And Yet I Lack Endurance

Posted on November 13, 2007 by 21cm

Painting and getting things in order is becoming worse than endurance sports. What a grind. All the need to carry on with little of the enjoyment. I’m not very good at the fixing up stuff so I’m not really getting deep pleasure from things looking great. Or maybe when it comes to doing this stuff I am as unkind to myself as I am about racing. It’s never good enough. feh.

Something I keep figuring out is that I have no endurance. I get whooped and just really want to quit. I think the reason I like triathlon is because I have to push through that and when I do I feel good about it – at least until I start in on the ‘not good enough’ routine.

Out of this I have 2 goals for next year – develop more stamina by training more and be nicer to myself. Let myself have the victory and pleasure of accomplishment – without qualification. It won’t be easy but it feels good to have that as a goal.

I am putting away the paint brushes and drop cloths for the night and tidying up for my drinking club book group. It really is a book group but my kids laugh and call it Mom’s drinking group because the only time they are there is when it is as my house and when it is at my house I can drink as much wine as I want. I might have 3 whole glasses of wine! That’s more than enough to set me up for table top, lampshade wearing dancing. I need the respite after all this blasted painting!

Posted in say what? | 4 Comments

Painting as an Endurance Sport

Posted on November 12, 2007 by 21cm

I have a large group coming for Thanksgiving (YAY!) so I’m doing a little home improvement work in the form of painting. I have 2 bedrooms and a hallway to paint and a lot of trim.

I hate painting – I really do. I don’t know why because it can be sort of mindless and meditative and gives me time to listen to music but it’s just not my thing. I’m not careful enough and I constantly screw things up. I paint the walls and the, in the process of painting the trim I get the trim paint on the walls. Or vise versa. So annoying. And the taping – OMG! It takes forever.

I find that as I’m working my way through the room I am constantly fighting the urge to quit. My inner voice starts to whine – I’m hungry,,,, I’m tired,,,,, my back hurts.. blah…blah.. blah.. boo… hoo.. and the other voice pipes up “Come on – just one more wall – you can do it! Keep going!l You’re strong.. you can make it!”

It’s just like being on a long run or needing to swim another 1000 yards.

I can’t wait for the big event when the work pays off because it means my house will be full of people – Double YAY!

Posted in say what? | 5 Comments

My Loony Bun is Fine Benny Lava

Posted on November 11, 2007 by 21cm

Shout outs to Language Log for pointing the way to this video and several other hysterically funny videos.

Go here to read more about the fine art of Autour-du-mondegreens

It appears that my brush with Washoe has paid off in that I find a blog about language interesting and funny.

ps – I did not fine LolCat on Language Log and yet there it is. Odd.

Posted in Fun in a tub | 4 Comments

So Much for That Plan

Posted on November 10, 2007 by 21cm

My commitment to run every day has been sullied by sloth. I did not run yesterday. I did not run today. I got a pain in the hiney yesterday that someone told me was “runner’s butt”. I thought it was “painter’s butt” as in the last 2 days I have painted 1 bedroom and 1 hallway which involved 87 trips up and down the step ladder and the stairs into the garage. I have 1 more bedroom and about 22 miles of trim to paint still. Fortunately my butt feels much better.

I have avoided riding my bike since it got home from SOMA. I was SO excited to have my bike back and now I have to avert my eyes as I pass by it for fear it will spit on my feet. My bike avoidance behavior is a mystery to me but it happens. I am SO glad I didn’t sign up for tomorrow’s triathlon on-line because they are carrying on but without the swim and I got a report today that it was freezing cold and that the roads are so chewed up your teeth have rattled loose by the time you get to T2 T1 (the only T there is in this race).

At least I’ve remained faithful to this

Visit NaBloPoMo

Posted in Running | 3 Comments

Today’s Fun Time Activity

Posted on November 9, 2007 by 21cm

Today I introduce you to the LOLinator . You can put in any URL and it LOLinates it.

Here is my blog LOLinated (click the kitty)

See what yours looks like – it’s fun!

The Treasure Island Triathlon is still on but without the swim. I’m too tired to do it. I’m going for a bike ride and I’m going to run 5.5 as a tribute to Ryan Shay (wrong week!) tomorrow and Sunday I might just eat pancakes and read the paper all day. And paint and clean but you know… a girl can dream.

Posted in Fun in a tub | Leave a comment

Today’s Fun Time Activity

Posted on November 9, 2007 by 21cm

Today I introduce you to the LOLinator . You can put in any URL and it LOLinates it.

Here is my blog LOLinated (click the kitty)

See what yours looks like – it’s fun!

The Treasure Island Triathlon is still on but without the swim. I’m too tired to do it. I’m going for a bike ride and I’m going to run 5.5 as a tribute to Ryan Shay (wrong week!) tomorrow and Sunday I might just eat pancakes and read the paper all day. And paint and clean but you know… a girl can dream.

