My coach, Sara Gross is racing 2 IM's only 7 days apart! Last week was IM Arizona, where she placed 8th overall female with the THIRD FASTEST female run split! And tomorrow, she is racing Ironman Cozumel!
GO SARA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://mercuryrisingtriathlon.blogspot.com/2011/11/sara-gross-goes-for-ironman-double.html
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Feeling like a Criminal and Swim Camp!
I am the person in our household who can "just say no." I'm the one that has to be firm with the telemarketers and with the people at the door asking me to change gas companies, etc.
Left on his own, my dear Bunler turns to a quivering mass of sympathetic jelly and tries to wrangle himself out of these situations by trying to say no without saying it. You can guess how successful that tactic is right?
No matter how many times I have told him that these people PREY on politeness, he still is the consummate Canadian nice-guy. For example, the Jehovahs still think they have a chance with Mike. They've given up on me, and simply ask for Mike when they come to the door. I have great fun with this, and tell Mike that his "friends" were asking after him.
One particularly awesome situation springs to mind -- upon arriving home after our Cozumel vacation earlier this year, we saw this Jehovah guy walk up to our house AT THE EXACT SAME MOMENT we pulled in. After flying from Cozumel, driving back from the Calgary airport -- what it must have taken for the moons and planets to align so this timing could happen! One could almost say it was divine intervention!
I chuckled and walked ahead and abandoned Mike. Poor Mike -- he still couldn't say, "No thank you."
In May, I succumbed to Mike's nice-guy-ness. A young guy was promoting Just Energy -- getting us to switch over from Enmax (electricity) and Direct Energy (natural gas). I had already said NO and the guy was on his way, when Mike interrupted and with his niceness invited the guy INSIDE and signed us up....
Sure their 8.79 cents per kilowatthour whatever was good, but their gas price of $5.79 per Gigajoule-what-have-you is WAYYYYYYY higher than Direct Energy. There has been a handful of times where I paid more than $5.79 -- because I have all my bills going back to 2005 to prove it. ANYWAYS, let's just say, 6 months later and we are *almost* finally disentangled from the clutches of that company.
And I have been the one that has had to make the nasty phone calls, send the emails, and yes, I even went to our local RCMP detachment to see if I could file a complaint against them.
ALL BECAUSE MIKE COULDN'T SAY NO.
Am I a terrible person for throwing my dear Bunler under the bus like this? Probably.
So...all this preamble is a prelude to the most recent knock on our door. I shouted, "Come on in!" thinking it was my mother coming to drop off some stuff. When the door didn't open, my stomach dropped and I knew it was a door-to-door dude selling something. AARRRGH.
And I was in my PJs too -- at my weakest.
The guy was prepared when he saw the look in my eye. Before I could even get out, "No, I am not interested," he interrupted with a "I'm not selling anything, I'm not with the gas company or electrical company." Smart -- he'd done his homework. That initial one-two took the wind out of my sails, but I was still suspicious. And rightfully so...
Guess what he was selling? Some donation thing for (and I kid you not, these are his EXACT words) "You know those kids with the big bellies and flies in Africa?"
He had pamphlets of all these children from Third World (or whatever the political correct term is nowadays -- Have-Not perhaps?) countries, that he shoved at me. I knew I was up against a worthy opponent then. How can you say no without looking like a total jerk? These are starving kids I am refusing!!
I glanced down at the pamphlets and had the wherewithal not to take them from him (as he was trying to get me to do) but let him hold them as I fingered through them. I knew this was going to be uncomfortable.
Mike was in the background -- playing his computer game. I KNEW if he had answered the door, the cheque book would be out and we would be sponsoring 5 or more kids.
I gritted my teeth and went in for the kill. Told him, "No." The fight was on -- this guy had been prepped for every excuse, silence, or hesitation. I held firm and channeled my inner House. The match was coming to a climax -- he hit me square in the jaw with his final parting shot of "Why wouldn't you want to do something good in the world?" Still, I wouldn't budge.
With that, he turned away and started to walk down my front steps. I held my door open to make sure he didn't kick my cat (Peanut) as she had scurried out through the door whilst he was giving me his spiel.
Yes folks, today I was The A$$hole.
