No Baby Bug Yet

But this was absolutely freaking hilarious.

Basically, this blog calls out all the parents that I think should have had to pass a test in order to give birth.

There Will Be No Ironman in 2009

They couldn't pick a better time as that in life.

It ain't too early and it ain't too late.

Startin' as a farmer with a brand new wife.

Count me out. Cross me off. Take me off the roster. After much deliberating over the last few weeks, I've decided to removed Redman from my schedule this year. I started a new job in November as an aquatics director for two pools run by one of the largests associations in the country, and my work load has increased exponentially. From what I hear, it only gets worse. I have had some great training from January until the middle of March, when spring swim lessons picked up. In eight days I logged 68 hours on the clock, not including my commute. That's a lot of time taken away from my home, husband, and animals, let alone my training responsibilities. I've not been one to half ass things, and I have a true respect for the distance. I've done an iron distance event to finish one, and now I want to compete in one. If I'm not fully into the training, the recovery, and the nutrition both mentally and physically, I will not have a likely chance at meeting my goals.

This would be an expensive trip to set myself up for failure.

As we have all seen in the economy recently, our expendable income has become tucked neatly under our pillowcases. It makes it all the more harder to justify an expense at which I may not even make the starting line.

Instead, I am going to focus on a local olympic distance race, Kansas 70.3, and Steelhead 70.3. I will add in some August/September local sprints to keep myself occupied, and I am still planning to persue the Kansas City marathon in October.

As coach lady told me, "Going half the distance doesn't make it half as challenging."

I'm still determined to make this my best season yet.

For No Real Reason

This will at least bring a smile to your face.

Let the Kids Ride

Click here to see how this ban is affecting our kids!

New Lead Ban Legislation Drastically Affects Motorcycle Industry
bayodome Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 6,658 views
Rumors and speculation have been flying around for a few days now on a law that could affect small motorcycles considerably. As of yesterday, those rumors were confirmed in the form of a new policy that falls under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The policy is a restriction on lead found in children’s toys and products.
According to the policy, put together by the Consumer Product Safety Commision (CPSC), any product intended for children with lead at more than 600ppm is hereby banned from retail. The intention is to minimize the possibility of children ingesting trace amounts of lead that can be found in small products such as toy cars, as children have the tendency to put things in their mouths. Although the target was small products, the blanket clause states that any product, large or small, intended for children is now banned. Minibikes have traditionally been marketed towards children 12 and under, so they unfortunately fall into the larger category, despite not being toys. All motorcycles have certain amounts of lead that can be found in everything from the aluminum in various parts, to the engine cases and wiring.
What does this mean? According to a Honda spokesperson, they are advising all of their dealers to no longer sell any inventoried CRF50s, CRF70s, and CRF80s. As this point one can assume the other manufacturers are taking similar actions. Bear in mind, this is not a permanent solution and is essentially precautionary at the moment, but it could certainly have a long standing effect on the motorcycle industry as a whole. After all, many dealerships greatly depend on minibike sales in good times and bad. As the details of this ban filter in we will do our best to keep the motocross community informed.
In the meantime, to read about the CPSC policy enacted on February 10th, click here.
There is also a waiver fighting to keep motorycles from falling under this policy which can be found at http://www.tomself.com/

http://motocross.transworld.net/2009/02/11/new-lead-ban-legislation-drastically-affects-motorcycle-industry/


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-18-motorcycle-kids_N.htm?csp=34

Warning for dog owners!

If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances. Only a little moment was enough for the following to happen. See the photo ....





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(Courtesy LawGalKC)

The Super Swim Set

Well, it wasn't 9000 yards or anything ridiculous like that. But DDAAYYYUM GINA, this was hard.

The grand total is actually only 2600 yards, with only 2000 of those being fast. ...

400 warm-up2 x 1000 time trial, 2 minutes rest between200 cool-down

Results:

a. 1000 13:26 (1:20.36 av) b. 1000 14:27 (1:26.42 av)
As you can see, the first one I went pretty damn hard on. I wasnt close to recovered for the second 1000. I negative split the second one as a started feeling better again somewhere around the 500 mark. WOW. I think my arms may fall off tonight after the bike/yoga sesh. (Yes, I said yoga, only I'm doing it at home on my own this time. I found an old Yoga DVD that I have never used before, so I'm going to give it a try.)

TGFTRD.

