It Is Officially Tri Season

On Sunday, Alina and I completed our first tri of the season at Lake Anna. It was a bit of a rough start, for me at least, as I didn't pay attention to packet pickup times, course information, or anything really. I ended up having to rearrange my Saturday schedule, which was a shame because I had some really great activities planned for the afternoon: cake tasting with JC, and cooking club with my buddies!!!


We got to packet pickup about 2 minutes before it closed, got our stuff and headed over to the cabin we rented to get our gear ready. Here we are packing Sat night, don't we look pumped! :)















We got up on Sunday morning and headed over to the race. I was a nervous wreck-- as per usual. Alina was calm and confident--as per usual. Body marking was hysterical, the Spotsylvania Jr Softball team was in charge of it. A herd of 12 year old girls armed with sharpies! Typically, the number is written on one arm, and then the athlete's age (to identify the wave) is written on the back of the calf. Well, after the 12 year olds were done with us my number had been written on both arms, and both legs, and my age on the back of my calves!!! No confusing my age or number!

Water temperature was 61 F, which is a tad chilly, but we had wetsuits on so what is the big deal, right? I opted not to do a warm up swim, for fear that I would be cold and dripping wet while I waited for my wave to start. BIG MISTAKE!!! As soon as the water hit my arms (my wetsuit is sleeveles) I started shivering uncontrollably! During the swim portion I just wanted to die. It was soooo #&(*@#&@*( cold! SO COLD! It was so hard to breathe. I couldn't feel my feet at all. It took me forever to swim, I finally started to warm up just as the swim portion was over. Lesson learned.

The bike portion went well, and I was able to make up some time, even though the course was hilly, really hilly. By the run (also uber hilly) I was feeling pretty good. I started the run and thought 'hmm--it's really warm'. The sun had come out by this time and air temp was in the high 70's. By the end of the run I realized that I'd forgotten to put on sunscreen. At the end of the tri I felt like one of those microwavable burritos, burnt on the outside and still frozen on the inside. My lungs still feel freezer burned from that water!

I'll leave you with a speed limit sign posted on a road headed into the marina. I'm proud to say Alina and I adhered to it throughout the entire triathlon :)

Theme Music Matters

This tri season is about to kick off in about a week with the cherry blossom 10 miler, and two weeks following that the first tri of the season. Dr. T and I are building up to do a half iron man (insert image of me hyperventilating in sheer panic here) in September.

At the start of this training season I decided to select my theme music. Something to really get me pumped. I decided on "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Now, I know the lyrics aren't quite triathlon-y, but I have rather enjoyed belting out 'I AM IRONMEL...DUH NUH NUH NUH NUH to psych myself up for the long season ahead and the ultimate half iron man.

I told Dr. T my choice of theme music; her reply, "oh hmm...that's probably better than mine-- it's 'Big & Chunky'" (Dr. T and I saw Madagascar 2 and we both absolutely loved that song) So unfortunately, now as I'm working out the song that instantly leaps to my mind is not the steely resolve of 'I AM IRONMEL', but rather.... 'big. big, and chunky, I like 'em big and chunky.' Thanks so much, Dr T!

I leave you with Moto-Moto (will.i.am) singing 'Big & Chunky'

Haircut Redux

Today I went back to the famous S, who developed the multiphased plan for my hair this summer. Last time I went to S was in August, and he devised a plan that involved me growing out my hair and morphing into a Victoria's Secret supermodel-like-figure. I know, it's taken me a while to go back--blame my laziness and general apathy toward my hair.

I showed up to my appointment today to have S meet me at the door. This is what happened:

Me: "I've been working very hard at growing out my hair since the last cut."
S: "Let me look, to see if you have done a good job" (what the hey--does he seriously think I have control over how much my hair grows)
S: (after fumbling around with my hair for a bit) "well, its not bad, but you still need to grow it at least two more inches. At least."
M: "Okay, I'll keep devoting all of my spare time to growing it out." (again not even a sympathy giggle from S)
S: "This time, I will blow dry your hair. I want you to see what we can do if we blow dry."
(I get my hair washed for the first time ever with S)
S: "Since your hair is still not long enough I will have to cut it shorter so it looks longer."
M: "Ummm...say what???"
S: "You'll see."
(hacks away at my hair--never asking my opinion)

So I'll let you decide. I've posted below and after shots below. The before shot -- from last week The second two are today after S has worked on my hair. I think it does look longer--craziness!

