Little Miss Runner Pants

well folks, i have officially gone clipless.

i am now well on my way to biking goddess -- queen of all things cycling.

and... though i have no doubt in my mind that i will conquer all things bike in this world ever, um.. apparently. i've got some learning to do.

and riding clipless is... ya know. not exactly second nature quite yet.

**shock**

below are some photos of me on the trainer, practicing the clip in/out action... me riding in the street like a child with training wheels (Zero Percent Body Fat Guy ran along side my bike the entire time so as to try and keep me from the inevitable crash*boom*bang) and then of course some pictures of my first fall because... well...

i fall down say boom!

but... regardless of the fact that i look highly uncomfortable, am staring at my feet in almost every picture and my ass is a lot wider than one would hope for...

going clipless was ABSOLUTELY as scary as i thought it'd be!!!

everyone tells you, warns you... "you'll fall. don't worry. its not if you fall... its when..." and... "it'll most likely happen while youre slowing to a stop"... and all sorts of fun and shiny tidbits of horror to help you along your way as a biking newbie..

which should be helpful, right? you know what to prepare for... you think to yourself perhaps you, YOU, having heard these stories, can avoid such a mishap?!?!

you practice on the trainer and things go well. you ride around on the street a while, and things go well. YOU'RE AMAZING!!! you're a natural!! what was everyone so worried about?!?

zero percent body fat guy's impressed. i can tell. i'm wowing and stunning the zero percent body fat couple like ITS MY JOB. i am genius... hear me roar!

and then...

"hey, AJ. why don't you try clipping out with your right foot?"

bastard!

i don't do right foot. my body doesn't know right foot. with cages, with normal pedals...with clips... its no matter, my right foot is defective.

but i was on a roll!! i was minutes away from best new clipper inner-outter of clippy pedals EVER!!! i had to at least try... right?!

*ahem*

right.

well i'll tell you this much... what everyone doesn't tell you???!

is that time slows down, when you fall.
you enter a panicked state, when you fall.
that your body will be in such a state of confusion as to why, WHY, WHY!!!!! can't the needed foot detatch from the pedal and plant itself on the ground that you will rock your bike back and forth, yelp in a foreign language and tumble, in my case, left, because thats all your body knows...

EVEN THOUGH your right foot is free and flailing as though in an epileptic seizure.

oh yeah, folks. its good times!!!!!

so. like i said.

i've officially gone clipless. i've had my first tumble, and learned that regardless of what foot comes unclipped, my body leans left...

i've had my first clipless group ride, felt the strain in new and exciting places in my legs from the pulling up effect of having gone clipless and...

i'm well on my way to biking goddess extraordinaire!

i'm sure of it.

its just going to take a teensy bit more time than i'd planned!

Posted by a.maria at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (28) | TrackBacks (0)

man, i'm behind in my posting of life events.

i have a lot of catching up to do... but for now its my last weekend in my loft, i've got all the annoying random odds and ends to finish packing and another costume party to attend in a few hours, so i'm going to keep this short....

(actually.. "another" costume party might not be the right word.

last night, dressed in my full flapper get-up, i arrived at what i thought was to be a halloween party as...

the only person in costume.

on.ly. yes. you read that right... the only one.

i walked into carpool guy's house, everone turned around to greet me, there was a moment of shocked silence and then a great burst of laughter as we all realized what had happened.

*sigh*

you just can't win for tryin, i tell you what.

to make matters worse... the parents of most of my friends were attending said party as well, so not only did i get to make a fool of myself infront of my friends (who.. lets face it. are used to think kind of thing).. but from now on i'll forever be known as the flapper... and the chick that confused "costumes strongly encouraged" with "nobody will be wearing costumes".

oy. only me, i tell you what.)

so with that, i wish you all a grand weekend and....

don't forget to head over to jeanne's place to wish her good luck on marathon #2. she's running the marine corps marathon and, between you and me? i think she's got a pretty good chance of winning the thing!!!

Posted by a.maria at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBacks (0)

i am EXCITEMENT people!

excitement!

and.. i don't even really know what that means exactly, but... i'm on a bit of a sugar high, i'm finding many things around me to be particularly funny at the moment, and i can barely contain myself as my thoughts drift from one spectacular event to another.

what spectacular events might i be referring to?

my date on sunday??!!

NOPE!
cue music...

and a... 'nother one bites the dust!
HEY!
another one bites the dust!
YOW!
another one bites the dust!
WEEEE!

