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.99 cent 'ritas at El Arroyo at 2pm + drunk texting cute boys at 5:30pm does NOT = 25miles of biking.
dammit.
i have exactly one hour to get back to neutral ground before my evening ride is completely fooked.
stupid alcohol.
stupid boys.
stupid thursday.
why is it all just so much fun!?!
who's doing this weekend's generic tri!!?!
i'm volunteering and need to know who to look for so i can cheer my fool head off!
hee hee!
.... in other news, Carrie is trying to keeeel me.
i joined her and her fellow svelte and beautiful T3'ers last night for their core/spin class and...
i have one word for you, y'all --- OUCH.
ouch. OUCH. ouch.
the core class was terrific, it was like a softer version of crossfit, but definitely did the trick because my arms are screaming F******CK YOUUUU at me this morning, so all those push-ups and plank holds (the fact that plank holds hurt my ARMS more than my core either means i have a rock solid core...
which i totally do. not gunna lie. HA!
... or i have really sad and pathetic arms. and um... i'm gunna go with that.)
and the spin class, was...
spin class. which means it kicked my ass. literally. as in.. my ass actually feel as though its been kicked. hard. and repeatedly.
so what i'm basically saying is... more or less my whole body is fooked.
it was GREAT!
the only problem is now i gotta go run. and i have a feeling it ain't gunna feel so good....
so a friend of mine from here just sent me this, and...
its pretty funny, if you're at all familiar with austin, because ITS ALL TRUE.
especially the "manchaca.... manshack" part. drive me nuts. same with mueller/miller... and all the roads/highways that have 19 names each!!?!
WTF!?!
anyway, for those of you that know the area, you'll get a kick out of this...
Rules of Austin
1. First, it's pronounced AWS-TUN. It doesn't matter how they say it in other places.
2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Austin has its own set of traffic rules. There's no book about them. All you can do is get in your car and hope you survive to learn them.
3. All directions start with "Go down Mopac...'cause you don't want to get on I-35." No one knows for sure what 'Mopac' means. (--not true, it's named after the Missouri Pacific railroad)
4. Burnet Road, Braker Lane, and Lamar Blvd. have no beginning and no end.
5. It is impossible to go around a block and wind up on the same street that you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls this a scenic drive.
6. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30am to 9:30am. The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30p to 7:15pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday
morning.
7. If you actually stop at a yellow light, then you cannot be from Austin. You may only apply your brakes when the end of a yellow light and the beginning of the red light create a burnt-orange hue. This is Longhorn Country, after all.
8. If you like being an individual, don't even think of working for Dell. You'll be branded like cattle and made to walk all over town with your Dell Tag around your neck or clipped on to your belt loop. Ninety-eight percent of the people within a 200 mile radius work for Dell. When someone says "Michael Dell", Dell employees are trained to face Round Rock, hit their knees, put their face to the ground, weep, and rock back and forth.
9. Just remember that Mopac IS Loop 1; Capital of Texas Hwy IS 360; and U.S.183 IS Research Blvd., Anderson Lane, Ed Bluestein Blvd. and Old Bastrop Hwy; 2222 IS Northland Dr. or Allendale Rd. or Koenig Lane. Don't try to figure it out. Just accept it. If you question the intelligence behind this naming convention, people will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you.
10. If moisture is determined to be rain, and not sweat, all traffic must immediately come to a screeching halt; ditto for daylight savings time, a female UT student applying eye-shadow across the street, or a flat tire three lanes over.
11. DO NOT attempt to access any road after an apocalyptic event like snow or SXSW (South by Southwest Music Convention). Construction on I-35 AND U.S. 183 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. Get used to it!
12. Attn: All telephone solicitors...DO NOT correct my pronunciation when I say I live in Manchaca, TX. It's pronounced MAN-shack (just like a man living in shack). Also realize that the city of Manchaca (MANshack) is in Hays and Travis Counties, and there is also a very long street in Austin named Manchaca (MANshack)! The city of Manor and Manor Rd. are pronounced 'MAY-ner'. We don't like corrections on that either. And, for God's sake, DON'T pronounce the 'E' at the end of Guadalupe. It's Gwada-LOOP and we like it that way!
13. Burnet Road is pronounced BURN-it, not Bur-NET. Koenig Lane is pronounced KAE-nig not KOE-nig. The old airport (Robert Mueller) is pronounced Robert Miller and is on Airport Boulevard. The new airport (Austin-Bergstrom) is no where near Airport Boulevard. It's in the city of Del Valle pronounced Dell Valley!
