“Happiness is nothing more than Health and a Poor Memory.”
I haven’t blogged in a while, so I think I will start with today and go backwards/ through my Tweetlog:
Today we had a Bike Marker set. We did it on the same course as last time – though this time, we marked out the 5 miles correctly! (That time, we only timed for 3 miles by accident.) If you look back on that Marker Set blogpost, I was “out of the money” – I would have been pulled (“chipped”) had I done the race at that speed. The “math” goes like this: 112 miles in the race. It must be done in 480 minutes (8 hours) or less. Today, I did my 5 miles in 21 minutes, 4 seconds. So, 5 miles in 21 minutes equals 112 miles in…what? Now, I’m not a math whiz, B-U-T, I think that means I would do the bike in 470.4 minutes – which means I WOULD NOT BE CHIPPED ANY MORE! I could be totally wrong – but I THINK I am right! WA-HOOOO!
So what else has gone on since my last post? I’ve been Tweeting – just not able to get to the computer to blog. More from my Tweetlog….
This morning (moving backwards in the log) my Tweet was: “Bike, check! Helmet/gloves/heart rate monitor/water, check! Oatmeal – ack! (gently brake)…take off roof of car…check! Off to do the bike marker!”
What else is in my Tweet log? Ah – here is the post where H and I rode the last big bike ride – 45 miles. We got to mile 41 – and I got a flat on my front tire. Since I have to be able to change them myself, I changed the tire…H had to pump it up (we had a regular pump, not a CO2 cartridge) – I remounted and BLAM – it was flat again! H gave me his bike to ride to the van and he walked my bike (after all, ~I~ am the one that “had to complete” the 45 miles). By the time we got home, my bike had 2 flats and his had one! When I changed the tubes at home, each of mine had THREE punctures – too many to patch. We were trying to figure out what the HECK we ran over…
Here’s another great Tweet – I was lucky to be able to do a “buddy run” with my mentor Margaret and HER former mentor (and our swim coach) Sedonia. We ran at my pace, and they were so great to run with. Last “buddy run” I did my buddy felt she was running super slowly – and it was still smoking me and I felt like crap. Margaret and Sedonia were fantastic. We did a Galloway walk/run – I am currently doing 5 minutes run 2 minute walk – and wound up going 1:21 minutes, 12:49 pace, 6.35 miles. After the run I came home, and my tweet says:
“Such a Princess! Got home from run, H gave me a coffee –
I’m out of my run clothes, into bed (with flannel sheets) with the cup!
He says I need an IronTiara!”
What else is in my Tweetlog? Ah – H kidnapped me (WHAT A GOOD HUSBAND) to the Sonoma Mission Inn for 3 days earlier this week. We got to put a “check mark” on our “eat our way around all the Michelin Starred Restaurants in Northern California” list! (At Sante.) I have a Tweet from the Sonoma Mission Inn spa gym, where I did the scheduled trainer bike “Valley Set”:
“What, spa gym guests? Never seen a puddle of sweat under a bike before?
OH, you’ve never seen SWEAT before!
You do dirty looks WELL through that Botox!”
This week was a “marker week” (bike and swim) – the Swim Marker was 1,000 yards. I got into the pool and it was very crowded (for our pool). I made sure that I wasn’t going to get kicked out by a Masters Group or anything, warmed up, and started my set. At 4 lengths from the end of my Marker, I was horrified to see that they were trying to get me out of the pool. I just held up my hand, gasped FOUR MORE and took off! I must have been a bit hypoxic, because I had visions that someone would grab my wrist or my leg. When I finished my 100 (DEFINITELY at a pace a bit higher than the L5 we were supposed to use), I stopped my watch and looked up. I found 5 staff and the couple dozen swimmers all on deck, watching me! Alligators? Piranha? More likely (ick) poop or vomit…Not Gator Nor Poop Nor Dark of Night (dot dot dot)…Yeah it’s the IronMan and the Postal Service…
Here is the swim marker email from Sedonia:
Holy Smoley!!
Who are you? And what have you done with our Sandy???
Great work!!
I added your newest marker set results into my handy dandy spreadsheet and here is the breakdown our your stats past and present:
|
Shepard |
Sandy |
IML |
|
Distance |
Time |
Min |
2.4mi predicted min |
2.4mi predicted time |
100 yd Pace |
|
Marker 1 |
|
200 |
4:16 |
4.25 |
90 |
1:30* |
2:08 |
||
|
Marker 2 |
|
800 |
17:56 |
18.00 |
95 |
1:35* |
2:14 |
||
|
Marker 3 |
|
1000 |
20:23 |
20.33 |
86 |
1:26* |
2:02 |
||
*It is important to remember that pool predicted times are typically faster than open water times
Not only did you go 200 yds farther than last time…but you shaved 12 seconds off your 100 yard pace and and a whopping 9 minutes off your predicted 2.4 mi time!! This is HUGE Sandy! I’m so impressed…and there is nobody to credit but you, your hard work and your determination! You are such a stud! Even if your last 100 was a smidge over a L5 pace :)
Not only are you gaining endurance, but you are clearly becoming much more efficient in the water and your overall fitness has improved 10 fold! Great job! Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything I can do to help you become a better athlete!
I will leave you with my favorite Tweet in my log over the week. It had to do with a soak after a run. I had received my FAVORITE prezzie – bubble bath! – from my grrl Leann and I just couldn’t wait to have a nice soak. I got in the tub, and realized that I had forgotten a big glass of water. Not wanting to get out of the soak, I called for H, to see if he could bring me one. This was the Tweet related to that (and YES I had my Blackberry in the bath, bad grrl):
In cucumber bubblebath now-Mm! Asked H 2 bring me some H2O
he showed up w/my Camelbak:
“Ur hydration system, madam?” 2 freakin funny.