Posted in Fun in a tub | 3 Comments

Sometimes The Decision Gets Made For You

Posted on November 8, 2007 by 21cm

I had stated last week, rather emphatcially that I was done with triathlon for the season – and I meant it. Except I was sort of maybe thinking I’d do this sprint distance race on Sunday. It just seemed like it might be nice to end the season some other way than coming in 9 out of 9 in my age group and this was sure to be a great event because it’s put on by the same people who do Wildflower. It is the same sort of 3 day extravaganza with packet pickup and an Expo on Friday, a longer race on Saturday that is part of the Wall to Wall Series and includes pro athletes, and a shorter distance race Sunday. Fun, fun!

Then I wasn’t sure I really wanted to toss my retirement for the season but I figured I could sign up on-site on Saturday if I felt so moved when I went to watch some other women in my team race the Olympic distance event.

Then a big container ship scraped up against the Bay Bridge and dumped 58,000 gallons of fuel in the bay. That’s a lot of nasty, oily, volatile fuel. It is washing up on the shore over in the western most parts of the Bay and in Marin and fouling everything. TriCal is still hopeful that this muck will stay out of the little Treasure Island cove the swim is being held in (which is east of the original spill) but I wouldn’t go in that water right now. I have no use for a duathlon which is probably what the race will turn in to so it’s off for me and I’m glad. I’ve done 12 events this year and I have a 5K still on the schedule for an even 13 and that’s enough. Or maybe I’ll need one more to make it an even number but if so it will probably be a 5K or a 10K or a thumb twiddling contest.

I’m heart broken about the fuel spill, though. Those things tend to foul up the marine life for a long time and that’s not good. Not good at all.

Posted in triathlon | 8 Comments

And In Conclusion

Posted on November 7, 2007 by 21cm

Today I had my final test for my heart – a treadmill stress test with an echo cardiogram. This was good as it took care of my daily run (which I missed yesterday – drat!)

I guess I wasn’t supposed to go swim 2500 yards before I took the test but oh well… I had and we just had to deal.

There is something important they don’t tell you about these treadmill tests. Something that cannot be true if you are doing a V02 max test at a sports clinic. Something that would ONLY happen in a doctor’s office when they are doing the test for the purpose of ruling out a disease condition.

They made me run on a treadmill with no bra. NO BRA!

It was a first for me, running along with the twins bouncing like a pair of bobble heads in a car’s back window. Now I happen to be fairly flat chested so it wasn’t a huge deal but I looked at the tech and said, “How in the world does this work if you are a C cup?” The mind boggles – more than the boobs did.

They start the treadmill out kind of slow but on an incline. Every 3 minutes they up the speed and the pitch. By the 4th increase I wasn’t running as fast as I could but I was holding on to the bar for dear life lest I go tumbling backward ass over tea kettle. Not fun. She finally told me I was at 100% (of what I have no idea) and asked me if I’d had enough. I said if it was 100% for her it was good enough for me. My heartrate was at 170 and I know I can push it higher but I was ready to stop. I had to exit the treadmill and wobble over to the examining table and lie on my side as fast a possible so they could get another echo shot. I had visions of me twirling and pitching, knocking over aluminum trays and causing computers to crash to the ground but it didn’t happen – I made it.

Conclusion – I have no problems. None. I got back my blood work and my cholesterol is great in all the right places. I am one healthy specimen and for that I am quite grateful. It makes celebrating life through athletic competition seem a whole lot less insane and I feel safe now – completely safe. I’m also just rocking my bra – it never felt so good.

Posted in Health | 14 Comments

If You Need a Good Laugh, Click Here

Posted on November 6, 2007 by 21cm

I have a new blog in my blogroll – 15 Mintue Lunch. This guy is hsyterical. He took us all back in time for a walk through the JC Penny Catalog recently and his post was such a hit his readership has gone through the roof.

You may have had this sent to you in email lately. You may or may not have gotten a version that gave credit to the author. So here it is – the funniest blog post I’ve read in a long, long time. Enjoy!

I would so love to reward him with a donation but alas, I still have no job. I did vote for him over here, though.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

My New Plan

Posted on November 5, 2007 by 21cm

After virtually witnessing Runner Susan blaze a trail through 4 boroughs of New York covering 26.2 miles in 5 hours I’ve decided that I need to get on that ‘run every day for x days’ plan. I am training for the Bah Humbug 5K on Dec 1 so I don’t exactly have 30 days but I’m going to use all the days I have to pump up the jam with my running.

So far I’m 2 for 2 (I just came up with this plan yesterday) I’m hoping for a sub 29 minute race.

Posted in Running | 5 Comments