FancyPants Group- CLOSED (Page 18)

Things are going well here.  Didn't make it to swim this morning, was up late last night after being out on a friends boat all day.  Bad sunburn.  I should know better by now.  But plan on going on Wednesday and Friday this week.  And I did do a little OWS around the boat. 

Jo I saw your blog about the wedding, sounds like you did a great job holding it together and making it through.  Good for you.  Saw your pictures too, you looked great!  

I went out for a bike ride with friends this past weekend.  Great ride out for breakfast at the Dutch Kitchen, unfortunately it started raining, lightning and thundering and we had to get a ride home.    Got to borrow an actual road bike, man is that seat hard on the butt!    Also one of the guys who was riding with us has done several long distance races and other cycling races so he was trying to give me pointers for the tri.  One thing he mentioned to me was I was keeping the bike in a high gear so as not to have to pedal as fast, but still going fast.  He told me to keep it in a lower gear and to keep my cadance between 80 - 100 per minute.  To me it seems like the more times I'm pumping my legs the more that would tire me out as opposed to harder resistance but less times around.  Any comments?  Should I be listening to him?  He said it was easier on your knees and would save my knees for the run. 

Also another friend has a racing bike (what she called it) that was her sons she said I could borrow.  I'm supposed to go over and check it out sometime this week.  My biggest concern is that it has clip on pedals.  Don't I have to get special shoes for that?  Not sure I want to spend the money on the shoes for something I may not do again.  Plus that's something else to figure out how to do in the next 2 weeks.

Welcome back Anne, sorry it wasn't a good time away, but it's always nice to come home.

Talk w/you all soon.

Ginny,  your bike buddy is right (theoretically at least).  I still tend to ride with low cadence (84 average last outing) but I am trying hard to get it to 90rpm.  I do go faster in the bigger gears but I am getting better.  It saves wear and tear on your legs because you don't have all that resistance so it turns in to an aerobic activity instead of anerobic.  There is a good book called "cycling for women" by selene yaeger.  It helped me to understand because I had never biked before. 

You definitely need special shoes for a clip in bike.  I have my hybrid that has cages on the pedals you can borrow for the tri.  I found a pair of cheap bike shoes for my old pedals at an REI garage sale.  Do you guys have REI?  There are sometimes shoes on the classifieds here on BT too.  Its a good place to check.

Less than 2 weeks!  I wonder if I could just yoga my way through seeing I haven't trained in FOREVER!!!  I have 3 days off so maybe I'll mosey back out on my bike or into the pool.  Maybe.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!   Thanks for being my support the past few months.  I really appreciate everything you guys have done to keep me sane. 

I am going to be really stupid here but bear with this Michigander.  What exactly are quarries and why does Ohio have so many? 

Ginny, you will be more prepared than you think.  This is going to be fun.  I hope to get clearance to run tomorrow.  Unfortunately I haven't done any swimming or biking lately either. 

Ann, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's arm.  Good thing is with kid's bone they heal so much easier than our old calcified bones.  Sending good vibes for her and for you U/S.  Please keep us updated.  Good luck!  

Next silly question for Ginny and I love all the info you give so please don't apologize.  What the heck do you dive for in a quarry?  Are there fish?  Are there shipwrecks (I know that would be silly but the promise of a Johnny Depp would be the only way you would get me to dive)?  Seriously though, I am used to great lakes and I know lots of people who dive the for the ship wrecks in Lake Superior. 

The bike I am bringing will fit you, no problem.  It has hybrid tires.  It is a mountain bike so its heavy but its a pretty good bike and it will get you through this tri.  You can play around with my road bike and the shoes the night before and get a little experience to see if its something you want to invest in.  I am 5'6 1/2" so we should be around the same size bike.  I have size 8 1/2 or 9 shoes.  At least you can try it out even if it isn't perfectly fit for you. 

I am a no go on the running.  He said 2 more weeks minimum.  He said this injury will take 4-6 weeeks minimum to heal.  He said I could start running no sooner than 2 weeks.  I asked him about the tri and he advised me to wait the full 2 weeks and if I didn't and did permanent damage he would smugly tell me that I went against doctor's orders.  I will be there either way, even if I can only swim and bike.

Walking/running slow at most tri's has the advantage of watching the male eye candy as they pass you.  Unfortunately, we won't have eye candy for my slow walk.  I just have to say THANK YOU to you and Ann for your support.  We are going to have such a blast!  

Congratulations Ann!  Another girl is so cool.  Do you have any boys?  Trust me after going through this wedding as the mother of a groom, I would much rather have girls.  Its so much easier.  It was such a strange set of emotions, losing a son.  I have a new found respect for my MIL.  I have decided after this that MIL's get a bad rap.  We're not all evil, some of us are a product of disrespectful DIL's. 

Ginny, I plan on checking in to the hotel around 3pm and then going over for the clinic.  I figure with my lack of training, I can use all the help I can get. 

Ann, dinner around 6:30pm is great.  Do NOT do anything veggie or special for me.  I am very flexible. I will eat chicken if I feel the need for protein.  I am not religious or anything about the veggie thing.  I just stay away from meat as much as possible, which is 95% of the time, so this can be my 5%, no worries.  Please do not go to any extra trouble.  What would you like me to bring?  Do not say nothing-not an option.

Ginny-I have Shiraz and the corkscrew already packed.  Will you drink Shiraz?  I've never tried this type so no guarantees if you are a wine snob.  I also have body glide and will probably not use it.  I usually only use it with my wetsuit. 

Okay girls I am freaked out about this quarry thing.  I was cheering a tri this past weekend and one of the girls with me did this tri last year.  She said her experience was okay but the whole swimming in the quarry thing was icky.   Talk to me.  Me no like icky water.  What should I be prepared for?  Can you see in this water, is it clear, is it brown, does it taste funny, is there seaweed? I am going to try my legs on Thursday and see how they do with a run (don't tattle on me, okay). 

So excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A couple more days!!!   I told you guys one of my office mates is doing this too, didn't I?  She and her hubby are staying at a different hotel ($139/night, damn I didn't know Toledo was so high end).

I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!