tryingNtriing
Progress not Perfection.
Tater's Race Report - Rivercities Tri ... finally :o)

Sunday, August 3, 2008
 
Benton, Louisiana
 
 
 “Best Lil Triathlon in the South”
 
 
½ mile swim
 
18.2 mile bike
 
3.2 mile run
 
 
“Rockin n Racin” was this year's theme
 
 
Hub and I headed for a lovely (zzzZZZzzZZZ) 4 hour drive to Shreveport, Louisiana. I almost bailed on this race as I had been sick with CCCC ( aka creepy crud chest crap) for a few weeks beforehand and had not been following my training/exercise plan for a few weeks before that. I did Rocketchix II tri the weekend before RC. It was fun but the wheezing and not training and boot camp that week make it very rough. So was hesitant about tackling RC. I kept trying to talk myself out of going. But I wanted my race packet lol. Along with being sick and lazy … I was very nervous about any bike rides involving hills. And for me a speed bump is a hill. Also, this race had the highest number of participants in any race I have done so far. So I was nervous about that also. Right now the song “Freak out” should be playing in your head!
 
Aaahh Freak out!
Le Freak, C'est Chic
Freak out!
Aaahh Freak out!
Le Freak, C'est Chic
Freak out!
Aaahh Freak out!
Le Freak, C'est Chic
Freak out!
Aaahh Freak out!
Le Freak, C'est Chic
Freak out!
 
Anyway, back to the race. Hub and I arrived in Shreveport and easily navigated to the packet pick up site thanks to Pa-in-law’s TOMTOM. Thx Frank! It was fun to use. Although we did ponder about pa-in-law letting a “woman” tell him where to go LOL. We also wondered if you could possibly download others voices onto it like having Mr T holler “I pity the fool who doesn’t turn right up ahead”!
 
Picked up packet. Lots of folks in and out but went very quickly. Best race packet yet! Poster, hat, one T-shirt, one dri-fit shirt, beach towel and a great tri backpack all with the RiverCities “rockin n Racin” emblem. Along with that were water bottles, sunglasses, etc. Racked up!
 
Then we went over to SportsSpectrum to pick up race numbers.
 
TOMTOM navigated us over to Cypress Lake Park to check out the course. Everything was already setup and laid out. They had the Ironkids tri earlier that morning. I was nervous about whether I would be able to find my spot in T with that many people but it is amazing how many people you can get with gear in all in a relatively small area. Checked out the swim, then drove the run and bike courses. I marked some of the larger hills on my bike course map to refer to later but of course once back at hotel I too tired and never looked at it again lol. However, I did remember where a couple of the bigger ones were. (side note a speed bump is still a hill for me so those of you that said this was nothing I wrote your names down on my don’t ask them about bike course ever again list).
 
Checked into hotel about 5pm. Some of my tri group members were meeting at Monjuni’s for dinner. I bailed on that because had mondo headache and was hungry so decided would be better to go get vittles, get back to room and take an Ambien and hopefully get some much needed sleep. So that was how the rest of the evening unfolded. I did get some decent sleep (most in several days). Thank goodness. Otherwise I might have just grabbed my goodie bag and headed home. Only thing that interrupted my sleep was when furnace man (aka hub) decided to crawl in bed with me even though I had declared which bed was mine and which was his. Guess he didn’t like that idea. So when I woke sweating to death in the middle of the night, I grabbed all my pillows and hopped into the next bed. So there!
 
Woke at the crack ass next morning. I was determined to get to venue when it opened. We pulled up right on time and only waited a few minutes to get in and park. Hauled bike, gear and self into T to set up. The transition area was set up well. I liked how they had the double racks and had each end and each side labeled. I got my pick on my part of the rack and laid out gear.
 
Had plenty of time to walk around and relax before race. Wish I had brought a lounge chair, I could have taken a shirt nap lol. Saw several BR tri members. Talked to Chris, another BR tri’er. He is always cheerful and encouraging. Met and talked to several of the women who were set up near me in T. Luckily one of them pointed out that my chain had come off my bike. THANK YOU WHOEVER YOU WERE!!! I had a flash forward to me trying to mount at mount line and then realizing chain was off and trying to hurry up and get it on all while in the way of other people trying to mount (yikes!).
 
