Monday, June 30

July 1st.

Happy Anniversary, Sweet Baboo:

He who is my finder of lost things, and buyer of things sparkly and perfumey, and (and now, buyer of all things that for me that help me go fast ) has put up with me for eight years now.
That's no small feat, believe you me.

Right now, he's listening to "Polonaise" with great enjoyment. When I hear it, I think of BugsBunny. Some of you know what I'm talkin' about. Yeah. You do.

I lose my stuff constantly. He finds what he can, and replaces and insures the rest.

He's very neat, and tidy. I'm, well, not.

He's quiet, calm. I'm noisy. Frantic.

Yet somehow, it works, and it works very well.

Here's last year's anniversary post. Longer. Mushier. Uncut.

...

Misc. Monday stuff.

I'm like, the last person on earth to discover the LOL cats thing, soooooo I'll be annoying lots of you by putting those in my posts, for a while.

This week has been all about reclaiming the house. Since mini-Baboo has been in Dallas since May 21st we've been at work cleaning out the dirty clothes and wrappers and empty bottles stuffed into every nook and cranny.

MEANWHILE, with Mini-baboo gone, food lasts a LONG TIME without Mini here. Who knew, for instance, that salad greens got that funky after sitting in the fridge for a while? Mini usually helped prevent funky leftovers, by eating everything in sight. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm still blown away by the loaf of bread that lasted TWO WHOLE WEEKS.

You know, I've been raising kids--three of them--since I was 19, and so I have never, ever, lived in my own home as an adult without children. I'm accustomed to hiding my food and putting passwords and key locks on everything, and my things being taken and/or broken and "nobody" knows how it happened and I swear, Mom! I wasn't anywhere near that when it fell!

So but, you can see that the prospect of my last born graduating and moving on in 11 months is pretty exciting.

This week, I took an old computer and with a flat-screen monitor and fixed it up--I'll leave out the geekiest parts of what I did--and it now sits in the area adjacent to the kitchen, and I can listen to nearly any music my widdle heart desires while cooking or exercising, or watch re-runs of "Scrubs," or "CSI," or look for a recipe or get information information about stretching online, all with a click of my cordless mouse.

I can also watch movies or exercise DVDs on it.

Or all of these at once.

Fabulous.

I especially love having playlists I can listen to on a whim because it is my opinion that life should be like a movie, with the appropriate background music enhancing the scene. This, then, is my only complaint about triathlon: No headphones means I can't further the delusion that I am a star in my own movie.

Meanwhile, I'm working on clearing out a den-like room that is currently full--and I do mean full: of many, many boxes--of my teaching supplies. After that's done, it will become the exercise area. We've decided we want the rest of the whole downstairs to just be full of comfortable chairs, like a giant coffee house, for lounging and whatnot. It won't be terribly impressive or wind up in any magazine. That's not the point. The point is a respite from the world.

Our plans for Mini-baboos area upstairs after May of 09 includes blackout curtains, a kitchenette, and a large, flatscreen TV.

Not really much triathlon stuff in this post, is there? Well, it's back to training tomorrow.

Oh, and here's my monthly miles for June:

Swim: 14,180 meters
Bike: 334.6 miles
Run: 64.38 miles
Hiking: 2 hours
Pilates/Yoga: 4 hours


...

Sunday, June 29

Maybe it's just me...

I think I look just a wee bit thinner when I put my Ironman Loo and Ironman CD'A pictures side-by-side.

IM Bike, 2007, and 2008:


Marathon walk/run, 2007 and then 2008:


I certainly look more energetic. A bit less pained, at my finish this year:


Maybe, some day, I can finish without one of those glow-in-the-dark necklaces on.

This weekend, I did a 30 mile bike and an 8 mile run. Both felt pretty good. I'm getting ready for Barb's race, a coupla sprints, and to pace Sweet Baboo for 30 miles of his first 100-miler.

And, as always, I have to ask myself......I wonder what else I can do?

...

Watching my peeps at BSLT 70.3

I'm checking on my friend Cindy, and fellow Outlaws Mo, Wiz, Michi, MuffinMan, and of course Pirate. What is up with Athlete tracker? Sometimes it will refuse to load a page and tell me that the athlete doesn't exist. Aggghh! How do you guys stand this?

