Ride Warrior

On my last roadtrip I conquered the road, and my destination had me conquering the death-defying roller coasters.  I am not a roller coaster junkie and the rush of adrenaline does not course throught my veins as I think about the “thrill” that awaits me as I plummet down the twists and turns of a roller coaster.  I am more of a casual rider.  I do not look forward to the almost vertical drops with great anticipation, nor do I throw my hands up to the wind as I screech with glee as I quickly tumble back to sea level.  Quite the opposite actually.  Instead, I scream for my life…a life-flashing-before-my-eyes kind of scream.  I am genuinely terrified, and not in a good way, as the coaster slips from its high perch into the oblivion below.  During the whole ride my hands are gripped firmly to any and all safety devices that I may or may not trust to keep me in my seat.  As horrible as this sounds, by the end of the day, I was beginning to enjoy the roller coaster experience, mostly due to my new theory I have developed to ride these beasts.  Here it is…seconds before the cart is set to drop, I begin screaming.  Yes, if you are ever riding a coaster and are still clicking up to the summit and you hear a premature shriek of terror from somewhere in the middle (I do not, under any circumstances, sit in the front), that is me.  I find this technique lessens the pressure in your head as you drop, making it feel less likely to explode…always a key feature.

Anyways, the point here is, I just displayed a classic Darwinian move.  I evolved to ride the coasters, and survived while doing it.  Isn’t evolution grand?

Road Warrior

I am back after my weekend road trip/hiatus.  I am not one who really minds a drive if it is under 6 hours long.  I got my iPod at the ready and equipped with my special “driving playlist”, filled up on gas, and plugged in my GPS as a safety blanket.  I have been on this trip a lot of times but I just get that soft, cozy secure feeling if my GPS is at the ready to correct and driving blunders of mine.  I hit the road and began singing along.  I am of the opinion I sing at my best in the car…at least I hope so because I do so with my windows down.  While belting out the lyrics to “Redneck Woman” (a deviation from my usual ghetto style) I was thoroughly content with myself.  As my next song (Hand in my Pocket, by Alanis Morisette) came on I was loving the drive.  I glanced over at my cell phone and couldn’ t have been happier when I saw that the usually annoying “No Service” was pasted across the front.  This ensured that no interruptions to my driving bliss would occur.  It gave me time to survey the road, and believe me, I came across some very strange highway sights which inspired thoughts such as…

1) Is is really safe to drive down the highway with your passenger’s feet hanging out the window?  Couldn’t the transport trucks flying by posisbly do some very unpleasant things to that situation?

2)  If you are camping in a trailer why do you need to bring an electric fridge with you?

3) Did they really just forget their boat on the side of the road?

4) Why do people look at you funny whey they see you singing in your car?  EVERYONE has done it themselves.

Oh the road…its like a whole new universe out there.  But now I am back and playlist is pulsing through the soundwaves of my lab of science.

Hiatus Over!

I haven’t posted in a couple days because I have been away adventuring, but have no fear I have some good insights to share.  But for now I must go to bed, I am mucho tired.

Sweet dreams too all.

On The Road Again

I will be shortly heading out on the highway once again for quite the drive.  To help the trip go by faster I have my iPod all charged up with a special “driving playlist” all set up that I made last night.  All it really is is a compilation of the top however many songs I most recently crank up the volume to when they happen to play on the radio.  I have moved up in the technogical world as well.  For this road trip I will be using the aformentioned iPod, insted of the multitude of burned CDs that I carted around with me on the last one.  I can only imagine how wonderful it might be to hear soooo many songs in a row without having to change the CD and never repeat the same song twice.  Needless to say, I am looking forward to the upcoming experience.

Today was one of the glorious days that are sacred and occur once a week for runners…the day off.  Yes, this morning I was able to sleep in and let my shoes rest on the welcome mat as running and I agreed that today we would not encounter each other.  This sacred run-free day allows me the excuse to be just a wee bit lazy and not feel guilty about it.  Instead this morning I relaxed over a bowl of Cheerios (Honeynut that is) and read the morning paper.  Which lead me to discover…is Posh Spice really the next American Idol judge???  I am not quite sure why she would be picked, as I don’t think her career as the skinny Spice Girl provided her with enough wisdom to judge what sounds good and what doesn’t.  What do the rest of the American Idol watchers think about this newest development?  I admit, I will tune in to the first few episodes to see how this turns out, but I have a feeling I will mostly be making fun of the entire situation.  Oh well, I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I am now off to the road!