Wandered down toward beach and visited with some other BR ladies while waiting for race to start. I was in the second to last wave so I had time to kill. I HATE WAITING!
 
BIB# 493    Route maps below
 
 
 
 
(800m) Swim Rank 827   Swim Time 24:03   
            The swim was open water (reservoir) with a beach entry and exit. Love entering and exiting from the beach. Don’t love having to run (slog) through a sand pit to get to transition. Water temp was a lovely 91o (said sarcastically). Was trying not to think about what the bacteria count was! The swim course was out, across and back with buoys on swimmer’s right. The water was pretty calm. No problems on the swim. I kinda kept to the side so as not to get beat or kicked to death by other swimmers. Tended to go off to the left a bit and corrected a few times. Other than that I was calm, felt good. Hub did tell me that he could recognize me coming in even when I was far out because I was pulling my arms too far out of the water. So was glad he noticed that so I can work on it. Out of the water, up the beach, into T.
 
T1 3:34 
Not bad considering it included the slog from the beach through the sand trap and running bike up short hill to mount line.
 
(18.2 miles) Bike Rank 982 Bike Time 1:12:04  Bike Rate 15.2 mph
            Mounted bike at line. Did my usual “scoot-n-boot” to get on bike. I want to start working on clipping shoes on ahead of time and mounting on top of shoes then putting on shoes once riding. Was wishing I had remembered to review map and noted from day before. But I did remember some of the landmarks and bigger hills. I did awesome on the bike for myself. I have had bike legs on flat courses at same speed. And since the hills are so difficult for me still I think I did great. At the tops of some of the hills I was only going 6-9 mph … moan n groan! But at least I was still moving forward. There was a group of 3 rolling hills one after the other of increasing heights that almost did me in. Near top of the 3rd the thought crossed my mind to unclip and walk up but then the picture of me trying to push bike and walk up hill in bike shoes made me grit my teeth and keep going. I would get passed on the hills but then when we hit the few flat, windy parts I would catch and pass a lot of them. So all those rides on windy Rover Road do pay off. One lady that I have seen at races before was there. She wears the loud print outfits; today’s was black with giant colored neon polka dots. She has a bell on her bike and when she passes someone or gets passed she rings her bell. I didn’t know whether to laugh or do something really mean with the bell … but I chose to laugh. We leap-frogged a few times on the bike. Nearing the end she passed me and told me to catch her. I was determined to do so and did right before the end of the bike. So thanks whoever you are for making me laugh and encouraging me to push. One poor girl had to stop and check her bike halfway up a hill. As I was oh-s–slowly passing, she was trying to get back on her bike and get going. She said “I guess this wasn’t the best place to stop”. Uhhhh Nope! Bad thing was, I was going so slow at that point that we could have probably had coffee and chit-chatted up the hill lol. Anyway, rolled toward T. Saw hub right before dismount line. He was on phone and I know he was surprised to see me so soon. I was surprised too! I had estimated it might take me 1 hr 45 minutes and hoped to beat 1 ½ hours. So when I came by him I had a huge grin on my face as I hollered out 1 hr 12 WOOT! And no dismount issues *cheer*!
Bike elevation map below.
 
 
T2 3:27
Changed bike gear for run gear. Tucked inhaled into cleavage and gum into bra cup, grabbed hat and took off. Well I walked off … to first water station. Got water and then started my “wog”.
 
(5k) Run Rank 1013   Run Time 50:11 Run Pace 16:12
Wogged a bit and walked a bit. Was unbelievably hot! Luckily a good portion of run which was through the park was shaded. Decided to try to wog in the shade and walk in the sun. Plenty of water/Gatorade stations. Some had washcloths soaking in ice water (bless you)! There were a couple of misters set up over the path and one boy about 10 or 12 who probably had the most fun of anyone there as he had a garden hose and was aiming and spraying people as they passed. He had the biggest grin on his face – too cute! Part of the run went on a dirt trail through the woods. That was fun even though it makes me nervous because of balance issues and worrying about twisting something. End of the run curved back toward the T area and down a marked path to the finish line. Of course right before the finish line there were a couple more sand pits *sigh*. 
 
