21st Century Mom » Hell Yes!

More and Less

21st Century Mom — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:19:04 +0000

Here is what I need more of:
More Health and Fitness News & Tips at Greatist.

And here is what I need less of :

less:

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Wrapping It All Up

21st Century Mom — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:05:39 +0000

This is that day when we wrap up one year and head in to the next. It’s an arbitrary date but it works out because it gives us an opportunity to put away all of the excitement and decorations and the debt and madness of ‘the holidays’ which started pretty much at Halloween, and move on to the next cycle of annual events. Very tidy.

Athletes can reflect on a year of training and racing and assess it for progress, for inspiration, for opportunities to deal with disappointment, injuries, triumphs and lessons learned. January 1 is everyone’s time to put down the cookies and candy and pick up the barbells, put on the running shoes and step up to the opportunity of making this year the best one yet.

For some of us, making 2010 better than 2009 isn’t much of a challenge. I wouldn’t say my 2009 was horrible but it has put me in a fairly precarious place such that 2010 WILL be the year I do something beyond hoping for a great job and farting around training while I await a miracle. I’m happy to say that I read a few status updates today that reminded me that for some people 2009 was a great year. People who had their first child, did their first Ironman (myself included), got a great new job and a beautiful new home - lots of people had a fine, fine year. Lots of people did not so here’s to some economic recovery in 2010 and shiny New Year for All!

I have captured my athletic year in graphics:

Hours trained per month

Miles per discipline per month

Swim, Bike, Run distance/pace

So I trained a bunch and the run and the swim are better and the bike – hard to say. It doesn’t look so good on the chart but there are extenuating factors so it looks like the line is effectively flat. A little disappointing but it’s okay because I found something more interesting. Here are my training volumes in miles per month over the last 3 years:

2007 Training volumes (note the scale on the left)

Yearly Log 2008

Yearly Log 2009

I don’t know how easy it is to see but on the 2007 chart the ‘distance’ axis goes up to 140 miles and on the 2009 chart it goes to 500 miles. The 2008 chart goes to 400 miles. This proves that I have come to love my bike instead of fearing it and of all of things I have accomplished that is one of my favorites.

Wow – boring. Moving on.

I did an iron distance race this year. That should be my favorite thing and in many ways it is but more favorite than that was what happened in the process. I got stronger, I got more confident and I made new friends. So that was the best part. I got to share that day with my first born and her husband and that was also the best part. I finished the race in spite of being in a state of discomfort and that’s admirable but what’s better than that is that there was never a doubt in my mind or my heart that I wouldn’t finish that race. I knew I could I do it – I knew that. And that’s the best part of all.

I have to finish cleaning up my desk t make it New Year Ready. 2010 is going to be dramatic and good because I’m going to make it that way either by landing a job I’ve been working on for months or, failing that, something else. Something good. And I know I can do it – there isn’t a doubt in my mind or in my heart.

Happy New Year!

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Over the Top

21st Century Mom — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:40:10 +0000

I can’t believe I got from last weekend to this weekend without writing about the fabulosity that was those 2 days, a week ago. I think that’s how it goes. I figure I’d better spit it out before I have another weekend to recount because I know you all yearn to live vicariously through my incredible weekends. You know – the ones that start with me sitting at home alone on Friday blogging.

Anyhow – last weekend I did 2 things (in addition to sitting in front of the TV playing on my laptop). On Saturday I went for a long ride with my new cycling BFFs Sharley and Kelby. And to my already existing cycling BFFs no worries – I have room for a legion of BFFs in my life, particularly those who attempt to rescue me from Friday nights at home alone as Vali tried to do last Friday when I turned her down on going out for Margaritas. But I digres….

Our ride took us out to the wilds where the windmills whop, whop, whop their way to lighting our lives only it wasn’t windy and the windmills were still – all of them! We didn’t pre-plan the route and extemporaneously decided to ride the infamous Patterson Pass Rd. I had never done it before but I had heard it was a pretty good climb. If I had had any idea exactly what that meant I would have changed the plan but innocence really is bliss some times.

The climb starts with a ‘false flat’ that is so very false you swear you are going downhill based on what your eyes perceive and yet you are in the granny gear working your ass off and not moving very fast. It was bizarre to the point of being mind altering. The physical experience did not match the visual – it was sort of like one of those pre-race dreams where you are trying really hard but something surreal keeps getting in your way.

