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I'm going to see it tonight with Laurie and B. AHhhhhh!!! I'm super excited.
I ran a lot of errands. I slept for 9.5 hours. I was TIRED. It looks like I'm going to have to go to bed earlier than midnight if I want to get up at 4 AM.
A sit-up or two and then off to Sex and the City!!!!!!!!
I'm not going to lie. I thought Beth was crazy for getting up at 4:45 to go swimming. Who gets up at a time with a 4 in it???? But I was happy to get up at 4:10 this morning. The pond is not close and the "in water time" was 5:30 AM. I swam for 40 minutes. Then I trail rode for an hour (and I didn't fall! i was back with my SPD pedals that I've totally loosened the tension on). I was in my car by 8 AM, made it back to Boston by 8:45, and was in class by 10:30. I knew if I wanted to go to the pond it was then or never b/c I had work to do this afternoon. Plus, I love it at the pond and in the woods in the morning when there are fewer people there. My little group of 3 all got parking spots (we only needed 2; 1 guy biked) and we beat the mass of triathletes that left the shore at 6 AM. After that the water was actually crowded and you had to be careful that you didn't hit anyone coming out at you.
It occurred to me that I'm happy these days.
I also had a moment in class that was kind of surreal. I was sitting there learning about tax thinking...was I REALLY in a wetsuit in the middle of a pond at 5:30 this the morning?
Finally, I figured out I'll get ~40 miles of commuting in a week on my bike. That is a HUGE percentage of my mileage :) so that's a good thing. I'm also going to be wearing the same clothes to school Thursday and Friday all summer. I have one 1.5 hour class each day so I'm not dragging my school clothes (I change out of shorts/t-shirt and into more respectable clothes when I get there) home and bringing fresh ones for only another 1.5 hours.
PS. I didn't realize how far away my Mt. Washington trip is (two weeks from today). I can't wait that long to run. Some experimental running is to take place on Monday...
I am not relaxed. At all.
I just walked in the door from my first outdoor ride on my tri bike. I fell while I was still in the bike room with only one foot clipped in. I don't even know how it happened. I immediately thought...I guess I didn't loosen the pedal tension as much as I thought I did...and I hope no one was watching that on a security camera.
I fixed the tension and then took the bike out on the road for 26 miles. I went this afternoon to avoid rush hour traffic, but from 1-3 PM I didn't avoid traffic in general. Except for early mornings, there are ALWAYS cars on the road around here. During the ride I VOWED to move WAY out of the city ASAP. Then, of course, I couldn't commute by bike, etc. etc...but I was not enjoying myself for much of this ride.
I was wobbly even when I wasn't aero. (Maybe b/c the tri bike is tinier and more compact?) I kept forgetting that my shifters are on the aerobars. And lets not forget of course the @#^%$#&^ pedals. I don't like them. They are too hard to clip out of. They should make women's pedals that are easier to clip out of. It occurred to me that maybe the pedals ARE actually unisex b/c you can adjust the tension through a very wide range, but I found it hard to believe that I am weaker than every other cyclist in the entire world.
I kept having flashbacks to the day I learned how to ride my bike when I was 6 years old. My Dad taught me in the morning. In the afternoon I was 1/4 of a mile away at my friend's house and I was trying to ride my bike home. I couldn't get started. I skinned my knee. I was teary-eyed. My neighbors were asking me if I wanted them to get my parents. I said, "I'm fine. I'm okay." I kept trying. And then I got started and biked home.
And now I can ride a bicycle.
I had that same feeling today of being really bad at biking to the point of unhappiness. The feeling I had was a little bit of fear b/c I didn't feel in as much control as I usually do (and now I see why tri bikes aren't allowed in group rides) and there is so much traffic anywhere near here. After 20 miles I started to feel a little better but I was super glad to get home. I only hope the suckiness of this too passes with time and practice.
Other notes are that I kept forgetting that this bike has two big gear rings and not three like my road bike. I also kept chanting in my head, "Switch gears before you get into trouble." That's something my Dad taught me when we were riding up hills when I was a kid. Except for commuting, there is not a single ride I don't chant that in my head at some (or many) points.
