Happy Birthday!

A friend of mine posted this on my FaceBook page for my birthday. Apparently it was done by a british newspaper in honor of the Queen mother's 100th birthday. I love corgis. They look like big dogs with short little legs, but even more importantly, they think they are big dogs and act accordingly. At any rate, this would be funny with any dogs, but I like it even better because I happen to like corgis.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I know I haven't posted in forever - more on that in another post. Ironman Florida is this weekend so the crazy is upon us. My sister posted this picture and I just had to share it. I know I'm family and so automatically biased, but keep in mind that I also work with kids so when I say that my sister has the cutest kids ever, I've got a pretty good basis for comparison. Seriously, these are some cute kids. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

Jupiter

Photo taken on April 16, 2006

I haven't done an educational post in quite awhile. Since I'm in summer camp teaching mode and this is a particularly cool event, I thought I'd share. I took most of this info from a news release on the Hubble website. Incidentally if you haven't visited the HubbleSite, you should check it out - especially the photo gallery.

On July 19, 2009 an Australian amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley, observed a spot on the surface of Jupiter. The spot was created when a small object plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. A similar phenomena was observed 15 years ago, but there is no other recorded history of such an event. Telescopes around the world have been focused on what is now a new, expanding spot on the planet's surface.

It looks like NASA got the Hubble up and running just in time. They were in the process of calibrating the telescope after recent lens upgrades and other refurbishments when the impact occurred and they interrupted the checkout to aim the telescope at the spot. A team of astronomers is now using the Hubble to study the event.

The spot was caused by the impact of a comet or an asteroid and is changing daily in the planet's clouds. According to Amy Simon-Miller of NASA, this magnitude of impact is rare. She estimated that the diameter of the object that slammed into Jupiter was at least the size of several football fields. The force of the explosion was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet or asteroid that exploded over the Tunguska River Valley in Siberia in June 1908. Details seen in the Hubble view show a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere. The spot is currently twice the length of the United States.

The Hubble picture, taken on July 23, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the impact feature. The observations were made with Hubble's new camera, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The WFC3, installed by astronauts in May, is not yet fully calibrated. It is possible to obtain celestial images, but the camera's full power cannot yet be realized for most observations. The WFC3 can still return meaningful science images that will complement the Jupiter pictures being taken with ground-based telescopes. This is a natural color image of Jupiter as seen in visible light.

Note: If you pause the slideshow, you can advance the images manually so you can spend as much time as you like looking at them.

Charlie the Unicorn

Have you ever wondered what children find amusing? Watching an episode of SpongeBob will answer that question pretty well as will this YouTube video. As I get ready to teach another week of Summer Camp I thought I'd share this amusing tidbit from the previous week of teaching. I had 5th and 6th graders so ages 9-11. They were a great group of campers and we had an awesome week. Every once in awhile, I'd catch one of them saying "Charlie, Charlie..." in a wispy sort of voice and then the other kids would start laughing. I finally asked one of the kids about it and they said it was a really stupid YouTube video. After I got over the initial shock that 9-11 year olds are visiting YouTube - not that it's a bad thing, it just never occurred to me that there would be any reason for them to - I asked for details. My Junior Volunteer explained it in a little more detail and I figured I was going to have to check it out at some point. A video that 9-11 year olds think is really stupid, but funny enough that they all remember it must be viewed. I finally had a chance to check it out. It turns out that there are now three Charlie the Unicorn videos. All strange, silly, and poorly animated. Of course I'm going to share. Here's the first in the series - all kinds of wrong.

On Vacation

I know it's been forever since I've posted to my blog. I've actually intended to post quite a few times and then it doesn't quite happen. Summer is in full swing here in Florida and the early morning workouts are now the norm. Early wake-ups mean earlier bed times, which means less evening computer time. Since the evening is when I usually do my writing, the blog posts have suffered. I'm trying to get back in the groove, though, and my plan for this week is to finish up several posts. I've got three race reports among other things. Summer camp has started, too.