14. Keep in mind that the sloppily dressed 'hippie' in worn-out sandals and earrings is probably the latest IPO millionaire around here.
15. Stay away from the Congress Ave. bridge at sundown if you do not like the thought of being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. (Largest Mexican Free Tail Bat Population in the US)
16. And, yes, we all know that there's a man in a teddy and a tiara on Congress Ave. It's Leslie and he probably makes more money than you do. (Surely you have a homeless, celebrity drag queen that likes to run for Mayor where you live too, right?)
17. Why yes, we ARE in fact the Live Music Capital of the World. Get used to it.
18. We have half streets (e.g. 55 1/2 street) and we also have highways named "Loop" One and Highway "360" even though they never LOOP around the city.
**And you wonder why there are so many bumper stickers that say 'Keep Austin Weird'!**
*ahem*.
yeah.
that either i have the most narrow face ever, or all the glasses at the mall are made for gorillas.
SO. back to the drawing board i go.
i'm going to...
- try on kids frames to see if they fit better
- hope they don't all come with sparkles and rainbows and barbies attached to them.
- try Ray-Bans because i hear they're not SO WIDE
- figure out how to take more flattering phone pics of myself. cuz hi ew. i swear i'm not so gross looking all the time!
thanks for the honesty folks, i knew i could count on'ya!
today's plan...
-- attempt to burn off the horrific calories consumed last night at dinner/dessert with Computer Guy by swimming until my arms fall off and getting in a good 30ish mile ride.
-- find glasses
-- figure out how to stop asher from digging THE HUGEST HOLE EVER in the back yard.
and then rolling around in it.
and packing fist-fulls of dirt into his ears.
wtf's up with that?! FOR REAL!!
-- decide if i should wear the same thing to BOTH DATES tomorrow, or if i should have a wardrobe change mid-afternoon.
(yup, yup, you heard me right. TWO, count'em ONE.TWO. dates tomorrow.
cuz yeah you know. 'das jus' how i DO it 'round here y'all!!! MUAH HA HA HA)
*grin*
i love my life here y'all. i really do.
okay so...
these are phone pics.
and sometimes i blink at the wrong time.
and have shiny skin.
and look weird.
and don't do my hair.
and don't wear any makeup.
but pay no attention to all that, m'kay?!
i need new glasses, cuz i lost mine in the move, and... well. i can't decide. shock.
so. i have my fave... what's YOURS!?!?
>>> thanks for all the input folks, pics are now down as i re-start my search! <<<
what a fantastic weekend...
friday afternoon the roomies left, leaving asher and me all by ourselves. for a moment, i felt my first pangs of loneliness holy crap i really live here and know NO ONE!!!... but realizing i had an early morning ride coming up i shoved those feelings aside, readied my bottles, and hit the sack early.
and then saturday morning--- i got my ASS KICKED.
um, hi. holy shit. T3 triclub = f.a.s.t. and beautiful. they're all amazing athletes and they're all svelte and speedy and holy SHIT. i stuck out like a sore thumb, and not just because i was in KCM yellow!
and by the way... Carrie of Tri to be Funny...!!?!
yeahhhhhh. um. well. i can no longer blame my height on my speed. cuz she's roughly my same height and faster. than. shit.
are you friggin kidding me?!
after a fantastic ride, where i averaged speedier than speedy, i was wiped. my legs, for the rest of the day, just cried up at me wondering who the hell i thought i was, riding like that, so i did them a favor and napped.
for a looong time!
then yesterday evening --- another date!!! this time The Hippy and i went down to the Greenbelt with our dogs, which i'd never ventured out to before... and holy shit. once again, another part of austin i absolutely fell in love with. who knew there was rock climbing in austin!!?! not me!
but THERE IS!
this morning, needing to get in a roughly 8 mile run... i decided to try trail running for the first time.
because.. i'm dumb.
8 miles of trail running?! on my first try?!
i think not.
but, not knowing any better at the time, and being so in love with my new find.. the Greenbelt... i headed out for another mini-adventure.
HAHAHAHAHA. ummm... yeah. trail running = much harder than i was really prepared for. i only ended up running for an hour, and a good 1/4 of that was just finding my way over boulders, roots, cliffs, ravines, and trying not to get lost.