Today was my first day of classes. Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time reading about basic income tax in preparation for tomorrow. That's right-I'm in tax class. I'll put it out there...I wouldn't say tax is really my thing or my true passion or an area where I know anything at all. But, in true triathlete exuberance, all the more reason to take it, right?...To work on my weaknesses and become more well-rounded. To finish explaining the analogy, fitting tax into my schedule came at the expense of bioethics-which I've already taken twice at various pre-law school times. It was time to move on to something with a steeper learning curve.
I will say, however, that even though cycling is not my strength, it is a lot more fun than tax law :)
After not riding my road bike for two months the thing to do is clearly to throw some new, difficult to use pedals on it and go on a group ride in rush hour traffic and pouring rain where you're one of the weakest riders. This was the worst weather I've ever ridden in. Visibility was a challenge. I couldn't decide if my vision was worse with our without sunglasses on. Both options provided poor results. I think one of my friends was trying to ride right in front of me so I could draft off of him but it was actually worse with him trying to help me b/c if the bike in front of you was too close all of the water coming off of their wheel came straight into your face. It got quite pleasant out by the end of the ride, but the bulk of it was in steady rain.
All that said, I give the ride...two thumbs up!!! It was really fun. We were such a small group (~12 people) that we didn't split up into our usual pace groups. Everyone rode together. It was too dangerous to go too fast so the pace was tolerable (plus people waited up at the tops of hills and such b/c today's ride really was about it being ridiculous we were out in the rain and people were just nice enough not let the slower riders get lost). It was way more low key than this ride usually is so I actually got to ride with my friends who are usually two pace groups ahead of me. It was just fun and everyone was all happy to be there and out cycling. Seriously, no one would have come out today who wasn't a happy cyclist!
Interestingly, my average was about 16 mph. This includes all of the really slow miles (12 mph) I rode by myself to and from the group ride. Without having biked recently, this is still higher than my averages on this ride last year (usually 15 something). That's pretty incredible. Maybe cycling is like running where you generally get a little bit faster over time after your muscles get conditioned?
Tonight's ride unfortunately led to me walking laps in my apartment building dressed in spandex and cycling shoes and covered in mud from head to toe. I'm not a fanatic about cleaning my bikes by any stretch, but even I knew I couldn't leave my bike in its current state. I called my teammate M and asked how the heck someone is supposed to clean a bike in the city? It's not like there are yards and hoses lying around. He gave me some tips which all sounded really annoying and time consuming (yet necessary). That's one thing about living in the city that totally bites. No washing your car. No cleaning stuff. No yard to BBQ on. You get my point.
I went with plan B-go to the front desk and ask people to help me locate a hose and get some water turned on. It's a building. I was sure there were hoses SOMEWHERE. This proved successful and I even learned the word for hose in Spanish (my sister taught me over the phone while I waited for the maintenance guy in the lobby since the front desk guy told me the maintenance guy spoke Spanish and Portuguese). Everyone in my building was helpful. The bike is now clean via hose. I resolved my locked out problem (also while wearing spandex) and then I resolved my dinner issue (I was about to eat my arm by this point). It was quite an eventful night AND I learned how to say thank you in Portuguese. (I need some of my sister's language DNA.)
Five hours later, the first 30 miles of the season are in the bank.
My road pedals were a little harder to get out of than my SPD pedals-to the point that I could not rip my feet out and I had to pray, roll up on some grass/rocks to slow me down, and grab onto a wall (a flat wall so it was more of a lean) and brace myself so I could extract my feet.
Once freed from the bike I went in search of an appropriate multi-tool to ease the tension on my pedals. My efforts didn't seem to help so I turned the little doodad in what I thought was the wrong direction but I was willing to try anything. This made the pedal mechanism so tight that I could not clip in. I spent 20 minutes unsuccessfully trying to clip in before realizing the problem wasn't that I was unfamiliar with my new shoes/pedals and the appropriate clipping motion, but rather that by tightening the tension I had made the pedals so tight that Superman would not be able to clip in. I then loosened the tension all of the way and I can now clip in and out. It's a little harder than I would like, but it's already getting a little easier and I think once I go on a few rides and the clipping mechanism gets used a bit things will loosen up more (fingers crossed). I don't want to get stuck to my bike again.
