Thursday, October 09, 2003

 

Fare Thee Well

Well, I'm going on break from blogging too. BUT NOT because I'm depressed and NOT because my blogger's not working and NOT because it's too self-indulgent....

BECAUSE...I'm going to Whistler tomorrow, for a long weekend! For those of you who don't know, Whistler is a ski resort in British Columbia that's open year-round for mountain biking, hiking, gondola rides, etc, not to mention the skiing and snowboarding and luge-ing that happens in the winter. When the winter Olympics come to Vancouver in 2010, that's where the skiing events, and such will be.

We'll be staying in Whistler Village....


Our Hotel


The Village (as seen by someone peeking thru the fence....)



The Village with Less Snow

...which is stumbling distance to everything, which is good, since it WILL be Oktoberfest

"But what will you do there, Krizzer?" I hear you asking. "It's too early to ski..." (didn't you hear me JUST say it was Oktoberfest?!)Well, I guess it snowed 7 cm (that's Canada-talk for 2 1/2 inches) yesterday. SO I may make a snow-man. Or, if it's not too snowy, I may do a little hiking, I may ride the gondola up the mountain, and look for bears (I guess it's really common to see them.) I may rent a one-way mountain bike and go careening down the mountain-side. Or I may spend the whole trip here:



Yes that's right, ladies and gents. Our room has a private hot tub on the balcony. It is so "suite!" (I may have to kick those people in the picture out of the tub if they're still there when I get there! That brunette's looking kind of jealous, isn't she?)

Me and two of my good girlfriends are having a girl's weekend away. And we've heard that Whistler is about 80% single men, so LOOK OUT! Do they have STD's in Canada....?

posted by Krizzer 3:01 PM

Monday, October 06, 2003

 

Monday Manners

I tried to eat soup out at dinner the way they describe in the book. There's no freaking way. I'm an end-of-the-spoon, napkin-spreading, table-huncher. And I didn't spill a drop.

From the chapter At Table:

Don't eat with your knife. Never put your knife into your mouth. (Is this advice unnecessary? Go into any restaurant and observe.) Don't load up the fork with food with your knife, and then cart it, as it were, to your mouth. Take up on the fork what it can easily carry, and no more.

Ok, the first part. Yep, don't be sticking your knife in your mouth, people. That's just dangerous. Come on, fess up out there, who are the knife-eaters?

But the other thing about not using your knife to help get food on your fork, well, how are you supposed to eat peas? One at a time? I always use my knife as a "pusher." I suppose you're not supposed to suck jello through your straw either!

posted by Krizzer 10:19 AM

 

Mini-Biathalon
OR
Triathalon Training - Week 2

I'm TIIIRRRREEEEEEEEEDDDD! (she said, whiningly)

Oh, sure, it's a good kind of tired, except the part where I could NOT sleep last night even though I was POOPED! Damn neighbors, kids and their crazy jungle music. I'd have banged on the wall at 1:30 am, but I didn't want to be the crabby old lady next door, after all, just a couple of years ago that was me blasting my crazy jungle music. So, I was still the crabby old lady next door, just they never knew about it. NOW I am also the crabby old lady at work...

BUT, I'm pleased to say that I am NOT terribly sore today. And yesterday I went on a mini-biathalon. Yah, in other words, I went on a bike ride and went jogging.

I rode my bike from my apartment to Boulevard park (about 3 miles or so, mostly uphill) and locked my bike up at the park. Then ran the trail back toward town, and back again to the park. This is the route I normally run 3 times a week, so I'm used to it, but I added an extra half mile of uphill running at the start which I normally walk, since I was already warmed up. Then I biked to Fairhaven, and then back home. All told, I ran for 2.5 miles and biked for 7.5 miles! Pretty good, I'd say! It all took me about an hour and a half.

The biking really isn't that bad. I mean, you don't notice how tired you are, and the air moving on you keeps you much cooler and more comfortable than running. And you don't notice how sweaty you are til you stop! Plus, for every uphill you do, there's a downhill. At this point I'm not so concerned with my speed. I rest on the downhills. I'm more concerned about pacing myself. I bought a speedometer thing for my bike, and I discovered that I tend to average 10 mph without really trying.

I'm feeling encouraged, that's over half the biking and almost all the running I'll have to do for the triathalon. I'm going to keep working these two elements for a while, and then add the swimming in. I'd like to find out what a HALFway decent time is for this race. I'm thinking that 3 hours would be a good time, but I have no idea how long the swimming will take.

PLUS transitions! Do they count the time it takes me to change out of my wet swimsuit and put on shorts and a sports bra and tennis shoes? Do they count the time it takes me to find a bathroom to change in? What about the time it takes me to get my helmet on right - right now that's running about 15 minutes! Or to remember the combination to my bike lock?

Hmmm, I have lots of work to do. But first - THANK GOD it's a rest day!

posted by Krizzer 8:58 AM