Overall Time 2:33:17
Excellent time for me. Was very pleased.
 
Tried to hang around after race a bit but it was way too hot standing around. Did the whole race and never felt sick but started to see stars and get nauseous after because it was extremely hot by then. So hub and I loaded up and got on road. We stopped for lunch a lil while later and I got to half clean up and change clothes for the ride home. We had checked out of room already because I knew I was one of the last waves to start and knew abouthow long it would take me to finish and didn’t think would be able to make it back to hotel to shower. But I would have been able to so will remember that for next time.
 
 
Can’t wait to sign up and do this race again! Excellent race swag! Nice venue. Great volunteers and set up.
wonky weekend

Babysat for sis Saturday. So picked her two up early Sat morning and headed to the Zoo to watch hub run the Zoo Run 5k. We were gonna do it together until babysitting duty arose. Sis doesn't have a jog stroller and would not dared to have tried to run/walk to 5k or even the 1 mile fun run with her two kids. So we walked around and looked at animals. When race started we stood aside and cheered everyone on. The walked back to finish line to cheer hub in. Nephew said something about why was my hub doing a race when he was so fat. Lovely child. After 2nd time I told him he was a very rude and that his uncle had already lost more than what he (nephew) weighed. I think that got his attention. He is one of those kids that has no social filter. He is 8 1/2 now and old enough to know what is rude and what isnt. But those 2 get away with so much with my sister and her hub ... but not with me. I don't put up with the whining n crying n tempers. So they were actually pretty fun to be around for a change. Better than when sis n her hub are around with them. When they are all together it is dysunctional chaos. Makes me nuts. i grew up with chaos and don't have to put up with it any more! After race while hub relazed, I took kids back to finsih tour of zoo. Then we had an early lunch and went home. They played and watched a couple of movies. Finally called sis because I thought she was coming back around 2 and it was 2:30/ They were eating lunch. I wanted to scream over phone "Please hurrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" but I didn't. I was just suddenly so tired but didnt to stick hub with watching the 2 terrors alone. So we suffered together til they came to pick them up.

Then we finally got to take a mini nap before bringing son to his football jamboree. Luckily it was not as hot as last year as Tropical Storm Fay winds were blowing over us.It threatened to rain whole time but we managed to make it with only a few drops. 2 1/2 hours of sitting on hard metal bleachers left hub and I sore n exhausted. We had to mchange bleacher sections about halfway through because 3-4 little ones had their hot wheels out. At first it was mildly annoying and only 2 kids playing and they only took up about 3 feet of bleachers behind us. The sound of the cars on the corrugated metal was annoying but the kicker was they would throw the cars down on the metal ^&^*$^&*. Ignored it as much as possible. They ran several people off and when they people left the kids would take over their section of the bleacher and then more kids would come over to play *great!*. Soon they had 3-4 rows to themselves and were so loud you couldnt hardly hear the game. Their parents laughed every time someone got annoyed and left. I would have liked to have scratched all of the parents eyes out! Fn rude inconsiderate asses! Hub had left to get water, so when he came back I said lets move over. So we went to next section about half way over. Another family who had moved asked "so they got you too?" I said yep I figured I better move before I caused a scene. About 2 minutes later here come one of the hellions across the steps and onto the  our bench runnign his car screaming all the way up to my husband. I looked over at the parents and waved for them to keep the kids over there. They were smiling until I mouthed rude assholes. Oh well. I understand you want to bring something to help keep the litle ones entertained but when they are running totally wild and annoying everyone around them AND the parents think its funny .. better look out. At least I know what these inconsiderate jerks look like and can try to avoid them in future games if possible. If not, look out.

Got up at crack Sunday morning. Peeked outside as Fay had dumped a lot of rain on us overnight. You could tell it had been raining but had stopped. Was suppossed to be doing a 53 mile Tour d'Ascension ride. Got dressed and ate breakfast and peeked back outside and it was sprinkling. Hmmmmmmmm. Decided to hang about 15 more minutes before deciding. Hate to miss ride but not riding in rain! Checked email and saw there was a message cancelling it. Thank goodness because by then the bottom had fallen out and it was pouring. So changed back into pj's. Crawled in bed and watched a movie til e1 else got up.
After that it was just a lazy dreary day of washing and folding clothes and watching back episodes of Lost.

