strange

just had a weird day at work. weird.

perfection

just checked the weekend weather forecast:

Saturday - sunny and 83
Sunday - partly sunny and 83

could it be any better?

yes! I finally got around to grinding my Kona coffee beans and am currently drinking my 100% Kona coffee. mmmm delicious!

on a completely unrelated note, I was listening to cities97 on the way home from work yesterday. Oak says "...and that was the latest from Augustana, "Sweet and Low." I thought I heard him incorrectly, would a group really name a song after the zero calorie sweetener? So I looked it up: http://www.augustanamusic.com/ Yes, apparently someone would and did. I wonder if it was a joke.

i think i love my laptop

My laptop is a Gateway ______. I really have no idea what model it is...or if Gateway even has different models. I assume they do. Anyway, it is about 6 years old (I've had it since freshman year of college). The hard drive has been replaced at least once...maybe twice. I'm not really sure. Despite being so old, it is pretty fast and it does everything I need it to...wireless Internet, microsoft word and excel. It even has all the songs I downloaded to itunes in 2003 and pictures from 2002. My laptop rarely stays on my desk in my office. Instead, it tend to spend alot of time on my kitchen table and on the floor of living room.

About two months ago I was walking in the dark in my cycling shoes and I accidentally stepped on the my laptop. I smashed the pixels in the screen and now I have this dark cycling shoe print on the right side of my screen. Unfortunately It has grown since the incident and covers about 3 square inches of my screen. It is annoying to say the least. I could buy a new screen, but is it really worth it? I think I will have to get a new laptop very soon. I am excited for a new laptop...not so excited to shell out the cash.

lactic acid and gu

so I just finished racing holt and was not very happy with my results:

swim -12:36
I found out at about 7:00am that the water was 72 degrees and the elite wave was not allowed to wear wetsuits. I did the swim in bike shorts and a tri top and felt like I was doing that "fun" relay where you have to swim in a man's dress shirt and shoes. Yuck! I also was not aggressive enough on the start and got stuck behind some slower swimmers. I should have been under 11:00!

bike - 56:15
I think this about an average of 22 mph. Not too shabby. I thought I could hit 55min - so this was pretty darn close. I was passed by about 3 women on a gear west train with about 3 miles to go. There was definitely some serious drafting happening. Someone on the train yelled something about it's not a three lane bike course when they passed. WTF does that mean? Apparently I was doing something wrong when I was trying to avoid drafting.

run - 41:15
Ooo ow. Yes, that is about 7:45 pace. Yikes! I know I have been running faster than that! Significantly faster! I was really thirsty when I was driving home so I grabbed the water bottle that was still on my bike. There was a little less than half a bottle of Gatorade left. This means I drank less than 100 calories during the race. Although the race was on the shorter side...I should have at least finished the bottle or eat the gu that I had taped to my top tube. Espeically since I had had eaten my breakfast, a granola bar and grapes, at about 5:30am. Not eating during the race was a bad idea and my run split shows it.

9OA ---> >:- (

I also did not warm down when I was done. I tried to take a nap but my legs feel like shit! There is still an excessive about of lactate in them. I think I will go for a long run this evening...after I watch a movie.

FOX News @ 9

Yes. I go to bed extremely early and have to watch the 9:00 news. Lately, I have tuned into Fox 9 for the nightly news. Although I do not consider myself a "news junkie" I like to think I am up to date on the latest news...and well...I've always been a little obsessive about watching the weather.

I saw Robyn Robinson and Jeff Passolt at the state fair about 2 years ago and was not impressed. In fact I was completely turned off by their live performance. Their live broadcast was the opposite of classy. After watching them for about 30 minutes I decided I would never again support their broadcast.

Let's not forget Fox 9 was responsible for that "story" on underage athletes drinking at the U of M. It was BRILLANT journalism.

So here I am...stuck with Robyn and Jeff.

The upside is their weather guys, Ian Leonard and Mr. Marler are halfway decent.

oops.

i crashed again.

so today I dropped my car off at Progressive Auto Care for it's regular oil change. I had this brilliant plan to bike home from the shop, shower, bike back and then head out to my 3:30 haircut appointment. I dropped off the car, hopped on my trusty Trek and made it about 4 blocks from my house when I flatted. Not cool. Especially since I had just flatted last Tuesday. I decided that since I was so close to home I would ride the rest of the way on the flat and fix it at home. (The wheel had a little air left in it). I made it about 2 more blocks and then turned right.

Turning right on the flat was not a good idea. When I turned, my tire was forced to twist off my rim and run right into the brake. Even though I was only moving at about 10 mph, the sudden stop threw me from the bike and into the road. I now have two larger patches of road rash on my right leg and I also managed to tear the bike shorts.

I also had to walk back to Progressive to pick up my car...It felt like a 30 min walk of shame all the way down Laurpenter. I think I was still bleeding. :o(

now off to brits for wind-independence!

what to blog?

Since I started thinking about bringing the blog back, I have had many "ooo, I should blog about that" moments. Most recently, I have considered discussing:

• why my ice cubes never come of the tray perfectly
• the fact that I have over 20 spoons and only 6 knives in my silverware drawer
• how non-generic chicken breast cooks much better than generic chicken breast on the George Foreman
• how I discovered that I have been growing mold in water bottles
• the difference between unsalted and salted butter (and my strong preference toward the latter)

Obviously, all very important topics, that I will touch on at a later date :o).

I had an interesting conversation with Kate over the weekend about "doing what you love." She told me that she had taken two sewing classes because she had found that she really liked to sew. We started to discuss how we [our swimming class] are starting to discover "hobbies" and are realizing that our interests vary quite a bit. In a way, we are rediscovering ourselves.