After that it just starts climbing up and up and up and then you get to the the top – only you aren’t. But there is a flat spot where we stopped for a minute and when I looked up and saw that we had an even steeper climb ahead of us all I could think of was ‘holy crap balls – that is Dr. Suess land!’ (click here to get to a page of pictures of the real thing)

Dr. Suessian Hills

I stood there, looking up thinking “No can do – I just can’t get up there” and I begged to turn back and I was turned down because back was going to be as hard as forward and I said “I can’t do this” and Sharley thought but didn’t say “and what do you think you’ll do?” and I thought but didn’t say “I’ll be walking my bike up that hill”.

But I did not walk. I rode. I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled and I told myself ‘just turn the cranks 10 more times… oh wait – 10 more… okay fine, 10 more” and then I was at the top. I redlined my heart rate on the way (178) and I got that creepy, hair standing on end feeling on the top of my head but I did it and life got very, very good at that point. Mostly because we got to go downhill but also because of the way I felt. It was a perfect day.

Dr. Suessville Elevation Chart

Sunday I ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I ran it like I will run the marathon at Beach 2 Battleship which is to say at a very slow pace. I practiced that pace 10:30 – 11:00/mile and I came in at 2:29 something which is 11:22/mile but it’s hilly and I forgot to account for that. It wasn’t a PR by time (although not a PW, either) but a year ago if someone had told me I would do a hard, “I can’t do it”, redline ride for 3 and half hours the day before I ran 13.1 really hilly miles I would have told them ‘no way – no can do’. I would have whined and refused to even consider the possibility whereas this year I looked forward to the opportunity to test my legs and I was comfortable with the test results.

And that is why I am over the top giddy with excitement for my race. I can do this. I can push through and I can pace myself and I will finish and it will be another perfect day.

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Race Ready!

21st Century Mom — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:42:53 +0000

Greetings Sports Fans! I’ve gone from performance anxiety to race ready and that is a welcomed thing, indeed. How did Iget there?

First of all, I know how to make use of a neglected weight bench. I turned it into a bike stand so I could clean my bike to a state of race ready shiny bright goodness. Observe:

Working the weight bench like it's never been worked before

Just add PVC and voila!

So Shiney I couldn't get it in focus!

I also looked up how to fix a problem I was having with the chain dropping. I have a triple on that bike and although I do my level best never to use the small chain ring (thereby making me work harder than you people with a compact double and yes – I mean YOU Cheryl if I want it I don’t want to fall over because the chain jams between the ring and the frame. So, thanks to the largess of the interwebs I found out how to fix it by adjusting the cable and now it’s fine. Very excited about that!

Tomorrow I will do this ride again:

That ride compares pretty favorably to Oceanside except it’s a little harder:

Three Bears vs. Oceanside

This will be the 4th or 5th time I’ve done this ride this year and so far so good so I think that means I’m ready. Sunday I run easy for 90 minute and then I will rest Monday, easy spin ride Tuesday, swim easy with a short easy run Wed, drive to Oceanside on Thursday and rock the chaise lounge, pick up my stuff Friday and rock the chaise lounge some more then eat a nice dinner, hit the hay early, get up in the morning and race!

The weather is supposed to be nice. I have a bunch of people doing this with me and I’m trained. I don’t think it gets any better than that.

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Landing on the Hudson – Amazing Simulation

21st Century Mom — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:49:56 +0000

I got this in email from my friend Kim. Truly remarkablehudson river landing.

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Monday Monday – Another Frabjous Weekend

21st Century Mom — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:42:45 +0000

Picture two women cruising the California coastline in a convertible with the top down on a beautiful sunny day having just had a stunning and exhilarating trail run followed by an authentic and delicious lunch at a little Tacqueria. And that was just how my weekend ended. Everything leading up to that moment was equally as sunshine and contentment infused. This weekend took the grump out of grumpy leaving only the “y” for YES! YES! life is good. YES! life is rich. Yes I still don’t have a job but YES! my family is all in good health and the weather was glorious and I lived a blessed life this weekend.

Friday night I had date #2 with a man I like very much. We hung out and drank a glass of wine at my house then we went and saw Frost/Nixon which was very good and then we went out to dinner and then we came back to my house and had a cup of tea. Lovely. I really enjoy his company.