*ahem*

so yeah. or not. things are up in the air.. its too early to decide. boys are dumb, thats all i know.

but.. MOVING ON!

m'kay. well.

so. spectacular event numero UNO..

my bloggiest of bloggy buddies, the one and only boldmeister bold himself has taken it upon himself to help get me and my bike up to speed by USPSing me some clippy pedals for my not-yet-clippy bike and... they arrived in the mail YESTERDAY!!!!

and they're awesome.

i um.. don't really know what to do with them, or how they work, or which side is up.. but...

i have a feeling... they're awesome!

after receiving said pedals from said blogger, i consulted the kids at KC MultiSport (which.. to all my fellow KC blogger/blog stalkers out there.. you NEED to check this group out. there's not a nicer group of triathletes out there..... raceAthletes and present company excluded.... and they are TOO. MUCH. FUN. so.. do yourself a favor and check'em out. they = good peoples) and, following the wise words of Zero Percent Bodyfat Chick am...

.... heading to my very own LBS tonight to buy my very first pair of clippy bikey pedaly SHOES!!!

so yeah. new shoes. and since i'm a chick, and all chicks love new shoes, this = spectacular event numero DOS!

i'm also very excited because i've been to this particular LBS before, and... they are in no short supply of hot dudes.
and i look cute today (if i dare say so myself.

which i do.)

so.. ya never know. we could be on the verge of spectacular event numero TRES as well... stranger things have happened!

but is that it? no! shall i continue? YES!

this weekend, as i'm sure you're all aware of, is....

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND!!!

and although i'm not normally one to partake of such silly traditions as dressing up/going out/drinking/making a fool of yourself in public and on purpose... this weekend, i'm making an exception!

friday, Carpool Guy (who is, i have a feeling, very close to becoming Most Recently Engaged Guy.. damn wedding bug is spreading like the plague....) and Carpool Guy's Girlfriend are hosting a house warming party and... costumes are welcomed!

which is less the event and more prep for... saturday's KC MultiSport's Halloween Costume Party extravagaaaaaaanza!!

insert spectacular event numero TRES/CUATRO because this year i'm going all out... wig. make up. fishnets (and we all know about fishnets!!). i mean this is going to be fun.

anything that involves getting to wear a wig and trounce around all dolled up with a valid excuse to be ridiculous in all ways everywhere?!?!!..... oh i am so down!

so... like i said.

i am excitement people. and?!?!!

huzzahhhhhh!!!

Posted by a.maria at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (0)

can i just say something? just real quick? can i just be excited for just one second here?

cuz um.

HE CALLED! HE CALLED! HE CALLED!

i almost don't know how to write about a date gone right. its so completely outta my realm

... but....

my first date with The Pilot (note capitalization)... was??

fantastic.

not overwhelmingly, out of control, omg where has this guy been all my life, fantastic. just.. you know.
the right amount of fantastic.

there were nerves, and giggles. momentary pauses in conversation that resulted in "sooo.." and "... yeahhhh".

stupid moments where i blurted out "you have really long legs!!"

and even more amazing moments of brilliance as i compared his profession to that of Top Gun...

(note::: i ooze intelligence in social surroundings)

but in the end...it was good.

it was a good-totally random-full of ackward moments-i am a huge nerd-why did i tell him i went to band camp-wow i need to keep that kind of information to myself from now on-first date.

and now?

well, now... i get to look forward to another one.

cuz The Pilot, Hottie McHotterson himself...

he called.

and if everything goes right...
i get to see him again this weekend!

Posted by a.maria at 05:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (22) | TrackBacks (0)

for many of you out there, this weekend is marathon weekend.

for some of you this will be a first race, a just let me finish race, for some of you it will be a hopeful PR, just trying to shave off five, maybe seven minutes...

but for a *few* of you...

for a few of you... this is the race. the BQ race. its your A game.

and.. well lets face it, i don't know anything about running that fast.

BQ times are like... 3 hours and some change and... i'm usually somewhere around mile 16 at that time, so...

instead of trying to pump you up from the sidelines.... i'm going to send you in the direction of someone who's been there, done that.

someone who i've looked up to as a running goddess since day one, and someone who's story i'm sure you're all familiar with, because...

well. this someone isn't just someone.

she's running chick.

and she's worth the read!

Posted by a.maria at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

my vote is in.... PRIN.CESS.BRIDE!!! PRIN.CESS.BRIDE!!! PRIN.CESS.BRIDE!!!

