Monday, May 31, 2010

monday musings

                                              
today is Memorial Day. a day in which we celebrate those who have served in our armed forces. did you know that Memorial Day became an official national holiday in 1971. although Memorial Day has been celebrated for over 100 years, it wasn’t until 1971 that it was declared a national holiday. so to all those serving in the armed forces and those who have served, THANK YOU!
my mind just isn't feeling like typing out paragraphs today and since i haven't posted since thursday, i'm afraid i might be sitting here a long time busting out way too many words, words that frankly, i don't have the focus factor for today. so today's post will be done in bullet style, it will be very random in topic and in no particular order because that's how my mind is rolling today. i also only have 20 minutes before i have to go wash this gray right outta my hair so time is of the essence here.

  • i tried the mint chocolate flavored Gu for the first time this weekend on my long ride. it was really YUMMY! thanks to Scott at Outside|PR for sending me the Gu Performance Energy Sampler.
i have been testing out bits and pieces of it here and there. i had the j-man be my tester for the Gu brew and he loved it. so far, my favorite flavor of Gu is the espresso love and you already know how i feel about the Gu chomps...they pretty much rock the house.
  • i'm really hoping the color i just put in my hair doesn't go brassy on me. i hate when that happens and it happens a lot. fingers crossed that it turns out okay.
  • we rode 84 miles in the hills on saturday. it was me, the J-man and Le-Roi(aka: the squirrel whisperer). we all agreed that it was one of the best rides of the year so far. interestingly, we started off with about 90% humidity but by the time the ride was done it was about 50%. that drop in humidity made the heat not feel so bad.
  • i bought the triathlete's training bible last night at barnes and nobles. a good read so far. i'll keep you posted.
  • i find that the more free time i have, the less i get accomplished. why is that?
  • i went to swim on friday and right as i was getting done with my first set of 500 meters, the lifeguard started blowing his whistle to let us know we needed to get out of the pool asap. good thing too, because the storm of the century came barreling thru within 15 minutes and the lightning was frightening. needless to say, i did not get all of my planned swimming done. thank you mother nature!
  • yesterday we did a strong 50 mile ride at out favorite park. like clockwork, the weasel found us. the weasel is this annoying guy on a mountain bike who likes to wheelsuck but never take his turn on the front. he never says anything, he never asks if it's okay for him to ride along with us, he's just a rude weasel.
  • today's ride was great too. same ride venue, same distance, but no weasel this time.
  • why is it that every apple ipod that i have, from the shuffle to the mac daddy of them all, crap out so quickly? i just think apple has such a great product but the durability is crap. i have to now make an appointment online to go to the nearest apple store so they can give me a new shuffle. mine won't hold a full charge for more than 10 minutes. i've done all of the R's that they tell you to do and none of them fixed the problem. do i have time to go to the apple store? NO. it doesn't help that both apple stores are at malls and i hate malls, all of them. i avoid them like the plague. i'll pay someone to take it for me. any takers?
  • my hair turned out just fine. no more gray and no brassiness, just a lot of sassiness.
  • congrats to Annie on a great 5k run (the Astros Race for the Pennant 5K) in the Texas heat and humidity this weekend. she is Jeff's other half from team dangle the carrot. he was kind enough to be her pace bunny even though he says he's a competative a-hole...i know, hard to believe. great job to both of you!
  • big daddy diesel and his lovely bike, Mercy, killed the aquabike this past weekend in Ohio. he placed 1st overall!! the swim portion was in a wave pool and it looked like pure craziness from the diagram he posted. thanks for explaining to me what a wave pool is BDD.
  • congrats to Cynthia O'h who rocked the Toronto woman's only 5K. she busted a move and placed 10th overall and 3rd in her age group with an awesome time of 22:24. i'm glad you don't live here Cynthia...you'd give me a run for my money on race days. actually, i bet you'd make a great training partner. also, congrats to Melanie who also did the same event but did the 1/2 marathon and got a really cool finisher's necklace. i think all half and full marathons should give all women finishers necklaces and not some gaudy medal.
  • Tri-James did a very interesting "race" on friday. he did the pump and run challenge at his gym. this is where you bench press 70% of you body weight as many reps as you can and then run a 5K as fast as you can...and he WON!! he won the whole thing! 45 reps and a sub-20 5K = FIRST PLACE.
  • Tonya at racing with babes ran the Autism 5K and got herself a nice PR, 11th overall and 2nd in her AG. way to go!
  • i want to say welcome to a few new "followers." that word followers sounds like some kind of cult thing. hi to Heather O, the other half of team staying strong and positive! there are a few of you that i can't figure out if you have a blog or not, so if you do, leave me a comment with your blog addy so i can follow you too.
  • just had some wonderful sushi for lunch. my favorite roll...the phili roll. scrumptuous salmon, melt in your mouth cream cheese and a piece of avocado. to die for!
  • the rays are pissing me off. bj upton and carlos peña please, please, please get out of the slump you are in.
  • does anyone else have crazy dreams after eating spicy food? i had some garden salsa, sun chips over the weekend and man did i have some wild dreams. i mean insane kind of dreams.
  • on my ride today, i heard a big pop and felt my front tire go bu-bump...i ran over a frog. it was nasty. next time around i got to see the carnage i left behind. so gross!
  • i bought the garmin 310xt with all the goodies...heartrate monitor, cadence thing-a-ma-jig, pretty much all the extras you can get. i should have it sometime this week and then the hard part; figuring out how to actually program it and use it.
ok, i think that's enough randomness for today. i'm planning on getting back on the focus factor train tomorrow morning for a nice, semi-long run before work. 

much love and peace out! 


