Oh, Now I Get It

Exercise is going terrific, thanks for asking. Still plugging along, feeling moderately prepared for the first event May 8th. Although I still have panic stricken dreams in which I forget to bring my bike, lose my sneakers and am running in nothing but my birthday suit, I am not too worried about it.

Other than cold-sweat inducing nightmares, it's great.

Adrienne and I went spinning last night to burn off some excess energy and stay out of this biblical rain we've been having. I keep waiting for Bill Cosby to start his stand-up routine. Remember the one about Noah? If you grew up in the 70's you might. You can listen to it here.

In any case, we arrived shortly before the class began and found two remaining bikes in the back of the class. I hopped on the one closest to the wall since it seemed like a nice, out-of-the-way bike. In other words the instructor wouldn't be able to see me huffing and puffing and possibly not doing all the insane things she was asking us to do. Yep, that's me. Slacker with a capital "S".

The bike was at an odd angle next to a mirror, and it bothered my occasionally anal sense of order, so I moved it parallel to the bike next to it and hopped on. I wasn't too thrilled being next to the mirror. You can "imagine" you look halfway decent when you are exercising if you are not biking three inches from your life-sized reflection. When you are....well, you get the picture.

The instructor was awesome, and the music was terrific. The girl next to me never stopped texting through the whole ride which was a little distracting. Takes being connected a tiny bit too far, methinks. About 5 minutes in to the warm-up I felt a drip on my arm. I was pretty psyched, thinking I was really working up a sweat. A few minutes after that I felt a drip on my leg. Still, I was thinking that it probably came off my head, and I exercising at quite a pace. A few minutes after that, more drips on my leg, a few on my shoulders. It wasn't until a huge drip hit the top of my head that I realized it wasn't sweat. I looked up at the ceiling.

When I straightened out the bike, I had moved it right back under a large dark water stain, where apparently the roof was leaking into the spin room.

Now I get it.

Notes To Self

Many things have occured to me since I began the quest to exercise to the point of triathalon readiness. Some interesting. Some not so much. I share with you the current list.

1. Double D's don't jog well in Lands End underwire.
2. The wow-you-kinda-look-pregnant roll that looks flattened out in a Speedo is really just pressed around your sides and peeking out the back.
3. Never swim on an empty stomach.
4. Never swim on a full stomach.
5. 3.1 miles sound short until you start running.
6. Swimming with a cold is both inadvisable and gross.
7. Jogging with a stroller is a lot harder than it looks.
8. No wine before spinning.
9. Clipping your feet to your bike is not the best idea if you are a klutz.
10. Teaching my daughter to drive is easier than teaching her to swim.

To Do List

I have a long to-do list, and less than 2 months to get it accomplished. The beginning of it goes like so:

1. Find something halfway presentable to wear swimming to biking to running that shows neither my still-present pregnancy fat roll, nor lets my top-side pair fly free. Wish me luck with that.

2. Outfit my daughter with something she can also wear to swim/bike/run. She will look infinitely cuter in hers than I will in mine.

3. Go to Paul's Bike Shop sale and swap in a few weeks to see if we can trade our mountain bikes for racing bikes for less than a small fortune.

4. Attend a class at REI to learn how to change the tires on said bikes. Adrienne has told me that if she gets a flat tire she will just stop. She has no interest in changing a tire, apparently. But just in case she doesn't want a flat tire to end her triathalon experience, I will haul her grouchy little behind with me to the tire-changing class. Moms can be like that.

5. See my primary care doc about a prescription for Xanax.

I Thought It Was a Booger, But It's Not

I went to the Y today for a midday swim. I do so love having Friday's off.

It was a fairly quiet swim day all things considered. The last lane was empty so I availed myself of the nice quietness and hopped in. There was a swim club two lanes over who were really going to town. I think it was good practice for the triathalon because they were bobbing and swimming, and kicking their hearts out. Made for a lot of waves, which I definitely need to get used to. The first tri we are doing is in a pool, and about 100 people swim at a time. Not in the same lane, naturally, but in the same pool. Could make for a bit of....choppiness.

About halfway through my swim, a guy jumped in to share my lane. On one of my return laps he was hanging onto the wall putting headphones on. How cool! I have been wondering about listening to music while swimming. I asked him how he liked them, if they worked well, etc. We had a nice long chat about his awesome little accouterments.

Then he swam away and I went to wipe some water away from my nose. Turns out it wasn't water after all. You catch my drift.

How he didn't hurl right then and there is beyond me. Maybe his goggles were foggy.

For his sake, I certainly hope so.