And you know what?
It felt good.
OK....swim camp news!!
Mercury Rising Triathlon (my tri team) is holding a swim camp Jan. 6 - 8, 2012 in Calgary. Click here for more details and how to register.
The short and sweet version is it costs $400, you get underwater video of yourself swimming from various angles AND then get personalized feedback from our head coaches. They analyze your stroke and give you specific drills and instructions on what you can do to improve your stroke. This is GOLD.
There is nothing like having 3 swim coaches giving you constant feedback over a weekend. The camp is open to EVERYONE!! Not just MRT athletes -- anyone who wants to improve their swimming.
All for now! :)
Left on his own, my dear Bunler turns to a quivering mass of sympathetic jelly and tries to wrangle himself out of these situations by trying to say no without saying it. You can guess how successful that tactic is right?
No matter how many times I have told him that these people PREY on politeness, he still is the consummate Canadian nice-guy. For example, the Jehovahs still think they have a chance with Mike. They've given up on me, and simply ask for Mike when they come to the door. I have great fun with this, and tell Mike that his "friends" were asking after him.
One particularly awesome situation springs to mind -- upon arriving home after our Cozumel vacation earlier this year, we saw this Jehovah guy walk up to our house AT THE EXACT SAME MOMENT we pulled in. After flying from Cozumel, driving back from the Calgary airport -- what it must have taken for the moons and planets to align so this timing could happen! One could almost say it was divine intervention!
I chuckled and walked ahead and abandoned Mike. Poor Mike -- he still couldn't say, "No thank you."
In May, I succumbed to Mike's nice-guy-ness. A young guy was promoting Just Energy -- getting us to switch over from Enmax (electricity) and Direct Energy (natural gas). I had already said NO and the guy was on his way, when Mike interrupted and with his niceness invited the guy INSIDE and signed us up....
Sure their 8.79 cents per kilowatthour whatever was good, but their gas price of $5.79 per Gigajoule-what-have-you is WAYYYYYYY higher than Direct Energy. There has been a handful of times where I paid more than $5.79 -- because I have all my bills going back to 2005 to prove it. ANYWAYS, let's just say, 6 months later and we are *almost* finally disentangled from the clutches of that company.
And I have been the one that has had to make the nasty phone calls, send the emails, and yes, I even went to our local RCMP detachment to see if I could file a complaint against them.
ALL BECAUSE MIKE COULDN'T SAY NO.
Am I a terrible person for throwing my dear Bunler under the bus like this? Probably.
So...all this preamble is a prelude to the most recent knock on our door. I shouted, "Come on in!" thinking it was my mother coming to drop off some stuff. When the door didn't open, my stomach dropped and I knew it was a door-to-door dude selling something. AARRRGH.
And I was in my PJs too -- at my weakest.
The guy was prepared when he saw the look in my eye. Before I could even get out, "No, I am not interested," he interrupted with a "I'm not selling anything, I'm not with the gas company or electrical company." Smart -- he'd done his homework. That initial one-two took the wind out of my sails, but I was still suspicious. And rightfully so...
Guess what he was selling? Some donation thing for (and I kid you not, these are his EXACT words) "You know those kids with the big bellies and flies in Africa?"
He had pamphlets of all these children from Third World (or whatever the political correct term is nowadays -- Have-Not perhaps?) countries, that he shoved at me. I knew I was up against a worthy opponent then. How can you say no without looking like a total jerk? These are starving kids I am refusing!!
I glanced down at the pamphlets and had the wherewithal not to take them from him (as he was trying to get me to do) but let him hold them as I fingered through them. I knew this was going to be uncomfortable.
Mike was in the background -- playing his computer game. I KNEW if he had answered the door, the cheque book would be out and we would be sponsoring 5 or more kids.
I gritted my teeth and went in for the kill. Told him, "No." The fight was on -- this guy had been prepped for every excuse, silence, or hesitation. I held firm and channeled my inner House. The match was coming to a climax -- he hit me square in the jaw with his final parting shot of "Why wouldn't you want to do something good in the world?" Still, I wouldn't budge.