This week, Brian and I are on Topsail Island, NC with my brother, Chris and his family. It was a bit of a last minute trip, but it came together nicely. I love the North Carolina coast. It's very natural and not overly developed. I'm looking forward to a week of good cycling, some running, and lots of playing in the ocean. I brought my wetsuit and may plan an openwater swim, also. Lots of my favorite activities and quality time with the family - perfect. I've included a few pictures I've taken with my phone. I keep forgetting to get the real camera out.

Topsail Island is part of the southern North Carolina beaches so it's a lot closer to the mainland than the Outer Banks. It's about an hour north of Wilmington and just a bit south of Camp Legeune. We are at the north end of the island about a mile from where it ends. I ran up to the end and you can see across the inlet to Camp Legeune. Of course, you can't really see any of the base, but the view is nice.

Pilates Reformer

It's been so long since I've written a post. I guess I haven't been much in a writing mood the past couple of weeks. I was sick for awhile after the Austin trip and I've just been focused on training trying to get ready for Gulf Coast in two weeks. I've been pretty slow at replying to my emails, also, which is really a bad thing. I've got my first race of the tri season this Sunday in St. Petersburg. It should be a fun race and a fun trip. I promise a race report.

I thought I'd write a post on the Pilates Reformer. Those of you that follow my tweets have seen me mention this before and may be wondering what I'm talking about. The reformer is a piece of equipment that is used to add variety and intensity to a pilates workout. The reformer can also be used to assist you in doing an exercise that you might not have been able to do unaided so that you can build up the strength needed. Now I'm sure some of you are asking "what is pilates?" Pilates is a form of movement that strengthens the whole body by focusing on breathing, proper alignment, and core strength. Some of you are thinking that sounds a lot like yoga and you would be correct. There is a lot of yoga in pilates, and they can be quite complimentary. There is also a lot of pilates in strength training methods and the core workouts that have become so popular.

So what exactly is the reformer? It is basically a long frame with 4 legs, a platform that slides along the frame, ropes with straps that are attached to the platform and run through pulleys on the frame, and a variety of springs that attach the platform to the frame. There is a bar on one end and shoulder pads on the platform. The springs are a variety of tensions and can be used to increase or decrease resistance.

In the exercise shown in the photo, it's actually harder to do with less resistance. You start in the piked position and push the carriage away to come in to the plank. To get back, you have to use the core muscles to pull the carriage back. If you are using more springs then they will help you get back, less springs means it's all about the core. FYI - this exercise with the lightest spring possible will make you cry.

Now that you know all about the reformer, you may be wondering why I'm doing this. Actually, I had an opportunity to use a reformer years ago and I did pilates before I started practicing yoga so it's not a reach. My gym has reformers and I've been interested in using them. I've lost a significant amount of muscle in recent years - most likely due to the decrease in quantity and intensity of my yoga practice - and that muscle loss is affecting both my swim and likely my weight. Those of you that know me are probably thinking that I'm crazy, that I have plenty of muscle and strength, and compared to most people, you would be right. I am a naturally strong person, and what I consider weak most people have to work to get to. All that means is that my baseline is higher, it's still all relative, and I've come to realize that my body likes muscle. I do everything better when I am very strong, but I don't put on as much muscle by running, biking, swimming the way other people do. I also don't think that it's any coincidence that the strongest I've ever been also coincides with the thinnest I've ever been. You might be wondering why I don't just increase the yoga, and the truth is that I just haven't found a teacher that I love here in Gainesville. I practice on my own as much as I ever did, which is daily, but I'm not taking the 1.5 hour classes three times a week. I've been doing a fair amount of strength conditioning on my own, but consistency has been an issue. I decided that since I wasn't spending money on yoga classes that I would go ahead and start taking reformer classes.

I started last September going once a week. I figured this was a good time since I was training for Ironman and I would have to do at least one session at a beginners level. By the time I would be ready to pick up the intensity, Ironman would be over. It almost worked that way except the holidays got in the way so I ended up at a Level 1 longer than I needed to be. By January, I was in an advanced class with a new teacher, and taking classes twice a week. The classes are only 4 people so it's very personalized, and I've had the same group with me. My teacher has been kicking our butts and that's a good thing. She just keeps upping the ante. Just when you think you are getting good at something, she changes it up completely and it's like starting over. I love it! The other women think I'm nuts because we would all be collapsing in sweaty heaps and our teacher would ask how we liked the exercise and I would reply that it was awesome, and I laugh - alot. The harder something is, the more I laugh. It's better than groaning. They still think I'm nuts, but they've gotten used to me by now. Incidentally, my teacher now considers our class a Level 3. We are losing a few people for the summer, though, so I'm kind of bummed.

