Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Two Down One To Go
Saturday was the kickoff to Summer with the Spring Lake Five. It was a fun race, made better by the fact that I will be collecting a dollar tomorrow at work for beating one of my coworkers. Now I only beat him by 40 seconds, but every second counts & if this was the Olympics & we were skiing or luging, 40 seconds is a lifetime!
Yesterday I swam in the Navesink, but this time it was for a race, not just swimming with the seaweed! It was ok, I was still a bit tired from Spring Lake, but I managed to pull it off & do it in a decent time. I was aiming for 35-40 minutes & finished at 37:55, which was almost 2 minutes faster than the last time I swam this race. The best part was the turnaround point. I started to notice that there were a lot of people in kayaks right at the turnaround point, but it seemed weird, as they all had bathing caps on. Then I stopped, poked my head up & saw that people were actually standing up by the buoy. It was a sandbar! Sweet. Nothing better than a tiny break from swimming, right? So I walked up to the buoy, touched it & walked back a bit & then was off swimming again. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan of river swimming, but taking the swim clinic for the past few weeks in the Navesink really made me more at ease. I am not that worried about San Francisco now. All I have to do it keep on swimming towards shore, I know I can do it.
This week I have lots of packing & some quick workouts planned. I already shipped my bike out to California, via UPS, & first thing tomorrow I am going to track where exactly in the US my bike is. Last I checked it was in Horsham, PA. It's supposed to arrive the day before I do, lets hope it does!
Thanks everyone for following me this far on this crazy escapade. I will definitely update everyone on how I do! Happy Memorial Day!
Yesterday I swam in the Navesink, but this time it was for a race, not just swimming with the seaweed! It was ok, I was still a bit tired from Spring Lake, but I managed to pull it off & do it in a decent time. I was aiming for 35-40 minutes & finished at 37:55, which was almost 2 minutes faster than the last time I swam this race. The best part was the turnaround point. I started to notice that there were a lot of people in kayaks right at the turnaround point, but it seemed weird, as they all had bathing caps on. Then I stopped, poked my head up & saw that people were actually standing up by the buoy. It was a sandbar! Sweet. Nothing better than a tiny break from swimming, right? So I walked up to the buoy, touched it & walked back a bit & then was off swimming again. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan of river swimming, but taking the swim clinic for the past few weeks in the Navesink really made me more at ease. I am not that worried about San Francisco now. All I have to do it keep on swimming towards shore, I know I can do it.
This week I have lots of packing & some quick workouts planned. I already shipped my bike out to California, via UPS, & first thing tomorrow I am going to track where exactly in the US my bike is. Last I checked it was in Horsham, PA. It's supposed to arrive the day before I do, lets hope it does!
Thanks everyone for following me this far on this crazy escapade. I will definitely update everyone on how I do! Happy Memorial Day!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Emerson - Mommy's Nose is Scary! (Original)
I know this video is a few weeks old, but I can't get enough of this baby! So cute!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
16 days til California
In 16 days I'll be on my way to California. I think I'm a lot less nervous than I was last year when we loaded up & went to New Hampshire for Timberman 70.3. Alcatraz is a shorter distance triathlon, but way bigger in the intimidation factor!
I picked up an extra pair of goggles tonight on my way home from work. I think I'm going to try them out on Friday night in the open water. I really hope they are comfortable! I also got the box for my bike today. It's pretty big & I am hoping that I can ship it UPS. I should be able, as I see that it has a UPS sticker on it already from a previous shipment. That, to me, is proof that I can do it! I'll be sure to tell the UPS guy that when he says no way to my 35 lb. shipment.
I know I have to start packing & planning all the stuff I will need. I know that I have to get a pedal wrench for my bike & some wetsuit repair glue. I noticed the other night that I created a nice fingernail hole in my suit as I was putting it on. I'm sure there's a big list of things that I will need, but I guess I can always get stuff when I get to California.
Most importantly I have to get ready for my next 3 events which are coming up this week. The MS bike ride, which is Saturday, is a quick 25 mile ride. After that, over Memorial Day weekend I'm running the Spring Lake 5 & then doing the 1.2 mile Navesink swim.
I can't believe that it's almost June either! This spring has flown!!!! I just hope that I have trained enough & have gotten in enough planning. Keep ya guys posted!
I picked up an extra pair of goggles tonight on my way home from work. I think I'm going to try them out on Friday night in the open water. I really hope they are comfortable! I also got the box for my bike today. It's pretty big & I am hoping that I can ship it UPS. I should be able, as I see that it has a UPS sticker on it already from a previous shipment. That, to me, is proof that I can do it! I'll be sure to tell the UPS guy that when he says no way to my 35 lb. shipment.
I know I have to start packing & planning all the stuff I will need. I know that I have to get a pedal wrench for my bike & some wetsuit repair glue. I noticed the other night that I created a nice fingernail hole in my suit as I was putting it on. I'm sure there's a big list of things that I will need, but I guess I can always get stuff when I get to California.
Most importantly I have to get ready for my next 3 events which are coming up this week. The MS bike ride, which is Saturday, is a quick 25 mile ride. After that, over Memorial Day weekend I'm running the Spring Lake 5 & then doing the 1.2 mile Navesink swim.
I can't believe that it's almost June either! This spring has flown!!!! I just hope that I have trained enough & have gotten in enough planning. Keep ya guys posted!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Swim Partner
Today was day 2 of my swimming in the Navesink. It was much easier today & didn't seem as cold. Here was my swim partner.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Navesink Swim
Tonight was the first open water swim night. All day long I kept reminding myself, you have to get in the water today, no excuses. & I am happy that I did. I now know I have 30 days to get my ass into gear. Putting on the wetsuit & having to pose for a picture made me realize that I need to stop eating junk food!
