I think that is what I'm suffering from. I'm distracted and can't focus ... there is just too much going on.
You'll recall, if you've been paying attention, that I completed my triathlon and was preparing to move and preparing to survive my next triathlon ... well, I woke up last Tuesday for my second workout in operation don't drown and I was in pain. Back, neck and shoulder pain. I abandoned the thought of swimming and tried to go for a run. I made it one block. It hurt. Alot. So I went to work and got a massage and it still hurt. Alot. So I went to bed.
Wednesday was the closing. I woke up to work and do some packing pre closing and everything still hurt. Alot. So I called my awesome local massage girl and made an appointment for one hour after the closing. It should have worked perfectly. Perfectly I tell you, except that the bank forgot to wire the money. So I left the closing and got a massage while I waited for the money to arrive. The massage helped, the money arrived and I was an indebted home owner.
My mom and sister came over to help with some last minute packing that I couldn't handle because of my injury. We then headed up to the new pad and ... the keys didn't work. Seriously. Only me.
Thursday was uneventful and Friday I woke up in EVEN MORE PAIN. It hurt so much it made me nauseous. So I called in sick to work (which I never do) and made some massage/chiropractor appointments. They helped, but things still hurt. Saturday and Sunday were rough. The parents had to do all of my packing and unpacking. It sucks to be unable to do something (like lift things) that you are used to doing. I'm not a fan of being gimpy.
Sunday the apartment was in decent order and I was exhausted I should have been asleep immediately but it just wasn't happening. I was like a little kid on Christmas - I just couldn't turn it off.
Monday 2x emailed me. He had emailed a few days prior allegedly just to say hi but also to mention that he and his new girl were buying a condo together. I'll refrain from comment on that other than to advise that hell may in fact being freezing over. This time he emailed to tell me about his weekend trip to Home Depot where they picked out a nice brownish color combo that would go nicely with their light blue sectional ... woah. WTF?? That is what I'm getting. And I NEVER told him so yeah, its just a coincidence and its not like I'll ever see their apartment or them mine or that many if any people will ever see both of our apartments but REALLY? Why??
It was just more unnecessary stuff to think about. On top of craziness at work. On top of the fact that the people that claim to know are telling me not to work out and I have an oly tri on July 22 ... I actually signed up for an additional later one just in case that one is horrific ... and its just too much.
I LOVE my apartment. And I just kind of want to sit in it and be a grown up indebted homeowner and to train for this oly and be here but too much has been happening lately and while I want to be here I NEED to be somewhere quiet where I can relax and sleep and eat and recharge and come back and do what I want here. And so I am. I leave early Saturday. And I can not wait.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Chocolate Therapy ...
I'm not being kitchy, that was the name of the ice cream I had a whole bowl of for lunch. Dark chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies and chocolate pudding swirls ... and it was very therapeutic and unlike the drink that was plan B was less likely to get me fired. Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to get through the day ...
Really it all started on Sunday with the 4 am wake up call. It was a sprint triathlon day ...
Made it to the city to put my bike in the van and drive the people to transition. Set up transition, warmed up in the DE-SGUSTING water ... seriously, the bottom was all slimy and there were all sort of seaweedy things and other floaties, it smelled funny and it was COLD. But, I'm a big fan of the warm up. I think it helped. Not enough. But some.
We were in wave 4 and it came up quickly. Triathlon friend and I placed ourselves to the right and waited a few seconds to avoid the washing machine. This also helped. I swam swimmingly for the first 5 minutes or so but then, as my HR started to rise, I decided to assess how far I had come and how far I had to go - this was a bad move on two levels: 1) I was in the middle of NOWHERE, the first buoy was miles away and the shore was maybe even further (exaggerate much?) and 2) the swimming to treading water transition made me dizzy. Really dizzy. And I freaked out. Thought about quiting. But the nearest lifeguard wasn't that near. So I decided to wander over to the further lifeguard (who also happened to be in the direction I needed to go) and make a decision when I got there. When I did in fact finally get there I had gotten my panic and heart rate under control enough to put my head down and swim to the end. Not of course without some random dude next to me freaking out when he touched part of this random metal structure that was in the middle of the course - I seriously thought he was drowning and that I was going to have to play the hero. But, alas, he was just over-reacting (I would NEVER do that ... for example if a huge bug landed on me in Costa Rica I would not scream bloody murder. Never. Not me.). I finished the swim but the end sucked - it was definitely long and it was impossible to get in. Everyone felt that way so it must have been some sort of current thing.
