Mad Manatee Mentors, Part 2! CLOSED (Page 88)

I did not make it to my race today. I went to the grocery store this morning and had car issues. So no race for me today, but I did get a future new running buddy. He does not have a name yet...

He is almost 2 months old, an Alaskan Husky. His Aunt is currently running in the Iditarod.

Name suggestions?

ArielLIlB - 2013-03-01 10:48 AM

Btw, this was my attempt to write some support to Ms. Yanti from the Dominican Republic, where my only internet access was by spotty wi-fi on my kindle! It came up as HTML mumbo jumbo, lol.

jobaxas - 2013-03-02 11:41 PM

jbwills - 2013-03-03 1:51 PM

I did not make it to my race today. I went to the grocery store this morning and had car issues. So no race for me today, but I did get a future new running buddy. He does not have a name yet...

He is almost 2 months old, an Alaskan Husky. His Aunt is currently running in the Iditarod.

Name suggestions?

who was the dude on Star Trek Scotty?

Scotty was the engineer on the original series.  Levar Burton played Jordi LaForge as the engineer on the Next Generation with the visor.

(this nerd interlude brought to you by Jen)

I did not make it to my race today. I went to the grocery store this morning and had car issues. So no race for me today, but I did get a future new running buddy. He does not have a name yet...

He is almost 2 months old, an Alaskan Husky. His Aunt is currently running in the Iditarod.

Name suggestions?

ArielLIlB - 2013-03-04 1:21 PM

ArielLIlB - 2013-03-01 10:48 AM

Btw, this was my attempt to write some support to Ms. Yanti from the Dominican Republic, where my only internet access was by spotty wi-fi on my kindle! It came up as HTML mumbo jumbo, lol.

How was that!!!!

Yanti, so glad you are (mostly) OK. We were all getting pretty worked up trying to figure out where you'd gone! (spoken in my best mother voice)

I've had quite a weekend. My run yesterday was beautiful (the weather, not my running prowess ) Then last evening we learned of the death of a sweet young lady, Jackie, to cancer. Jackie is actually first cousins with our niece Ashley, on her mother's side. We've known Jackie since she was born. I HATE CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So when it was time to head out on my 3.75 hour ride today I dreaded riding in the wind but couldn't take that much drainer time and needed time to clear my head. So as I rode in to 25-29 mph winds I stayed surprisingly positive as I thought about/prayed for Ash, Jackie and the family. My mind also wandered to others I know who've been stricken with cancer. Still it was a fairly positive ride, in spite of the crazy winds. Then I got the text. (I don't normally check calls or texts when I'm riding but my cue from my DH that I need to stop and check is several texts in a row. Interestingly, this one did that on my phone but was only a single text. It's a God thing) The text was from my SIL. Her parents are splitting up. So I told her that I would pray for her and her family for the remainder of the ride. Hard to ride and cry. Anyway, because the winds were to my back I made it home in an hour 21 minutes, the trip out had been an hour 50. The wind at your back is a wonderful thing!

So overall, good training weekend. Now i'm off to look at swim vids from Skrat.

So today I couldn't get my swim done early but I figured I'd be done at work early enough to go to the gym and knock out a swim/run combo. Everything was going smoothly until I was almost home and my boss text me that he left his notebook in my car. So I figure I'll go home and grab my gym stuff then drop off his folder and go to the gym near the Albuquerque office. Again, the plan was running smoothly until I get in to the locker room and realize I've brought everything but my swim suit.  

Now, mind you, I missed my swim on Friday because the pool closed and didn't fit it in this weekend, in spite of my best efforts. So I said to my self "Self?", I said "yes?", I said "what would the Manatees do". Well of course skinny dipping was out of the question so I started to get dressed to hit the dreadmill. I got my running shorts and sport bra on and thought, hey, wait, could I swim in this? So I thought about it for a few seconds, black shorts (the kind with the liner) and a black sport bra. Why not? So I grabbed my pool stuff and headed out there.