23 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out!

    I love mint chocolate gu! my favorite race fuel.

    And so jealous of the 310xt ... I want that so bad!

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  2. Apple durability is completely crap. I've killed too many ipods to count - the only one that could be considered a teenie bit my fault was when I was wearing it while in a running race and dumped a cup of water on my head (forgetting the shuffle would get splashed too). That doesn't explain the 2 dead macs and 3 other ipods.

    They hooked us up eventually but it was annoying.

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  3. Nasty about the frog! I found a dead toad in my driveway this morning :(

    I love Mint Choc Gu! Its like eating candy when working out!

    I would be happy with a 305 for now but that 310 looks sweet!

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  4. -I have had the same problem with apple
    -Glad the color was sassy not brassy!
    -scary on that crazy weather coming in during your swim!
    -I need to try that GU. I heart espresso love too.
    -poor frog.
    -I have the triathletes training bible too - I feel I need to attack it in bits and pieces for it is very technical.
    -good luck with the garmin! I don't have any of that techie gear because I can never figure out how to program the darn things.
    -why doesn't blogger let you see your followers blogs all of the time so you can follow them?
    :) Have a great day KC!

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  5. If the ipods keep breaking buy something else!

    There is lots of good stuff out there.

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  6. Hey,
    I'll bet that same dude on the mountain bike sucked onto Arnie and my caravan one weekend at FW. The guy goes around 21 to 22 doesn't he?? I did notice he doesn't pull a lot... kind of like yours truly (but I'm old and cute to make up for it)

    You... gray hair??? Say it isn't so...

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  7. Great news on the hair and the 310! I'm sure you will love the 310

    Also great rides you are getting in...the busier I am the more I can do...
    have a great week
    -D

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  8. Great rides! You had me worried that you had a flat... only a frog, phew!

    I bought the cadence monitor as well, seperately. When you register your 310xt they give you 10% off accessories for a month or something, so I got it that way. You will love it, you will be a data junkie :)

    Way to keep up your volume! Can't wait to see your OLY time drop :)

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  9. What is up frog slayer?

    Thanks for the shout out for Annie!

    Can't wait to hear how you feel about the 310xt? My 305 battery is starting to get weak and I might need to get a new device!

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  10. Yumm...I love Mint Chocolate Gu too!

    I don't like malls either. Why go to a mall where you have to deal with traffic, tons of people, and overpriced items when you can get everything cheaper and with less hassle online!

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  11. Thanks for the cheer. It would be fun to train together. Perhaps we will hook up one day; you never know; it's a small world.

    A new Garmin? Man, I've got to get my hands on one of those things. This summer, when I'm off, I'll be checking them out - very carefully.

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  12. Wow, those are some musings...your head has been busy!
    The training bible is good, I've read it cover to cover.
    Can't wait to hear how the new Garmin works out!

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  13. Congrats on the new hardware. DCRainmaker just posted an entry on an update to the swim firmware.
    http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/06/new-garmin-forerunner-310xt-openwater.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DcRainmaker+%28DC+Rainmaker%29

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  14. I like the Blackberry GU. I think it tastes great. Congrats on your hair not going brassy! I often worry about that but luckily my stylist is awesome!

    Congrats on getting the 310xt! I am jealous!

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  15. mint chocolate GU is my 2nd favorite flavor. Still can't beat good ole Chocolate.

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  16. I'll take your iPod in! I love love love the Apple store (though I also hate the mall, it does have F2R in it!). I have to take my husband's in for the exact same reason.

    That poor frog :(

    I bought the Triathlete's Training Bible first - that's what I read a newbie should buy but some of it's so technical I don't know if I can follow it yet.

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  17. I heart Gu Chomps....cant really roll with teh Brew or teh Gels. but those chomps are crackliscious...

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  18. Just so you know, I love the ramdom stuff:) Nice job on your long bike rides! I went to a duathlon on Saturday and got the itch to purchase a bike!

    Wow, way to score on the Gu package:)

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  19. I just got the 310 too!! :) Thanks SO MUCH for the shout-out! I agree, the necklace thing rocks. I also have the Training Bible... need to start reading it again!! Mmmmmmmm, mint chocolate Gu, it's what I had during the race!!

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  20. I am a little jealous of the 310!!

    After the training bible, check out Going Long by Gordo Byrn, he was a student of friel and ventured off to do his own thing, that is also a great book

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  21. I think the reason you do less with more discretionary time is because—like all type-A personalities—you feel you are not doing anything unless you are managing way too much at one time. Does this make sense? If so, please let me know where to send my invoice.

    Best,

    -Dr. Mark

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  22. Thanks for the shout out KC! Also, thanks so much for the bike seat info! I ended up getting a women's specific seat and so far I love it!!!

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  23. Mint Chocolate Gu is one of my favorite flavors too. And you must have been riding fast to run over a frog, LOL!

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