Anyway, swim = 21:25 (although, by my watch it was closer to 19 - there was a long trek to T1 and again, switching positions made me dizzy). Goal: avoid 5 minute freak out; I think if I just keep swimming, maybe start out slower to avoid sudden heart rate spike, I'll be good to go in this regard.
T1 = 2:57. Not bad I think.
Bike = The course was two loops and very technical. A few rollers. I knocked my HRM off in T1 so I don't know the details, but I had a hard time getting my heart rate under control. I was breathing heavily the whole time but my pace was decent ...
42:50 for 18.2 mph. Goal: just keep riding, maybe start out slower to get my HR down and realize that a less technical, more scenic (ie, not through an office park) would have been a lot better. Need to get in a few 50ish milers in preparation for the oly. Also ... drinking and driving. Gotta practice that!
T2 = 2:57. At least I'm consistent. I sat down, had a gel, adjusted my new visor (which I love) and had a HORRIFIC rack placement. Excuses.
Run = Dear lord shoot me. Needed water. Needed shade. Needed my legs to work. Needed it to end. The course was insanely short. I finished with walking only through the water stops so I think I'm happy enough.
Sherpa Ian had a good comment - you can't compare one tri to another because especially in the swim, the distances, terrain etc. aren't the same. You can compare your time in the same tri over several years and to a lesser extent you can compare your age group placement. So, I was 32nd out of 56 people in my age group. Goal: be in the top 50% ... we'll have to check on that next year ...
Post tri, it took FOREVER to get home. And there were some annoyances. But I made it. Ate, showered and was off to grandma's for fathers day ...
Strangely full of energy when I got home I packed and cleaned and went to bed around 11:30 AND ... are you ready for this? I got up this morning and swam 2000 yards. My goal until the oly on July 22 is to swim 4-6 days a week or else I seriously might drown. We'll see. At any rate, this left me tired and mortgage people suck and I'm moving to a flood zone and when I got a not what I wanted to hear email I cried. I shut the door and cried ... and here we come full circle to: chocolate therapy. Yummo!
Speaking of Yummo ... met up with the girls for Thai on Saturday (carbo loading ...). I like my local girl friends more and more lately. In an all in good fun moment they tried to embarrass me (cause sometimes it is sooo easy) but I rolled with the punches and the result made me giggle. So yeah, just lay on me and move your arms and legs. It'll make you a better swimmer ...
And speaking of better swimmers, shout out to my friend Dave. He finished his first tri - an oly no less - and 6 weeks ago in Costa Rica he sank to the bottom of the pool when he tried to swim. But he did it. Despite no wetsuits being allowed and swimming to the wrong buoy he persevered (I so would have freaked out and swam to the hottest ... er, nearest life guard) to have a speedy swim and bike. So cheers for David.
Time for bed kiddies or else there will be more chocolate therapy tomorrow.
Really it all started on Sunday with the 4 am wake up call. It was a sprint triathlon day ...
Made it to the city to put my bike in the van and drive the people to transition. Set up transition, warmed up in the DE-SGUSTING water ... seriously, the bottom was all slimy and there were all sort of seaweedy things and other floaties, it smelled funny and it was COLD. But, I'm a big fan of the warm up. I think it helped. Not enough. But some.