It worked pretty well, if you don't mind the feeling of wearing a parachute while you swim. Also, those shorts don't have a draw string so there were no pushes off the wall, just slow steady increases in speed. I knocked out my 2400 meters and went on about my day. I don't know if the cacoon men were staring at me as I walked to the locker room because of the wet clinging shorts or if that's just what they do. Of course then my run was out because my running clothes were drenched but I thought you all would be proud of me for making the swim work.

jbwills - 2013-03-02 9:51 PM

I did not make it to my race today. I went to the grocery store this morning and had car issues. So no race for me today, but I did get a future new running buddy. He does not have a name yet...

He is almost 2 months old, an Alaskan Husky. His Aunt is currently running in the Iditarod.

Name suggestions?

Holy crap that is one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  I wish more people had reply-quoted so that I could look at it over and over and over and over...again. Ahhh PUPPIES!

jobaxas - 2013-03-03 9:30 PM

ArielLIlB - 2013-03-04 1:21 PM

ArielLIlB - 2013-03-01 10:48 AM

Btw, this was my attempt to write some support to Ms. Yanti from the Dominican Republic, where my only internet access was by spotty wi-fi on my kindle! It came up as HTML mumbo jumbo, lol.

How was that!!!!

Weather was awesome, resort was really nice, especially the 1 bedroom, private pool suite. Food - terrible! I had McDOnald's as soon as I got home, and it was such a relief to devour something that would not send me in a panicked run to the bathroom 1-1.5 hours after consuming it (and McDonald's is neither a treat to me nor something I purposefully seek out, ever). That's the digestive distress the food caused. No such thing as TMI here, right?

I was particualrly proud of myself for running 3 miles on MOn & Tues, and doing some serious weights after.  A scale back from my usual routines, but I'm not usually a vaca exerciser (I travel with couch-potato DH).

OK, recent job discussions in here have me wondering about everyone's jobs. We may have covered this in the beginning, but I'm lost at this point. What does everyone do for a living?

I'll start this out. I am the DBA/Sr. System Analyst/Data Processing Manager at a small multi bank holding company. This entails overseeing the team that is processing all of the checks and electronic payments for the banks, maintaining integrity of all databases (SQL) and keeping 3 or 4 primary Info Systems running properly.  I have a background in management, IT, and, oddly enough, cooking (we owned a small diner for 10 years).

OK, what about the rest of you????

Yanti, so glad you are (mostly) OK. We were all getting pretty worked up trying to figure out where you'd gone! (spoken in my best mother voice)

I've had quite a weekend. My run yesterday was beautiful (the weather, not my running prowess ) Then last evening we learned of the death of a sweet young lady, Jackie, to cancer. Jackie is actually first cousins with our niece Ashley, on her mother's side. We've known Jackie since she was born. I HATE CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So when it was time to head out on my 3.75 hour ride today I dreaded riding in the wind but couldn't take that much drainer time and needed time to clear my head. So as I rode in to 25-29 mph winds I stayed surprisingly positive as I thought about/prayed for Ash, Jackie and the family. My mind also wandered to others I know who've been stricken with cancer. Still it was a fairly positive ride, in spite of the crazy winds. Then I got the text. (I don't normally check calls or texts when I'm riding but my cue from my DH that I need to stop and check is several texts in a row. Interestingly, this one did that on my phone but was only a single text. It's a God thing) The text was from my SIL. Her parents are splitting up. So I told her that I would pray for her and her family for the remainder of the ride. Hard to ride and cry. Anyway, because the winds were to my back I made it home in an hour 21 minutes, the trip out had been an hour 50. The wind at your back is a wonderful thing!

So overall, good training weekend. Now i'm off to look at swim vids from Skrat.

Ooo so much to catch up on after only a day...

