Funny

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/sports/playmagazine/803PHELPS-t.html?_r=1&ref=playmagazine&oref=slogin

Page 6. Apparently Michael Phelps and I have something in common! Being klutzy!

...

I want to go back to Austin. Like, for good. :(

Slowly Does It

I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill this morning for a total of 2.6 miles. 1 minute walk, 4 minutes slow run.

Maybe tomorrow I'll take to the grass.

Digestion

My poor stomach. In the 15 hour (or 14, depending if you count the hour lost to time change) drive yesterday, I consumed:

2 hard boiled eggs
1 entire bag Garlic Mozzarella Ritz chips
1/2 bag sourdough pretzels
1 entire bag caramel popcorn
1.1 lbs trail mix
20 cherries
1 grapefruit
15ish baby carrots
1 purple pepper
1/2 tomato
1 Wendy's Mandarin Chicken salad
1 small frosty
2 green teas
lots of water

Uh, yeah. No wonder I feel swollen today. Not to mention my jaw hurts when I chew anything.

Past Memories

Growing up I always wanted to mow the lawn, but my father never let me. Turns out fathers really do know best. Since my sister went to college yesterday and since it's been crazy raining here, the grass just keeps growing and thus needs to be cut... and of course, who gets to do it? Yours truly. Yours truly also manages to hit a small tree stump and jack up the mower blades so that they need to be replaced and even when replaced, the lawnmower may not work. Figures. This does not bode well since I am renting a house from a professor this fall and will have to mow the lawn... right. However, if my family's lawnmower is actually broken, at least the environment may thank me. Every time I started the mower today it blew out a large puff of black smoke. Disgusting.

And since I am returning to school on Friday to begin the last chapter of this part of my life, figure it is time to recap my favorite memories from the past seven months I spent in Austin. As chronologically as possible, I present my list:

January was my first month in Texas this year. I did several big running mileage weeks on Town Lake and up to Mount Bonnell. I got to see the view from the top for the first time by running there from my apartment. It was pretty awesome. I also ran the 3M Half Marathon and got lots of free stuff. Not my best effort though. February I got to meet my friend Leila who turned out to be super awesome and very similiar to me. She is one of the few people who understands the need to be active and that rest does not cut it. Her and two other friends along with myself all decided to do the Danskin Triathlon in June. March a bunch of us did a 60 mile ride to Elgin, just north east of Austin. That was fun since I had endurance and strength and most others did not. So for once I was faster than the guys! Later this month though I bonked and that was no good at all. So I had to rethink my training habits. In April I joined the master's swim group at the Hills and met a lot of amazing people. It was fun to swim with them every Tuesday and Thursday (well I swam almost everyday) and my stroke improved and I really got pushed. These women are the reason I almost stayed in Austin. That and the women in the locker room in the morning who I chat with. May brought the beginning of tri season. Training was going really smoothly and CapTex went well enough. I think this month I also did my first Bicycle Sport Shop Sunday ride with Leila and other people and that was really fun. I also ended this month with the Real Ale Ride which I started alone but then met some cool people along the way. It was definitely a good, challenging ride. June held both the Danskin Triathlon and Buffalo Springs. At Danskin I got 2nd in my age group and 42nd overall and decided I really like going all out in sprint races. I also decided I really like the Decker Lake courses, despite the fact that the lake itself is a bathtub. Buffalo Springs was also a good experience, despite the weather. I felt strong for most of the race and had a really good run. Also the day before Danskin George and I did a 71 mile route from his house and on the Longhorn 70.3 route and the weekend before Buffalo Springs Leila and I did the BSS 50 mile route. I think all those rides contributed to my success at Buffalo Springs. July was rowing and injury. Karla and I signed up for rowing lessons and that was awesome. I'm glad I got to go back to the sport that got me into all this in the first place. It also turned out to be an injury savior since once I was able to rebend my knee rowing was one of the two things I could do that was not painful. I am also glad I got to know K better since we are also similiar and she is another active person. I think before I met these people the only ones I had known to be as active as me were the ones on the Internet forums. I also did the Couples Tri before I banged up my knee and Casey and I placed 6th in our division and I actually was faster than him! End of July brought decision time and I took a job in northern California instead of choosing the safe route in Austin. And August brought the end of the part of my early life spent in Austin. More rowing and swimming and dinner with friends.

I'm glad I got the chance to record all this. My memory seems to be getting really bad. I thought I dug up a binder for class yesterday and now I can't remember what happened to it... wonderful.