We were in wave 4 and it came up quickly. Triathlon friend and I placed ourselves to the right and waited a few seconds to avoid the washing machine. This also helped. I swam swimmingly for the first 5 minutes or so but then, as my HR started to rise, I decided to assess how far I had come and how far I had to go - this was a bad move on two levels: 1) I was in the middle of NOWHERE, the first buoy was miles away and the shore was maybe even further (exaggerate much?) and 2) the swimming to treading water transition made me dizzy. Really dizzy. And I freaked out. Thought about quiting. But the nearest lifeguard wasn't that near. So I decided to wander over to the further lifeguard (who also happened to be in the direction I needed to go) and make a decision when I got there. When I did in fact finally get there I had gotten my panic and heart rate under control enough to put my head down and swim to the end. Not of course without some random dude next to me freaking out when he touched part of this random metal structure that was in the middle of the course - I seriously thought he was drowning and that I was going to have to play the hero. But, alas, he was just over-reacting (I would NEVER do that ... for example if a huge bug landed on me in Costa Rica I would not scream bloody murder. Never. Not me.). I finished the swim but the end sucked - it was definitely long and it was impossible to get in. Everyone felt that way so it must have been some sort of current thing.
Anyway, swim = 21:25 (although, by my watch it was closer to 19 - there was a long trek to T1 and again, switching positions made me dizzy). Goal: avoid 5 minute freak out; I think if I just keep swimming, maybe start out slower to avoid sudden heart rate spike, I'll be good to go in this regard.
T1 = 2:57. Not bad I think.
Bike = The course was two loops and very technical. A few rollers. I knocked my HRM off in T1 so I don't know the details, but I had a hard time getting my heart rate under control. I was breathing heavily the whole time but my pace was decent ...
42:50 for 18.2 mph. Goal: just keep riding, maybe start out slower to get my HR down and realize that a less technical, more scenic (ie, not through an office park) would have been a lot better. Need to get in a few 50ish milers in preparation for the oly. Also ... drinking and driving. Gotta practice that!
T2 = 2:57. At least I'm consistent. I sat down, had a gel, adjusted my new visor (which I love) and had a HORRIFIC rack placement. Excuses.
Run = Dear lord shoot me. Needed water. Needed shade. Needed my legs to work. Needed it to end. The course was insanely short. I finished with walking only through the water stops so I think I'm happy enough.
Sherpa Ian had a good comment - you can't compare one tri to another because especially in the swim, the distances, terrain etc. aren't the same. You can compare your time in the same tri over several years and to a lesser extent you can compare your age group placement. So, I was 32nd out of 56 people in my age group. Goal: be in the top 50% ... we'll have to check on that next year ...
Post tri, it took FOREVER to get home. And there were some annoyances. But I made it. Ate, showered and was off to grandma's for fathers day ...
Strangely full of energy when I got home I packed and cleaned and went to bed around 11:30 AND ... are you ready for this? I got up this morning and swam 2000 yards. My goal until the oly on July 22 is to swim 4-6 days a week or else I seriously might drown. We'll see. At any rate, this left me tired and mortgage people suck and I'm moving to a flood zone and when I got a not what I wanted to hear email I cried. I shut the door and cried ... and here we come full circle to: chocolate therapy. Yummo!
Speaking of Yummo ... met up with the girls for Thai on Saturday (carbo loading ...). I like my local girl friends more and more lately. In an all in good fun moment they tried to embarrass me (cause sometimes it is sooo easy) but I rolled with the punches and the result made me giggle. So yeah, just lay on me and move your arms and legs. It'll make you a better swimmer ...
And speaking of better swimmers, shout out to my friend Dave. He finished his first tri - an oly no less - and 6 weeks ago in Costa Rica he sank to the bottom of the pool when he tried to swim. But he did it. Despite no wetsuits being allowed and swimming to the wrong buoy he persevered (I so would have freaked out and swam to the hottest ... er, nearest life guard) to have a speedy swim and bike. So cheers for David.
Time for bed kiddies or else there will be more chocolate therapy tomorrow.
Monday, June 11, 2007
What about a duathlon?
