Some Lessons
Today I learned two great lessons that I'd like to share.
1. Splish says that their white suits are not see-through, because they use a liner. So if I decide I want a white birthday suit to race in, I will not be indecent!
2. Pomeranians are vicious and apparently don't like bikes. They are also embarrassingly fast over short distances... one tried to eat me today on my ride and I only barely beat it to the top of the hill. (I was laughing while sprinting though, if that counts for anything).
In other news, I am basically just plugging along, getting ready to race again this weekend, and relatedly, getting ready to fly with my bike for the first time since Nature Valley last year (incidentally, I laughed as I just re-read that post... wow, the foreshadowing. I really didn't know it at the time that I'd be sitting here nearly a year later with exactly one bike race on my calendar). I got myself a spiffy new Akona Biospeed Bike Case and this will be its maiden voyage. I predict that I will be quite pleased with it, with my bike inside it will weigh less than my old case did when it was empty! I am crossing my fingers that this slim little case will help me shirk the bike fee. We'll see. I think it's totally bogus that they charge for bikes but not for golf clubs, so I have no moral dilemma here about whether or not to lie at the checkin counter. I doubt I can convince anyone that my bike is golf equipment but I might be able to say "massage table" or "paintings and art supplies" and get away with it. I will let you all know.
Additionally, I just realized that mathematically speaking, even in the *totally unlikely* event that I swim as un-stellarly at Columbia as I did at Wildflower, I will still get in under 30 minutes, which was one of my early-season goals: olympic swim in 30 mins or less. Because 39:39 for 1.2 miles is the same as 29:46 for 0.9 miles right? Yes I did take Calc BC... God if my teachers could only see me now, the 1996 GFS Top Scholar (girly version of Valedictorian), twelve years later she's pursuing an athletic dream and occasionally thinking on the side.
Maybe I should volunteer to visit the school and give a school talk about Your Future After Boarding School, I wonder if the administration would take me up on it ;)
1. Splish says that their white suits are not see-through, because they use a liner. So if I decide I want a white birthday suit to race in, I will not be indecent!
2. Pomeranians are vicious and apparently don't like bikes. They are also embarrassingly fast over short distances... one tried to eat me today on my ride and I only barely beat it to the top of the hill. (I was laughing while sprinting though, if that counts for anything).In other news, I am basically just plugging along, getting ready to race again this weekend, and relatedly, getting ready to fly with my bike for the first time since Nature Valley last year (incidentally, I laughed as I just re-read that post... wow, the foreshadowing. I really didn't know it at the time that I'd be sitting here nearly a year later with exactly one bike race on my calendar). I got myself a spiffy new Akona Biospeed Bike Case and this will be its maiden voyage. I predict that I will be quite pleased with it, with my bike inside it will weigh less than my old case did when it was empty! I am crossing my fingers that this slim little case will help me shirk the bike fee. We'll see. I think it's totally bogus that they charge for bikes but not for golf clubs, so I have no moral dilemma here about whether or not to lie at the checkin counter. I doubt I can convince anyone that my bike is golf equipment but I might be able to say "massage table" or "paintings and art supplies" and get away with it. I will let you all know.
Additionally, I just realized that mathematically speaking, even in the *totally unlikely* event that I swim as un-stellarly at Columbia as I did at Wildflower, I will still get in under 30 minutes, which was one of my early-season goals: olympic swim in 30 mins or less. Because 39:39 for 1.2 miles is the same as 29:46 for 0.9 miles right? Yes I did take Calc BC... God if my teachers could only see me now, the 1996 GFS Top Scholar (girly version of Valedictorian), twelve years later she's pursuing an athletic dream and occasionally thinking on the side.
Maybe I should volunteer to visit the school and give a school talk about Your Future After Boarding School, I wonder if the administration would take me up on it ;)
Labels: enjoy the blog, four-leggeds, goggles, racing
posted by Courtenay at 5/12/2008
9 Comments:
correct, but it's .93 miles, not .9. however, the swim in Columbia was on the fast/short side last year so don't worry. And yes, you are a faster swimmer than how you swam at WF.
I was going to mention the .03 you left off, which could actually take those 15 seconds putting you at 30.01, but what I'm really trying to do is keep you down and that's not how I roll. You'll nail it. Get aggressive and think about a nasty little Pomeranian who also hates swim caps chasing you in the water.
You should have sprayed the dog with water - that works better than sprinting. Trust me on this, I'm the laziest cyclist ever. When I raced, I actually started looking to form the laughing group BEFORE the race started.
dude i took calc BC too and i was thinking the other day about how little i use my brain now. do you think it can start to shrink?
I don't understand the purpose of...
1. little yippy dogs smaller than my cat
2. fees for your bike, I mean my case has rollers and it weighs less all together then most luggage!!
3. Calculus, nuff said.
Agreed with Christine on the first two points.
I loved Calc as well. Sigh...isn't it funny to think how smart we felt and how cool we thought we were because we knew all that stuff? Now look...do I use it? No.
My sister is similarly gifted with the math thing and she actually thinks she wants to be a math major. For her sake, I hope she actually goes through with it.
I HATE THOSE STUPID SMALL DOGS. One time there was one that started yapping at us on our bikes and trying to be threatening and in spite of its owner being there, I yelled "you get in my way and I SWEAR I WILL RUN YOU OVER WITH MY BIKE!"
Grrrrrrrrr...they are so useless.
One of my BEST EVER daily Onion calendar pages from last year had the following headline:
"Tiny dog suffocates in Louis Vuitton Bag."
I had that up on my bulletin board at work all year. It was so awesome.
HAVE FUN AT THE RACE AND SWIM FAST! You can do it!
If you decide to give that talk, I should join you. We can do a joint speech-- somehow I don't think that the administration would be impressed by my resume of horse whispering and Americorps(which may be a small part of why I am so proud of it.)
Also, don't you get to fly your bike for free if you are a member of USA Cycling? I convinced the lady at Continental that I did. Another good one-- wheelchair parts. Those are free to fly. I have also considered trying "bike parts" as opposed to a whole bike. I think that may sidestep the fee, as long as you can get the check-in person to play along. How about just calling it "triathlon equipment?"
Anyway, be fast and have fun!
Hey Courtenay,
If you want to Fed Ex a prototype by Thursday, I can splash in a white Splish 30th b-day suit to make sure the liner is suitable and ready for your big celebration day...I'll let you know how entering the fourth decade of our young lives feels.
Good luck this weekend!
Nicole
Courtenay,
I was in the lane next to you this morning with my friend Sarah, anyway don’t know what you’re training is looking like this weekend but was going to try and do the gold lake loop bike this weekend. If you’re interested drop me a line jkelley@pyramid.net
Nice site
Jeff
LOVE the suit, C......VERY CUTE and if it is see-thru....all the more power to you on your birthday, I say! :) Jen H.
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