Sketchy Scotia

So in the four or five years that I have been gone or at least have stopped paying attention to the town where I grew up in, it appears lots of random people have taken over the area. I have never felt so creeped out at the local fried food/ice cream place than when I went with my mother and sister yesterday. That and there are random people walking down the side of the road and down the middle of the road. Okay, maybe those are just dumb kids. I am so glad I get to leave this town, even though the more time I spent away from them, the more I appreciate my family. I just wished they lived somewhere nicer. And somewhere where the county takes care of the roads and I don't have to dodge potholes while going 20 mph on my bike. The first day I rode ny bike around the neighborhood I was almost taken out by a large one.

My knee seems to be improving, at least it's not really painful unless I pull up improperly on my bike pedal or bend it too fast when i wake up in the morning. Swimming is good and biking is good and elliptical-ing is good. I even tried "running" around my yard on Sunday and had my dad watch, but I think it's like my walking - I have to relearn to run. I am no longer lifting my knee and extending it... it's more like a hop. But that's okay... I actually prefer being on the elliptical now since I get to watch the Olympics... although for me they are now mostly over. All the good stuff is done. Michael Phelps won his 8 golds - amazing - and he's only a year older than me. Dara Torres got some silvers - she is also amazing. So is Jason Lezak and Rebecca Soni and all the other US swimmers. Rowing was also cool - Michelle Guerette got silver in sculls - and I unfortunately have realized I am way too short to ever be successful at competitive rowing. Kristin Armstrong won the women's time trial. And triathlon was on the Internet... uh what? Women's trampoline was on tv and all the news shows have been talking about how BMX racing premieres in the games tonight! WTF! That and the gymnastics judging still seems to be sort of off, Luckily now I am done being addicted to the Olympics and can start packing.

I really do not want to go back to school. I feel I am done with the school thing and ready to work. The only good part of school is the vacations. It's going to be a longgg 4 months, especially since I will have to be hitting up the gym a lot and only able to sign up for 30 minute elliptical trainer blocks. And the pool is indoors... I miss the Hills already!

New York, New York

I think some of the rain that has been falling here since I was here last needs to make its way backwards and southwards to Texas. Apparently it's been a very wet late July and August. The hole in the woods in our backyard has become a swamp again and there are WAY TOO MANY mosquitoes. It's almost good I can't really run or anything because I'd be too busy scratching myself. And I've only been here 24 hours.

Speaking of which, the MRI on my knee revealed a bone contusion, aka bone bruise. Which the doctor told me today can take 4-6 months to heal and may cause me arthritis in the future. Lovely. But at least I finally know what it is and it makes sense. The doctor also said I can do whatever as long as there's not pain. So basically I'm supposed to use my best judgement... which well sometimes I don't really think I have any judgement. So far though the elliptical has been okay, and rowing on the erg was okay, and biking in aero position is okay. I found that sitting up straight on the bike puts too much tension on the skin or muscle or whatever and that can be painful. Luckily I prefer aero position anyways so as long as it's not raining tomorrow I can go try to bike outside. And also swim at the club where Heather guards, but again both these activities depend on whether or not its precipitating.

Luckily though the Olympics are on and I am keeping myself entertained. I already do miss Austin though... not the work itself but the people and the weather. I realized I think I do prefer hot and dry weather over wet and humid.

I think I will also go over my fun memories from these past 7-8 months, but I think my brain has shut down for now and this will have to wait.

Full Circle

It's funny how things come around and as much as you think you've changed, you're really still the same. I completed my last rowing lesson today and had the opportunity to try a Level II boat. This meant the boat was much thinner than the Level I boat I learned to scull in. It made for an interesting experience, but at least today I did not tip over and was able to use my knees and come up almost to the catch. And then so I came home and attempted biking again and there is some pain when I bring my knee up to the top position, but nothing terrible like last week. So some progress, I say.

The coach said I was doing a good job and that with most people, she wouldn't even let them use their legs. I guess rowing really is my natural sport. And it's also ironic how I am using rowing to substitute for running and biking when rowing is what got me into running in the first place.

Slowly

I seem to be able to bend my knee more. I swam this afternoon and was able to bend 90 degrees without pain. Kicking still feels awkward though but at least maybe I'll end up with a buff upper body. Not sure about the biking. I have a rowing lesson tomorrow afternoon so I may try to get all the way up to the catch with knees bent and see how that goes.

I leave Austin on Saturday afternoon. But I'll be back Labor Day Weekend for the Austin Tri! (I'm registered... but we'll see if I'm actually racing.)