ITS WAS FRIGGIN AWESOME!!! i. loved. it.
no wonder everyone in austin is so beautiful, there are like 9 meeeeellion cool ass things to do in this town, and they're all just variations of athletic activity.
afterwards, because i felt like a pansy not having covered anywhere near 8 miles.. i hit the gym. i'm trying desperately to from some sort of muscle on these pathetic arms of mine, so i went to lift and work on my core.
good times, non?!
so between my first T3 ride ass whooping, my date and my trail running -- you'd think the weekend ends there, right?!
WRONG!!!
on tap for tonight... ROLLER DERBY!!! (watching. not participating in!)
my good friend Army Wife is setting me up with a friend of hers and for our first meet up we thought.. hey. lets watch a bunch of raunchy chicks beat each other up while skating around a roller rink! YAY!
THIS TOWN ROCKS!!
(oh, and btw, i'm watching the US Triathlon Olympic Trials and holy shit, talk about motivation! how do they run so fast?! HOW.. H-O-W.
i just don't understand.....)
so i swam 2000 yds this morning, and about one third of the way through i notice this little old lady wrapped in a yellow towel watching me.
i come up for air and to take a couple swigs of my water bottle, when...
"miss!!?!"
"yes!?".. the little old lady is now standing at the edge of the pool. she bends down towards me, points down the lane and says.. "you are very pretty when you swim, its really lovely to watch".
"um.. omg! thank you! that's so sweet!"
she just smiled and nodded and trotted off.
i was dumbfounded. who gets complimented on the way they LOOK in the pool!!?!
who!!?!
well... ME!
ha!!!
i swam away kind of laughing and figured hell.... i might not be fast, but damn if i ain't purty!
and i'll tell you what...
that kinda made my day!
f*ck. YEAH!
so. i'm catching up on blogs here this morning and came across various "road rage and cycling" topics... namely the mandeville canyon incident and the doctor vs. bike incident in portland.
horrific. i don't understand people.
but anyway... while reading about all this on various sites, i kept coming across something called Critical Mass. from what i could tell it was some sort of organized ride, but there seemed to be a lot of animosity about it from drivers, so i did some digging.
this is what i found...
Critical Mass (thank you wikipedia) ---
Critical Mass is an event typically held on the last Friday of every month in cities around the world where bicyclists and other self-propelled commuters take to the streets en masse. While the ride was originally founded with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to bicyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets.
um. cool, right?! here's a pic from a hungarian crticial mass last september...
friggin SWEET!
so. i did some more digging, because holy shit. if they do this in Austin, i MUST be a part of it!
and this is what i found... Austin Critical Mass Ride -- TOMORROW! (which is actually today!)
and...
and holy hell a just shit ton of other cool as shit cycling stuff here in austin.
i'm sorry. have i MENTIONED how much i love it here?!
shiiiit.
so. if you live in austin, have a bike, and want to join... check out these links...
Austin Texas Bike Stuff
Austin Cycling New
Austin Bike Events
and okay lots more but i gotta take my dog for a walk, so that's all for now folks.
so. austin. the veloway.
i'd heard a bunch of people mention it in the last few weeks, either in passing, or just reading about a meet-up or what have you.. and i thought.. really?! veloway? 3.1 miles around and around? boooooo-ring!!!
but then.. i sort of got OVER MYSELF and rode out there last night. and quite frankly?!
i was wrong!
first of all... its a 3.1 mile loop, 23 feet wide. paved. and for rollerbladers and cyclists ONLY. its totally secluded from any other roads or traffic and its FUN! its curvy and windy and there's one turn that shoots you straight up this itsy bitsy but very steep hill...
its not a bad ride!
last night i rode from my house out down to the veloway and i couldn't BELIEVE the number of cyclists i saw. apparently every 2nd and 4th tuesday of the month RunFar hosts a time-trial out there for $5 bucks that's this little 8 mile loop down MoPac.
i was going to incorporate that loop in my testing out of the veloway, but.. what with the hottie mcHottersons in aero helmets and TT bikes zooming past me i thought better of it and stuck to my original route.
either way though, it was a great ride. a friggin hot ride, but great none the less. there are some huge shoulders down about my part of town, so i think this 20-28 mile route might just become my tuesday/thursday workout! at least until i find another way to go!! i'm stoked!!!
tonight carrie has invited me to join her and about 90 other people in the parking lot of Jack and Adam's for this free hour long core and calisthenics class!! my knowledge of cool places to train IS GROWING!!!