SLept weird last night apparently. Hub said I pulled my sleep apnea mask off then reached over and pulled his off his face and let it go so it popped him (lol). Then I kicked him and picked his arm up in the air and dropped it. Later I apparently slapped him in the head  ... I said what had u done he said "I was sleeeeeeping". LOL No idea. He knows I have a disclaimer when I sleep I am not responsible for what I do or say!!!

Got son to school and came home and got ready for work. Got halfway down street when realized movie place in opposite direction so turned around. Turned in subdivision by mistake *sigh* so back out, turn left, drop movies off. Ok back on track ... ummm nope. Got about 2 miles away when realize don't have swim stuff. Have running stuff not swim. So turn back around. Get swim gear. Back in car heading to work. Forgot watch *sigh*. Not going back home again because if I do I will stay! So no watch . May not even swim depending on weather. But have meeting for new beginner's running group today at 5:30. Am excited but hope they have other really sucky runners like me there!!!

Having sushi for lunch! YEAH!!

Rambling over .....

The Male Brain Explained ....

 

Article on MSN today with commentary by Tater
 
THE MALE BRAIN, EXPLAINED
 
By Laura Schaefer
 
Women have puzzled over it for years—why the heck do men do the things they do? Why do they profess their love for you one minute, then ignore you the next (say, when an Attila the Hun special turns up on TV)? Why can they not remember our birthdays? Let science explain some of these conundrums—and help you rev up your relationships!
 
 
Be patient with his memory
The hippocampus, where initial memories are formed, occupies a smaller percent of the male brain than the female brain. If on your first date he can't remember where you work, even though you told him all about it when you met, just remember that size matters … hippocampus size, that is. Don't take it personally. (Oh, and don't be surprised when, months down the line, he has no clue you've just changed your hair.)

Don't expect him to get hints
Have a crush on him? You may have to put it out there, because men aren't as skilled at women at reading subtle emotional cues. As Dr. Larry Cahill of the University of California at Irvine puts it, 'We have been assuming that the ways in which emotions are organized in the brain are essentially similar in men and women,' but they aren't. Parts of the limbic cortex, which is involved in emotional responses, are smaller in men than in women. Additionally, scientists at McMaster University have found that guys have a smaller density ( HMMMmmmmm ... and here I always thought men were MORE DENSE!) of neurons in areas of the temporal lobe that deal with language processing. That's why it's probably a good idea to tell him straight-up how you're feeling ('I'm kind of hurt that you forgot I hate sushi'). Expecting him to infer from your hints could leave both of you scratching your heads.

Don't take conversation lulls personally
Fact is, guys in general just aren't as verbally adept as women are. Large parts of the cortex — the brain's outer layer that does a big part of recognizing and using subtle language cues — are thinner in men than they are in women. A study led by Dr. Godfrey Pearlson of Johns Hopkins University has shown that two areas in the frontal and temporal lobes that play an important role in language processing are significantly smaller in men. Using MRIs, the Johns Hopkins scientists measured gray matter volumes in several brain regions in 17 females and 43 males. Women had 23 percent more volume than men in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and 13 percent more volume than men in the superior temporal cortex. 'Women,' explains Dr. Cahill, 'excel in being able to come up with appropriate words, given cues.' Men — not so much. Don't expect him to chatter with you on dates with the skill of a girlfriend, and don't assume he's not interested in you if he occasionally lets the conversation lapse. Think of it this way: He's simply basking in moments of quiet companionship.  Men have shrunken gray matter? I bet you can find the rest of it in their gonads ... or maybe their brains are just cold LOL

Appreciate his naturally upbeat nature
Does he seem to be 'up' most of the time? It's not your imagination: Male brains produce 52 percent more serotonin (the chemical that influences mood) than female brains, according to a study done at McGill University. And studies show that fewer men than women suffer from depression. Guys may also have an easier time rolling with life's big stresses. If he tells you he recently lost his golden lab or suffered a job loss and doesn't get all teary, it doesn't mean he's heartless; rather, he has healthy stores of serotonin.
What? Men don't have PMS AND they get excess serotonin *(^&*%^!