Because I'm fairly sure that you can't drown if you don't get in the water ... but say, hypothetically, that you and triathlon friend decide to get up early Sunday morning and drive down to the beach for a little practice? You meet up with a tri group that has allowed you (upon receipt of a nice little fee) to participate in their open water practice ... and you get there and its cold, and the waves are big ... and rough. Not the sunny day orderly waves that are fun but the scary, cloudy day waves that can send you ass over tin cans (umm, I read that in a magazine today ... its not one of my normal phrases. I swear.) and that cause the lifeguards to stand at water's edge and flinch often? Have I set the scene?
You're leery, maybe because you've been in these waves or similar waves and been knocked around, you've seen the people pulled out shaken and on rare occasions blue ... you know what this can do ... but you're there and you've paid so you and triathlon friend try to get your sea legs. You bounce around in the waves and its all good. You manage to swim out to the buoy and around it and parallel to the shore and back in. But these waves are big ... and you're not swimming so much as surviving and then they propose you do it again. It doesn't seem like a good idea but everyone else is doing it so you head in. And this time it is better. You actually swim and deal with the waves and you're almost to the buoy, you look up to see exactly where it is and get met, head on with a wave and you drink it. And cough. And realize the ridiculousness of the proposed swim. You're not in trouble but worry that you could be so you inform the lifeguard that you're heading in. No, you obviously, clearly, without a doubt do not want a ride on the kayak. So you swim and swim and swim and are about where you started. You swim and swim and swim some more and have still made no progress. So a little lifeguard guy comes over to escort you in .... grrrrrrrrrreat. To highlight the fact that you are in control of the situation you talk to lifeguard guy and comment that you're swimming but ummm, not really going anywhere. At which points lifeguard guy tells you that you're caught in a bit of a rip tide. Perfect. Exactly what you wanted to hear. You start swimming parallelish (b/c that is what you do in a rip) and finally get to where you can stand but at this point you are spent. So you ask lifeguard guy to pull you in a bit which causes other older lifeguard dude to get all bay watch on you and come sprinting out to the rescue. You wave him off and slowly make it in with the help of your original helper .... but, ugg.
So hypothetically, if that happened the weekend before your first sprint tri of the season you'd think about a duathlon too, right? Right. And even if you got in some decent close to shore swimming after the near drowning and even though you KNOW that you can do it ... you'd still consider that duathlon ... trust me. You would.
Fortunately the day before the hypothetical near drowning you ran a 10K in almost the exact same time as the 10K you ran a month ago ... normally one might not think that this was progress ... perhaps not a digression but not progress. Except it was the first hot day of the summer running season and everyone suffered ... without the heat and humidity you probably could have done better, right? Right. So I'd call that progress ...
Round that out with a party that seemed to attract every single pregnant woman in northern jersey and you've got my weekend.
Hypothetically.
You're leery, maybe because you've been in these waves or similar waves and been knocked around, you've seen the people pulled out shaken and on rare occasions blue ... you know what this can do ... but you're there and you've paid so you and triathlon friend try to get your sea legs. You bounce around in the waves and its all good. You manage to swim out to the buoy and around it and parallel to the shore and back in. But these waves are big ... and you're not swimming so much as surviving and then they propose you do it again. It doesn't seem like a good idea but everyone else is doing it so you head in. And this time it is better. You actually swim and deal with the waves and you're almost to the buoy, you look up to see exactly where it is and get met, head on with a wave and you drink it. And cough. And realize the ridiculousness of the proposed swim. You're not in trouble but worry that you could be so you inform the lifeguard that you're heading in. No, you obviously, clearly, without a doubt do not want a ride on the kayak. So you swim and swim and swim and are about where you started. You swim and swim and swim some more and have still made no progress. So a little lifeguard guy comes over to escort you in .... grrrrrrrrrreat. To highlight the fact that you are in control of the situation you talk to lifeguard guy and comment that you're swimming but ummm, not really going anywhere. At which points lifeguard guy tells you that you're caught in a bit of a rip tide. Perfect. Exactly what you wanted to hear. You start swimming parallelish (b/c that is what you do in a rip) and finally get to where you can stand but at this point you are spent. So you ask lifeguard guy to pull you in a bit which causes other older lifeguard dude to get all bay watch on you and come sprinting out to the rescue. You wave him off and slowly make it in with the help of your original helper .... but, ugg.