So here it is, almost 4 months since I started at the higher intensity and I am definitely noticing a difference in my strength and flexibility. It's going to take a lot more time to get back what I lost, but I am well on my way and having fun doing it. Honestly, if I hadn't bought a new bike last year, I would seriously consider getting my own reformer. They are about the same price.

Here is a short video of some of the basic exercises that we do on the reformer.

Bruce!

I've been in Austin, TX for the past few days and am heading out in about an hour to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I guess I have what could be considered eclectic musical tastes - my ipod has something for just about everyone on it, and if you asked me what kind of music I like, you wouldn't get a straight answer. It'd probably be easier to ask what I don't like - most current pop, but even that has a place. Brittany Spears while I'm driving or hanging out - no way. Brittany at a dance club - whole other thing. Anyway, I have listened to Bruce since I was in middle school, and have always enjoyed his music. Yes, I have Born to Run on my ipod running playlist. Yes, I know that's cheesy. Actually, Badlands and This Hard Land are better running songs - FYI. Anyway, this will be the 3rd time I see Bruce - it's been about 6 years since the last time, and I am looking forward to the show. I'm super tired and not feeling all that great from a busy couple of days here in Texas, but it'll still be great. Bruce was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd share the interview portion. Don't worry - I left off the performance for those of you that don't care for Bruce's music.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Bruce Springsteen - Interview
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Yum!

Hey guess what? I'm hungry! Apparently training for a half-iron makes you hungry. Who would've thought? I'm trying my best to eat lots and I thought I'd share my two newest snack food discoveries - White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clif Bars, and Kashi TLC Dark Chocolate Coconut Fruit & Grain bars. Yes, they are both really as good as they sound and more than take care of any cravings for sweets. The first time I had the Clif Bar, I ate it so fast I was surprised when I went to take another bite and it was all gone. The Kashi bars really are as good as they look on the box. If only my grocery store would stop running out of them.

On a separate but related note - my grocery store stocks all the diet meal replacements, things like Slimfast, directly across from the chocolate and the candy. I just think that's really wrong! Not that I was getting Slimfast - they put the Clif bars with the diet stuff.

I love this woman!

I know it's been awhile since I've posted - I actually have 3 unfinished posts and 1 or 2 more floating in my head. Apparently I'm having some serious attention deficit with regards to my writing. Anyway, I just thought I'd take a moment to share this picture of Michelle Obama. She is preparing the ground for a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. The children are 5th-graders from a local elementary school, who have a garden at their school and will help to plant, care for, and harvest the White House garden. How cool is that? The garden will provide food for White House dinners and will be located in a spot that is visible to people walking on the street. Part of it's purpose is to help educate people on the benefits of eating healthy, natural foods. The NY Times wrote a nice article about the garden. Here's the link: Obamas Prepare to Plant White House Garden

So why do I love Michelle? It's a growing list starting with she's smart, educated, independent, fit, healthy, attractive, but right now it's this picture. Lots of First Ladys and Presidents have visited schools and taken part in the classroom, but when was the last time you saw a First Lady outside digging in the dirt with a bunch of kids? Those of you that know me well, know how important I consider outdoor education, so this picture is great to me. Sure it's a nice photo op and I'm well aware that she might never work in the garden again, but even if it is just a nice photo op, it still says alot about her that she chose digging a garden as her school children photo op instead of something more traditional, and regardless of wether or not she ever works in the garden again, those kids will get to and that's very cool.