Don't expect his take on your relationship history to match yours
He may be incapable of seeing your shared past the way you do. Brain images have started to show that men and women use their brains in vastly different ways. For example, women use the left part of the amygdala — the part of the brain that creates emotional reactions to events — to put memories in order by emotional strength, meaning that something emotionally important to them (like a great first date a couple of months ago) will be ordered in front of what they ate for breakfast yesterday. Men, however, use the right part of the amygdala to put memories in order. Traditionally, the right hemisphere of the brain is associated with the central action of an event, while the left hemisphere is associated with finer details. Translation: You'll both remember your first date, but he might not remember the color of your sweater or the light rain that was falling that night. It doesn't mean he was checked out; it just means he's a guy.
Hub's memory is WAY better than mine! Must have a disfunctioning amygdala to go along with all my other disfunctions lol

Remember his brain is his largest sex organ
...... AM SOOOOO NOT COMMENTING ON THIS!!!
In males of several species including humans, the preoptic area of the hypothalamus is greater in volume, in cross-sectional area and in the number of cells. In men, this area is more than two times larger than in women, and it contains twice as many cells. And what, say you, does this have to do with the horizontal mambo? Plenty. This area of the hypothalamus is in charge of mating behavior.

This small structure connects to the pituitary gland, which releases sex hormones. So if your bf wants to get intimate all the time and you feel like Ms. Low Desire, remember: You're just experiencing normal, brain-based differences.


Laura Schaefer is the author of Man with Farm Seeks Woman with Tractor: The Best and Worst Personal Ads of All Time. For the other side of this story, read The Female Brain, Explained.

Article courtesy of Happen magazine, www.happenmag.com.

 
 
Registered Half ironman New Orleans April 2009

 

Meetings &^%^($%^

OK I was catching up reading some of your blogs and was perusing plain_jane0309's blog and she mentioned meetings ... so you can blame her for this rambling LOL.

Classes started yesterday for Fall semester. So of course what should faculty be doing the week before classes but attending a deluge of unnecessary, monotonous, make you want to scratch your own eyes out meetings. Who cares if you have your materials etc ready for students right?

So last Wednesday was the all day long faculty assembly. It started with a meet-n-greet coffee hour. I chose to have my coffee hour at home with myself ... excellent choice if I do say so myself! Now if it had been margarita hour, or we're passing out Valiums then maybe I would have showed early.

After coffee we were rearranged so that we were not sitting with people we already knew. They had us pick up all our crap along with all the folders and goodies they had laid out on the tables and line up in alphabetical order according to our middle names. Now our table just pretty much relocated to another table because we had 2 C's and 1 D and the rest renamed themselves temporarily for the meeting lol. Now what grade school did they get this from?

Then it was 2 hours of droning on about various announcements which could have easily been put into an email or newsletter.

Now comes the guest speaker from Baylor University. Our school is trying to encourage writing across the curriculum which is good so I was thinking this would be an interesting topic. Well ..... afterwards I could not have told you what the topic was. The guy was an English professor - he sure as H.E. double hockey sticks was NOT a speech or communication teacher! Major ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzZzzzz's! His power point was horrible - he was Ambien on legs! Spent 45 minutes trying not to rock and drool and doze off and fall out of my chair. Then he made a remark about he only had 5 minutes left cause the boss "president of school" just held up her hand. He spent a minute micking her for that which was rude but made me start to pay attention because I was waiting for the fight to break out lol.

His last 5 minutes he spent talking about balls. Yep balls. Apparently he was trying to make some points about juggling things but of course he had to use juggling balls and proceeded to talk for 5 minutes about how "you have big balls and little balls, different shape balls, balls for different jobs ...... every other word was balls. Add one idiot talking about balls plus 1 gutter-minded and very bored Tater = recipe for major disaster! First you could sense the vibe in the room perk up, then you could sense some getting very uncomfortable and some trying to control the laughter and jokes. The president's face shriveled up into a prune ... priceless! He even made a hand gesture like he was cupping a set of ... well ... balls . Reminded me of the movie Funny Farm when Chevy Chase was eating the "lamb fries" and the waitress told him the secret was to clip the testicles way up high - she used same hand gesture. My friend next to me was in silent hysterics, blood-red face, tears running down. Somehow (still not sure how) I managed to not look at her and to maintain my composure cause when I get the uncontrollable giggles once they start I can't stop and I would have had to run giggling, crying and snorting from the room. Sooooooooooooo it was worth sitting through all the rest of his monotonous helldrom for the whole ball spiel!
 

