I'm Excellent!

One of the tests we do at FitnessWave is the VO2 Sub-Max test, which measures your overall cardiovascular fitness level as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. It determines this through your oxygen output, or VO2 (volume of oxygen), which it can measure because you wear a Darth Vader-like face mask while doing the test. The levels for VO2 are Very Low, Low, Fair, Good, Excellent and Superior.

My trainer Cara comes in and tests me every few months since it's not a test I can perform on myself. In June 2007, when I was primarily cycling, I tested in the Fair range. In January of this year, before I started my triathlon training and surprisingly after six weeks of NO exercise, I tested barely into the Good range. After three months of tri training I tested in the middle of the Good range. Now for the exciting part...Two days ago, after completing all my triathlons for the year, I tested into the middle of the EXCELLENT range!!! I'm only three points away from being Superior!!!

Given that I don't exactly have the ideal athlete's body, it is gratifying to see that all the hard work I'm doing is paying off! I'm fit, darn it! A few more months of run training, and who knows where I'll be!

That test made my day! :)

ALL DONE!!!

Praise the Lord, I'm done with triathlons for 2008!!! I've been training pretty much non-stop since January, and I need a break! Not that I know what to do with myself now that I'm on a break...

I started this year with the idea that I would do ONE triathlon to see if I could. That turned into two, then three, then four, five and finally six. Between May and October I did five sprint-distance triathlons and one Olympic-distance triathlon. The sad thing is that I'm not sure I got any better as the season progressed!

Here's what my 2008 triathlon season looked like:

Sprint Sprint (1/4 Mile Swim, 9 Mile Bike, 3 Mile Run):
swim - 13:41
bike - 41:16
run - 44:58
total - 1:39:55
place - 43/44

San Diego International, Sprint distance (0.5K Swim, 20K Bike, 6K Run):
swim - 12:44
T1 - 3:15
bike - 52:42
T2 - 1:59
run - 54:00
total - 2:04:40
place - 19/19

Solana Beach Sprint (1/4 Mile Ocean Swim, 9 Mile Bike, 3 Mile Run):
swim - 15:44
bike - 42:07
run - 39:41
total - 1:37:32
place - 69/73

Nation's Triathlon, Olympic distance (1.5K Swim, 40K Bike, 10K Run):
swim - 49:57
T1 - 3:37
bike - 1:38:25
T2 - 2:38
run - 1:46:31
total - 4:21:07
place - 73/84

Mission Bay Sprint (0.5K Swim, 15K Bike, 5K Run):
swim - 15:08
T1 - 5:10
bike - 40:51
T2 - 2:32
run - 43:43
total - 1:47:24
place - 93/95

Subaru Women's Sprint (0.75K Swim, 20K Bike, 5K Run):
swim - 24:07
T1 - 3:22
bike - 44:08
T2 - 1:44
run - 43:40
total - 1:56:58
place - 87/88

So what can we conclude from this? Biking is definitely my strongest of the three. Next comes the swim, which I'm pretty slow at. And then there's the run, which I consistently SUCK at! And as you can see, I come in close to last in my age group almost every time.

Still, a year ago if you'd have told me that I would do six triathlons in six months in 2008, I would have told you that you were fucking nuts! So I'll take it. And besides, it gives me something to improve on for next year, right?

Making calls this week to try to find a private running coach. Also want to work on getting my swim faster. And then there's learning to love hills on the bike. So I don't think I need to worry about what I'll be doing for the next two months...

Vineman in 2009!!! :)

TV Will Rot Your Brain

God, I hope that's not true. This TV season is killing me, and it just started! I looked at my DVR and there are 22 programs scheduled to record in the next week alone!!! Good Lord! Sure, the idea behind having a DVR is that you can record your shows and watch them at your convenience. There's a small flaw with this plan, though, and it's called "Time Warner's HD DVR SUCKS!" On average, a one-hour program recorded in HD takes up 5-6% on the DVR. With as many shows as I'm apparently watching, I can't leave them just sitting there, I have to watch them in order to have any space to record future shows!

I know, I know. I should just cut back. But honestly, there are some really good shows on TV right now, and I'm sort of addicted! But I really don't like the feeling that I HAVE to sit down and watch something just to clear out space. It's like when the Olympics were on and I would record just the evening broadcast every day (5+ hours), and then have to whip through it in order to be able to record the next night's broadcast. UGH!

I have to admit, as much as I enjoy a majority of the shows that I watch, I do often find myself asking myself what I'm trying to escape by watching so much TV. It's entertainment, but it's also an escape of some sort. Time to just turn off the brain and chill. But 22 hours per week? It seems a wee bit excessive.

Maybe I'll try to weed out the shows that aren't "must watch" shows. That might free up an hour or two...

A Comedy of Errors

Earlier this week I was up at my parents' house in Saratoga for a few days. On Wednesday I was planning to ride my bike to my facial appointment, which was about 5 miles away. I got up early to make sure I had plenty of time to eat and get ready and still get there on time. There I was, ready to go. Tires all pumped up, helmet, bike shoes and gloves on. Then I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom. No biggie, there was one right downstairs by where I was. But when I tried to close the door, my mom's pull-up bar was in the way. Okay, so I run upstairs and go to the bathroom up there. But first I take off my bike shoes. So now I'm in socks. You know where this is going, right? On my way back down, I slip on the stone floor, bounce down two stairs, and land right on my ass on some very hard travertine. The shockwave went straight up my spine. I sat there stunned for a second, trying not to cry (it hurt!), and then decided that if I was going to make it to my appointment on time, I needed to leave. So I go back down, put my bike shoes on and start to leave. I reach back to check out the sore butt, and realize that my fall apparently ripped a giant hole in the back of my bike shorts! Of course I only took one pair of bike shorts up to my parents' house, so my choice is to ride with my ass hanging out for all the world to see, or give it up. I opted to drive to my appointment.

At the time, none of this was particularly amusing, but now I can see the humor in it. For the record, my ass hurt for several days afterwards, and I had a nice bruise, too! Good times!!

I suck at blogging!

Wow! Apparently I really suck at blogging! I had every intention of keeping this blog up to date, and somehow that's gone right out the window. I think it's partially laziness, and partially that after reading everyone else's blogs I feel like I have to be funny and entertaining in my blog posts. Too much pressure!!!

It is my intention to make a concerted effort to update this blog more often. We'll see how that works out! :)