more Maumee pics

Here are a couple more pictures from the night before that I stole from Kurt's website. I think there will still be a few more when Kurt gets back from India...

bryce, kurt, me the night before

me, kurt, dan, and bryce eating dinner the night before...(bryce cooked it all!)

Correction...

Okay, so they posted the results of the triathlon and it turns out I didn't even win my age group! They just didn't realize someone had finished before me...I got second though...too bad there were only 4 of us. :) I think it's hilarious that I have a false blue ribbon.

Here were my times. I definitely came out of the swim faster than this (my watch said 31 something), but I guess they didn't stop the clock until you hit the transition area...oh well.


Swim time: 32:27.38 Swim pace: 34:54/mile
Transition 1: 02:04.33
Bike time: 1:28:12.95 Bike rate: 16.9 mph
Transition 2: 01:09.73
Run Time: 58:27.43 Run pace: 9:26/mile
Total time: 3:02:21.8


You see that extra 3 minutes from last time? I guess it probably has a little to with the bike course being a bit long, but it's mainly because I didn't have anyone pushing me on the run. That's why pacing is illegal, I suppose. I'll have to learn to push myself, eh? ugh...

Bryce and Kurt did well too, by the way. Kurt got second in his age group and Bryce got third. Needless to say, their age groups are a bit more competitive than mine, so that's actually quite an accomplishment. Kurt got 7th overall as well and Bryce 13th, I believe. Pretty cool, eh? I'm friends with hotshots!

Maumee Bay Triathlon

This weekend, I did the Maumee Bay Triathlon just outside of Toledo, OH. We camped out the night before (yes, in tents...I slept on the...gulp...ground.), and then did the race Sunday morning. Here are some preliminary pictures...Kurt should have quite a few more that I'll have up before too long. Dan came along and helped watch Baruch while we were doing the race...they bonded pretty quickly and now Baruch won't talk to me at all. She just turns her head when I try to pet her. What a snob, eh?

More race details later...I don't have the times, etc yet. I don't think I broke 3 hours (3:03 by my watch), but my run was less than an hour, so that's at least an improvement. :) I won my age group (girls 20-24), but I very well could have been the only one. I'll know for sure when they post the results. Pretty funny though, right?

Dan and Baruch afterwards...

me in Transition 1

Ok, now it's off

Kurt in Transition 1--he can't get his wetsuit off...think he'll remember the Pam next time??

Wetsuits on! (almost!)

me falling as I'm trying to put on the damn wetsuit

me again

me before the race

Kurt in transition, sharing his Gu

My puppy camping

Dan with Off

Bryce the grill-master

And..Dan setting up tent

Kurt setting up tent

Bryce setting up tent...

Bonnie Park AGAIN

Here are some pictures from a bike ride this morning. It was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. We had a good ride anyhow though, despite that I've now rode that same path the past 5 times I've been out. It's time for something different, definitely!

In other news, my toenail fell off. yuck.

me at Panera, after the bikeride. I was SO cold and the bagel just didn't quite fill me up, so I was upset about being hungry. Hence, the distressed look on my face. :)

Elizabeth and Bryce afterwards at Panera...

more standing around...

Bryce (me in the background) before the bike

Oh my God, I have air...

My landlord came and put in window screens FINALLY (to his credit, I didn't ask because I didn't want to be a pain in the ass tenant)...I can BREATHE...there is a breeze, even. I swear it's at least 20 degrees cooler in here now. I no longer feel like I am in a sauna. Good news, right?

Humidity Rocks

Okay, so there is actually one benefit to the ridiculous heat we've been experiencing...In the humidity, my flute playing improves maybe 800%. I haven't had to live through a 'bad day' in more than 2 weeks. My tone is awesome all the time...definitely something I could learn to live with. Maybe I should just give in and move home where it'll be humid 364 days a year (it tends to be dry MAYBE once a year...). Then again...maybe that's not such a great idea. Can you imagine moving home after 9 years of being gone? I think that just might be the end of any sanity I pretend to posess.

Another positive flute note: I am, in fact, better than I was in high school. That may sound ridiculous (yes, I just got my Masters degree), but here is how that little revelation came about: I am relearning some etudes I did when I was senior and studying from Etude-King and I remember busting my keister on them for an entire week and not really succeeding in any positive results...now I can work on them for 20 minutes and get them pretty damn good. Feels nice to realize how far you've come, you know? I just wish I could get a freaking job... Anyone need a flute player? I'll be your slave for a small fee...

And on THAT note... I realized lately that I love playing in orchestra, and I already miss it crazily. I want a job so that I can support myself and not have to live with the guilt of having to beg from mommy dearest every few months...but even more than that, I want a job so that I can play. I haven't played in orchestra since Bartok at CIM (end of March, I believe), and I just plain miss it. The scary thing is that I have no idea when I'll be able to play again. I can't help but be jealous of people who are in summer festivals right now, as much as I complained about them last year. I know I'm taking a slightly dramatic road here...I will, probably, get to play in an orchestra sometime soon...but just the fact that it is entirely possible that it'll be MONTHS, even a year...it's just frightening. How am I supposed to stay motivated when I'm not even partially doing what I love? I'm sorry, but practicing excerpts in a practice room non-stop just doesn't do it for me... I wish it did, because then I would be set for life... The good thing, I suppose, it that I now realize that I really do want to do this, and it's not just something I've fallen into because I didn't have anything better to do. If I ever get a job, I promise not to complain about rehearsals or bad conductors or annoying musicians or anything. And you can hold me to this...I promise not to take what I have for granted. I'm going to love every second.

It's HOT!

So, it's officially summer. I invited people over on Saturday night (Elizabeth, David, Kurt, Jojo, Dan, and Carrie ended up coming...) and we had fun grilling outside. We played some games inside though, and it was SO hot. It's kind of discouraging because I don't think this is the hottest it's going to get...how am I going to survive July and August?! It was so hot that people were sticking to the couches and I had all 3 fans in one room blowing on us. Baruch just stayed in one place, refusing to move. People say that I should be used to it, being from Louisiana...but here's the thing...in Louisiana we have such things as AIR CONDITIONING to keep things sane. Somehow Ohio seems to have missed the boat on that one...

Baruch was so hot she couldn't move...

Fan wind blowing through Elizabeth and David's hair...the camera didn't catch the action very well, but they looked like they were on the beach in a Baywatch episode...