Vroom, Vroom!

The Consensus

This morning running and I came to a bit of a consensus.  I still think I got the short of this deal because the consensus did not come until after I had already woken up at 6 am, but with running, I will take what I can get.  It was one of its more generous offers anyways.  The terms of this deal was that I would run today, but I changed it up from ths usual by heading to the gym.  I committed a cardinal sin of running which is only acceptable in the dead of winter…I ran on the treadmill.  BUT, in my feeble attempt at a defense, it was a speed workout which was the only way I could justify such an atrocious act.  My brain did not want to run the same route again and time was ticking away so I headed off to the gym near campus, where after my workout it would only be a short hop, skip, and jump over to the lab of science.  I don’t know how long it has been since you have been to the gym…maybe you are one of those lucky, blessed people with the “high metabolism” that seems to have eluded me.  Anyways, my point here is, there is a lot of off base stuff you witness at the gym.  You see, early morning at the gym means that there is an extremely large population of older men.  Now, I have nothing against old men, I love my grandpa very much.  But my grandpa does not insist on doing a leg press in tight shorty shorts.  And after that he does not lean on the machine next to yours staring at you and sipping out of a decade’s old gatorade bottle filled with water.  Please, in another 50 years if you see me at the gym wearing a bight pink sports bra with spandex shorts and socks up to my knees, please slap the sweatband that I am sure will adorn my head and tell me to go and change.  I promise, I will only hit you with my granny purse once.

Science smiled on me today, something that was supposed to glow, glowed.  Trust me…it was awesome.

Me Nostalgic?? Never!

The work day is drawing to a close and I am about ready to head to the comfy couch for some tv watching.  There are not many channels but all I need is one good one so I think the odds might be in my favour.  Today I completed one of my sessional careers.  You see, I moonlight as a teacher of sorts preparing the unenlightened to write tests and hopefully do well.  Today was the last class of that term.  Oddly enough, before the class commenced today I was looking forward to sending my little prodigies off to their tests and dreams.  But now that the day is over, I feel the quiver of the nostalgia feather.  I truly wonder how well they will do and whether they will meet my expectations.  Oh wait…could it be?  Yes, yes just maybe…Confirmed, nostalgia factor gone.  Ah, glad to have that one off my back.  I was starting to feel like Atlas for a minute there.

I am debating about whether I want to run tomorrow or maybe do some form of cross training like the bike or the pool.  The problem is though, I am one of those obnoxious runners who think that if its not running, its just not an adequate workout.  Running and I have a love hate relationship…I hate getting up in the morning, yet I love the calorie burning effects of running.  *Sigh, I guess I will have to wait and see whether tomorrow is a dawn of the shoelaces or the bike seat.  But for now, worries aside, time for the couch!

And P.S…I did eat that slice of mango.

My Newest Dilemma

I just had a taste of racing after about a month’s hiatus from it and it appears I have gotten bit by the racing bug once again.  This weekend I have a triathlon to do but this one comes with a bit more planning that extends past the realm of “what flavour of gatorade goes in the water bottle?”  This time the race is out of town and a considerable drive away.  To even further complicate the scenario I have to bring TWO bikes to this location.  Now here comes my dilemma…maybe you can be of some assistance.  How can I fit 2 road bikes into the trunk of a mid size semi compact car?  While have done quite a few tris I am not hardcore enough to trick out my car with one of those fancy roof racks that hold the bikes.  Plus I do not like the idea of flying down the highway at over 100 km/h (American translation = 60 miles/hour) with precious metal strapped to my roof.  Plus think about the horrible aerodynamics of two bikes up there.  Such a situation does not bode well for gas mileage.  So this is what I contemplate over my tea.  What to do, what to do.

But for now I must put this worry on the backburner as I go about some official business of mine.  There is a slice of mango currently on the table in front of me and I think I just might snatch in on my way passing by…wish me luck.