The athlete tracker at Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake is giving me progress on my peeps at BSLT. This is a tough race! I've done the Tri-Raider sprint twice that goes on at the same time, and I've twice done the Buffman and Squeaky Olympic that uses part of the same course, but haven't yet brought myself to do this 70.3. I'm planning on doing it next year for their 20th anniversary. Anyway.
The race starts in a cold, spring-fed lake. The bike begins uphill, with an 8% or 9% climb out the canyon, then has several descents and climbs into and out of a other canyons. The run includes a climb out of Buffalo Springs Canyon and a long out-and-back on a hot, unshaded stretch of asphalt nick-named, "the energy lab". BSLT also offers and an aquabike and a relay on the 70.3 course. ( I wish they had a splash 'n' dash. I'd do that in a heartbeat.)
The atmosphere is fantastic, like a giant party. Everyone calls you "girl" (if you're a woman) and Mike and Marty keep the finish line open for everyone making progress. After you cross the finish line you walk about 50 yards to sit down on a boat ramp in cold lake water and have cold beer and pizza. (In Texas, you always start a race with a prayer and finish with cold beer.)

=================
Update: 1.2 mile Swim times!
Cindy 44:07
Mo 39:54
Wiz 37:23
Pirate 44:24
Michi 42:53
MuffinMan: 35:17

=================
Update: 31 mile bike splits!
Cindy: 2:29:24 (All that training is paying off!)
Mo: 2:35:28 (Great job, Mo!)
Wiz: 2:16:58 (Wiz is having a good day so far!)
Pirate: 2:28:02 (the bike is Pirate's forte)
Michi: 2:30:45 (Michi is having a good day so far!)
MuffinMan: 2:07:07 (Smokin'!)

================
ShowersUpdate: Thunderstorm! It's raining on the course
with Winds E @13mph!!
70°F Humidity: 87% YIKES!
  • Will they be able to finish the race???
  • Will the race be canceled?
  • AGGGGHHHHH!
================
Update, 11:21 am Texas time
Muffinman has finished the bike. His time was 3:07:21, averaging 17.93 mph! I was worried that everyone had been pulled of the course because of the Thunderstorm. GAWD that would SUCK! But now that MuffinMan is showing a final bike time, I have hope that Cindy will get to finish her first half iron.

================
Update: Final Bike Times:
Cindy: 4:07:19 (13.59 mph)
Mo: 3:52:51 (14.43 mph)
Wiz: 3:19:55 (16.81 mph)
Pirate: 4:01:24 (13.92 mph)
Michi: 3:42:48 (15.09 mph)
MuffinMan: 3:07:21 (17.93 mph)

Let's have a virtual round of applause for these athletes who rode their bikes on a demanding, hilly course through a thunderstorm!

========================
Update: 1:01, Texas Time. Run split1, most websites say that it's no longer raining there, just really humid (but overcast, thank goodness.)
approximately 6.55 miles into the run course, these are their paces for the first half, to be updated as they come in:
Cindy: 11:37 min/mile
Mo: 10:55 min/mile
Wiz: 10:06 min/mile
Pirate: 10:59 min/mile
Michi: 9:45 min/mile
MuffinMan: 8:48 min/mile

=========================
Update: MuffinMan is done, with a total time of 5:44:26. His run pace stayed the same throughout the half marathon portion.

=========================
Update: 1:54 pm, Texas Standard Time (TST) Wiz is done, with a total time of 6:26:15. Interesting story, that "Wiz" nickname. ( I'll let him tell it, if he ever puts his blog back up.)

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Update at 2:28, TST. Michi and Mo are both done. Michi's time was 6:45:09, and Mo's time was 7:03:43. Good job, ladies! Make sure you go over to Mo's website and congratulate her!

=========================
Update, 2:47, TST. I'm pretty sure Cindy and Pirate are done, but stupid Athlete Tracker isn't updating. Twiddle, twiddle, twiddle. ...wonder what's over at LOLCATS today...

=========================

Update: 2:57, TST: Cindy and Pirate are both done. Cindy's time was 7:31:15, and Pirate's time was 7:20:12. Now go on over to their website and congratulate them on this very difficult half-iron!

=========================

This has been your 70.3 announcer, Iron Misty Geekgirl. OUT!

.....


...


Thursday, June 26

Some photos.






All photos (C) ASI, Inc. (They'll be getting my order soon!)

I'm the one in the middle.

Does anyone ever take a good swim exit photo?

See...I told you I was happy on the run!

Wednesday, June 25

Now what...?

Thank you for joining the
Ford Ironman 2008 Arizona
VOLUNTEER TEAM.
If this is a new registration, an email confirmation will be sent shortly. If you have added a job area to an existing registration you will not receive another email. Please keep your current ID number for future reference. Jobs are subject to availability and you will be contacted when assignments have been determined.
=====================================================

Now, why would I be interested in volunteering at inaugural November 2008 Ironman Arizona? Sure, Sweet Baboo will be doing this one...along with many Outlaw buds...
I hear it's FLATTER than Couer D'Alene and Kentucky...and, of course, it is a race that sells out fast...
didja know volunteers get to sign up first for an Ironman, before the general public?

Hmmm...