I LOVE IT!
so. that's all for now. i'm gunna go hop in the shower and see about getting a wee job at my local LBS. wish me luck!
m'kay. i'm like... on the VERGE of returning to my previous "training machine" mode.
step one was this weekend... a 48 mile ride up north that really got me into the groove again. it was a great ride, i met a super fun chick that trains with T3 (seriously!? what's with everything around here costing $150/month to join? thats bunk!) and it got me all geared up for some solo rides this week.
that, plus running at town lake (lady bird lake) and getting some quality swims in this week...
i feel the itch. its time to get out there and get going.
which.. is what i'm gunna do.
i apologize in advance if the posts are far and few between... austin's got me pretty busy and i must say, i'm just enjoying every moment of it. so until i fall into an actual schedule again... i might be a bit sporatic. but i'm working on it! just know in the mean time i'm having fun and thanking my lucky stars that i ever had the balls to make this move. i can't say enough great things about how empowering it is to finally do something you've always dreamed of doing!
this week's workout plan...
Monday -- 2200 swim. run??
Tuesday --- 1.5 hour bike. hopefully meet a cute boy my friend wants to set me up with! woot!
Wednesday -- 2200 swim, 40 minute run -- intervals!
Thursday --- 1.5 hour bike, swim easy??
Friday -- run/swim distance TBD
Saturday -- 3+ hr bike
Sunday -- 8 mile run
who want's to make bets on how much of that actually gets done!!?!
ha.
so i've had a few people comment since i got here that i look pretty thin.
first of all.. HA! that's a joke. second of all....
i actually have lost weight, and for once.. i'm not all that pleased about it.
since leaving kansas city i've only gotten to train a handful of days, and to be perfectly honest, i think i'm seeing the number on the scale go down because i'm losing some of my muscle.
this annoys me to no end.
SO, i'm publicly declaring that I WILL start strength training on my own at the gym (crossfit here in austin is a fortune. i love it, and i'm going to do as many of the workouts i can on my own, but lets face it... $220/month is beyond insane. i'm just sayin.) and tonight i WILL figure out my training schedule for the weetle bitty race i have coming up called a HALF IRONMAN!!!
i really just need to figure out some places to ride down here. like now. like right this minute get up off my ass and do it.
so.. that's what i'm gunna do.
check back in the next couple of days and ride my ass until i post my schedule, would ya?! cuz if i'm not working... there's no excuse not to be training!
okay okay.. so i haven't written a race report.
let me sum it up for you....
swim water was luke warm, which we all know = ew. but i felt like i swam pretty well, time-wise i came out EX.ACT.LY when i thought i would, so i'm chalking that up to a pretty alright swim.
bike was, apparently, not that bad. i friggin averaged 20.8 so either i really just worked the hills well or it was a fast course, but either way, i'm bragging about THAT speed foh-evah.
the run was all on grass which i hadn't been really happy about in the beginning, but changed my mind half way through. i actually really enjoyed it. there was a section of run called the "dont bonk" zone which seriously was like a quarter of a mile uphill...
wow. that. was. rough.
there was a chick that'd been in front of me the entire run that started to walk so i cheered her on "come on girl! we can do it!" all the way up the hill and then SMOKED her in the end!!!
hee hee!
but basically it was just really fun. jack and adams puts on a terrific event. here are some pics and i SWEAR when things settle down (which right now i can't really foresee to be anytime soon) i'll start posting again.
just know i'm loving every minute of this town, i had a date monday and two more lined up for this week, an interview tomorrow and another possible job lead for later in the week... i ran at town lake and then swam today so i'm starting to get back into the training groove and...
yeah.
things. are. good.
honestly things couldn't be better.
(well. unless a fantastic job came and landed in my lap, but you know...)
and, for any of you austinites out there... if you know of any good weekend rides, lemme know. as i total nube to the area i'm sort of playing a guessing game for where/when to ride!!
anyway, here are more pics...
me and computer guy before the big race!
me, computer guy, curly girl and singer chick... they were AWESOME spectators, it was great having friends come out for the race!