That's right-I'm starting this post at 9:12 AM. I've already swam around outside and went trail riding. I had to get up at 4:45 AM to accomplish this, but it was pretty excellent and once I got moving it wasn't bad at all. I even ate at 4:50 AM. I normally don't eat before a morning workout, but with swimming and biking on the agenda and a light dinner last night I thought a few calories were in order.
I rolled into the parking lot at 6 AM to meet up with my team. Guy to girl situation was ~9:1. I represented. I wasn't really worried about keeping up though. Last season I swam outside at this location alone a lot and I figured if I got way dropped and ended up alone, no harm done, it would be like normal for me :) It turns out not all of the guys are the same speed anyway (and I wasn't the slowest of the group) and after the first stretch (where we stop to regroup) the fastest swimmers swim the coves in their entirety and everyone else cuts the corners by appropriate amounts so that we all regroup around the same time once more before finishing up in a straight shot back to the beach at your own pace. It's a good method and obviously safer than swimming alone. Last year I was never alone alone b/c other triathletes were bopping about in the pond (though this morning we were the only swimmers [hardcore!!]-take that you rival triathlon groups!!), but it is clearly better to be a part of a posse where people will know if you're missing. I definitely think it's good for me to be on this team where I can follow other people's lead and learn methods for group workouts, etc. so I can help my school team where everyone is pretty much a newbie. It's interesting to find myself in these two different roles.
After that about half of the guys went off for a sub-7 min/mile trail run. I ventured off for a ~45 min. trail ride. The trail was PERFECT for me. It was my first day with clipless pedals on my mt. bike and I pretty much suck at trail riding. Fortunately, a lot of the trail was not super technical so I could stay upright and just enjoy being off in the woods while there were still a few patches where I could challenge myself and/or I was too afraid to do (a steep downhill that would be suicidal with my current abilities) so I wasn't bored. I think another recent boot guy is interested in joining me next time (it's so hard being left out of the fun when you're hurt and trail riding is a good activity for us!!). I wanted to ride for longer but there are parking issues past 8 AM. I think when people swim at 5:30 AM to get their workout in before work that will work out well for me b/c I'll be able to bike for longer afterwards. My school schedule is absolutely awesome this summer and I will have plenty of time in the mornings.
Also, when you're in a group of triathletes, all of your equipment is clearly up for inspection. One guy had what is supposed to be a fast new wetsuit so everyone wanted to know all about it and as people got ready for their run or to go home they came over to look at my bike on the back of car. [i got made fun of for my reflectors. again] I was kind of self-conscious b/c I'm SO NEW to mt. biking I almost feel like I shouldn't even have a bike and that it's not dirty enough and there they are discussing my break system. [and making fun of my reflectors. i can explain about the reflectors. i'm afraid i'm going to hurt the spokes in my efforts to take them off!]
Finally, my wetsuit finally fits without scratching the heck out of my neck. I'm about 9 pounds less than when I bought it two years ago and I can now A) get it on w/out it being an ordeal and B) not get a wetsuit neck hickey. It's a lot more comfortable and, in my opinion, still the same level of functional. It's hard to get a good wetsuit fit when there are only three sizes [S, M, L]. I concede the wetsuit fit when I bought it even though it was tight. My wetsuit is a medium and I don't think I needed a large. But it's just so much better now compared to its previous fit. I think they should make more sizes to fit more different sizes of people (though of course I would be screwed now so it's good i have the size i do, but in general i think more sizes would be good.)