It was a quick swim, we were only in the water for a half hour. All day long I kept wondering what the water temperature would be by 6 pm. It's been nice out & getting warmer, but only for about the past 2 weeks. It has been a loooooong winter. The temperature was about 57 degrees & honestly, it sounds a lot colder than it was. The worst part was walking in to the water, as I do not wear the wetsuit booties & with the seaweed & the cold, well I was not thrilled to be standing in the Navesink. Not to mention the last time I went for a swim there I got an ear infection.
There were some buoys set up & I made it out to the first one without any problem. I was nervous at first, as I always am when I get in the open water, but when I turned for the second buoy & realized how fast I got out to it, I started to relax. It was easy too because it wasn't a race & you could actually stop & float & speak to the other swimmers around you. Not really used to that happening. For a few minutes I swam with a woman & we chatted. I was happy to hear that her goggles were foggy too. Phew, it's not just me. We looked at the third buoy & we decided we'd do it. Another 10 strokes & we were there. It was weird. The tide must have been going out because after floating around the third buoy for a few, turning back was a bit harder.
The swim clinic is two nights a week & I know that I am definitely going to need it. The entire time I was in the water my friend Doug was in his kayak saying, it's just as cold as Alcatraz. But to tell you the truth, by the time I got out to the third buoy, the water felt refreshing & no longer cold. I know one thing thought, I'm going to have to get in the open water more often, no matter how slimy the bottom is, or how gross I feel after. I know it's only a 5 minute drive to a hot shower.
It was a quick swim, we were only in the water for a half hour. All day long I kept wondering what the water temperature would be by 6 pm. It's been nice out & getting warmer, but only for about the past 2 weeks. It has been a loooooong winter. The temperature was about 57 degrees & honestly, it sounds a lot colder than it was. The worst part was walking in to the water, as I do not wear the wetsuit booties & with the seaweed & the cold, well I was not thrilled to be standing in the Navesink. Not to mention the last time I went for a swim there I got an ear infection.
There were some buoys set up & I made it out to the first one without any problem. I was nervous at first, as I always am when I get in the open water, but when I turned for the second buoy & realized how fast I got out to it, I started to relax. It was easy too because it wasn't a race & you could actually stop & float & speak to the other swimmers around you. Not really used to that happening. For a few minutes I swam with a woman & we chatted. I was happy to hear that her goggles were foggy too. Phew, it's not just me. We looked at the third buoy & we decided we'd do it. Another 10 strokes & we were there. It was weird. The tide must have been going out because after floating around the third buoy for a few, turning back was a bit harder.
The swim clinic is two nights a week & I know that I am definitely going to need it. The entire time I was in the water my friend Doug was in his kayak saying, it's just as cold as Alcatraz. But to tell you the truth, by the time I got out to the third buoy, the water felt refreshing & no longer cold. I know one thing thought, I'm going to have to get in the open water more often, no matter how slimy the bottom is, or how gross I feel after. I know it's only a 5 minute drive to a hot shower.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Daily Mile
Join Daily Mile & take the May challenge. 31 miles in 31 days. That's one mile a day. Your heart will thank you!
http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/3125-a-mile-a-day-for-the-month-of-may?cr_id=OkNoYWxsZW5nZTozMTI1&ur_id=MjM2OTg4
http://www.dailymile.com/challenges/3125-a-mile-a-day-for-the-month-of-may?cr_id=OkNoYWxsZW5nZTozMTI1&ur_id=MjM2OTg4
Broken!
This morning as I was rushing around to get ready for my run I went into the bathroom & grabbed my Garmin watch, which was charging on the counter. As I turned I saw it slip out of my hand & land on the floor. I new before I picked it up that the face of the watch had cracked. Damn! I had no choice but to leave it behind. It was like leaving the house without my cell phone.
Now I'm not some big technology person, nor am I some great runner, but this watch has helped me immensely on my runs & I felt helpless. I grabbed my old pink Timex & headed out. The run was ok, but all I kept thinking about was would I be able to get the watch fixed. Probably, as I am sure stuff like this happens all the time, but the big question is...will it be fixed in time for Alcatraz. Only time will tell.
I ran 6.2 miles today. I mapped my route out on this new website http://www.dailymile.com/ . I found it, like I find all cool new web thingies, on my blogger friend Erika Jean's blog. Sometimes I wonder what I would have done if Google hadn't listed her on blogs of note way back when. She really posts some cool things. Here's her blog, in case you want to check it out, & you should! http://www.erikajean.com/
Tomorrow it is back to work & a bit over one month til Alcatraz. I am hoping I am ready, as well as my watch!
Now I'm not some big technology person, nor am I some great runner, but this watch has helped me immensely on my runs & I felt helpless. I grabbed my old pink Timex & headed out. The run was ok, but all I kept thinking about was would I be able to get the watch fixed. Probably, as I am sure stuff like this happens all the time, but the big question is...will it be fixed in time for Alcatraz. Only time will tell.
I ran 6.2 miles today. I mapped my route out on this new website http://www.dailymile.com/ . I found it, like I find all cool new web thingies, on my blogger friend Erika Jean's blog. Sometimes I wonder what I would have done if Google hadn't listed her on blogs of note way back when. She really posts some cool things. Here's her blog, in case you want to check it out, & you should! http://www.erikajean.com/
Tomorrow it is back to work & a bit over one month til Alcatraz. I am hoping I am ready, as well as my watch!
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