With that, he turned away and started to walk down my front steps. I held my door open to make sure he didn't kick my cat (Peanut) as she had scurried out through the door whilst he was giving me his spiel.
Yes folks, today I was The A$$hole.
And you know what?
It felt good.
OK....swim camp news!!
Mercury Rising Triathlon (my tri team) is holding a swim camp Jan. 6 - 8, 2012 in Calgary. Click here for more details and how to register.
The short and sweet version is it costs $400, you get underwater video of yourself swimming from various angles AND then get personalized feedback from our head coaches. They analyze your stroke and give you specific drills and instructions on what you can do to improve your stroke. This is GOLD.
There is nothing like having 3 swim coaches giving you constant feedback over a weekend. The camp is open to EVERYONE!! Not just MRT athletes -- anyone who wants to improve their swimming.
All for now! :)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Busy, busy, busy
Not much to say - my two week break off training is now over and I am easing back into swim, bike and run again!! YAY!! I had no problem lying around the house for the past 2 weeks, but the last few days, I did start to get a little squirrely.
I am loving my new vlog project too! I am improving in fits and starts with talking at the camera. Although, there is a direct correlation between how tired I am (or nervous) and how many "Um's" and "things" I mention. I can only edit out so many Um's....I thought I was doing pretty well at eliminating that dead space talk, until yesterday. LOL -- I shot a 3 part video on how to disassemble/assemble your tri bike. I think I used the words "thing" and "thingy" a bazillion times. Apparently I don't know the name of a screw....You should hear me describe what a torque wrench is too -- LMAO!!!
Ah well, my aim is to help out non-tool-savvy people like myself -- so it is to those brothers and sisters I dedicate that 3 part video. Those who speak (and understand!) my language of things and thingys. :)
I am soooooo excited to start swimming again with my Masters group -- tonight I'll be joining them again. Another YAY!!
I think I forgot to mention that the Pincher Creek pool had (has still maybe? I'll find out tonight!) those WOW balls. Ever hear of them? The inventor is from Lethbridge (I think) and he was actually on the Dragon's Den.
Well, one day this summer, I noticed photocopied advertisements on the change room doors saying "WOW Balls are back!" There were pics of kids inside these big plastic balls running on the water. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited about this -- and started immediately saying how we should do WOW Balls for a Masters workout one night. LOL.
OK, so time passed, but apparently the lifeguards knew how much I wanted to get in one of those things...
It was my last swim session before I was to fly out to Florida. I am always the first person on deck for lane swim (I am a nerd that way!) Anywhoo, as I walked out of the change room and onto the pool deck, one of the lifeguards asked me if I knew how many people might show up for lane swim. I was flattered that I appear to know all the answers of the universe, but had to respond, "Honestly, I have no idea." And I was thinking, why in the world would he even ask me that question?
Well...Let me tell you why!!
The lifeguard explained that IF no one showed up for lane swim, or maybe 1 other person did, then I could go in the WOW Ball. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited about this prospect.
Of course, as soon as he said that, the pool filled up with the most lane swimmers I've ever seen. Boo. Before the onslaught of swimmers hit the pool, I did ask the lifeguard to bonk me on the head with a with a pool noodle as I continued my workout, IF people cleared out and there was still a chance at me getting in the WOW ball.
With about 8 minutes left of lane swim, I got the bonk on the head. The lifeguard asked if I was still interested...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!
I scrambled out of that pool so fast, I'm sure I would have set a record. I had serious WOW Ball quiver-tail happening, people!!!
I climbed in there, they inflated it with air, and then I walked off the deck and onto the surface of water!! YAY!!!! I never actually could stand, I kept slipping, but I laughed and screamed like I was 5 years old!!
I was trying to conserve oxygen by not laughing and screaming, but for those of you who personally know me, you know how quickly that plan disappeared!
I lasted about 5 minutes. Hahahahah -- The interior of the ball got pretty hot and humid in such a brief time. When I emerged from the ball, I was SPENT. I had a run to do later on, and it was supposed to be a heat-acclimation type run on the treadmill, but I was so exhausted from the WOW ball experience, I decided to log the Wow ball as my heat training for the day, and ran outside instead. LMAO!!!!
