Totally Disappointed

I received an email this weekend stating I was receiving a refund for my triathlon registration. I went to the website and could not figure out why so I sent an email inquiring. Then this morning I saw the refund hit our credit card. So I again went to the website for the race and there it was, "After careful consideration, we have decided to reschedule the USWTS - New Braunfels race from September 28 to the spring of 2009." I am completely disappointed. I was so excited about my first Sprint distance triathlon and was so looking forward to the whole experience. Man! That sucks. I'll have to do some research today and see if there is another Sprint distance triathlon near Austin coming up that I can register for. The shorter triathlons are earlier in the year with the longer ones, Olympic and Ironman distances, in the later part of the year. I bet I could find one. It would really suck to have done all this training for nothing. Not that I'm not benefiting from all this cardiovascular exercise (I've lost 6% body fat!), but I was really looking forward to this triathlon. I need to go race walk to get this disappointment out of my system. It is a beautiful 70 degrees right now in Austin so it will be a pleasant walk. I'm sure that will help me feel better also.

Disappointments

Out of six, only one U.S. athlete, Laura Bennett, came close to a medal in triathlon and she was a little over 30 seconds from bronze. The next closest American was Hunter Kemper who placed seventh in the men's triathlon. You can watch both the women's and men's online and rewind and fast forward through out the entire event. The starts, transitions and ends are more exciting than in between although the women had a crash during the cycling leg.

I didn't get to do my cardio workout yesterday because of all the rain we are getting. I'm not complaining about the rain. Believe me, we need it. We have been getting some good rain since Sunday. Our rain gauge in the back yard shows two inches and it's currently pouring down. But since I don't have a gym membership, I have no options for my cardio workouts and I hope this doesn't mess with my swims this week.

And speaking of my swims, my neighborhood pool shortened it's hours again this weekend and has no lap swimming times at all. So now I have to drive to another pool from 6am to 8am so I can swim until August 31st then I have to switch over to another pool from 5am to 8am until October 31st if I can handle the frigid waters of an all year round 68 degree spring fed pool. Then I'll have to join a gym in order to swim during the winter to be ready for the spring triathlons. I really need my own pool. It's the only thing I need from a gym. Although it is hard to run/ride in inclement weather so maybe a gym isn't such a bad idea. I just hate having to drive to workout. I guess I'll have to change my way of thinking on that one. Or buy a bigger house and have my own home gym. Hah! Yeah right. I've got a lot of research to do to find all the swimming options here in Austin.

The rain didn't spoil a free back to school concert we went to last night at The Grove at Southpark Meadows. I got to see one of my favorite Christian performers, Brandon Heath, and get his new album which is being released today. It was a little chilly because of the rain and I actually wore blue jeans. I even got a little chilly sitting outside for the concert so I was glad to have on jeans. We took a picnic dinner of homemade pesto-prosciutto-mozzarella sandwiches, chips and homemade chocolate cookies. It was delicious and the concert was nice. The rain might spoil a Round Rock Express game we're supposed to go to tonight. We'll see. We're taking our rain jackets and umbrella.

Boy, do I need the sun to come out and brighten my day. This rain is bringing me down.

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.

I Did It!

Okay, so I did it. Yesterday afternoon I registered for the U.S. Women's Triathlon Series Sprint race. After my swim yesterday morning, I decided I knew I could do it. My total workout yesterday morning was twice as far as I need to swim for the race. And I wasn't dying when I finished. I swam a total of 35 laps which is 1750 yards or 1600.2 meters or for those of you who can't imagine that, .99 of a mile. The best part is for my main set I swam 10 laps straight, took a 45 second break and then swam 10 more laps. That alone was 4 more laps than the race length. The lifeguard even asked me when I finished the first set of 10 laps how many laps I had swam. Since they rotate every 20 minutes, she came in while I was in the middle of swimming and had no clue how many I had already done. I assume lifeguards are good swimmers and can swim for long distances, so I was impressed with myself that she was impressed. I'm probably making a wrong assumption about lifeguards, but I'm sure they have to be able to swim a lot. So my goal is to do the same workout tomorrow morning. Then next week I'm going to start trying to swim the 16.4 laps, which is the length of the race, straight through. That way I know I'll be able to do it and then I'll start working on swimming it faster. Riding my bike to the pool will also help my body get used to the feeling of jumping on a bike after the swim to help me get ready for the transition from the swim leg of the race to the bike leg of the race. I'm excited and nervous. Roger has suggested he rent a kayak while I swim Town Lake so I can get some experience swimming in open water. Of course I think it's a good idea, but I also need to start riding my bike regularly. We didn't get to ride this weekend since he had to work all weekend. I hope we'll get in one ride this weekend.

