Friday, August 31, 2012

Comfort Zone

Last night, or Wednesday depending on when you're reading this, I went way out of my comfort zone. I went to a STIR event. Match, one of the singles sites I'm on, has started doing these STIR events here in Cleveland. Apparently, they've done them in other cities prior to this but have just now started them here. It sounds like a great idea. Three weeks before you have to go! Not so much the day of.


Picture it....A sunny week in Cleveland. You've been working HARD in the lab almost everyday for the past 2 weeks. You've been up early everyday to train. And today is no exception. After swimming for 40 minutes and working 8 hours, the last thing I want to do is go be social. I really just wanted my pjs and a bit of whiskey. But, I forced myself to go. I was encouraged by others, ah hem mom, to go. And I did. And I think I looked damn good and was pretty social for walking into a bar with no one next to me and no one that I knew there.

Honestly, it was a bit petrifying. I went straight to the bar for a 7&7 and immediately struck up a convo with the nice, somewhat attractive older guy next to me. He of course bought me my drink. I talked to a couple of guys there. Only one was remotely datable for me. The others were interesting to talk to and one sounds like he'd be a hoot and a holler but not my type. He did give me his number just in case I feel like getting a beer and people watching. At the end of the evening I ended up talking to and having a drink with the bar guy again. It was a nice conversation and he ended up asking for my number. We'll see if he calls.

I'll probably go again.

Oh! And as I walked out of HoB Euclid Ave was a sea of sailors. HELLOOOOO BOYS!!! I flirted it up a bit with one group for fun. It was quite the ego boost!


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Thursday, August 23, 2012

No Long Run

Before
This past weekend was my first in four that I have not had anything planned. Let me clarify. By anything, I mean no races or excursions. I still had things planned. I always have plans, BWAHAHAHAHA!

After
I got up Saturday at a decent hour, put on my running clothes and laced up my shoes. The weather was perfect, that crisp sunny morning type. I got a half mile from my house and thought, "Hm, this seems rather difficult. I must be going too fast." But, when I looked at my Garmin the pace read 13:40 something. Excuse me?!?! That's when I decided I had too many plans and too much on my plate to do a 15 mile run after 3 weeks of back to back to back tris. I turned around and headed home for a shower, coffee and a jump start on my plans.

I was going to list them here but honestly, do you really care?
Suffice it to say I was busy and in the process found two things that needed fixing and put them on this coming weekends list. The big TADA moment was repairing my siding by myself.

I also had a date with STK2. It was kind of blah. I can't say for sure if it's just us together or what. I do know we were both in moods. He seemed rather quiet and I was just in a mood.

The guitars spin!!
Also, on my list was to donate my old medals. I was waiting to send them until I got my TRI medal but that still hasn't come in. Oh well, it'll be in the next batch. My 1/2 marathon, marathon and tri finisher medals are on their way to Medals 4 Mettle. I kept the ribbons for myself (you can't send them anyways) took pics of all of them and sent them off. I kind of wish they would send me a pic of the kids that get them. I just hope they love 'em as much as I did.

My short runs this week have been pretty good. I did a tempo run today and it went smoothly. I think I'll get my long run in this Saturday. I'm shooting for 16 miles.
 PIECE OF CAKE!!! Uh, huh.


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dating Life Update

It's been a rough time dating.  Eleven weekends have passed since Tex and I ended things at the close of May. And, my schedule this summer has been CRAZY!! Of those 11 weekends I have only been in town and free for 3! Between birthdays, white water rafting, vacations and races, I haven't had a whole lot of time/energy to put into dating. Honestly, I've been so tired and pressed for time that I've been doing "beach" hair for work/life! Also, I'm a little jaded towards dating and have therefore put little effort into it. I'll go on my dating sites, look at my matches and express some lack luster interest. Usually, with a wink or a little flirt option. Rarely, do I send a first email anymore. Some of this stems from my busy schedule but some of it stems from the lack of decent choices. As one friend said, "You've gone out with almost every Dbag in Cleveland!"

In those 11 weekends I have gone out on 5 first dates. There was Hot Cop. He was hot but "Dicky." Trusty Dan, boring. Josh, actually not really sure what happened here. I think we both got distracted. And most recently a guy I nicknamed Sloth and Slightly Trusty Keith2. All of these guys made the first moves and SLK2 is driving the "relationship."

Sloth. I know, I will come off as rather mean but it was the first thing that popped into my head when he walked into the bar. We all know that you should use the best possible pictures in your profile. Some take advantage of this more then others, see Toothless guy. Sloth had really great pics. He was a runner, almost divorced, and had a career/education. But in person......his face was asymmetrical. This probably bothers me more than the next person. I once proved to my mother that the ceiling above the stairs was longer on one side than the other. BY 1/8 OF AN INCH! It still drives me batty to this day! He's cute and nice, if you can get past the lack of symmetry. But once I see something, I can't unsee it! See, Jamal, in "Whiners are Wieners." He was also still a little bitter over his divorce and didn't seem to quite be ready to date again. I then phased him out.