Training Update

As most of you know, I'm not big on writing about the details of my training. There are a few reasons for this, one is that I know most of my readers aren't triathletes and so the details don't necessarily mean all that much to you, and the other, bigger reason is that I don't like to obsess about my training. I do this for fun and I choose to not let it consume me and be the be-all end-all of my existence. Also, I don't like to make a big deal about my training because while I do think that doing triathlons, especially the longer ones, does take a lot of work and commitment, I also think that most people are capable of doing a triathlon if they put their mind to it. That being said, I fully appreciate everyone's praise and of course I love the compliments - who wouldn't?

So while I rarely post just about my training, I do occasionally feel obligated to share. I've had quite a few questions from non-triathlete friends and family about my training schedule. What, when, how long, how often? Well, I'm not really one to track numbers all that much. I have a coach, Brandon Marsh - check out his blog for good triathlon training tips and amusing insights - and he puts together my daily workouts and long term plans so tracking numbers hasn't really been a huge concern for me. I log all my workouts and I could dig up everything from recent years and put together totals, but it's not really my thing. Anyway, Brandon has been using a spreadsheet for the past few months to track my workouts so the totals are right there. I actually haven't even been looking at the grand totals for the week, I just log my workouts for the day and move on, but it's time to start ramping up my training in preparation for the Gulf Coast Half-iron in May so I was curious about this week's totals.

My basic weekly training schedule is this - 3 set runs- Tuesday - quality, Thursday - tempo, Saturday - long, there are other runs that get scheduled, but those 3 are always there; 2 swim workouts Tues and Thursday, straight swim on Sunday, other swims get scheduled depending on volume for the week; bike - Wed - interval workout on the trainer, Fri - ride, Sun - long ride, other rides as scheduled or as I feel like. Sometimes I ride the trainer in the evening if I have time to kill before dinner or I feel like it. Sometimes I go for a ride if the weather is nice and I want to. I like riding. I have other workouts on my schedule - these are for core strengthening, so pilates, yoga, the stadium workout. Brandon started putting them on my schedule to help keep me motivated to do my strength work. So here are my totals for this week, which was an easy week. Swim: 1:50 hr, 4100 yd Bike: 6:45 hrs Run: 3:25 hrs, 20 miles Other: 5:45 hrs Total 17:45 hrs of training. 17:25 hrs was scheduled. This doesn't include the yoga classes I teach or any other yoga I do that is in addition to the specific core workouts.

I can't really put these numbers into much of a meaningful context since I don't have much to compare them to, but I do know that quantity and duration of several of the workouts will go up considerably as training ramps up. This is probably the last time I'll go into this much detail about my training so I hope you got your fill.

Happy Square Root Day!

I know this post is late in the day, but I totally spaced that today is March 3, 2009 - that's 3/3/09. It's Square Root Day! For the math challenged, that's a day when both the day and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. In today's case the square root of 9 = 3. The next Square Root Day is 4/4/16 so you better celebrate while you've got the chance. Embrace your inner math geek.

Square Root Day was first celebrated by a high school teacher in California on September 9, 1981 - 9/9/81, and he still publicizes the holiday to this day. I'm sure everyone remembers a high school teacher that would come up with some sort of crazy, loopy thing just to get students interested. If not then you definitely missed out. So celebrate Square Root Day and drink a toast to wacky high school teachers for giving us silly things to liven up an otherwise ordinary day.

On again, off again

So once again I've let too much time pass between my blog posts. You know what that means? I will probably have a post a day for the next week. I don't know why I can't seem to post more regularly - oh wait, yes I do. I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats to hear this illuminating fact about me. Well, here goes. It's actually not anything that special. It just takes me a long time to write something that is publicly presentable. Heck, it even takes me a long time to write an email, and I don't edit those nearly as much - as a few of you are quite familiar. I'm not a slow writer, quite the contrary. I write way too much, and then I have to edit. I've always written this way, and when I was in school and writing scientific papers, the editing was easy. The important stuff just kind of jumped off the page after a read through. I find that editing personal essays written for a specific audience is a bit more difficult. I want to share the details I think everyone wants to hear without making the post so long no one has time to read it. Is this what it's like to write for People magazine?