*** count it! ***

Posted by a.maria at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

so uh... i've been busy lately.

i know i know. we're all busy. believe me i feel like a big enough schmuck already giving you the whole "i've been busy" shpeel (what with parents and husbands and wives and marathon training/ ironpeople out there finding time for it all...seriously i don't know how you do it)...

but i don't have much more than the "i've been busy" shpeel to give. so.

with that....

ready?

*clap*

OKAY!

i've had a wedding every week
this month has been so long

on top of that i just found out
my ex is five months along <------ (can't get that to rhyme real well. he's having a bebe)

i got promoted -
thats good you say?
try working where *i* do

and you will find out quick-ily
that just might not be true.

besides all this i'm moving soon
oh what a hectice time

i have to pack my house away
(and seriously? learn to rhyme.)

i met a boy!
i know, you're shocked-
he's really nice and cute

we have a date this sunday, and?
he's a pilot to boot! <---- (yeah. that didn't work so well either.)

so mostly now you're all caught up
with what's been going on

thanks for reading and keeping up
and now i end my song!

Posted by a.maria at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

i don't talk much about my involvement with raceAthlete, mostly because i'm the young'n, newbie, not even triathlete yet type in that group (representing the back of the packers with pride!), but...

today's story cannot go unmentioned.

why? because today's story is that of inspiration, struggle, and triumph. its the story of a man who saw his life going in one direction, not being fully satisfied with that direction, and actually doing something about it.

something so many of us can relate to.

i don't want to paraphrase, because i don't want to take anything away from this man's story but, what i will say, is after reading his story and watching his video.. i was moved to tears.

this is something you guys want to check out.

trust me on this one. go read. go watch.

go be inspired.

you'll be glad you did!

Posted by a.maria at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

*neener neener*

columbus day + contracted by the army = NO WORK ON MONDAY FOR THIS CHICK RIGHT HERE!

yessssss....

m'kay thats all i just wanted to brag! cuz i'm that nice!

unfortunately for me right now no work monday + moving soon = packing/cleaning all day.

boooooo....

so. jokes on me i guess, huh?

ah well. AT LEAST I'M NOT AT WORK RIGHT NOW!!!!

*neener neener*

hee hee hee....

Posted by a.maria at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

admit it, come on.. who doesn't love being in charge, right?

i mean.. the power of "no" is a mighty mighty thing, and... this weekend, at the KC Marathon... that power is MINE!

alllllll mine.

and i love it!

since my running's been less than regular lately, what with switching gears at work and moving into a training/leadership position, getting my house packed to move out of my loft in november, getting my stuff ready to move in with Liver Guy (who has kindly offered his extra bedroom to me while i figure out my next step in life) and a slew of weddings that are pretty much taking over every waking moment of free time this month...

running in this marathon was outta the question.

but, would i let that stop me from participating?!

hells nah!
as an alumni member of Team in Training i have decided to volunteer a few shifts at the race and have been given the all important task of...

wait for it..
wait for it..

COURSE. MONITOR. BEOTCH!
(ok well the official title might not be so colorful, but its my blog. i'll throw down if i want to!!! )

with this almighty title, come race day i will...

"serve a vital function in keeping the intersection clear of any moving vehicles"... i will have the power to "stop any vehicle from entering the course".. and will get to keep volunteers and runners safe because as we all know "safety is the first and highest priority".... !!!

i mean.. i'm basically the keeper of the runners! their lives are in MY HANDS! come rain or shine, i will defend my intersection with HONOR! with DIGNITY! with PRIIIIIDE!

its gunna be awwwwesome! i'll be the best monitor of courses that ever walked a marathon path.

and to do so.. i need your help.

besides taking my lawn chair, my water, my snacks to nibble on... (because hello. with this kind of power i need fuel too, people.. lives are in my HANDS, runners are on MY watch... i have an intersection to patrol!) i need signs.

yeah thats right.. signs.

when i think back to both of my marathons and think of the spectators... i think of the people with signs. funny signs.. and i know we all have a story about one sign we saw when at mile 4, 14, or 24 that made us smile. despite the pain, despite the agony of hitting/getting through the wall... we remember the signs.

so i need your help.

what's the funniest/best sign you've seen in a race??!

i'm taking suggestions, people... so gimme wha'cha got.

you know how much you all appreciate spectator support, so help me help the runners, would ya?!

sweet.

i totally love being in charge!

Posted by a.maria at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (27) | TrackBacks (0)