So hypothetically, if that happened the weekend before your first sprint tri of the season you'd think about a duathlon too, right? Right. And even if you got in some decent close to shore swimming after the near drowning and even though you KNOW that you can do it ... you'd still consider that duathlon ... trust me. You would.
Fortunately the day before the hypothetical near drowning you ran a 10K in almost the exact same time as the 10K you ran a month ago ... normally one might not think that this was progress ... perhaps not a digression but not progress. Except it was the first hot day of the summer running season and everyone suffered ... without the heat and humidity you probably could have done better, right? Right. So I'd call that progress ...
Round that out with a party that seemed to attract every single pregnant woman in northern jersey and you've got my weekend.
Hypothetically.
Friday, June 08, 2007
the F word
Last night I went to a wine tasting with a friend from work. We were talking to a friend of a friend who had a date this week and was deciding whether or not to accept date #2. I told her my theory that unless there was a definite deal breaker you always have to accept date #2 (and probably date #3). "Was there a deal breaker?" I asked. She responded that he used the "F word" once or twice and she wasn't sure, but she thought that was a deal breaker.
Oh dear.
I resisted the urge to ask if he used it as a verb or an adjective. ... I might be able to argue that repeated use of the F word as a verb could be a deal breaker ... but really, I'm sure I've dropped the F bomb on dates. I think that there is something cathartic about the curse and I use it just enough so that it doesn't loose its effectiveness ... perhaps why I'm still single ??
Up next, drinks under protest (I really just want to go home) for a friend going away, sushi, painting and a 10K in the morning ...
la, la, la.
Oh dear.
I resisted the urge to ask if he used it as a verb or an adjective. ... I might be able to argue that repeated use of the F word as a verb could be a deal breaker ... but really, I'm sure I've dropped the F bomb on dates. I think that there is something cathartic about the curse and I use it just enough so that it doesn't loose its effectiveness ... perhaps why I'm still single ??
Up next, drinks under protest (I really just want to go home) for a friend going away, sushi, painting and a 10K in the morning ...
la, la, la.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
I swam a thousand yards ...
... it took me 18 minutes. I believe that is 1:48 per hundred. In my last tri I swam 880 yds (otherwise known as .5 mile) at a pace equaling 1:36 per hundred. I think this is good, right? I wasn't really prepared for this 1000 yards swim - in fact at 3 pm today I gave serious thought to napping on my floor and I wasn't swimming as fast as I could and I didn't have a wetsuit on ... of course, I also didn't have anyone kicking me in the face. Hmmm. Who knows?
The next few weeks are going to be busy:
Today: swimming
Tomorrow: wine tasting with friend from work
Fri: finish painting apartment
Sat: 10K; married friend's birthday in the 'burbs
Sun: open water swim practice; last sopranos
Mon: L's show for a photography class she took
Tues: trainer; graduation for bike riding thingy
Wen: pre-Closing walk through of new apartment
Thurs: pick up tri packet; local tri meeting; trainer's going away party
Fri: finish packing
Sat: finish packing
Sun: tri; father's day
Mon/Tues:?
Wen: Closing!
Thurs/Fri:?
Sat: MOVE
WOW!
I think I'm gonna go to bed - better sleep while I can;)
The next few weeks are going to be busy:
Today: swimming
Tomorrow: wine tasting with friend from work
Fri: finish painting apartment
Sat: 10K; married friend's birthday in the 'burbs
Sun: open water swim practice; last sopranos
Mon: L's show for a photography class she took
Tues: trainer; graduation for bike riding thingy
Wen: pre-Closing walk through of new apartment
Thurs: pick up tri packet; local tri meeting; trainer's going away party
Fri: finish packing
Sat: finish packing
Sun: tri; father's day
Mon/Tues:?