Today was ridiculous. I am finally back in Boston (and it feels nice to be home!). Almost as soon as I arrived at my place I picked up two of my bikes and headed to the bike store to get what I knew would be a substantial haul: two sets of road pedals, helmet, tri shoes, and four inner tubes. It took a while to get everything sorted out and some of the stuff is arriving tomorrow from another of the store's branches. The thing is...three bikes were involved in the process and my bike rack only holds two bikes so I had to make a second trip across town to bring the third to the store. I'm moving the mt. bike pedals off of my tri bike onto my mt. bike and getting road pedals for my road bike (currently pedal-less) and my tri bike. My road bike and tri bike are at the store overnight (I begged for some of their precious storage space b/c it's annoying dragging my bikes back and forth) until the pedals arrive tomorrow. This took hours. But I'm excited for my new gear which will hopefully be it for a while. I also dropped off one of my school's new triathlon jerseys b/c we're giving each sponsor one for their establishment.
Warm weather even arrived up north while I was gone :) Tomorrow will likely hold some outdoor swimming and trail riding (the choice was made easy b/c it's my only functional non-commuting bike...). Now can someone please clean up the chaos that is my apartment?
Clearly i have some new readers who have not read my explanation of goggle eyeball :) It's when the skin your goggles touch gets irritated. In my case, it's itchy. I've already switched to Swedish goggles (which have nothing but plastic eyecups touching your skin) which helped a lot, but for some reason goggle eyeball has recently returned in a less severe form. My neck is itchy too though and I don't wear neck goggles. I'm special.
I'm also still in NJ. My Tuesday class got canceled so I didn't need to rush back. My Dad and I tried to decide if we wanted to bike to watch the Tour de Somerville (a well known series of bike races starting 5 miles from my house) or if we wanted to go on a longer bike ride in a really pretty, hilly area of town. We chose the latter. Long time readers will remember me dubbing the Midland Run (15K) the hardest course I've ever raced on in my entire life. We chose that route for our ride and ended up doing 23 miles on hybrids.
My Dad and I split up about 18 miles in with me going ahead. All of a sudden I saw race vehicles. Spectators were telling me that the race leaders were 5 minutes behind me. Ahhh!! The Tour was about to overtake me!! I sprinted down the mountain until I hit the bottom where I camped out with a couple of police cruisers and a park ranger for 2 minutes before the racers arrived. I cheered on the pros at what was mile 74 (the 80 mile race was only for something like cat 1 and 2 men), and then finished my ride home.
As soon as I arrived I was handed a raincoat and filmed as part of my little brother's school project. I think they needed more diversity in their video (they had all guys in their group) and more people to play the different roles. My Dad and I have also been looking at the Mt. Washington web cam. It looks pretty snowy up there!
Now, do I feel like swimming? I'm kind of motivated. I was all depressed with the whole boot thing and I felt like I was missing everything...but it's definitely still not summer so perhaps I'm not hopelessly behind the 8 ball.
It's gorgeous here in NJ...so I just chilled out and didn't exercise. Both of my parents were already on the move and on their way out to golf and swim respectively when I woke up at 8:30 AM so I didn't join them as I groggily ate breakfast. Instead I watched Gossip Girl, cleaned out my e-mail account and did some other on-line stuff, my mom MADE me buy new purses b/c my current one has so many strings hanging off of it that it's embarrassing to her, and I finished the book "Three Cups of Tea." I especially didn't want to swim b/c my goggle eyeball is back with a vengeance and the idea of exposing chlorine to my raw eyelid skin made me cringe. My mom gave me some different goggles to try though so those might be good even if only b/c they are in a different shape and will let me poor skin heal. I'm looking fwd to some non-chlorine outdoor swimming SOON.
My Dad and I are figuring out the logistics of our Mt. Washington hiking trip in mid-June so in deference to that I'm not going to run until after our trip to let everything in the foot area stay calm. (It HAS only been one week sans-boot at this juncture.) This mean I can probably race triathlons in mid-July. BUT, I can swim and bike now and tomorrow I hope to finally get pedals for my road and tri bikes. Yeah!! In less fun news I am going to put together some Swedish goggles tonight. I HATE putting them together...SO ANNOYING getting the head part the right length...I've had these pairs sitting unassembled for months though...alright, off to do that...
