Hump Day in CA

Well, today we went deep sea fishing in Mexican waters, around 300 ft down. It was fun but toward the end, with a nice red tint to my skin, I was more interested in hanging out inside and finishing off the rest of my book. Lyle won the largest fish contest, which I wisely (or luckily) passed on. I caught nothing larger than anything you could catch at Governor Dodge State Park. I also managed to get my line tangled five times in no less than three different ways. Now that's talent! But we got to wake up late, and now we've got fish (between the four of us) for the next few days. Cale's excited to prepare them in different ways.

Here's Lyle's winning fish:


Compared to a typical catch of mine:

Squeak-squeak!

Hello San Diego

Sunday:

Well, we're in cloudy California. The travel went perfectly, I'd have to admit. Saturday morning we finished packing and saw Snips off to the catsitter- one of my friends (who has an allergic roommate) offered to have his girlfriend take him. Around 1:00 or so, Andy gave us a ride to the airport and we breezed through the security. First Atlanta, then a short wait and on to Los Angeles. Our suitcase was second off the belt, we caught a cab and we arrived without trouble at Mark's house to pick up the Subaru WRX we have the privilege of borrowing for our vacation.

It was about 10 or 11 by the time we got on the road, but that was actually kind of nice. No traffic to deal with at all! We got to Nick's (Cale's brother) house, where we're staying for the week with Lyle and Kelly, and dropped into bed at 3:00 our time (but only 1:00am CA time! So now we're up to Sunday. We took a little ride around town, which was a really nice way to get to see it and preview what we'll be riding the rest of the week. We saw some seals, some people hang gliding above the nude beach (perverts!) and various other California-like things.



Monday:

Monday was another cloudy and wet day, so we went to the aquarium, where there were hordes of terrible children who were ALL OVER EVERYTHING and TOUCHING the GLASS. (Arg!) After that we made our way home, taking our time. We went past the seals again, taking a hike around the beach area. We decided to make a run to Target and stopped at Ocean Beach to watch the surfers and take a walk down the boardwalk.

The filthy children at the aquarium (with some cool info graphics).




Walking on the beach by the seals.


Tuesday:

Another longer ride, about 3 hours long. Lyle, Cale and I went to Ocean Side and back at a decent clip (It was for me, anyhow!) I was pretty tuckered out after that.







It occurs to me that this post is reading much like my middle school diaries. "Today I got a 'B' on my science test, I ate lunch with Asia and Gabi, Roy smiled at me and then I went to track practice." Of course, it took about ten pages to write out aaaalll the details of these fascinating days. Well, I guess I haven't come too far! I've been having a great time, though; the weather's been alright and is getting better by the day, and we've got all sorts of cool things yet to come. There's lots of laughing and giggling and a decent amount of down time to just fool around during.

Next up, I finally make my way up to today's activities.

Catsup

A couple of things to post up about. First off, some words from the Shop Boys:

I can't go wrong
When I'm stuck off in my zone
Betta do what you gon do
Cause I won't be with you long
I be roooooooooollin
I be rollin
Hey I be rollin
I be roooooooooollin
I be rollin
Hey I be rollin



Here Cale spins (or rolls, heh) while I take a photo. Have you ever seen so many pink objects in a room that's not an eight-year-old girl's? We're on Cale's converted-to-road CX bikes because our road bikes are on the way to CA. This is our set-up in the garage, with the bikes facing the projector screen. I think we watched Slumdog Millionaire that night. I like to watch the IT Crowd while spinning, but sometimes I laugh so hard I can't keep pedaling.

Next up, new Pegasus t-shirts. I used up all my creative juices trying to be entertaining here, so just go check that out, will you? To boil it down, these shirts are glow-in-the-dark. You know how cool that used to be? And you know how hot reflective ink is right now? Well, lest it seem like we're jumping on the bandwagon of the oh-so-hot reflective ink, I'm banking on glow-in-the-dark becoming hipster-ironic and retro soon.

Wait. Maybe I should have put BOTH on the shirt. Shit.

Oh whelp. Normal looking in the daylight:


Surprise For You in the dark:



For those who've gotta know, we'll be selling them for $15 just after we get back from California. That'll give the team (and friends- that could be you!) time to call dibs, and the rest will go up to the public on the 25th or so.

People Show

The other day, I went back to the Y and ran for an entire hour. I know, you're impressed. While I was doing laps I was listening to music and just generally looking around at the people I was on the track with, the people coming in, going out, etc. It's fun to imagine where they've come from and why they come around to the Y. Sometimes people waiting to check in will meet your eye as they scan the track. My eye happened to catch a tv that was showing the Westminster Dog Show. At that moment, they were showing different breeds, all highly groomed, being trotted around the ring. I had to laugh at the similarities. All shapes and sizes of us, jogging in circles around the track, suited up in outfits, tennis shoes, headphones.