Wen: Closing!
Thurs/Fri:?
Sat: MOVE
WOW!
I think I'm gonna go to bed - better sleep while I can;)
Monday, June 04, 2007
Century Ride/Costa Rica Revisted
Well, kiddies. Mission accomplished. Finished my first century ride - going into the ride, especially given the early hour at which it started and the not in my own bed (now, now I stayed on Triathlon Friend's couch the night before ... nothing exciting) sleep the night prior I had serious doubts. But in the end I wasn't going to be the one to call for help so I pressed on and made it to the finish.
There is no real fun and exciting way to describe 100+ miles of bike riding ...
yup, that's right ...
100+ Miles of Bike Riding? Unfortunately the PLUS was not well publicized. The ride was advertised as a century. For those not in the know, that is 100 miles. Sure, they had a cue sheet but the road was marked and I can barely ride my bike and drink so I wasn't looking at the cue sheet. The "last" eight miles were rough, around mile 85 I picked up the pace for a bit thinking that the faster I pedaled the faster I'd get off the bike which was pretty much the only thing I could think about at that point (do you have any idea the extent to which your ass hurts after 7 hours of biking ...?). I regretted that pace pick up around mile 92 but I pushed on counting down the miles one by one ... and when I got to mile 100 the ride did not end and there was no sign that it would end any time soon. Not being the Never Ending Ride, it did eventually end ... 4 miles later. What's 4 more miles after you've ridden 100 you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you its hell.
That being said, I got the giggles twice. You know when you think of something funny and you start laughing and you just can't stop? The first time was right after our 50 mile rest stop and one of the girls we were riding with said something in Spanish. I thought of Costa Rica and Dave's planned speech to the U.N. in which he would explain (in Spanish ... logically) why Greenland should be named Iceland (its cold) and Iceland named Greenland (its green). Pero Greenland es frio. I wasn't there when the group came up with the idea but I was there a few times when the speech was rehearsed and for some reason it was hysterical (umm, perhaps the Imperial?) and when the girl said her Spanish phrase the speech came to mind and I got the giggles. Fortunately Triathlon Friend was there so I had someone to share with.
The next time was right before the mile 85 push. We stopped at a stop sign so one of the girls could take a picture and this guy that was also stopped there pulled a banana out of his pocket and started eating. I've actually seen guys pull bananas out of their pockets on the subway (seriously, bananas ... I'm not speaking in euphemism) and it always makes me think "is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" And on a bike trip (with guys sort of putting it all out there in tight shorts anyway) this question made me think of zip lining and the crotch compressing harnesses that the guys wore that extenuated their umm, bananas. This time I was delirious and I COULD NOT stop giggling and I COULD NOT explain this story to anyone I was with (I mean, I wasn't really checking out this guy's banana ... it just sort of reminded me of zip lining where you couldn't really help looking at the parts because they were sort of on display) so shortly thereafter I went ahead of the group to giggle sans explanation and subsequently about died when the ride did not end when I thought it should have.
Its funny how there are some trips (Costa Rica, Ireland with my college friends) where its the people that shape the experiences. Sure I'll remember the scenes and adventures of CR but its the people that make the stories that give me the giggles. Kind of like I'll always remember the sights and scenes of Ireland but I'll also remember Duff yelling across the bar "K., you love BJ" when Billy Joel came on or Chicago Friend saying "you can't play hearts till your hearts been broken" to the guy that had just gotten left at the alter ...
And did I mention my ass hurt? More than you can imagine during the ride. That and my arms. But with your arms you can stretch a bit and change your hand position, there is really only one place to put your butt thought and after awhile that just isn't fun.
So, all in all a good day.
Slept for 14 hours last night after eating a ton of sushi for what was sort of my second dinner and somehow managed to be halfway productive today. I met a friend for brunch, bought paint, started painting the apartment, had a massage, went food shopping and cooked dinner. Go me;)
So, that's it kids. Hopefully my legs will be recovered for next weekend's 10K race ...