.....!!?!? i'm not sure how i got to be at such an angle, but i thought it looked kinda cool!
post race. phew, it got hot!
in the words of sir mix-a-lot....
baby. got. back.
i'm not sure if i should be proud... or just down right mortified!
i just squealed.
i mean.. i just squealed like a little girl. a really really REALLY REALLY excited little girl.
the couples tri was today, and wow, do my legs still feel those hills.
kansas has hills.
shockingly, yes... kansas HAS hills.
but um.. somehow my ass has never quite felt the way it feels right NOW, after riding those hills.
i thought maybe it was because i'm under-trained.
with the move, being in the car for 5 days... the move... (not that i'm making excuses, but still!)... training hasn't been too high up on the list.
so i thought it was just that.
until i looked at our results.
UMMMM.... hi.
i averaged 20.8mph on the bike!
ha. hahha. HAHAHAHAHAHHAAH.
let me just say that one more time, here...
i. averaged. 20.8mph. on the bike!
i feel like friggin lance armstrong over here! i should be riding the tour de france! i'm the worlds next greatest cyclist! HOLY COW!!!
i = joy right now.
my ass, on the other hand... needs a massage.
*ouch.
(photos and race report to come.)
if that's not the look of one happy chick, than i don't know WHAT is!!!
... yesterday was my FIRST. OFFICIAL. DAY (as in entire 24 hour period) of being an austinite, and to celebrate Curly Girl, Computer Guy (the roomies) and his girlfriend Singer Chick and i all went out to Shady Grove where we were met up by Granite Boy, Curly Girl's date, and Construction Guy... Granite Boy's brother...
(mother of god its hard to keep these names straight!!!)
anyway... Granite Boy and Construction Guy = highly attractive. omg. and so much fun. just so much, entirely TOO much fun.
afterwards Curly Girl went with the fellas to some bar and the rest of us went home... and TODAY...
its more unpacking.
and a wee bit of shopping...
and then RACE PREP!!!
because why spend more than 72 hours in austin without racing when you don't have to, right?!
so, for those who might want to know...
Computer Guy and i have signed up for the Couple's Tri...
to explain....
Using a format that is unique in the sport of triathlon, teams of two, whether they be friends, spouses, or family members combine their ages and sign up in the appropriate category. Each person on the team does the entire triathlon, and then their times are combined for the overall results.
fun, huh?!?
we've named our team "gimme a whataburger"... for obvious reasons... and hopefully neither of us will die!
it'll be Comp. Guy's second ever tri, and my first since IMKS (which um.. yeah. training since then!? more or less non existent. so it should be interesting.)
its an 800 meter swim, 11.2 mile bike, and a 5k... nothing major. although 800m swim kinda gives me the willies... but i keep reminding myself i did 1.2miles... i should be able to swim 800m just fine.
... one would hope.
but so anyway, that's the plan. Curly Girl just informed me we're making sandwiches and heading to Zilker Park with the pups, so i guess i should get going.
DAMMIT! i friggin LOVE THIS TOWN!
... and i love it.
and i have so much to unpack.
and it was a long ass 4 day drive.
but i had SO much fun, got to stay with Runner Susan, meet AndraSue, see some old friends and now just have to find a way to fit everything into this shoebox sized room of mine.
hmm.
anyway, just wanted to pop in to say i'm still alive. and loving the move. and will be back up and posting pics soon enough!
ciao for now!
well.. i made it to st. louis and back in one piece. hoorah!
i arrived back in KC yesterday afternoon and had my last ride with 0% bodyfat chick, short/tall cousin, and another yet-to-be-named chick. Divorced Chick. (i feel bad naming her that but i can't come up with anything else. oh well.)
the ride was the perfect "coming full circle" ride... it was the same route i rode with 0% chick a couple years ago... back when i was very very VERY new and thought (for who knows what reason) 0% chick didn't like me. it was my first ride outside the park on "real roads" and she kept swearing the ride wasn't that tough. that, and.... "i promise, this is the last big hill...."...
mm-hmm.
she lied.
A LOT!
however unlike that first year, this year... when we got to Woodland Hill... i was prepared, and managed to make it all the way up --- ON MY BIKE!
no stopping and walking for me!!!!!
i just made my way through all... all... my gears, finally landing in the granny gear, and spun my little heart out all the way to the top.
i felt hugely victorious.
until about 3/4 of the way up when short cousin passed me on his bike like i was standing still.
dammit. i wish i were 14 again!
oh well.
it was a fun night, and the perfect last tri-training day with my best friends and favorite people.
unfortunately... with tri training out of the way... its now time to pack. AGAIN!
and i'm sure you can guess how i feel about that!