Before
After

Pusted Bants at Preakfast

WARNING: Disturbing imagery ahead-- read on at your own peril

Yesterday, was our 'halfversary'. Peter and I celebrate our halfversary in lieu of Valentines Day. We started off by having breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Cafe du Parc. Cafe du Parc has a great 'french country buffet' breakfast.

I'm happily at the buffet scooping the next round of to-die-for chocolate croissants, and fresh fruit onto my plate when a waitress approaches me. She says (very seriously) "I have to tell you something....you might know ... but maybe you do not, and I would want to know so I think you should know" I interrupt her rambling to say an encouraging yet confused "okay" and she says "your pants have a cut" and so I look down at my pants trying to discover this 'cut' and she says "Behind. Your pants are cut behind." I stare at her with a blank look completely confused then I realize she's saying my bum is exposed.

I start spinning around like those idiotic dogs chasing their own tail trying to catch a glimpse of this 'cut'. After about 5 spins I realize the effort is futil-- I can't actually see my own bum that well. And I'm just drawing attention to myself by spinning around like a fool. I finish piling the croissants on my plate (some tasks must be completed in any circumstances) and do a sort of crab-walk come shimmy-shuffle thing back to our table keeping my bum facing the wall. Once I get back to our table and I sit down completely MORTIFIED . Peter tries to tell me it can't be that bad, but I refuse to get up again. I have visions of my cheeks flapping in the breeze. Peter spends the rest of breakfast taking my buffet orders.

I look around the room and only manage to console myself by saying I probably have the cutest cheeks in the room. As it is a weekday the rest of the crowd is business men in their 50-60's--most of whom seem too absorbed in their conversations about the Stimulus to notice aanyone else in the room.

I wore my coat out of the restaurant and immediately bought a sewing kit to sew up this 'cut.' For the record the cut was actually a TINY rip, I doubt anyone but that waitress noticed and I'm actually surprised that she did. However that being said, I do owe her a thanks. Thank you, Waitress! Thank you for catching it early before the pants ripped even further and I wore them to a party with a cheek flapping in the breeze.

What a weekend!

This weekend we attended a variety of inaugural events. We were very excited to celebrate our first inauguration in DC. I wanted to share some photos to give a sense of what it was like in DC. The atmosphere was one of complete excitement and jubilation. The historical nature of the event really seemed to bring people together, and Republicans and Democrats alike came out to celebrate and experience history. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. P has tons for footage on his blog. I have to say though while it was exciting--it was a long, cold, exhausting weekend and by the last ball on Tuesday, I was ready for bed! If you're interested click on the photo album below to take a look at some of the highlights.

Inugural Fever to Inugural Burnout

This is my first inauguration in DC. Well, sort of-- we lived in Alexandria during the 2005 inauguration, but we hadn't lived here long and did not have tickets to anything, and we didn't really understand how it all the logistics worked. So I went to the metro, realized how crowded it was and came home.

Given this year, we live in DC (within walking distance of the Capitol) and the historical nature of the event. We've decided to jump in with both feet. As of yesterday we had an astounding line up of events:

Saturday: Whistlestop Tour in Baltimore (we will be in Baltimore anyway)
Sunday: Free Concert on the Mall; Iowa Delegation Inaugural Dinner
Monday: Virgina Inaugural Ball
Tuesday: Parade Viewing Party from private offices on Pennsylvania Ave, the Iowa Delegations Inaugural Reception, The Midwestern States Official Ball, and the American Indian Ball

I went from being excited to having burnout over the course of this week. We're now told that for each of these events we'll need to be there anywhere from 2 hours to upwards of 8 hours in advance to get through Secret Service Security (the security is unprecedented, as there are an estimated 2-5 million people that will descend on DC) and we'll all have to go through metal detectors. It's going to make the airport look like a walk in the park. The traffic and road closures are expected to wreak so much havoc that the Members of Congress who live a little further out are sleeping in their offices Monday night, because they won't be able to get into the District in time on Tuesday.

As I continue to get updates on security protocol, crowds, and road closures I'm getting more and more discouraged. I've already decided I'm not going to any of the public events listed above only ones that I have a ticket for and I'm about two minutes away from just watching it all on TV!!!

More Inaugural Chaos Expected

Look at this map of the latest secured area for the inauguration. Our house is only outside of it by 3 blocks! And it encompasses my place of work. Wow--I can't imagine what DC is going to be like on inauguration weekend. BTW, for those of you who live in the area I just heard on NPR that parts of the 66E will be closed as will parts of the 395N on inauguration day.