Saturday I had a fantastic bike ride with Forward Motion and in some ways I killed it. I was still slower than most of the people (but not all) but I was faster than usual and it was one of those rides that left me feeling stronger and improved as a cyclist and that put a huge grin on my face.

Sunday I went on the most amazing, beautiful run on Angel Island with a friend. The air was clear and crisp and cool but it was sunny and bright. The trails there are mostly single track and there was a race but I was not a participant (since it got sold out). We ended up inadvertently playing salmon and going against the crowd which mostly meant getting out of the way but that was okay because that was the uphill part. Who doesn’t like to step off the trail and stand still frequently on the uphill climbs? I was good with that. Some other people from Forward Motion were running the race so we got to see them and hang out for a while. Good times.

When we got to the top of Angel Island we were greeted with a panoramic, 3 bridge view of the entire Bay Area. With no no bib and no concern at all about our time we were free to just hang out there enjoying the view for quite some time .

After the run my friend and I went to visit the new might-become-my-beau for a moment (does that count as a 3rd date?) and then we went out for a delicious buritto followed by a drive back home with the top down on her convertible Mercedes. The whole weekend was positively frabjous.

not her car but it might as well be

How much can I complain when I have days like that? Not too much. Being unemployed is not a happy thing and the economy really and truly is in the toilet and will take quite some time to recover and that’s not a good thing but right about now I’m feeling like that’s the only not good thing in my life. I have plenty enough resources to keep on keepin’ on for quite a while so color me happy.

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Pathetic vs. Eloquent

21st Century Mom — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:16:34 +0000

I am going to write a normal, Monday Monday – Race Report in a bit but first I just have to air a grievance.

The robo-call smear campaign that is coming out of the McCain camp is the most shameful political trick since Bush robo-called against McCain in 2000 saying he’d had a black child in an illicit affair (truth – he adopted a kid from Bangladesh). The McCain smears are lies of the same order. The country is in crises and this and an SNL appearance by Palin is the best the party can do? Not only is it morally bankrupt, it is pathetic and desperate.

Colin Powell has said it much better than I ever could. It takes about 7 minutes to listen to what he has to say. And please don’t belittle the man by saying he is supporting Obama because they are both black. How insulting. Powell has clearly thought this through and if you think he’s just supporting a brother you are absolutely obligated to listen to what he has to say.

Colin Powell on our presidential candidates

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Today’s Ride

21st Century Mom — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:56:15 +0000

Up the North side of Mt. Diablo (cilck to see details)

I rode up the north side of Mt. Diablo to the Juniper overlook. It was a first for me as I have always gone up the south side. I let myself go just over 32 mph on the way down – whee!

I feel human again. In fact, I feel great!

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How Sweet it Is

21stcenturymom — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:47:18 +0000

A recent study of 7 million test scores (made possible by No Child Left Behind which can finally claim something good about itself) has shown that in grades 2 through 11 girls and boys score the same in math. In other words, boys are not inherently better at math, smarter than girls or more inclined toward dealing with numerically based concepts. It’s a myth.

How sweet it is. After years and years and years of assertion that not only is it unladylike for girls to be as smart as boys in math and science but they really aren’t anyhow, a little simple data crunching on a whole lot of data has shown that it just ain’t so. The cultural stuff is still there – girls are still teased for being smart but at least we now know that this is strictly a cultural phenomenon and not a genetic predisposition toward dumb.

Here is a really interesting article about the Top 5 Myths About Girls, Math and Science. Mostly what it says is that if you do things that encourage girls in math and science the boys find the messages encouraging, too. It also says that a boy will take a “C” in a math or science course and just keep moving forward if he likes the subject whereas a girl with a “B” will think she’s no good and stop. Interesting.

The flip side of all this that boys are failing in record numbers. Some would have you believe it is because our education system is more geared for girls who are more willing to sit quietly and do as they are told than for rambunctious boys. They want you to believe that it is the “feminization” of the classroom that is responsible for this phenomenon but as I scan several articles on this topic I cringe at the absurdity of them and turn tail from the argument like a dog who’s just been sprayed by a skunk. Since boys have always been more rambunctious than girls I suspect classroom management trends and free choice are more responsible for this phenomenon than anything but who knows?

What I do know is that we finally have some solid evidence that intelligence is not gender based and that girls are as smart as boys and I like that. I like it a lot.

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