Assorted balls provided for your amusement :

Then we had 3 mini seminar type things to rotate through. And for some brilliant reason instead of rotating the speaker/group leaders they made all the groups rotate and we had to cart all our crap around again. I think next meeting I will bring a lil red wagon!

Then came final thoughts and announcements ... yeah yeah yeah can we go already. They tried to drag it out as it was still an hour to go before the college staff would join us for wine and cheese. But we got to bail if we wanted to, so I yelled adios and scrammed! I had already done enough and had enough whine and had wine at home lol.

So even though I cringe every time I hear meeting, every once in a while there is this brilliant bright spot that makes it almost worth while LOL. And then we were free .....

that is until the next meeting ... the next day and the one the day after ........ *SIGH*

Longest Ride Yet

Yesterday I went along on a MS Training Bike Ride along with people who are training for the MS 150 in October. This was my longest ride yet at 41 miles. WOOHOO! It was a beautiful day. Overcast a bit which kept the heat and glare from sun down. The ride started in Abita Springs, La on a trail called the Tammany Trace . The Trace is a scenic 31 mile paved path that was converted to the path from old railway tracks.

 

We stayed on the Trace for the first mile or two before venturing off onto country backroads most of which were in terrible condition. My sponge flew out of my aero water bottle and my teeth were chattering from the bumps *sigh*. But some of the bike routes for events are as bumpy as that so...

On the first few miles of the paved trail you had to stop every once in a while at stop signs. Most were country roads with no traffic. BUT ... one was a curvy, high traffic road. On the way out we stopped at this one. When clear the group of 5 - 6 of us started to go. I always have to do a scoot-n-boot to get on bike so by the time I got my butt on seat a car was coming flying around the curve. So being my graceful self ....... I got nervous, freaked out, couldn't get bike shoe unclipped in time to put foot down and crashed. Add another zmpher (0 mph crash) to my record . Now lets list the injuries...

  • achy right shoulder from hitting the asphault
  • scraped skin off 2 quarter size areas on right knee along with a few small bruises and assorted scrapes
  • 3 inch circular and assorted smaller bruises on right ass cheek
  • and 1 quarter size hickey looking bruise on left breast along with a horrendous looking 4" dark purple monster bruise in right breast both from where the armrests on my aero bars dug into my chest during my oh so graceful fall

But I rallied and went on. They had 3 SAG stations along the route where you could replinish our water bottles, get gatorade, fruit, cookies, etc. So the few girls I was hanging with graciously waited for me at each stop. Although I rode most of it by myself there were always other riders within sight. And my group said I was never more than a few minutes behind them. There were lots of rolling hills and some challenging ones and I definately need more hill word and distance work so am very glad I got up to go even tho I had only gotten 2 hours sleep the night before.

Next events:

  • This coming Sat is the Baton Rouge Zoo Run 5k that hub and I and a couple of my friends are doing. Need to get blood pumping that day as will be babysitting niece and nephew later  LOL
  • This coming Sunis the Tour de Ascension bike ride offering rides of different lengths so think I will sign up for that also

Classes for fall semester began today with all the usually commotion and then some! But finally got my schedule straightened out - last minute of course *sigh*. So should get new training schedule worked out this week YEAH!

Next Monday is an informational meeting for a beginner's running group hosted by Varsity Sports in Baton Rouge. It is for beginner runners who would like to train to run a half marathon by December... DECEMBER??!!?? LOL I know I am nuts now. My "friend" said I was nuts because I would not be able to keep up with the group. I emailed the owner and told her who I was, my weight, my experience, etc and she said I "was exactly who they were looking for"! SO THERE "FRIEND"!!! Nothing gets me quite as fired up as telling me I can't or won't be able to do something. Course this is the same friend that didn't think I would be able to finish the Heatwave tri. So DOUBLE HAHA! I think she means well but she is in a bad place in her life and isnt able to train and compete much right now. She did not used to be like this or we would never have been friends in first place.