Speaking of outfits, I broke down and bought a pair of spandex capris and some new shoes. No longer do I have to scrape together something I'm slightly embarrassed to be seen out in public with. Sorry Elizabeth- no more cycling padding for me. The shoes were more of a necessity, though. I've been wearing Cale's for running, because my old pair would give me blisters within 30 min. Even with Cale's, I taped the 'blister zone' just to be cautious. These new ones work well, and they were on clearance for $15. Score. I don't know how good they are, but I figured if they gave me trouble, I'd be out a pair of running shoes and up a pair of casual walking shoes. This is them:


I'm happy to report that I still rep the cycling spandex, though. The shorts don't have pockets, so I've been wearing cycling tops with pockets in the back. Today I wore Cale's WI CX Series Champion jersey Not a bad look, if you ask me:


(I hate taking pictures of myself in the mirror, but for the sake of this blog having pictures, I did it. For you.)

In other running related news, I read Joe Friel's blog the other day, and had a little to think about. He talked (typed) about how core strength is important to running. To paraphrase it, it's important because it keeps your hips steady, which in turn puts less stress on your knees. It pretty much just keeps your body in alignment. Again, that's glossing over it, but that's what I took from it. I did notice on previous runs that my hips would start to roll when I got tired. I also realized that what I've considered the fittest looking running form had all the marks of a strong core. So I focused on core strength, and could actually feel it. All this working out appears to be making a difference!

I'm starting to be able to pick out the regulars, which makes me a bit of a regular, myself. It's funny, but I don't categorize myself with anyone else at the gym. I feel a lot like when I was in college, doing an internship at the ad agency downtown in an office full of women. They were nice, but I felt out of place. I did not get my hair highlighted or my nails done. I felt a lot like a kid trying to play dress up in high heels and shabby clothes (hehe, and they were). I feel like I'm playing at being into fitness, when really I would just characterize myself as a fitness slob (no wheat grass, no 8 hrs of sleep/night, the occasional alcohol) dabbling in the gym while training for my sport. I wonder how long it will be before I'm found out, tied to an elliptical machine and thrown into the river.

Imagination

Last night at the gym, I overheard three or four bachelors talking about going out for drinks on Valentine's Day. It kind of reminded me that the big V day is coming up. After that, I imagined that the woman wandering through the weights section like she was doing laps was trying to pull a date, and that all the guys had joined the Y late in the game and were trying desperately to pump up before their big dates.

Flexin' imagination.

Winter: Wah wah waaaah :(

Another late night where sleep eludes me. Hm, that seems too romantic. How about, 'Another damn night where I just can't sleep'. That seems more to the point. I've been having trouble lately with getting to sleep. A few days I've slept in, but there have been a lot of days where I get up early in hopes of forcing myself to bed earlier. To no avail. My brain just won't quit, and I can never seem to fall asleep.

When I do fall asleep, I usually have bad dreams. Not nightmares, but dreams in which everyday things go wrong. For instance, a favorite glass breaking into three distinct pieces, a fish eating the other fish in the aquarium, or scraping up my truck (silver in the dream) by misjudging a space. These have been going on for a few weeks now. It's like even my dreams have turned pessimistic! I can see where my subconscious is going over images and thoughts from my day, and then evolving them into tiny everyday horrors. I don't know what it is, but I'm going to blame it on winter.

A malaise seems to have settled on the apartment. On the up side, I just got to use the word 'malaise', which works perfectly here. Hatred of indoors, frustration from routine? Check and double check! But vocab smugness aside, there has been something terribly off these days. I catch myself just waiting for something to go wrong so I can snap at someone. And that's generally not my policy. I've been crabby, weepy, mopey- you name it! I'm afraid I've been hard to live with, but Cale's been putting up with me admirably.

Thank goodness that we're going to California next week. Haven't heard? I haven't mentioned it in order for the time to pass more quickly. I've avoided thinking about it in terms such as 'two weeks away' or even 'just one more month'. I allowed myself 'coming up next month' but I drew the line at that. But now that we're one week away, I think I can afford it. Being anxious for it for a week only makes it a little sweeter; it's without the bitterness of a long wait. Enough sleep deprived rambling, though. The itinerary includes dinner with Cale's relatives, biking over the Rockies and back several times (it would seem), going to the beach, deep sea fishing and watching part of the Tour of California.

Best yet, this would appear to be the cheapest trip in the history of leisure. Free plane tickets from taking a bump, a borrowed car, cheap entertainment and staying with relatives while we're out there. It will be so wonderfully guilt free.

Speaking of vacations, I talked to my dad tonight, who just got back from a mission trip in New Orleans. They were working on building houses damaged from Hurricane Katrina. Apparently for many years it's been gutting, and finally they're getting to do some construction! I was invited on this trip, and I sincerely wish I could have gone. Volunteering has dropped off severely in my life. I used to do quite a good bit in HS and even some in college, but it seems like I'm 'too busy' lately. It's hard to take a week off (esp. with the CA vacation, which was planned in advance to use up the free plane tickets) when it's effectively cutting off your income. Selfishly, I'm also thinking of all of the vacations and days off needed in the summer. There are far-flung bike races, mini-vacations with Cale, maybe Interbike again, possibly a family vacation to Cape Cod.... when am I supposed to get any work done! It just doesn't seem possible to fit it in. It's sad, because I think it would really feel good to go down and help out.

