Training Update

Another rainy training day. Rain while swimming doesn't matter as much because I'm wet no matter what, but rain while bike riding means a very wet Emily. When my bike & I hit the trail, it was just a fine mist but by the end it had esclated into full blown rain. The trail wasn't as crowded as normal but there were still a fair number of people out.

The ride went well. It was close to my turn-around point when a slower song came on. It's amazing what a song can do for your energy. I immediately felt myself slooooooow down. I turned around and skipped to the next song and my energy immediately picked back up.

I finished up my 13 miles, soaked, but that much closer to being ready for the triathlon. Only four (oops!! I mean three!!! Where has the time gone?) weeks left until T-Day!!

Turtles, Fish & Ducks - Oh My!

Every once in awhile there are training workouts that just don't go so well. If last Friday was a great experience swimming in the lake, today's was the complete opposite. It started off with better weather. Instead of rainy and gray it was sunny with clear blue skies. The water was just as cold though. The roped off area had changed and the length was longer than last week. I hadn't thought it was that much shorter (than last year) but this week with the ropes changed and swimming the longer length, I realized it was a lot longer than last week which was the first hiccup. The second was the wind. There were a lot more waves today which makes swimming a little more difficult. The third was the turtle. Yes, I said turtle. I know I'm in a lake, and there are animals living in the lake, but I did not expect a turtle to swim across my path!! It freaked me out when I saw it. I burst out of the water sputtering. It was probably a pretty funny scene to someone watching. I calmed down a minute or two later and continued on keeping my eye out for the turtle. I didn't see the turtle again but I did see a duck. Fortunately for him, he stayed away from me. I finished up my swim in a lot longer time than I anticipated, which at this point with the wind and the turtle and everything else was expected. I tried not to be too disappointed in my time as it wasn't too far off my time from last year. I made my way to the shore looking carefully for the turtle and was surprised to see what looked like a fish go darting past me. Once more I shot up out of the water, this time with a shriek. I don't do well with animals in the water. Well, at least I've got my bad training workout of the way!

Trivia Night

So tonight was Trivia Night (trivia is every Tuesday at Redhook Brewery, my friend Diane & I go every fourth Tuesday of the month). I was feeling pretty good considering this weekend at my friend Kathy's baby shower I won all 3 games (which I never win!). If there ever was a time I was going to win, it was tonight! And then the first category was Harry Potter (which I rocked!) but it pretty much went downhill from there. The other categories included such gems as Famous Dogs, Prisons, & the Hardest Trivia Questions Ever. We finished with 19/40 - not even 50%! Oh well, we had a fun time!

Speaking of Harry Potter, I finished Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. For those who haven't read it, I won't say anything except there were parts where I cried & I managed to read it without skipping ahead to read the end. And believe me, I was extremely tempted!!!

Swimming in the Rain

I woke up this morning ready for my first swim in Lake Washington. And what do I wake up to? Rain! Yuck!! Guess that's what you have to expect living in Seattle. My mom came with me and sat on a bench in her raincoat to watch me "just in case". Where I swim isn't too deep, but it's still nice to know she's there. The lake was so cold! I inched my way into the lake before finally taking the plunge, literally, and submerging my body up to my chin. I couldn't quite put my head in yet. I did the first two laps without putting my head in - one on my back and one doing a modified breaststroke. This way I could continue to get my body used to the cold temperature. Although I think the first time I put my neck in the cold water is the worst - once I've done that it's a piece of cake. But finally I worked up enough nerve to put my head all the way in and was off. It's so funny - I know the cold won't be so bad once I just get in the water but it still takes me forever to just get in the water! In fact at the end it's the opposite - I inch my way out of the water because it's so much colder out of the water! I'm that way with a lot of things - I know it'll be okay once I do it, but it still takes me awhile to actually do it.

For the most part the water was clear, but on one end there was this dark area where there was lake grass. I have a hard time swimming in a straight line without lane lines and I knew I was getting far off when I headed into the dark spot. I really hate lake grass - it just feels slimy and yucky and it grabs at you. I finished up my 20 lengths faster than I anticipated (what I've estimated the triathlon length to be) and so continued on for another 10 lengths. For most of the time the water was really smooth but towards the end it started getting a little choppy, which in a way is good because on race day the water definitely will not be smooth! I felt good at the end of it which means I might be in a better position for the swim than I was thinking!

One of the good things about the rain was I got to try out the back windshield wiper on my new car! It really does not take much to amuse me - case in point, using the back windshield wiper. It was just fun that I had a back windshield wiper to use!

