holy scary bike batman

So you sense a pattern with these recent blogs? Yeah..I got a tri coming up (HUGE grin). Today I picked up the road bike (that I am borrowing from a friend) from the shop. I've never ridden a road bike before. The race is in two days. So I drive home, put on my biking gear (oh yeah, I now have gear...well...just a helmet really)...and drive to a neighborhood just down the street. I unload the bike , try to mount, and fall over. Graceful I'm telling you. So I WALK the bike over to a less uh...populated area (oh hateful pride) and try again...crash. Then I realized what was wrong- on the mountain bike, the seat is low enough so I can put my bum in it and then start pedaling, the road bike, not so much. So I spent the next hour mounting and dismounting, falling over numerous times, popping the chain off, I have tire marks all over my legs right now...etc... I finally got to the point where I could mount, transition to the road bars (the curved part of the handlebars) brake, stop, dismount, and not fall over. Then I worked on moving at a faster speed than snails pace and rode around in a huge parking lot, taking turns tighter and tighter to get a feel for how it handles and to realize that I won't actually fall over...uh, hopefully that is. So I'm more comfortable now...but guess what I will be doing tomorrow? Oh yeah, practicing...now, I'm not talking about going and riding 20 miles, but just taking the bike out and building my confidence in my riding skills...oh I wish I would have taken the bike in sooner. Oh well...now I'm going with Lisa and Erin to pick up our packets for race day...wahoo...

Just a great day...

So I had a really fun day today. It started off with Lisa and I trekking over to Twin Lakes Scuba Park to practice the open water swim. She's swum in a lake before (during her last tri) but I'm a newbie and didn't want to panic on race day. So we swam two 300m. Times were around my 7:46 ballpark, so I was pleased with that. And I didn't freak out (too much) when my foot touched a shallow, squishy, icky part of the lake bottom or when little fish decided to nibble on my legs and feet. So I call it a success!

Then we headed over to Tri On the Run for a seminar in transitions and nutrition. Transitions are the periods of time between each of the tri events when you are switching to the next event (grabbing your bike, putting on your runing shoes, etc). It was good because the speaker walked through each step of the tri process, a definite bonus for a novice.

And then the nutrition seminar! Well, this was actually why I wanted to go, because with my increase in workouts per week, I don't think I am eating the right stuff, even though I am a pretty healthy eater, I have been lacking energy recently. I also want to keep my health in good shape and diet is a large part of that. I had been contemplating seeing a nutritionist to put together a meal plan and give me some pointers and voila! this seminar happens. This woman is AWESOME! And I am totally making an appointment to meet with her. It is a bit pricey, but totally worth it to make sure I stay healthy. They do a metabolic rate test and come up with meals that work for you during the week, for your training, etc. And since 1/2 marathon training is just around the corner, I think it will be perfect!

Then, Lisa, Dana (another NASA gal, who is a tri veteran), and I went over and talked tri talk at the Cheesecake Factory...I think the Vanilla Bean cheesecake might replace the Lemon Raspberry as my favorite cheesecake ever (and yes we ate cheesecake after listening to a nutrition seminar....everything in moderation folks! :) )

My head is just swimming (no pun intended!) with all the information that I got from the seminars, Lisa, and Dana. So exciting!!!!

Trial Tri

So I took today off from work because I can :) and decided it was the perfect time to do a trial tri. I've been swimming, biking, and running, but never back-to-back. So I decided to try the distances today. I did much better than I thought I would...what's with my run time!? I shaved almost a minute off of my summer-mile time..weird.

Bike: 2.2 miles to pool
Swim: 300m in 7:46
Bike: 11.7miles ~50minutes (I forgot to stop my watch at lights) (14mph)
Carry bike upstairs to apt- grab armband and visor
Run: 3 miles 31:00 (10:20 mile...this is insane!)

So I feel much more confident now about next week's race. However, running after biking? Weirdest sensation ever...it was like my legs didn't want to listen to my brain...I'd still like to be faster at the bike and I really think that running time is a fluke (I thought the armband was going wacky so I drove out the mileage and it certainly was 3 miles...).

Tomorrow Lisa and I are going to an open water area that we can swim in...let's hope the grindlylows don't get me :)

Now I am going to talk to the apt people because it appears that my AC has broke...

Masquerade Invitations- Complete!

So, this tropical storm came in handy with getting today off, because I needed the extra time to whip out this invitation order that just snuck up on me! I came up with the design a few months ago, just hadn't started the work. I'm pleased with how they turned out. It's for a Sweet 16 Masquerade Ball (yes an actual ball- how cool is that!?). If I look glittery over the next couple of days...you'll know why :)

1.5 days off!

So, because of this, I get the next 1.5 days off...(JSC closed)...nice...and I can't even work from home 'cause the email, and IM, and other servers will be down. .."sigh of happiness" :)

TS Edouard

Dynamo Game!

So even though I profess soccer to be the best sport ever (it really is) and that I am a die hard fan of Dynamo...I have to confess it has been awhile since I went to a game. So yesterday, Nujoud, Natalie, and I went to the Dynamo vs Columbus Crew game. Really good game (and we won 2-0) and I got to wear my bright orange Crocs :).

The team warming up


Orange Crocs!



Nujoud, Natalie, and me


Getting ready to play

Triathlon Training Update

So, inspired by my friend Erin, who is also training for the Ironbabe Sprint Triathlon this month and created a new blog dedicated to tracking her training, I decided to give an update on my training (since many of you have been asking)...but no new blog, just an update :)

For the first time in 5 years, I took a REAL bike out on the road this morning. Yep. So what's the difference between 11 miles on a stationary bike and 11 miles on a REAL bike...oh...wind resistance, hills, cars trying to hit you, a group of women running a 5k race who you can hear plotting to jump you and take your bike and helmet (actually I found that pretty funny :) )...and about 20 minutes different on my time. I'm borrowing a Trek 850 mountain bike from a friend of Erin's. Nice bike- but I would be interested to see what difference a road bike makes...I think I'll be borrowing my friend Jeff's to perform that experiment.

My swimming is improving! My time on Friday for 300m was 7:45...I took a few minutes rest then did another 300m in 7:46. I'm alternating 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke. While the competitor in me would love to do the whole thing freestyle, it just isn't going to be possible with the time I have left...but there are no rules on which stroke you use, so I figure I can live with that. What is going to hurt me the most is my run time- I'd love to run an 11 minute flat pace, but I have a feeling it will be closer to 11:15....again, I have to keep telling myself, "you are doing this to finish, it doesn't matter what time you get". Yeah...I have to remember to LISTEN to myself :).