Goodnight.
There is no real fun and exciting way to describe 100+ miles of bike riding ...
yup, that's right ...
100+ Miles of Bike Riding? Unfortunately the PLUS was not well publicized. The ride was advertised as a century. For those not in the know, that is 100 miles. Sure, they had a cue sheet but the road was marked and I can barely ride my bike and drink so I wasn't looking at the cue sheet. The "last" eight miles were rough, around mile 85 I picked up the pace for a bit thinking that the faster I pedaled the faster I'd get off the bike which was pretty much the only thing I could think about at that point (do you have any idea the extent to which your ass hurts after 7 hours of biking ...?). I regretted that pace pick up around mile 92 but I pushed on counting down the miles one by one ... and when I got to mile 100 the ride did not end and there was no sign that it would end any time soon. Not being the Never Ending Ride, it did eventually end ... 4 miles later. What's 4 more miles after you've ridden 100 you ask? Well, I'm here to tell you its hell.
That being said, I got the giggles twice. You know when you think of something funny and you start laughing and you just can't stop? The first time was right after our 50 mile rest stop and one of the girls we were riding with said something in Spanish. I thought of Costa Rica and Dave's planned speech to the U.N. in which he would explain (in Spanish ... logically) why Greenland should be named Iceland (its cold) and Iceland named Greenland (its green). Pero Greenland es frio. I wasn't there when the group came up with the idea but I was there a few times when the speech was rehearsed and for some reason it was hysterical (umm, perhaps the Imperial?) and when the girl said her Spanish phrase the speech came to mind and I got the giggles. Fortunately Triathlon Friend was there so I had someone to share with.
The next time was right before the mile 85 push. We stopped at a stop sign so one of the girls could take a picture and this guy that was also stopped there pulled a banana out of his pocket and started eating. I've actually seen guys pull bananas out of their pockets on the subway (seriously, bananas ... I'm not speaking in euphemism) and it always makes me think "is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" And on a bike trip (with guys sort of putting it all out there in tight shorts anyway) this question made me think of zip lining and the crotch compressing harnesses that the guys wore that extenuated their umm, bananas. This time I was delirious and I COULD NOT stop giggling and I COULD NOT explain this story to anyone I was with (I mean, I wasn't really checking out this guy's banana ... it just sort of reminded me of zip lining where you couldn't really help looking at the parts because they were sort of on display) so shortly thereafter I went ahead of the group to giggle sans explanation and subsequently about died when the ride did not end when I thought it should have.
Its funny how there are some trips (Costa Rica, Ireland with my college friends) where its the people that shape the experiences. Sure I'll remember the scenes and adventures of CR but its the people that make the stories that give me the giggles. Kind of like I'll always remember the sights and scenes of Ireland but I'll also remember Duff yelling across the bar "K., you love BJ" when Billy Joel came on or Chicago Friend saying "you can't play hearts till your hearts been broken" to the guy that had just gotten left at the alter ...
And did I mention my ass hurt? More than you can imagine during the ride. That and my arms. But with your arms you can stretch a bit and change your hand position, there is really only one place to put your butt thought and after awhile that just isn't fun.
So, all in all a good day.
Slept for 14 hours last night after eating a ton of sushi for what was sort of my second dinner and somehow managed to be halfway productive today. I met a friend for brunch, bought paint, started painting the apartment, had a massage, went food shopping and cooked dinner. Go me;)
So, that's it kids. Hopefully my legs will be recovered for next weekend's 10K race ...
Goodnight.
Friday, June 01, 2007
I am a bad blogger ...
I'm thinking of telling a few more people about K. Michele so I've gone through and deleted a few incriminating posts ... not all of them, but some. I'm not sure how I feel about self-censorship, but I've saved the posts as drafts so I guess its okay, right?