When I was in high school (and in college) and was filling out applications, the "hobbies/interest" line item always tripped me up. I could never articulate an appropriate answer other than swimming. Sure, there was always the generic reading or music answer, but like I said...generic. At the same time, writing "swimming" seemed incorrect. At that point in my life, swimming was not just a hobby or interest, I was much too serious about it for that. It was who I was, almost like a job or a responsibility, and also something that I had sacrificed quite a bit for.

Like Kate, I am starting to realize what I really enjoy doing and am rediscovering my hobbies and interests. I am realizing that when I have a free weekend, I will most likely be outside. I am also realizing that I am very attached to that "get the heart rate up" feeling. "Training" is something I enjoy.

I have this great memory of eating pb crackers, in a navy blue swimsuit, while on our porch in Madison. My navy blue swim suit would absorb the sunlight, dry my suit, and warm me up so much that the heat would eventually force me inside. In high school I loved the three hour Saturdays in the summer when I would get the "post work-out chills." We always seemed to end 3 hour Saturdays with 175's, or 75's, or some other variation that left us in the middle of the pool after every other repeat. It is the middle of the pool that I remember best. The sun would be incredibly warm, and my arms and legs would feel heavy like weights, but the water would feel perfect and cool against my skin. I would bob up in down between repeats just to experience the temperature difference. In college there were very few time when I had that "this is why I love this" feeling about swimming. Hawaii, however, would always remind me. The majority of the people on the team seemed to dread Hawaii training trips. I lived for the feeling of exhaustion and swimming "on empty." I don't think you can ever fully appreciate a beach until you have laid on it feeling exhausted. Your body will thank you.

This whole discussion on "doing what you love" made me realize why I refuse to consider triathlon as anything more than a hobby, even despite the number of hours I dedicate toward it. At some unknown point (somewhere in high school) swimming moved out of the hobby/interest genre and into the job/responsibility genre. I used to live for swim practice and training in high school, but once I started to sacrificing anything and everything for it, it became a burden. I am afraid to lose the that edge with triathlon - that love of sport that allows you to push yourself a little bit further. I want my enjoyment of this sport to last my lifetime - not just the next five years.

People I bike with and others have suggested that I join a bike team for interval training or that I run hills (or run more in general ...hahaha). What is the rush and why now? I know what I could to do become faster and to become "more successful." In fact, this is one of the main reasons, I don't think that I take the sport seriously. If I took it seriously, there are several things I would change about my training plan. Right now, I am enjoying my program the way it is and where I am at in life.

In fact, I believe that I am "doing what I love." :o)

"they need to install escalators or something...."

small rant...

I went to the Taste of MN for the very first time yesterday. As I was walking down the stairs to Harriet Island, I heard a rather large women gasping as she walked up the stairs, "they need to install escalators or something." I almost said something...almost. If you can not walk up two flights of stairs then there is something seriously wrong with your fitness level. What makes the situation even more absurd, is that none of her friends seemed to think this was an odd suggestion.

About 33% of adult males and 35% of adult women were obese in 2005-2006 (msnbc.com). For a 5'7' women to be considered obese (my height), she would have to weigh just over 190lbs!!!! How have we become so fat?

The food at the Taste of MN has definitely contributed to the problem; the majority of the food was fried and contained massive amouts of sugur. I almost gaged when I walked past a women chowing down on a an "Elephant Ear," a large friend donut, covered in powered sugar.

When I see, or hear things like the above, I always have this urge to step in, say something, make a scene...but I never have. This is especially true at the grocery store. When I see the amount of junk that is in people's cart, I want to stop and ask them how their diet is going, and if they really need 4 bags of chips and 3 gallons of ice cream. I have also considered just removing items from someones cart while they aren't looking. Mostly, I just want to educate people on their food choices. Does the average consumer realize what a balanced diet is?!?

Yes, I realize I'm "judging," but it is about time people stop being 'nice' about this issue and avoiding difficult conversations. Obesity is a serious health issue and should not be regarded as a social taboo.

ok. rant over for now.

other news:

le tour has started!

http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html

Happy 4th of July!

as my description says, I decided to resurrect "the blog." I'm surprised it still exists!

YAY! This is by far my favorite holiday. Why it is the best:

1. It is always warm and sunny. I am currently blogging from the sunny spot on my patio with my swim suit on and itunes playing in the background. What could be better?

2. It always smells good. My neighbors have already started up the bbq. No idea what they are cooking but it smells GREAT!

3. Fireworks. I'm not sure why I think they are so fun to watch, but every year I get excited for the big show.

4. Food. As mentioned above, it smells great. I particularly love watermelon and had some for breakfast this morning.

5. No work. Although the new job is great, I would rather be sitting outside in a swimsuit than in my cube.


Other great things this year include:

• Trials - Always entertaining to watch/follow online.
• Weather - is PERFECT this year. 78 sunny w/ a breeze.
• My neighbor (the one grilling) just fell off his chair. I think he broke it (yes, this is hilarious!)

On a more serious note, I have f'ed my left knee. When I was racing in rochester I twisted/sprained it comoing out of the first lap of the swim. I finished the swim, and attempted the bike (mostly in a small gear) I tried about .5 mile of the run and then decided to stop. The medic on site said the knee was sprained/strained and to give it some time off. I pulled monday morning and it was feeling a little better so I did my usual tuesday night brick (35/6). It was feeling fine (well, except stairs) at this point so I swam Wednesday morning and did a short 3-4 miler in the afternoon. I ended up walking the last half mile or so 'cause it started to hurt again. I woke up thursday morning and WTF I couldn't put weight on it. Soo...I pulled again ...and plan on taking today off and swimming sat/sunday. =(

I'm extremely frustrated; I am not very good at sitting still and I wanted to do some serious milage this weekend.