Anyway, things have been status quo here in Gainesville. Training is good, Brian is good. The weather has been all over the place, but I'm not going to complain about it now. I was feeling a bit under the weather this weekend after yet another cold snap on Friday, and decided to skip running the Gainesville Half-marathon on Sunday. I'm a little bummed, but not too much, since I was basically using it as a faster training run. I slept 9 hours Saturday night after sleeping all afternoon on Saturday so I'm ok with missing the race. Hmmm...I don't think I've got anything else to report right now. Oh, if you are interested in my training check my Twitter updates - I'm going to make an effort to tweet more about it. More later.

Racing fun

A few weeks ago I was in Austin to visit some of my favorite people and run the 3M half-marathon. Last year I set a PR at 3M, and several months ago I had been hoping to beat that time. Joey ran with me last year, and I had been hoping that would happen again this year, but he was recovering from a surgical procedure and wasn't quite ready to start running. My run has been so inconsistent that I re-evaluated that goal, and decided that I would just go for a steady pace, and see what happens. 3M is always a fun race and Joey and Maggie were planning on coming out to cheer me on so I was looking forward to it no matter what my time.

It was really cold on race morning, 37 degrees, and I found myself happy that I had brought my heavy fleece ear warmers, and bummed that I hadn't brought my heavier tights. I do not like the cold and I never really warm up when it's that cold. Most long distance runners think temps like that are perfect for a race. I don't and I never will. It was 55 and party cloudy when I ran the NYC marathon - I think that's pretty darn close to perfect.

Joey got up at 5am with me and accompanied me to the race start. If you are thinking "What a great friend!" you are right. It was dark and cold, and he was tired and not feeling great, and I was really glad he was there with me. We met Maggie at the start - she and Joey were going to travel the course and cheer. Again, another great friend - especially since Maggie hates the cold as much as I do, and standing out in the cold to cheer is much worse than running in the cold. Thanks guys! You are the best! Joey had his sombrero ready to go. I knew I would be able to spot him wearing that hat, and I did. Brandon and Amy - my coach and his wife for new readers - were also out to cheer, but I totally missed them. Bummer! Thanks for being out there in the yucky cold! It wasn't my best half marathon but the race was still fun. Here's a couple of pics. By the way, finding a good hamburger in Austin at 10am on a Sunday is not an easy thing.

This should be on a T-shirt

If you are looking at this picture and don't get it, that means you didn't read my previous blog entry so scroll down and then this will make sense. This painting was done by an artist, Cisco Manzo. Liz Hatch thought it was hilarious, and so do I.

Wear your helmet - just do it!

A few weeks ago, pro cyclist Liz Hatch had a nasty crash. Here is how she described it:

I was participating in the “Ride the Route” fundraiser for the Women’s Tour Of California Criterium. It left from Santa Rosa and went to Calistoga and then doubled back to Santa Rosa. I arrived a bit late due to traffic and was attempting to catch the main group with few friends. On the last descent into Calistoga I was a bit off the front and enjoying a great time down the hill when I came up on a corner full of pine needles a bit too quickly (understatement) and my only choice was to try to lay the bike out or hit the guardrail… Apparently the second choice was better (???) and I went head first into it at 45k. Specialized helmets, THANK YOU! Also, ROOLY glasses!!! I am so glad I was wearing those things, they kept my eyes protected and all of the dirt and pine needles that ended up in my mouth, nose and ears, yes ears, didn’t touch my eyes! Not only that but they look like new post crash, cannot believe it.

Liz is not shy and had no problems with sharing photos of the crash. I'm not going to post them, my husband occasionally reads my blog and he is already unhappy that I go on long rides alone. The thing is I can't promise that I won't be going downhill at 25-30 mph - that's not all the fast for a downhill. I can promise that I won't go that fast on a curving downhill, and I always wear my helmet and bikeglasses. Here is a photo of Liz's helmet just in case you wanted to know what it looks like when helmet meets guardrail at 45kph.

Liz was fortunate not to have any broken bones and seems to be rehabbing well. I am quite sure she is thankful for all the research and development that has gone into bike helmets over the years. While I hope to never experience it first hand, it is a comfort to know that my helmet really is capable of saving my life. Ride well and ride safe!

Flashback

Liz, one of my roommates in college, posted this picture of me and Brian from when we all lived together at the Berwyn House - so dubbed because it was on Berwyn RD in Berwyn Heights. There were lots of good times living in that house. It's where I was living when I met Brian, and it's the first place Brian and I lived together.