WOW BALL!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I think I might be the first to log a WOW Ball experience into workoutlog.com. Same as the time I entered a big poop as a core workout. LMAO -- gotta keep things interesting!!!)
I am loving my new vlog project too! I am improving in fits and starts with talking at the camera. Although, there is a direct correlation between how tired I am (or nervous) and how many "Um's" and "things" I mention. I can only edit out so many Um's....I thought I was doing pretty well at eliminating that dead space talk, until yesterday. LOL -- I shot a 3 part video on how to disassemble/assemble your tri bike. I think I used the words "thing" and "thingy" a bazillion times. Apparently I don't know the name of a screw....You should hear me describe what a torque wrench is too -- LMAO!!!
Ah well, my aim is to help out non-tool-savvy people like myself -- so it is to those brothers and sisters I dedicate that 3 part video. Those who speak (and understand!) my language of things and thingys. :)
I am soooooo excited to start swimming again with my Masters group -- tonight I'll be joining them again. Another YAY!!
I think I forgot to mention that the Pincher Creek pool had (has still maybe? I'll find out tonight!) those WOW balls. Ever hear of them? The inventor is from Lethbridge (I think) and he was actually on the Dragon's Den.
Well, one day this summer, I noticed photocopied advertisements on the change room doors saying "WOW Balls are back!" There were pics of kids inside these big plastic balls running on the water. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited about this -- and started immediately saying how we should do WOW Balls for a Masters workout one night. LOL.
OK, so time passed, but apparently the lifeguards knew how much I wanted to get in one of those things...
It was my last swim session before I was to fly out to Florida. I am always the first person on deck for lane swim (I am a nerd that way!) Anywhoo, as I walked out of the change room and onto the pool deck, one of the lifeguards asked me if I knew how many people might show up for lane swim. I was flattered that I appear to know all the answers of the universe, but had to respond, "Honestly, I have no idea." And I was thinking, why in the world would he even ask me that question?
Well...Let me tell you why!!
The lifeguard explained that IF no one showed up for lane swim, or maybe 1 other person did, then I could go in the WOW Ball. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited about this prospect.
Of course, as soon as he said that, the pool filled up with the most lane swimmers I've ever seen. Boo. Before the onslaught of swimmers hit the pool, I did ask the lifeguard to bonk me on the head with a with a pool noodle as I continued my workout, IF people cleared out and there was still a chance at me getting in the WOW ball.
With about 8 minutes left of lane swim, I got the bonk on the head. The lifeguard asked if I was still interested...
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!
I scrambled out of that pool so fast, I'm sure I would have set a record. I had serious WOW Ball quiver-tail happening, people!!!
I climbed in there, they inflated it with air, and then I walked off the deck and onto the surface of water!! YAY!!!! I never actually could stand, I kept slipping, but I laughed and screamed like I was 5 years old!!
I was trying to conserve oxygen by not laughing and screaming, but for those of you who personally know me, you know how quickly that plan disappeared!
I lasted about 5 minutes. Hahahahah -- The interior of the ball got pretty hot and humid in such a brief time. When I emerged from the ball, I was SPENT. I had a run to do later on, and it was supposed to be a heat-acclimation type run on the treadmill, but I was so exhausted from the WOW ball experience, I decided to log the Wow ball as my heat training for the day, and ran outside instead. LMAO!!!!
WOW BALL!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I think I might be the first to log a WOW Ball experience into workoutlog.com. Same as the time I entered a big poop as a core workout. LMAO -- gotta keep things interesting!!!)
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
New Site, New Project!
Check it out people!! http://trivlogger.blogspot.com/
I've made another blog site or should I say....VLOG site. This will strictly be vlogs -- I'm having fun with it!
I just put up a new post over there... :)
I'll continue to post race reports and any other ramblings I have here on this site.
Update your bookmarks, come check me out and become a follower on my new project!
Send me emails of any topic you would like me to talk about!!
I've made another blog site or should I say....VLOG site. This will strictly be vlogs -- I'm having fun with it!
I just put up a new post over there... :)
I'll continue to post race reports and any other ramblings I have here on this site.
Update your bookmarks, come check me out and become a follower on my new project!
Send me emails of any topic you would like me to talk about!!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)