Anyway, again, I've abandoned ya'll for awhile so:
Costa Rica
It was fun. Although the degree to which it sucked to come home came close to outweighing the fun. We swam, we drank, we played euchre, we went on a run that was more of a mountain climbing adventure, we hiked in the rain forest and we found a water fall. We also think that Pat & Larisa got married. We're not sure because the ceremony was all in Spanish but they kissed at the end.
And the drama? Well, there really was none. 2x's chick is fine. About as different from me or anyone I know as you could possibly ever get and I don't think there was a moment during the whole trip where they weren't in physical contact (they tended to hold hands throughout entire meals) and she brought her own coffee creamer (allow me my one caddy comment, thank you) but she was harmless. And 2x was nice to me, although I don't really think that the trip was the beginning of a great friendship between the two of us, in fact I've barely spoken to him since.
The girls were anxiously awaiting my return home to hear abut the drama ... but there was none. I had a great time, Dave was a great date (I may have driven him crazy but I think we got along pretty well - as he said, his energy counter acts my neurosis in a positive way), 2x and chick were just sort of there not affecting my enjoyment one way or the other ... so, in short it was a success but it ended too soon ...
And, after a week of living right next door to good friends I came home and was single and ...
Got Slammed At Work
Crazy hours. Basically no working out although I did ride with the local tri club. They were super fast, but very nice. They all remembered my name and I couldn't figure out why ... I mean, I'm very bad at names. For awhile I figured I was just very memorable but then, as I was careening down a hill, it came to me: I had my name on masking tape on my helmet. Welcome to the short bus. Fortunately, they were all married;)
Then,
My sister graduated from college ...
I was exhausted the whole weekend but it was fun. I took one more week to recover and then I started working out again.
Century Ride
Is tomorrow. Oh boy. 100 miles.
Moving
Coming up quickly ... I've started packing and planning how to decorate the new place but there is still alot to do ... the next few weeks are going to be jam packed with adventure so I'll try to be better about updating. Yeah, we've all heard that before ...
Anyway, again, I've abandoned ya'll for awhile so:
Costa Rica
It was fun. Although the degree to which it sucked to come home came close to outweighing the fun. We swam, we drank, we played euchre, we went on a run that was more of a mountain climbing adventure, we hiked in the rain forest and we found a water fall. We also think that Pat & Larisa got married. We're not sure because the ceremony was all in Spanish but they kissed at the end.
And the drama? Well, there really was none. 2x's chick is fine. About as different from me or anyone I know as you could possibly ever get and I don't think there was a moment during the whole trip where they weren't in physical contact (they tended to hold hands throughout entire meals) and she brought her own coffee creamer (allow me my one caddy comment, thank you) but she was harmless. And 2x was nice to me, although I don't really think that the trip was the beginning of a great friendship between the two of us, in fact I've barely spoken to him since.
The girls were anxiously awaiting my return home to hear abut the drama ... but there was none. I had a great time, Dave was a great date (I may have driven him crazy but I think we got along pretty well - as he said, his energy counter acts my neurosis in a positive way), 2x and chick were just sort of there not affecting my enjoyment one way or the other ... so, in short it was a success but it ended too soon ...
And, after a week of living right next door to good friends I came home and was single and ...
Got Slammed At Work
Crazy hours. Basically no working out although I did ride with the local tri club. They were super fast, but very nice. They all remembered my name and I couldn't figure out why ... I mean, I'm very bad at names. For awhile I figured I was just very memorable but then, as I was careening down a hill, it came to me: I had my name on masking tape on my helmet. Welcome to the short bus. Fortunately, they were all married;)
Then,
My sister graduated from college ...
I was exhausted the whole weekend but it was fun. I took one more week to recover and then I started working out again.
Century Ride
Is tomorrow. Oh boy. 100 miles.
Moving
Coming up quickly ... I've started packing and planning how to decorate the new place but there is still alot to do ... the next few weeks are going to be jam packed with adventure so I'll try to be better about updating. Yeah, we've all heard that before ...
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