Weight: had gained 9 pounds when was sick and lazy and as of couple days ago had lost 6 of those so will update weight on blog after next weigh in.

Still working on last race report. Is easier to type blogs on laptop or at school and keep forgetting to either forward pics to email or post on a site to copy from. So tune in .....

Tee Hee... get it .... re"cycling"

RR coming soon

Still transferring pics that I want to include in RR. May pull a RBR and link from here to my blogger page as it is so much easier to post to and can include pics, etc easier. EP may not like it but ...... will post here still but will prob post Race Results there only and just post link here.

Food been waaaayyyyyyyyyyyy better since Monday. Can def feel it! Rode bike trainer indoors 45 minutes on Tuesday. Yesterday walked anout 2 miles and ran 1.5 miles. Need to start training program for Half-Ironman in April next year. A running group here is starting a beginner-beginner's training group on Monday so that you would be ready to do a half marathon by December. And I need to be able to do a half marathon for the run part of the H-I next April so will be joining that group. Hopefully will have other woggers like me out there!

OMG Ran across this pic when googling for a wogger pic to insert here and make me crack up so am postin git. Hopefully won't offend anyone and I don't get reported .

Off to another meeting. Hope is better than yesterday's ALL DAY faculty meeting *ack ack*! But yesterday's meeting did have its highlights! There was a guest speaker that they flew in, paid for his travel, room, expenses, speaker fee, etc. He is an English professor. Well ...... obviously he was not a professional speaker and hope he doesn't teach speech or communication . He was a horrible speaker, very monotone and told too many lame jokes. So we were all squirming with ants in our pants and trying not to drool or doze off. THEN ... he started a new section about balls. Yes, balls. Suppossedly about juggling balls. This crackpot must have said the word balls about 100 times in 5 minutes. Now .... I can only keep my mind out of the gutter for about 5 seconds. He was talking about big balls and little balls, different shaped balls, balls for different jobs, etc. He made a hand gesture that looked like he was cupping a set of "balls" . It reminded me of that scene in the movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase when they went out to dinner and he was eating "lamb fries" and about to set the record in number eaten when he found out that they were fried lamb testicles LOL and the waitress made a demonstrated that the secret was to clip them way up high and she made the same cupping gesture. OMG! Somehow I managed to control myself although I could not look at my friend to the left. She was silently giggling and had tears runnign down her face. Now I don't do that. When I get a giant case of the uncontrollable giggles I would be very loud, crying hysterically, probably snorting and would have made a huge scene as I stumbled out of the room. Somehow I managed (I don't know how) to control myself. So other than being a long dull meeting and general waste of time, it did have its interesting

Off to another meeting LOL.

 

Its friggin H-O-T HOT!!!

OMgosh. It is so incredibly hot down here. Did the Rivercities tri this past SUnday. It was over 100 degrees and water temp was in low 90's . Like swimming in soup. Don't even want to know what the bacteria count was ! (Race report coming soon)!

Had boot camp yesterday - was sooooo not pretty. I am fixin to bring back the sweatband!!!

There wasn't a dry patch on me. Went to OA meeting after boot camp. And yes, I went all cold and sweaty. Because is only time I red-faced and sweat stained than not at all lol soooooooo. I gave em what they asked for! Not sure they really knew what they were getting into lol. But they swore they couldn't smell me. Isn't B.O. smell but that icky cold, stale sweat smell *gag*. Anyway .........

Doing the Up, Up and Away 5k with hub, son and friends in morning. Bright and early at 7am. Hopefully it won't be raining as this is the forecast for southern Louisiana for next week ..

Friday ... HOT (90 ) scattered showers and thunderstorms

Sat ... HOT (90 ) scattered showers and thunderstorms

Sun ... HOT (90 ) scattered showers and thunderstorms

Mon ... HOT (90 ) scattered showers and thunderstorms

Well, you get the picture .

Got hair whacked today. Had gotten it cut in a short sassy style a lil over month ago and told her she could go even a lil shorter this time as long as I could still make a lil nubby ponytail n stick my hair up under a hat. Kind of an angled short bob. One of those cuts that looks cute if you keep it trimmed and styled but for people like me will look cute on few days that I wake up early enough to fix it and will look like Phyllis Diller

on other days lol. But I have kept it up since last cut so hope to keep it up a lil longer.

