May 2004 Archives
...till my 1L journey begins!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
So Friday night the bf and I decided to do another camping/training deal ... this time out at Smithville Lake.... site of the Ultramax iron-distance triathlon. The plan was to spend the night at the lake and then meet the tri club for a ride. So we get to the lake and find that the campsites are more like shantytowns of tents...There were people EVERYWHERE. And with our little mountaineering tent, headlamps, and flashy tri bikes on top the car we stood out like sore thumbs amidst the Natty Lite drinkin' country music blarin' bubba types. But the crowdedness was only just the beginning...
I had spent the whole afternoon CRAVING turkey dogs cooked over the fire...unfortunately, there was no fire to be had. The wood we bought at the gas station in Smithville must have been completely water logged because despite our best effort to get a fire going, it just wasn't happening. We ended up warming our turkey dogs over burning atlas pages... needless to say, there is NOTHING flammable left in the boyfriend's car! The real tragedy of all this was that there was also no way to make coffee in the morning...
...which I should have known would be the start of a very unpleasant ride!! I was scheduled for 5-6 hours on the bike followed by a 60 minute run. I got in 56 miles (which was just under 4 hours) and no run and considered myself lucky. The legs were DEAD. I think the two hour run the day before just toasted them and they never felt good. Add in that I didn't have my inhaler, I was having some mechanical problems, and I HADN'T HAD ANY COFFEE...and it made for a miserable day. Talked to coachy and she said not to worry...it happens. :)
We went and saw SHREK 2 that night....AWESOME MOVIE!!!! SO FUNNY!!!!!!!
Spent yesterday lookin' for a smaller apartment for the boytoy and tomorrow I get my keys to my new place!!! WOOOHOOO!!!
Got up at 5 this morning (WHY?) and headed out for my two hour run at 7. Run wasn't too bad and hopefully totaled around 12 miles. Damn orthotics were killing my feet...I thought those were supposed to make your feet NOT hurt!!! Got to run across tha Clinton Dam ... which I LOVE doing!! Especially 'cause its not too windy today! Of course we're supposed to have 26 mph winds tomorrow for our 5-6 hour ride... *puke*
Now I'm spending my time in the most productive way possible...trying to figure out the 92 words that can be derived from the word PLANET. The DaVinci Code says there's 92 AND DAMMIT I'M GONNA FIGURE THEM OUT!!! ...I'm only at 46 :(
...and DAMMIT I LOVE CHERRIES!!
It was a good day folks (well, the one folk who reads this right now besides me lol). Hung out with the madre...did a little shopping...got a purse and TWO new swimsuits (not the training type...the BIKINI type!) .. and the ostrich burgers the boytoy and I will be having for dinner!
Did my swimmyswim this afternoon out at lovely Lone Star Lake. Laid on the dock in my new 'kini for a while before putting on the wetsuit and making like a seal (or walrus) and jumping in! The water wasn't too bad and I had a nice easy 20 minute swim despite the Kansas wind creating all kinds of currents in the lake. Saw lots of Bluegill Sunfish...and BIG ONES too...but I didn't worry about them biting me because I learned in Limnology class that they are PLANKTIVORES and thus I'm not especially tasty. (I'm so damn cool).
For some reason Lone Star tends to attract a pretty savory crowd. There's always some redneck type out there yelling obscenities at his children. Today the bubba's 14 or so year old kid was also carrying around a 40 which his papa had given him. I then listened to the dad tell his kid how they should start a wet t-shirt contest on the dock and that he should make a naked woman out of sand instead of the more traditional sandcastle. This wasn't as bad as some. At least he was making his kids clean up their messes and telling them not to throw sand at each other without threatening to "drown your f*cking asses". *sigh* The Lone Star crowd really bums me out sometimes :(
Of course, if I keep living like a pro tri chick I will be able to start frequenting the lake during the day whilst the bubba's work their day jobs. Ahhhh...I'll have the lake all to myself... just me and the herons and the planktivores. Heaven.
Got TWO movies as graduation presents in the mail today from my tri bud Fatdoggy! The Verdict and The Paper Chase. Yes, I think I am the only future 1L who hasn't seen it! Thanks FD! :)
Looks like Georgey went down on his mountain bike.... the real question is...WHY THE HELL WAS HE WEARING A MOUTHGUARD?!?!
So yesterday ended 6 (yes...SIX) glorious years at the old University of Kansas. I was pretty sure that graduation was going to be just another boring event that I was doing for my family, and not myself. Well, I was wrong. It was actually a helluva lot of fun! Graduation at KU is pretty different from graduation most places. Its not walking across some stage, or listening to some hired dude bless us with words of wisdom to carry with us throughout our lives that make it special...its walking down the hill. I thought I would be all alone seeing as there was a crowd of 4,000 and I didn't know that many people graduating. At the very last minute I ran into a group of my very favorite people at the University...people who I love for not only being fun and kind...but because I know they will go on to do GREAT things with their lives. After having classes with these folks for the past several years, it just felt right to end it with them. Walking down the path that led to the stadium I saw only one person that I knew...but it was an old friend with whom I have been through more good times and bad than I can count...he gave me a big hug...again, it seemed fitting. The people lining the sidewalks cheering brought back memories of Ironman...of running down the finish chute. Though it wasn't nearly as dramatic or loud or satisfying as the finish of suffering for 140.6 miles, it was impressive...and it made me look forward to Ironman USA this summer even more! But I digress, once in the stadium we roasted under the hot Kansas sun whilst a host of people gave a host of speaches. Honestly, i dont' remember much of what was said, but I do remember feeling all sorts of warm fuzzyness at being there with my friends on this day.
Maybe the real reason I spent six years here was because I NEEDED that time to come to truly feel like a part of the community... I don't know. All I know is that walking down that hill and sitting in that stadium with those people felt so right. I look forward to doing it all again in 3 years....
