance?
So... some news! I applied a few weeks ago and was just chosen to be a Team in Training Team Captain for the summer/fall season. For what event, you ask? Oh. For the adidas Dublin Marathon.
Iiiii know!
I'll act as kind of a mentor for 5-10 of the new TNT marathon participants. I'll offer encouragement and support, provide fundraising ideas and organize group activities, and try to build camaraderie within my group. Oh yeah, and train for the Dublin marathon. :) I'm so excited!
But, first things first: gotta get this triathlon tackled.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Seriously.
How could anyone not love this guy?
Someone recorded this at the show I went to last week.
Someone recorded this at the show I went to last week.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
What Kind Of Week Has It Been
It's been busy, you guys.
But the good kind of busy, for the most part. Lots of firsts and fun things to do and challenges and whatnot. And, since I'm very nearly falling asleep at my computer at 9:30pm, I'm going to go with the theme of:
Snapshots and snippets! (click on the photos to make them larger)
Tuesday: William Fitzsimmons
Since htd was out of town and my phx friends aren't so much with the sad, sad music, I went to this concert by myself. And you know what? I had a GREAT time. Rosi Golan was terrific with her clear, bell-like voice and unassuming stage presence. And William Fitzsimmons was just fantastic. His music is so sad and melancholy, but there's this note of hope that shines through on a lot of his songs. And he has this surprisingly funny and relaxed stage presence that I wasn't expecting at all.
This event involved a 750m swim, followed by a 4k run. They hold these things pretty much every Thursday for a few months to give local multisport athletes a chance to practice their open water swimming and transition techniques. This was my first open water swim. Yikes. But! I accomplished my goal and was NOT the last one out of the water. And I passed a couple people on the run. It actually ended up being a lot more fun than I was expecting. Who knew??
The Tour is an annual race that takes place in Mesa and benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The 26-mile race took place along almost the exact same challenging route that my TNT group rode a couple weeks ago. That first trip up the mountain, I had to stop three times and rest for a minute just so I could continue on up. This time I didn't stop at all. Woo! It's nice to see that my training is doing its thing. Also, I came in 59th out of 170 entrants. Being a brand new cyclist, I'm pretty proud of that. :)
Virginia, a friend from my Georgia days, is currently in Tucson for an orthodontics conference. So htd and I drove on down to spend some time with her and her friend Stephanie. We visited the San Xavier mission and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, drove through downtown, and spent some time by the hotel pool drinking slushies and chatting it up. So much fun! And now I can tell you all kinds of facts about Gila Monsters. I know.
Now: sleep.
But the good kind of busy, for the most part. Lots of firsts and fun things to do and challenges and whatnot. And, since I'm very nearly falling asleep at my computer at 9:30pm, I'm going to go with the theme of:
Snapshots and snippets! (click on the photos to make them larger)
Tuesday: William Fitzsimmons
Since htd was out of town and my phx friends aren't so much with the sad, sad music, I went to this concert by myself. And you know what? I had a GREAT time. Rosi Golan was terrific with her clear, bell-like voice and unassuming stage presence. And William Fitzsimmons was just fantastic. His music is so sad and melancholy, but there's this note of hope that shines through on a lot of his songs. And he has this surprisingly funny and relaxed stage presence that I wasn't expecting at all.Thursday: Splash N Dash
This event involved a 750m swim, followed by a 4k run. They hold these things pretty much every Thursday for a few months to give local multisport athletes a chance to practice their open water swimming and transition techniques. This was my first open water swim. Yikes. But! I accomplished my goal and was NOT the last one out of the water. And I passed a couple people on the run. It actually ended up being a lot more fun than I was expecting. Who knew??Saturday: El Tour de Phoenix
The Tour is an annual race that takes place in Mesa and benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The 26-mile race took place along almost the exact same challenging route that my TNT group rode a couple weeks ago. That first trip up the mountain, I had to stop three times and rest for a minute just so I could continue on up. This time I didn't stop at all. Woo! It's nice to see that my training is doing its thing. Also, I came in 59th out of 170 entrants. Being a brand new cyclist, I'm pretty proud of that. :)Sunday: Tucson
Virginia, a friend from my Georgia days, is currently in Tucson for an orthodontics conference. So htd and I drove on down to spend some time with her and her friend Stephanie. We visited the San Xavier mission and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, drove through downtown, and spent some time by the hotel pool drinking slushies and chatting it up. So much fun! And now I can tell you all kinds of facts about Gila Monsters. I know.Now: sleep.
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