Mopey thoughts aside, Dad told me to check out a blog post from CoastRat. For those who don't want to read it all (It is rather long!) I'll sum it up here. In Feb of 2006, this blogging gentleman (Coast Rat) was coming back from a mission trip that Dad was also on. They were in a caravan headed home when they hit bad weather. There was an accident directly in front of them, and Coast Rat (with an EMT background) went to check it out. There were three vehicles- one was a sedan whose roof had been ripped off, giving the driver a serious head wound. Coast Rat grabbed his jump kit and called upon my dad and a volunteer firefighter in the group to help him. Dad put his old EMT skills to work and they worked to stabilize the driver until the ambulance arrived.

Believe it or not, that's the short version. There's much more to it. If you'd like the really short story: My dad is a stand-up guy and I'm really proud of him. Here's a quote (from Coast Rat's blog) that Dad said to him: "That’s why people like us go to the trouble to acquire EMT responder skills, so that when we inadvertently happen upon a serious accident like that in life, where people are critically injured, that we don’t just have to stand around there with our thumb up our ass, because we have no idea how to help.” Yep, that sounds like Dad. I'd describe that quote as being from a no-nonsense good Samaritan for life, and I think that'd be pretty accurate.

Pumping I-ahn

For the next several weeks, I will be gettin' big, pumping iron, or, lifting weights. Jon's got me doing 10 days of lifting throughout the next three weeks. The lifting workouts consist of three sets of nine different exercises that target, as far as I can tell, most major muscle groups. This past Tuesday was my first night of it at the Y, and I've gotta say I enjoyed it. It only takes a little while to get pleasantly tired, and you get to watch yourself in the mirror while you're lookin' all strong and capable. Or, toward the end of the sets, all red-faced and desperate.

I was pretty darned tired after getting done. When I got home, I found that even lifting plates into the cupboard would cause my arms to tremble. My strength was all used up. I thought I'd be sore as all get-out the next day, but it wasn't bad at all! I think I owe it to Shaklee Physique, which my aunt swears by. But then again, she deals Shaklee ;)

Tomorrow I'm headed back to lift at the downtown YMCA, the one with all the young, successful professionals working on their fitness. If they think working out in your boyfriend's boxers is sooo high school, they've got a blast from the past coming. I still struggle on workout outfits. I don't have any cute little capris or any sporty tank tops with the Nike or Adidas logos on them... In fact, I'm about one bad idea away from wearing Cale's short sleeved cross skin suit to the gym. The visual is a frightening one, but the idea of having shorts and a top that won't/can't ride up is a frightfully appealing one!

Can you imagine me in this, running around the track or lifting weights?

I sure can. I think it would be a good, modest alternative to a swimming suit, too.

RIP Sony Cyber-shot

Sad news leads the post- my little point-and-shoot camera is dead. In typical consumerist American fashion, I ran out and bought a new one. Or rather, my fingers flew in searching out a new one on the internet. I figured it probably wasn't worth it to fix an old camera that wasn't worth much in the first place. But I vow to take better care of this next camera (no sweaty back jersey pockets, less sudden meetings with the floor), in hopes that it won't share the same fate, perpetuating the disposable society in which we live. Why don't digital cameras ever LAST?

Well, unfortunately, this all means that I don't have any pictures of today's CX Worlds party, which was quite the gathering. At one point I think we had anywhere from 15 to 20 people hanging out in the garage area. Around 8:30am of our neighbors peeked in as she walked by in her pajamas, on her way to do some laundry. It must have been quite the sight- a bunch of people hanging out in a garage on a Sunday morning, drinking beer and eating waffles, with a sports caster with an accent shouting in the background. Maybe she thought it was a pre-pre-pre game Super Bowl party?

As for the actual Worlds races, I wasn't impressed with the men. Or rather, not titillated. It was almost boring, with first and second a near sure-thing after about two laps. The women's race, which we watched after the men's, was much more exciting. Katie Compton was in the lead group the whole time, seeming to struggle a bit, but hanging in there. It was a good finish, too. I was stirred to break out the cowbells to cheer her on to the finish.

All in all, a good day, with lots of good friends. Except for that jerk, Russell. Bethany very kindly brought me some BikeBins, which are water proof panniers I've had my eye on for a while. So what does Russell do but put my poor lil cat in one? I would feel terrible for the cat, but he's young and I'm sure he'll bounce back. Or repress it.

Last but not least, Cale and I celebrated our one year 'first race' anniversary this past weekend. We went to Bacchus, a swanky place downtown. We put on the ritz, hopped in the Hyunda Accent and enjoyed a meal complete with not only dessert, but anniversary dessert as well.



It was lovely, and it's hard to believe it's been a year. Must be one of those memory repressing instances.