Job wise, I sort of have the same job as Johnathan, the arctic manatee... I am a E-6 in the USAF and a Crew Chief/Engine Troop on C-130-H3 cargo planes.  We fly cargo, people and medevacs from place to place and occasionally drop the people and cargo out in mid flight, not the medevacs though, because that would be bad.  So basically while I took my month break from BT I was inspecting, fueling and fixing my plane as we moved from mission to mission.  Thankfully most of our missions seemed to involve the south so I got to get in some decent runs in shorts!

I am single and thinking about maybe putting up an actual profile on some of the dating sites so yes I check out the dating thread for the entertainment and to see what shenanigans I should avoid.  I don't know if going there is giving me the encouragement to sign up or run away...

Is there a link to watch Yanti's live progress at the race?

Chad - 911 operator would be a sweet gig, I hope you get that expunginated so you can pursue it!

Kate - What does a Lead Reptile Trainer do?

Felicia - English prof!!! Ugh, my least favorite subject.  I think I will hold off on it until my final term.  It's not that it is hard for me I just have a hard time motivating myself for it.  Sorry.

I'm sure I missed a ton but we have a pretty diverse group of brainiacs in here, who would of thunk it?!

It's a relative difference. There's a huge difference between 100m sprinters and 1500m distance freestylers, very little difference between 1500m freestylers and open water swimmers. Where open water swimming changes is dependent on the conditions. TI will tell you to spear the water and glide no matter what. This is great for extremely calm inlets or rivers which are as close to a pool swim as you can get. Once you start getting into a little wind and chop, this is all going to hell, and you may even need greater rotation with a straighter-arm recovery, and really need to up the turnover.

Basically, I am responsible for creating a training program for specific reptiles--for instance, the Dwarf Croc we used to have (he is in sunny San Diego now), was NOT friendly, and would literally charge out of his exhibit door and fall onto the floor at feeding time--he would be okay, but its kind of stressful (for him and us) to have to pick up an angry 4.5 foot long croc off the floor and shove him back in his house...so I basically started training him to swim to the spot where I told him to go, using a painted broom handle (he liked the color orange!)--I would tap the handle anywhere, and say "target", and he would go there; after he caught on and did it reliably, then I added "hold", to get him to stay put, then I would use a clicker(to let him know he was awesome) and give him his food on tongs. The endgame was eventually to train him to go into a crate on his own so we wouldn't have to wrestle him in for a vet exam. It never happened, thanks to a tiny exhibit space and no managerial support...(i.e. time and supplies for a new crate)

Anyway, I am now doing the same type of thing for our basilisk lizards (desensitization and handling--its working great, I can hold them!), our new Blue Tree Monitors (very shy lizards, time will tell), our Fiji Island Iguanas(--they're easy--totally food motivated, and not too scared of anything) and our Smooth Fronted Caiman (small crocodilian)--he's tough, not food motivated, very fast, and getting MEAN...I got my work cut out for me!

Oh yeah, I trained our Sulcata Tortoises to get on a scale for me too--good thing as one of them is about 100 pounds!  .....I also trained my tiger salamanders to chomp on fingers--but that's for sheer cuteness factor

Short answer: I train the animals to do my bidding.

Sorry, I got a bit wordy....back to pod bidness now!

Good question.  I should have clarified a bit.  Most of us amateur triathletes should not do this (straight arm pull)..  The stroke rate for most of us is not going to be anywhere near what it is for these pro's.  When you combine a slower stroke rate, with a less efficient catch and pull, you get hips sinking and work way, way to hard.   It is my belief that regardless of the conditions (choppy or smooth), we should focus on a great underwater pull, (but you can have a more punchy stroke above water) and it is my belief that the best pull for 99% of us is a high elbow pull.  

please note - just because something is my belief, that does not mean it is right.  LOL  I am still an advocate of doing what works best for you.  

also note - I have not swam a real choppy OWS.  I reserve the right to change my mind.  LOL

I'm taking it easy this weekend.  DH is off to a bachelor party in DC playing crazy nerdy board games, so I'll be hanging out with little Miss E.  Also, my foot tattoo got finished today!  Check it out. I'm totally in love with it.

You rock!!!! But I did a slight update.