Oh, you sexy beast!
Slightly Trusty Keith 2 reminds me obviously of Trusty Keith. Also, a little like Ross/Russ, in that he takes long pauses.Talking to him on the phone sometimes is like pulling teeth. It takes awhile for him to spit out his words. He got the "Slightly" when he went in for the kiss on the first date. Trusty Keith was very slow to make a move. They're roughly the same age and both have boring to me jobs. We've been on 3 dates now and I have to say so far so good. He did seem a little weirded out when I asked what his last name was. Like, at 3 dates I don't need to know that. I'm weirded out that it's taken 3 dates to get his last name!! But I have it now and nothing bad has popped up in the stalk. He does have Fox News listed as an interest, but he also has Jon Stewart and the Daily Show listed. I like to think he is just keeping tabs on the enemy. I know he leans a little to the left on some issues, I hope over time to find that he leans far left as I do. He is driving this relationship and I rather like it. He calls, he texts, and he asks about another date before I do. I loved being the Hunter but it hasn't gotten me very far. I'll try the hunted for a bit.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pictures from Sunday

I'm posting two pics from Sunday's Tri. One is of me. The other is definitely not me but it gives you an idea of the swim out and what I was running through to get to transition. Plus, the views not bad! I'm a little disappointed that they didn't get a picture of me waving my arms in TRIUMPH!!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Prediction vs Actual

Last Friday I predicted my times for the Olympic TRI based on that weeks Sprint TRI.

Predicted
Swim=22:57
Bike=1:37:02
Run=1:17:12
Total=~3:17

Actual
Swim=37:34
Bike=1:37:44
Run=1:17:15
Total= 3:38:54

I was only off in the swim!!

Now....Predicted for the 1/2 Iron Man, based on Olympic times.

Swim=48:28
Bike=3:38:24
Run=2:43:14
Total=7:10:06

They have a time limit on this event of 8 hours from the last wave. My wave should be 2nd if they keep the same order as last year. This will give me a buffer of 2 hours to complete the 1/2IM. 

At Least I Didn't DNF!

The swim start and finish.
I did my first Olympic size triathlon yesterday! I'm glad to say it's over. That tri was rough and I may have thought about DNFing. BRIEFLY! And, with slightly good reasons.....

Results, Olympic females 30-34
My wave was second to last of the day. The men were broken up into 3 waves, Clydesdales, 40+, and 39 and under. The Olympic women were ALL in one wave. That's 81 women running into the water and jockeying for a decent swim position. I realize we may have not had as many as the men but at least split that into two waves. 81 is ridiculous! And we didn't even get the choice of an Athena division! The men got a clydesdale division which was also broken up into age groups! We women were placed into age groups only. You know, when I get done with this post I think I will write a STRONGLY worded letter regarding this "oversight". Or, I could write to Gloria Allred!

Back to the matter at hand. The buoys marking the 0.93mile swim loomed large and quite a bit farther away than I thought they would be. When my wave went off I held back a bit. With 81 people swimming at once some one is bound to get kicked in the breast! I just didn't want to be that person. At a couple of points I did get squeezed between two other competitors but I backed off with the breast stroke and caught me breath a bit. At about the half way point I realized that I was getting passed by men. That's right. The wave that started 4 minutes after mine had caught up to me. I was a little upset with myself but what are you going to do? I just focused on my swimming and tried not to get swamped by the men.

I did have a couple of moments of panic. And, you'll laugh when you hear why. The swim went through some shallow water and I could see bottom. And the seaweed reaching up for me! I blame this panic on two things. 1) I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the night before and just saw grindylowes coming for me. 2) Growing up my dad and I watched A LOT of horror movies. One in particular, Creepshow2 The Raft, took place in a small lake and pulled people in and down. I fought through it and just moved into deeper water as best I could.

Coming out of the water was a chore! We had to run through sand and quite a distance to transition. But I made it and headed out on my bike, 25miles, after washing the sand off. The bike portion was really uneventful. I did stop once to check out my rear wheel. I felt as if something was holding me back and wondered if the brakes were somehow stuck. It was clear and I think it was just the wind. I got my bike legs about 10 miles in and made up time on the way back. With the wind behind me.

It was at T2 that I thought about DNFing but I don't think I could live with a DNF on my record if I didn't actually break something in the race. When I jumped off my bike and ran into transition my left hip twinged a bit. Then I took off my bike shoes, stepped down and felt a sharp pain in the side of my left foot. I had hoped lacing up my running shoes would help it but it did not. The hip pain went away but the foot pain was constant and caused me to do a lot more run/walk than I planned. The 6.2 mile run was mostly uneventful also,except for some random guy on his front porch who yelled random unintelligable things at me. I assumed he yelled these at everyone.