Anyway, I have procrastinated going to work long enough so better get over to the lab and get a lil bit done. School starts week after next *SIGH*!

Rivercities tri this weekend

 

 

 

 

Holy cr*p! What have I gotten myself into??!?? This event is coming up on Sunday, Aug 3rd. It is in Shreveport, La. So hub and I will drive up Saturday. It is a very boring 4 hour drive up there. Nothing to look at. Am sure I will sleep the whole way home tho lol.                                            

The tri consists of a 1/2 mile swim in reservoir, 18.2 mile bike around the reservoir park with several rolling hills (I hope their idea of rolling and mine are the same   ,  and a "flat and fast" 5k run around lake. I get nervous on any new courses! Especially when I see the word HILL! ANNNNDDDDDDD ... on top of that there could be 1300 peeps competing HOILY CR*P!!! On my tri groups forum I asked about the hills etc and was told not to worry about those but to worry about getting caught up in a big group of people on the bike. Hell ... I am just worried about finding my frickin bike in transition! If I can find it and then find my spot again to park it I will be ecstatic!               

       

Just gave final exam for summer semester. Yeah! But fall starts in couple of weeks BOO!

Have huge mess still in chem labs due to the jerk that was over it final got fired. Now no one seems to want to be responsible for cleaning it and organizing it. I am putting foot down and repeating the mantra "Lack of preparation on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on mine!  Tired of cleaning up other peoples messes and reminding other people to do their job or to do the things they committed to doing. Not being an enabler any longer. My friend always tells her students when they come up with lame excuses or are whining "I don't know how that affects me". Think I may adopt that one too.

Man it is storming out there. If this keeps up won't have boot camp tonight. Any volunteers to clean off this junk pile I call a desk? Am whooped from cleaning, reorganizing, throwing stuff out, shredding old papers. Got a lots more to go. Been giving away stuff left and right and bagged up a bunch of stuff to donate. Half my brain is trying to tell me to have a garage sale but the other half is saying "Not no but HELL NO!" LOL so am going with the NO side lol. Last one I had I almost had to call police of a family who was literally trying to steal stuff. I mean hell I would prob give it to you but don't steal it. Then you have the people who switch price tags on things. And the ones who speak other languages acting like they don't understand anything. Some of them might not speak much English but someone has to. So no thanks!

Anyway enough for now...

                                                                              

 

 

"Welcome to the 28th Anniversary of the Sportspectrum River Cities Triathlon. The oldest, largest, most recognized triathlon in the South. This year lots of great surprises, of course the best race packet and volunteers anywhere. On line registration will open June 1 at 6:00 AM. Don't forget we filled our 1300 spots in 3 hours last year. Don't miss out on the "Best Lil Triathlon in the South."
Tater M.I.A.

Sorry have been MIA. I tend not to blog much from home with all the snoopy boys at my house lol. Been sick for a few weeks with my usual allergy, creepy crud head and chest congestion. So after a few weeks of basically doing nothing physically, I am back at it. Rode my bike today (~32 miles) and thought I was gonna die ... but I didn't lol. Have boot camp in a lil while *sigh* gonna get my butt handed back to me. Had short tri last weekend and did ok considering. Have longer one this weekend and am very nervous about any hills they might have on bike because where we are it is flatter than a pancake.

We are redoing the spare bedroom and making it officially a workout room. The TM has always been in there but we just got son a weight bench and getting it set up. Stress level is up though since now have half the crap that was in there in the den ARGH! I always feel like I get one area straight in my house and then all the others get totally Fd up.

I need to get my food better under control. Been slipping and sliding with it last several weeks. Need to get back on a schedule with exercise routine. Too easy to let day slip by without it if I don't schedule it or commit to it.

Race I did last weekend I had done last year so I compared pics. Well I am about 50 pounds lighter than last year but am still so big that it is hard to tell. Now there is no real reason why I couldn't have lost more than that in last year. Just gonna be grateful for what I did lose and tighten up on everything else!

That's it for now. Better go change and get ready for boot camp .

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