Learning to relax again Tuesday, June 01, 2010
So during my first full day of unemployment I ran, biked, laid out in the sun, knitted while listening to NPR (outside), read some and then took another bike ride and organized some of my knitting needles (whoa boy, organizing knitting needles? That is exciting stuff right there- isn't it?)Seriously.
Kind of sounds awesome, doesn't it? Well, perhaps not the part about organizing knitting needles.
It was, but honestly- I've been running full tilt for the last 2 months that all this time off I'm not entirely sure how to handle it anymore. For example, two weeks ago I was in Florida for 4 days for work, home for one, drove to Cleveland and back in less than 24 hours, packed a bunch boxes, went to my going away party, and had a house guest. All those things in 7 days.
Now I know I should be exhausted, and I am a bit...but I had Sunday and Monday of this week to do very little and so by today I was just ready to bust on out and do stuff.
Perhaps I should recap moving? Eh, it was moving- same as it ever is...too much crap and by 6pm that night I was just throwing shit away. Every single hanger I owned, a whole bottle of bleach, random cake boards I'd never used, old duplicate photos, a storage bin I'd had since I was 18, etc. There just wasn't room for them and they are all things easily replaced. My storage until was packed to the ceiling, my dad's car was filled with my stuff and so was my car. WHY do I have so much fucking shit? WHY?
I'm hoping to get every penny of my deposit back, and my mom was a champ at the cleaning of the apartment and it looked great. I'll need every penny to fund my unemployed summer of laziness plus a deposit on an apartment in Milwaukee and then paying the rent and utilities until I get on feet. Oh and money to buy food would be nice.
I'm not so secretly hoping that with all this free time I'll really get in some good bike rides and running, by the time the summer is over I'll have really amazing calves and thigh muscles. Then of course I'll have to figure out how to deal with the slow return of my regular body once I lose a majority of my free time due to a job and classes in the fall.
But I will know that for one glorious summer when I was 30 my calves were at their most athletically awesomest.
Labels: Awesomeness, bike, cleveland, knitting, reading, running, school
Zippy Saturday, August 08, 2009
Yesterday I finally bit the bullet and bought a road bike. It's so fun and quick, so very different than my hybrid. My hybrid bike is heavy and slow and to be honest I've been hating it so much that I haven't ridden it at all this summer. It just wasn't what I wanted, I wanted speed and lightness.This morning I went for a very short ride, since my ass is currently protesting the hard seat. I have no idea how fast I went or how far but I do know that it felt faster and really, isn't perception everything?
Perhaps it's entirely dorktastic but I like to name my bikes, cars, ipods, kitchenaid mixers. I think it has to do with the fact that I usually outlay a huge amount of cash for these items (well, it's a huge amount of cash to me). I've mentioned that I named the MG Bernard, my Kitchenaid is named Lucille, and now I've named my new road bike Francine.
Labels: bike
Chip Chop Chip Monday, February 16, 2009
I was supposed to start training today for the half-marathon I signed up for months ago but somehow I find myself at home and cleaning instead (but I am dancing around to music while I do it- sort of like cardio, right?). I will get up tomorrow and go to the gym in the morning before work and run, probably huff through a couple of minutes and then want to die. I'll admit I've not been running since the beginning of January right before the cold/sinus congestion from hell set in. That lovely little bastard knocked me on my ass for over a month, which is why my stomach currently looks like it's a soft pillow.Lets not even talk about swimming, ha. My suit suddenly became entirely see-through especially in the backside and I was flashing people at pool. Lovely, right? So now I need to purchase a new suit but I keep forgetting the stupid gift card for Dicks when I'm near one. Bah.
I'm finally going to purchase a new goddamn bike. It might mean that I'm not going to pay off that credit card like I planned which isn't very responsible is it? Bah. Sleek little road bike, come to me. I love you.
Labels: bike, gym, lazy, photos, running, triathlon
Cleveland Triathlon Race Report Wednesday, August 06, 2008
So the truth of the matter is that I am probably entirely too hard on myself. In my head I fixate on the way I think I should be performing during triathlons and then when I realize I just can't do what I imagined I get down. Way down. Crying-in-the-corner, clutching-a-bottle-of-gin-muttering "dumb, slow-wanker" over-and-over-again down.It doesn't help matters that I got fucking schooled by an 8 year old. Yeah, that's right- an 8 year old finished before I did. WTF? EIGHT. MOTHER-FUCKING-EIGHT.
It's a tiny bit hard not to beat oneself up when someone who is 20 years your junior totally kicks your ass and that person hasn't even hit puberty yet. Although in the end I win, because I'm an adult and can eat ice cream for breakfast and a candy bar for lunch while jumping up and down on my bed legally swilling gin and he can't. So suck on that Mr. 8 year old.*
Today someone told me that some races are for learning and not for rocking. I guess that is the way I can sum up Sunday's race, it was all about learning. Swimming in the Lake Erie harbor was actually pretty cool- the fear of water where I can't see the bottom is getting better. The course was surrounded by the cool Science Center and the Rock Hall and the William G. Mather, so there was plenty of interesting things to look at. And they closed down the innerbelt of the shoreway for the race- which if you are familiar at all with Cleveland is one of the main arties out of the city. I wish I had enjoyed the view more but I was battling hellish wind off the lake and some wicked hills. And depending on which distance you were doing you got to hit them a repeatedly. So maybe they weren't such a big deal to the pros but for me those long, slow climbs were a tiny challenge. But I did it and I didn't stop- I just kept peddling.