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.

Triathlon Turned Aquathlon

Due to the severe weather Texas got this weekend, my triathlon on Sunday morning turned into an aquathlon. Not just because we got soaked by rain during the whole event, but the cycling leg of the event was canceled due to very wet roads which caused hazardous conditions. We ran on the hazardous conditions, but I guess our footing is safer than wheels. The race was also delayed two hours because of the severe weather. Roger and I waited at home during the hail and torrential downpour before we left the house for the race downtown at the Texas School for the Deaf. I was a little disappointed about the cycling leg being eliminated but completely understood the safety issue. This was the first Ranger Triathlon and therefore it was a tad unorganized. There wasn’t much direction and communication was difficult at times. Thank goodness I know American Sign Language and could understand what was trying to be communicated. There were many lull periods when no one knew what was going on. But overall it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. The kids were so much fun to watch. Many deaf kids from the school who couldn’t or don’t go home over the weekend participated. And there were lots of families. I was only able to watch the kids swim because we were swimming while they were running. And by the time I got out to run, the kids were done. My transition wasn’t bad and since the cycling leg was canceled I completely turned the event into a fun, non-competitive, socializing gathering. My official chip time was 00:33:55. Not bad, but not great. I enjoyed it and plan to participate next year. Hopefully I can get Roger to do it also. Check out the pictures Roger took here.

The rest of Sunday we spent working on the patio electrical project, doing laundry and other household chores and I finished sewing my niece Elizabeth a dress with a matching purse and headband. I was able to finish it because I got a new sewing machine on Friday. I am so excited. I love it! I got a Baby Lock Crafter's Choice. And I practically stole it from the dealer, Sew Much More. They were having a 50% off sale. This sewing machine is great. It has sparked a lot of creativity and motivation in me. I was a little nervous about getting an electronic sewing machine compared to the mechanical machines I grew up using. But after a quick demonstration at the dealer, I was sold. While I was sitting there I was literally thinking of forty million different things I could do with it. I really like my sewing machine. I can’t wait until after I graduate and we get back from our vacation so I don’t have to study, or feel bad about not studying when I’m sewing. I have enough material left over to sew my other niece Ariana the same dress with a matching purse and headband. I have another project I want to start this week but I need to see what patterns are available for what I want to make and find the right material.

Roger got back last Thursday evening. I’m glad. I was starting to miss him around the house. He had a great visit to Los Angeles. I’m so glad he had the opportunity to go. He posted more pictures in the set LA 2008 but hasn’t had a chance to blog. So you can check them out there. It turns out I don’t have class at all this week so I will be catching up on reading and studying for my final next Tuesday and helping Roger with the patio project. It’s actually not a final exam but the last test for the semester. And it’s my last exam ever! I can’t wait. I graduate the following Friday. Whew-hoo! Then we’re off to O´ahu for a vacation. More details about that later. Oh, by the way, I also got my ring back last Wednesday. I love it!!! I’m so glad to have it back, but I seriously love it. And yes, Kezia, I want to marry it! Oh wait, I already have. :)

No Ring Yet

After an awesome weekend in Bryan-College Station with my parents for Parent’s Weekend at Texas A&M and Houston with our friends, the McPherson family for their children’s dedication, I was excited about picking up my ring on Monday. Although my ring was ready, the appraisal was not so we couldn’t pick it up. I was a little disappointed because you know I wanted my ring back but especially since I dropped Roger off at the airport this morning he won’t get to pick it up with me or see it until he gets home next week. He’s off to Los Angeles to visit friends and family. He’s got a whirlwind trip planned. And although I’d love to see everyone, L.A. is too much for me plus I can’t because of school anyway. I’m always exhausted when I get back from L.A. Hopefully I get to pick up my ring Wednesday.

We really did have a blast all weekend. Parent’s Weekend was great. This is my last one. We wished we could have stayed with the McPherson family longer, but Roger had to pack and we had a lot of chores to do and errands to run before he left me again. Sigh… It was great meeting the extended McPherson & Tsui family and hanging out with Kezia again. I miss the Asian Sensation. We’ll post pictures soon.

You know I’ve got a list of things to do while Roger’s gone. I have a lot of reading to do. Surprise, surprise. And house work. I’d like to paint over some samples with primer now that I’ve changed my mind on paint color again. But if I don’t get to it, that can wait. And I have some extra exercise I’d like to do this week in preparation for the triathlon next weekend. I timed my 200m swim again today and I’ve gotten faster. My last time was 5:23 and today it was 4:41. I didn’t even swim fast just normal. I was stoked. I also swam a full mile today. I was tired and starving afterward. Actually I was hungry all day. Another surprise, surprise. I think I’ll turn in 5:00 even for the race so I don’t get in any fast swimmers way. This weekend I will be riding my bike to make sure it’s ready and doing a little race walking since I don’t run anymore. Got to take care of my old joints. I also plan to just chill out as much as I can. I need it. I'm so tired from this weekend.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Well, another week has almost gone by. Time is flying by fast. I want it to slow down. Roger is going to L.A. next week to visit friends and I know that time is going to fly by fast and then we'll be at the end of April. That only leaves a month for us to hang out together until he has to go back to work full time at the end of May. Oh, if only we could keep living like this. Yeah, I'll stop dreaming now.

