Conversion

Okay, it's driving Roger crazy, so I figured it might be driving others crazy as well. So I converted the Sprint triathlon distances to miles for anyone who wants to know but is too lazy to convert it themselves.

Sprint Distance: 750 meter Swim, 16.9K Bike and 5K Run
Sprint Distance: .46 mile Swim, 10.5 miles Bike and 3.1 miles Run

There you have it, all standardized for you.

I met a 70 year old woman yesterday who did her first triathlon last Sunday and at the same place as the triathlon I'm doing in September. She works a couple days a week at my local Jo-Ann's which is next door to my H-E-B therefore I stop in there a lot. I wanted to ask her more technical questions about the course especially if the bike course was flat or hilly, how many times we have to loop, what kind of bike she used, road or mountain, and what was the temperature of the water, but she was busy checking people out at the register and I didn't want to bother her. She looked great and didn't seem like most 70 year olds I know who have an excuse for not being active or every ailment in the book. I hope I'm still doing triathlons at 70 years old. I was really surprised she was 70 years old. I would have guessed 50, at the top 60. And she won her division and received a trophy! Mainly because she was the only person in her division. That's the way to go. Keep competing until there's no one left in your age group!

Roger's working today. I know, on a Saturday. And this is his 13th day in a row to work since last weekend they had the server meltdown. Today they tested their emergency back-up generator and some kind of cabling/wiring project. He had to be there at 4:15 a.m. So he's going to be tired again. Another weekend pretty much ruined. I'm still hoping we can get a ride in tomorrow morning. I'm spending the day working on some sewing projects. I'll have to fill you all in on a major sewing project I have going on right now. It's a sewing project that I hope will last for years and years. Details to come...

You've Got To Be Kidding Me

I can not believe what I did. Actually I'm really not surprised at all. After reviewing the U.S. Women's Series website for the umpteenth time, I realized the Sprint race is LONGER than the Super sprint race. I assumed (you know what happens when you ass-u-me) the Super sprint was longer than the Sprint. But no...the Sprint is twice as long as the Super sprint. I figured the Sprint was shorter and the Super sprint was longer since it was Super than the Sprint. Holy cow! And the registration is non-refundable. I can change to the shorter race, but I won't get the difference refunded. I guess I'll be doing the Sprint race after all. Dang it!!!

I had a great swim this morning albeit distractions from annoying guys chatting up all the ladies at the pool. What was worse was their language! I could not believe the words that came out of their mouths. They actually had the nerve to tell one young woman I see on a regular basis that she had just the right amount of "booty" for making waves and then proceeded to discuss "aged booty" and how they liked their women like they like their wine. She laughed nervously and left. And they expect to get some attention from women with those potty mouths? They talked more than they swam and slowly all the ladies left them all alone in the pool by themselves. Ha! That's what they get. As I was riding around the side of the pool to cut through the park to go home, I saw them already out of the pool to leave. Losers! I hope they never come back again. Guys like this give men a bad name. Okay, enough of my ranting.

My swim was great. I swam the same workout from Wednesday morning and I felt great afterward. I think I could have kept swimming, but an hour of swimming almost a mile is good enough. Next week will be the true test of my physical fitness. Now the bike ride home almost kicked my butt. We live at the top of a hill and from the neighborhood park you have to climb three times to get to my house. Thank goodness for those three level spots. My thighs were burning! All in the name of good health. I really hope with all this cardiovascular exercise I'm doing I lose a lot of body fat. If I don't, I'm going to be ticked!

Okay, I'm off to the shower. I'm going to pick Roger up and take him to lunch today. Then tonight we're off to another date night at the Texas History Museum to hear the Austin Knights Brass Band. I can't wait. It's going to be great.

Well Hello Dolly

Dolly gave us a little rainfall after all yesterday afternoon. Not as much as we'd like since the chance of rain for today has all but disappeared. With our highs in the 95-100 degree range, that little rain we got yesterday will be evaporated by tonight. The rain gauge in our back yard only shows a quarter of an inch of rain. But at least I don't have to water my yard one day this week. We have been in water restrictions all summer and can only water our yards two days a week on designated days only during designated times. Our days are Sunday and Thursday after 7:oo p.m. And it rained on our day which makes it even better.

I had a great swim this morning. I have been thinking about doing a full sprint triathlon at the end of September. Full sprint triathlons are 750m swim, 16.9K bike and 5K run. Just the swim alone scared me. 750 meters is .47 of a mile. Almost half a mile in open water with no lane ropes, no visibility, no transitions, no push-offs, no water breaks and no resting. Straight swimming for half a mile. That's 820 yards which means 32.8 links or 16.4 laps in the 25 yard pool in which I swim. Yikes! Then you get to ride 10.5 miles on a bike and run 3.1 miles.

But this morning, after doing my usual warm-up and drill set and the first 8 minutes of my main set, I decided I would see how long I could swim without stopping. And I was amazed at how long I swam, unfortunately I lost count of my laps. I seriously need an abacus. I got into a sweet pace that I think would be great for a race. Not too fast, but not too slow. I wasn't even exhausted when I stopped. I only stopped because I wondered how long I had been swimming since I lost count of the laps. So I decided to try it again and I did. I really felt like I could keep swimming at that pace forever. Now I think I could do a full sprint triathlon if I keep this training up. Just swim until I can't swim anymore.

I need to add cycling to my regular exercise and I'm hoping Roger will join me for that. I also need to start drinking more sport drinks to replace the electrolytes I am losing if I increase to this much exercise. I drink a lot of water because I need it but with that much exercise I will just flush out more sodium I'm already losing during exercise which isn't a good thing. You need a good balance of water and electrolytes in your blood, especially with lots of activity. Going to go add that to my grocery list now.