Harry Potter #7

The last Harry Potter book comes out this week!! I have been waiting for this since I finished Harry Potter #6. Although I am extremely excited to find out what happens, a part of me is sad to see the series come to an end. And I do have to say, I think I will be more upset if Ron or Hermione dies than if Harry dies. I love Harry, and really hope he survives, but my favorite characters are Ron & Hermione. I identified with Hermione from the beginning and Ron - well I think he became my other favorite after watching the first movie. My perfect ending would be if Harry & Ginny get married, Ron & Hermione get married (yes, even though they are probably all of 18 - after all this is pretend), and Neville ends up happy too. Maybe with Luna? And, I really want to find out about Snape - I am in the camp that thinks he is still on the side of good.

I have a habit, I won't say it's necessarily a bad habit - just a quirk of mine, of reading the end of a book first so I can find out what happens and not worry about what will happen in the end while I'm reading it. Apparently this is a family trait as my grandma did it, my mom does it, and now my brother does it. For Harry Potter #6, I was really trying not to read the end of the book first when my brother read the end of it first and had to tell me what happened. So this time he is under a gag order and I am really, really, really going to try to read the whole book through, without skipping to the end. We shall see how it goes!

Training Update

Only 5 weeks left until the triathlon!! And really only 4 weekends left to train. I'm feeling okay about where I am - walking I've kept up with, I've been swimming for about a month now (usually twice a week), and I've now been on a few bike rides. Last year I was most nervous about swimming but this year I'm nervous about the bike ride as I'm behind. But with my new car I should be able to load up my bike and ride after work. And Friday will be my first swim in Lake Washington!

Visiting

My sister and her fiance came over this weekend with their dogs, two British bulldogs, Jensen and Samson. Chloe wasn't sure what to make of these creatures invading her territory. She was very standoffish for most of the visit, to the chagrin of Samson especially who just wanted to play. However, at the end of the visit, Chloe seemed sad to see them leave. Perhaps next time she will remember them and be more inclined to play!

Miscellaneous

I haven't posted anything in awhile so I thought I'd post a few random things while I wait for a report to run.

My new car has automatic headlights - so when do you suppose I'm going to really believe they are going to turn off without me watching? Right now I walk away slowly and keep turning back to make sure they do turn off.

The Spice Girls have reunited to do a tour!!! Yes, I realize it is the Spice Girls, but really their music was just so fun!!

I'm allergic to green beans. A random thing to be allergic to, but I was recently reminded of the fact as my eye swelled up just like it used to when I had green beans. It wasn't green beans this time so apparently I'm allergic to something else.

This was the first year in recent memory it hasn't rained on the Fourth of July. It was absolutely beautiful!! Unfortunately I was at work and not able to enjoy the weather…

Something that annoys me - people who wait until after the cashier has told them their total to start writing out their check. I mean come on - is the date going to change? Well maybe considering how long it is taking you to write the check! Is your name going to change? No, I don't think so. Is the store going to change? It especially annoys me when I'm in the express lane at Target and the lady in front of me has more than the 20 item limit, asks for a price check, and then pulls out her checkbook after she has been given the total!

Well, I think my report has run so back to work.

New Car

After months and months of thinking about buying a new car I finally did it!! I am now the new owner of a 2007 Nissan Murano. I hadn't planned on actually buying the car this weekend, just test driving, but several hours in a dealership, a couple of mix-ups leading to a good deal, and .7% interest rate and I bought a car! My dad and my brother went with me, mainly because my dad is a great negotiator. We started off with a very new salesperson but soon were passed on to the senior salesperson given what I said about my dad and negotiating. The first hiccup came when they didn't have the car in the color I wanted with the options I wanted in the entire state. So we went out to look to see if there was a similar one in another color. There was one but it was fully loaded. I wasn't quite ready to go up to that level yet and the salesperson wasn't ready for me to walk out the door yet so they got the dealer car, which was in the color I wanted and not as many options. Unfortunately, the guy who had been driving it had smoked in the car and I have a pretty bad allergy to smoke and after driving it around the block I knew I couldn't buy it. They still weren't ready for me to leave so they made another deal on the one with all the options and I went for it! It has heated leather seats, a navigational system, and HID headlights (I'm not sure what those are but my brother assures me it's a good thing). It wasn't too long after I started driving home in my new car that I began to have buyer's remorse. I don't do well with change. It'll just take me a bit to get used to it! But it definitely is fun to drive.

As a P.S. The whole reason I wanted to get an SUV was to be able to more easily cart around my bike and I'm happy to say that this morning I was able to load up my bike in my new car. Of course in all my excitement over my new car I forgot to check the tire pressure on my bike and so my bike ride wasn't the greatest - but that's another story!