So we had a great anniversary weekend. Sorry, we forgot our camera Saturday night. So we don't have any pictures of us dancing the night away. But the benefit was great. We had a lot of fun dancing and socializing and the benefit raised a lot of money for Ty. He was there which was a real treat. He's so little because of his health. It's quite sad. He's almost seven and he's smaller than my nephew who is going to be five in May. Ty is going back to the Mayo Clinic for more testing and such. They still don't know what's causing all his health problems. He brought a tear to our eyes when he said in his tiny, whispery voice after the live auction and raffle, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." It's so sad that children that young and innocent have to deal with such things. It's just not fair.

On to the next topic, I had to give up my ring Monday. We went to see John so he could solder my rings together and do a new appraisal for our insurance. I know "giving it up" sounds so harsh, but I just got it. And I don't get it back until next Monday. We're going to College Station this Friday and Saturday for Parent's Weekend at A&M. Then Saturday evening we're going to Houston for an Astros game with Kezia's family and Sunday Kezia's sister's children are being dedicated at their church. It's been hard without my ring so far, so I'm sure this weekend will be tough. I keep checking my finger for it and feeling for it because I'm so used to it being there. I keep feeling like I've forgotten it or lost it. I can't wait to get it back on Monday. We'll take some pictures then.

Roger's spending this week working on electrical stuff on our back patio. He's adding a ceiling fan, track lighting for his grill, an outlet for the rotisserie motor on his grill, a motion sensor light for the yard, a new light fixture at the back door and installing GFCI outlets where they should be in the kitchen and bathrooms. We made a new friend at Home Depot on Monday in the electrical section who happens to be a retired electrician and volunteered to come over and help us. Talk about a blessing. I can't wait for them to be done so we can have them over for dinner and use the grill so they can see all their handy work. It's going to be so nice out there. We'll actually be able to use our entire backyard now. They bought all the materials today and will do the work tomorrow. So I won't be here to take any pictures since I'll be in class.

Speaking of class, I made an 80 (B) on my test last week! Yeah. Not great, but better than I thought I did. That gives me an 87 in the class so far. I am going to try hard to make a high A on the last exam to hopefully pull my grade up to an A for the class. In class we are entering the Iron Age which has even more references to the Bible than before. We ended our last section of material at the Late Bronze Age with a highly debated topic in the field of Biblical Archaeology as to the dates of the Genesis patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc). We read an article by Kenneth Kitchen in Biblical Archaeology Review (1995: 21/2) illustrating with archaeological, internal and external Biblical evidence why he believes the dates of the patriarchs to be the Middle Bronze Age. It was a really interesting article and I loved reading how he compared so many aspects of the Bible to external sources that establish reliability of the Biblical time periods. If anyone is interested in reading it, let me know and I'll email the article to you if you can't get access to it through their website. There are always interesting articles in this journal.

Lastly, I've entered a USAT sanctioned triathlon the last Sunday of April. It's called the Ranger Triathlon and it's being held at and benefits the Texas School for the Deaf and I'm really excited about it. I haven't done a triathlon in over five years. But I'm pretty sure I'm ready for it. It's basically a mini-triathlon with a 200m swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. I had to time my 200m swim for lining up purposes of the triathlon. Since the swim portion will be in a pool and not open water, you're lined up by time so faster swimmers aren't swimming over slower swimmers. I was quite surprised by my time which was 5:23 and that was two weeks ago. I have lengthened by swims since so I'm pretty sure I'll be faster by the actual race day. Now I've got to start working on training for the bike portion and transitions. I have to be able to fix a flat or any other incident that might come up by myself with no help from anyone so I need Roger to show me how to do all that bike stuff again. Since it's a USAT sanctioned event, they are pretty strict with the rules. I had to become a member of USAT to be able to participate. Since I had to pay for a year membership, I'm going to try to do some other mini or half triathlons during the year. I'm not ready for a full triathlon and I don't know if I will ever be ready for that. But I am planning to add another day of swimming each week starting next week. We'll see how it goes.

Okay, that's it for now. This is too long as it is. Check out more pictures of Roger grilling and other house pictures on the right. Chao!