I thought this picture was funny because on any given evening, you could walk into our house and find a similar scene. I guess some things don't change even after 15 years. Brian sometimes complains that I am smothering him so when I showed him the photo, he laughed. I told him he had his chance to nip this behavior in the bud years ago and now he was stuck with it. He laughed some more.

By the way, I'm wearing long underwear in this picture. I am very happy that I live in a place where long underwear is not necessary.

Update

So apparently I let another whole week go by without a post. I didn't mean to do that. I actually had a couple of thoughts for some posts this week, but never got around to writing them. Of course now I can't remember what they were so I figured I'd just dash off something quick to let everyone know that I'm still writing.

This week has been pretty low key. The weather was a bit less than perfect. Cloudy and rainy a couple of days and then downright cold towards the end of the week. It's warming up, though. That's the great thing about winter in Florida - even if there is a cold spell, it's always very short. My training has been consistent, but a little on the lackluster side. It's ok, though. Every week can't be awesome - the body just doesn't work that way.

I'm heading to Austin soon for my first race of the season, the 3m Half-marathon. This is always a fun event. Last year I set a PR, and a few months ago I was planning on beating that time, but my running has not recovered from my Ironman training the way I would have liked so I don't think that's likely. It's okay, though. The race will still be fun, and really, it's the trip to Austin that matters - not the race. I plan on running the Gainesville Half next month, and I feel confident that I can get the time I want.

I still haven't decided on my first tri of the season. I am registered for two tris already, but neither of them will be my first. I am waiting to see how my March calender develops before I make any decisions. This is Florida and tri season started last weekend. There are tris going on all over the state every weekend until the end of November so it's not like I have to decide right away. I am thinking a long weekend trip to the Miami area for a race and visiting some family and friends might be in order at some point, but we'll see. I definitely want to race more this year if I can get it all scheduled.

That's all for now. I'm sure as soon as I hit post, I will remember the things I really wanted to write about and so will end up with several back-to-back posts. Oh well!

Resolution fun

Here's a funny take on New Year's resolutions from one of my favorite comic strips of all time. Enjoy!

Welcome 2009

I just realized I haven't done a blog post in a week - that's craziness! Usually I do my writing in the evening after Brian goes to bed, but I've been trying to stay off the computer at night so I can get to bed earlier, and get up earlier. I'm not a morning person, but my day seems to go much better when I get up early. Somehow I manage to get more done. Besides there might be a chance for a nap later - you just never know.

In case you've been meditating in a buddhist monastery or have a calender phobia, the new year started last week. It's 2009! Wow - seriously, where does the time go? So what are my plans for 2009? Well, 2009 is going to be a repeat of 2008 in a lot of ways, although hopefully with better results. I'm not sure I'm off to a great start, though. I'm running the 3M half-marathon in Austin in a few weeks just like I did last year, but I don't think I'm going to make my time goal. I'm not even sure I'll hit my time from last year. I'll do my best, though, and I'm ok if I don't make my goal. I've been consistent with my training, and I feel really comfortable with my routine, and that's very important. The ultimate goal is Ironman Florida so if I miss my goal at 3M, it's not tragic. I will be running the half-marathon here in Gainesville a month after 3M and I feel confident that I can make my time goal for that race.

So I've already mentioned 2 races on the schedule, there's also St. Anthony's Tri at the end of April, and Gulf Coast tri in May. I haven't decided yet on my first tri of the season - I'm still waiting to see how the month of March shapes up. You'll just have to tune in and find out.

On another note, I'm adding a 2nd yoga class at the Veteran's Hospital. I am looking forward to continuing to work with my current students, who are progressing quite nicely, and will hopefully add some new students.

I'm a generally optimistic person and rarely look back on a year and am grateful that it is over, but 2008 had a few big disappointments, and I must say that I'm glad to move on.

One big goal I have for this year is to be so well trained for Ironman Florida that I could ride on a completely flat tire and still make the bike cut-off. Of course, I am going to have a nice set of race wheels so tires should not be an issue.