(Thank God for Tuesday Rest Days)

Whew.

Friday- Sunday

Swam 3000 yards. Bike 2:30 in pure wind hell- truthfully, it was fun. I got to ride outside for the first time this year. Run 3:00 total time.

Three days in a row of outdoor workouts accomplished. Yes, did you see that? OUTDOOR. Either I'm a hardass, or I'm an idiot. But I rode outdoors for the first time this spring on Saturday. In near gail force winds. But, even though it was a struggle the whole time, I really enjoyed myself. Once back at the house, I had a 2 mile run. That hurt. I ran Friday evening without socks, which left a couple yicky blisters that were far from healed.

I then spent Saturday afternoon and evening with Grandma- did a little Bass Pro Shop wandering, made fondue, drank some wine, and giggled a lot. Great day.

Then all night I spent pulling pillows over my head to drown out the thunderstorms, hail, and the weather radio which thought it would be fun to go off every 90min to alert me of a tornado watch three counties away.

This morning I woke a little less fresh than I wanted to, and continued to listen to the rain and wind. Ugh. I was not looking forward to today's long run. Usually I like to get up and get things over with by breakfast.. err.. lunch. Instead, I tried my hand at some patience, which allowed me to get out the door at 5:00pm. I ran until just before sunset- yay for Daylight Savings. The wind died down shortly before 5pm, and the clouds began to dispearse. Longest run of the season- accomplished.

Now I sit watching Russell Brand, whom I find high-larious, chit chat away on how he got screwed at the MTV VMA's. The pups are napping- one on the couch and one in front of the door as if he's a draft block.

Tomorrow's another doozy- stretch-swim-bike. Swim is actually a main set of 2 x 1000 time trial. I have to admit I've been swimming very well lately, and this will be a true test. Yikes. I'm actually nervous about a workout- swim of all things.

Tueday's a rest day- it's much needed. Must be a good week of workouts when you're counting down to rest day.

You're a Yogie.

Mondays and Thursdays workout schedules usually invovle something along the lines of deep stretching or yoga.

Pff.. Yoga.

I ALWAYS picture Yoda eating yogurt when I hear the word yoga. I dont know why.

Well, today, I had some time in my 11 hour workshift, and decided to catch an 11 am yoga class.

The class had a lot of sitting in it. And some breathing. Some strange poses with some strange names. I wouldn't say it did any aligning of my Chi or left me feeling at one with my inner self. It was, however, something different out of the norm. So, since my March work schedule leaves my Thursdays pulling long hours, I have decided that I'm going to take the one hour a week and do the damn thing.

Even if I never realize my inner calm, it's something outside of the swim-bike-run-lift I see daily.

A Test of a Wife

So, being this site is the Triathlete Bride, I found this quiz amusing.

Apparently, I suck as a housewife. Good thing I have that old 60 hr a week job and 15 hrs of training to keep me away from home. Crap... do you think that's why I suck? Sorry Husband!

10 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

Scoring:

0-24 - Very Poor (Failure)
25-41 - Poor
42-58 - Average
59-75 - Superior
76+ - Very Superior

Product Review- Finis Lap Counter

One of my masters swimmers recently made a purchase of a Finis lap counter. Tim loves it, but I wasn't so sure. If you do open turns, then this product is fabulous if you're looking for fairly accurate splits and lap counting.

However, when dangling under water... not so much. The lap counter is connected to 2 metal poles with a wire hook that hangs over the gutter. It's not super sturdy, so the wires loosen every time you hit the touch pad (the main face of the lap counter).

I was trying to be gentle when turning, I'm no pansy and when I flip my feet hit the wall HARD. A couple times I was concered I may have, um, injured the counter. About every third turn I would tap the counter at an odd angle, which would send it scooting up the side of the wall, and into the gutter. That meant that 50 yards later I would be fishing the counter out to reattach it to the wall.

I think it's a good product, and fitness swimmers will probably get the most out of the Finis lap counter. Those doing flip turns will probably not enjoy the product as much as others, and, if you're a trained competitive swimmer, you used to counting the laps in your head, so you don't really *need* this device.

It was fun to play with in my 30 min easy swim, and it accurately logged all my laps execpt two- I either missed the touch pad, or I tapped it too lightly on the side.

If you are just starting swimming, or need a way to remember your laps- this is a great device for you. The rest of us will just keep repeating numbers in our heads and taking splits on our wtaches.