When I finally finished I raised my arms in elation when the announcer said my name. Since I was one of the last people to go through the refreshment table I walked away with a whole watermelon and a bunch of banans! No finisher medal from this one but I'll take the fruit! I also rewarded myself with a Turkey Dave from Dave's Cosmic Subs!

Monday, August 6, 2012

MEDALED!!!

First, I'll breakdown the race for you.

I thought I might have to post, "I did not do the race because my mom wouldn't let me!" But, the thunder and lightening held off. PHEW! The swim was in the harbor off East 9th by the Rock Hall. My mom and I got down there around 6-610. After setting up my transition space, talking to some others in my division and visiting the bathroom one last time, I walked out of transition to talk with my mom a bit. I went over the course with her and my start time, 7:30. As I walked back into transition I stepped on glass! It wasn't a huge piece but I was a little scared for a minute. I pulled it out and of course cut my finger and thumb. They bled quite a bit but the foot was fine to walk on and I just hoped I didn't get any weird infections from the harbor! As of today, I have yet to see any red lines denoting gangrene!

When my wave was called, we all jumped in and made for the shallow but seaweedy spot to stand for about 3 minutes. It may have been yucky but it was better than treading water! My swim was slower than last year. I had trouble this year getting around people and actually got kicked in the boob a couple of times buy some guy. I had 2 women come out  of the swim ahead of me, 1st place and 4th place. My time was 9:51. Looking at my times I realize I spent a lot of time in T1, 4:39. I don't even know why! I think I'm going to try biking with no socks next year. 

Biking was a bit rough this year. The course is on the Shore way and at first you head east then turn around and head west. You do 1, 2, or 3 laps depending on your tri size. I had to do 2 laps. West on that part of the Shore way is almost all up hill!! Not a big deal. I knew this and had been working on my bike climbs. I did not, however, take into account the weather. I had a headwind the whole way up! It was rough! Two good things though....1)Everyone had a headwind. 2)I got a tailwind on the downhill! And man did I fly! I was actually a little scared the last time down. I was coming up on a bike and had another bike trying to pass both of us and I had to try and get off the course to head to transition. It was a bit hairy for a sec! 1:11:13

Just the Finisher Medal
T2 was a bit long also, but I knew it would be. I took a little bit of a break and downed some gatorade before heading out for the run. The run start heads out of transition and straight up East 9th! Uphill!! The flat for a bit, then up East 9th again, flat, then downhill and finally flat to the finish. I always curse E9th every time I have to run it. It's especially rough coming off the bike. My legs were like jello and I did the first 1.5-2 miles at a run/walk. I finally got my legs back the last mile and ran it in. I had to race a girl in and finally over took her in the last couple of meters. And thank god I did! If not, I would have been 4th with no medal!

Under normal circumstances I would have been presented with my medal at the awards ceremony. This year, however, the directors were worried about a coming storm and shut things down early. The race continued but the electrical equipment, music and what not were packed up with the assurance that the top 3 in all divisions would be notified by mail. I guess the photographers were even packing up but held off when my mother yelled "NO!! THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!!" and pointed to me just heading into the finish area. I think I have to be one of the last pics he took!

I'm hopeful for next week, an olympic size tri. The fact that my legs felt better after 2 miles gives me hope that I'll make it for 6.2 this Sunday. I also felt like I still had some gas in me at the end. I doubt if I'll place next week,  as I have to be an age grouper. It's rather unfair that they have a Clydesdale division next week but no Athena division. Something I did voice when I saw them at the Glass City expo.


Friday, August 3, 2012

Sylvania Women's only TRI results

Finally!!
Well, at least I'm not last in my division! 27/35 overall:130/201
Swim:9:55
T1:2:52
Bike:44:09, Rate:14.9
T2:1:34
Run:34:20, Pace:11:05
On the up side I cut T1 in half, had a faster rate and ran faster than I thought. On the downside it seems I swam a shorter distance in longer time. I don't know how that is possible! I still maintain that the swim was longer than 400 yards.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

How Long

Must I wait to see my results from Sundays triathlon?!

This is ridiculous! I have another race this weekend and would like to know where I need to improve. They were printing out the rough finish times at the race, why are they not up yet? I have been checking at least twice a day to find nothing up.

The pics are up, though! Not good by the way. Awful. Terrible. One of me coming out of the swim looking like a drowned rat. You will never see these!


Wednesday, August 1, 2012

SO.......

TIRED!!!
You guys, I just want to go home and curl up around a shaker of dirty martinis. Or 7 & 7s. But I can't. I have to do a bike ride. It'll be short but I will do it. I can not wait for this week and next to be over. I love Tris but I think 3 in row is too much.
I need to flag this post for next year when I do my scheduling. Y'all remind me!!