The swim though, the part I usually feel like I rock, was hard for me this go. I got kicked hard in the stomach twice, which caused me to inhale the lovely water of Lake Erie. In turn causing me choke and then have a hard time catching my breath. After I exited the water I was still coughing up some of the water and spent about 45 seconds bent over at the waist trying to catch my breath. For someone who prides herself on being a strong swimmer I was hella disappointed in my performance. 7:04 for a 300 meter swim.
Sometimes I get pissy with myself because I feel like I'm using the fact that I got kicked twice as a crutch for being so winded and craptastic in the swim portion. And then part of me is really glad I came out of that water and wanted to quit so badly but I sucked it up and got on that damn bike and went, dare I say I'm proud of myself? Conflicting emotions, it's awesome.
Swim: 7:08 (300m)
T1: 4:45
Bike: 44:40 (8 miles)
T2: :57
Run: 21:41 (1.5 miles)
Total: 1hr 19 min.
So this weekend, at race #2 (a longer and harder race) I'm just going to have some fun. I don't care how long it takes me, or how many times I get passed, I'm just going to do it. Fuck yeah.
My number:
In Lake Erie (Science Center in the background):
*Ok, I'm not really trying to knock the 8 year old triathlete around. I think it is quite awesome that he did but that doesn't mean I'm above a little shit talking in order to sooth my wounded ego. I never said I wasn't a minorly petty person under particular circumstances.
Labels: bike, cleveland, photos, running, triathlon
Oh my holy shit. Monday, July 21, 2008
PSA: A trashcan full of empty boxes and a bike parked at the right angle so the sun hits the bike reflector can ignite a fire. OUTSIDE YOUR FRONT DOOR.Then in your awesomely half dressed state (because you just emerged from the shower) you can throw open said door to find a cop yelling at you to shut the door while he extinguishes the fire. Then still not wearing a bra and with wet hair you can be asked a million questions by the cops and fireman (who were actually really nice and helpful) determine that it was a freak accident (once they rule out that you are neither a smoker, pyromaniac or crazy).
Things that were ruined by the fire: trashcan, bike tire (hopefully not the rim or anything else), lawn chair, snow shovel and a couple of my tomato plants.
This is just another in a random set of things that have sucked balls, including getting food poisoning on Friday night possibly from something I ate on the scenic railway beer train (cost: $25). Really, as if it wasn't bad enough they ran out of beer 20 minutes into a 2 hour ride and their "local appetizers" were tiny cubes of very non-local cheese, ritz crackers and a bag of pretzels; but then 6 hours later I'm spending copious amounts of time hunched over my toliet. That is like kicking someone in the ass after they've already fallen down because you tripped them and then stealing $25 from their wallet.
Previously, on things that blow: my iBook keyboard started malfunctioning. Several of the keys died and while it is an easy fix the nearest Apple Genius Bar is 1.5 hours away. So last Saturday I drove to Columbus to get it fixed, except that once I reached Columbus' 270 outerbelt I hit a freaking box spring at 70 miles an hour. There was a giant truck right in front of me that swerved to miss it, but since I couldn't see why it swerved until about 3 seconds later there was nothing I could do. I was boxed in, and slamming on my breaks would have only caused the guy behind me to ram into my back end.
So like something out of Dukes of Hazard I just drove right over top of it. Killing it dead.
Luckily it didn't seem to hurt my car, but really it's an experience I could of lived without.
Seems I'm not the only one having a rough go of July, the wonderfully witty and awesome Jemima seems to be in the same boat as I am.
Post Script: Cleaning up hot, smoked, half-burned rotting garbage is horribly horrific. Oh my god, the smell. I had to shower after I picked it up, I felt like that awful smell was clinging to my skin and hair.
Labels: apartment, bike, cleaning
Pathetic ride, it freaks me out Wednesday, June 06, 2007
I've been training for this triathlon for 6 months. I probably started entirely too soon, but I wasn't in the best of shape last year so I knew I had a long way to go.But now I'm burnt out. Mentally fatigued from all the training. My heart isn't in it anymore.
According to my dad, runner of many marathons, this is entirely common. He told me to take a week off and relax. No more than a week though, and I'll feel refreshed and ready to go the last 6 weeks before competition.
Which is good because after my ride last night I was in tears. I hated every single minute of it. And really, it was pathetically short because I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 7 miles is woefully short compared to the 20-25 miles I had been averaging of late.
Even my new totally awesome bike shorts from Pearl Izumi (recommended by the lovely Amblus ) failed to motivate me onward. But those 7 miles were the most comfortable I've ever ridden, the extra padding on the crotch and backside really is amazing- off the bike you feel like you are wearing the world's largest maxi pad but on the bike it is heaven.
So here I am, taking a break. I've got no fucking idea what do with all this time I now have on my hands, it is almost like I've lost the will to be lazy.
