Tri training update

I thought I'd do a quick update on my triathlon training this summer.  It's been going much better than last year (exactly one year ago I was battling a gnarly strain of the flu and was bed ridden - less than 3 weeks before the big race!)

So how is training going better this time around?  Well first of all, I'm actually getting in my proper cycling.  I've done a few 20+ mile rides along Brighton, and into Shoreham and Worthing.  On a nice day like today, how can that not be totally awesome?  It's all along the coast, too, which is a definite (and flat!) bonus.

Here's my little baby:


Last year, I was a little frightened of the drop handles, but I'm finally starting to get the hang of them.  After about 20 miles my neck starts to stiffen a bit, but all in all I feel pretty good on it.

My runs have also been going well.  I was battling some leg/hip/back pains last month, but I took a bit of time off, and now I feel much better.  On Saturday, I did my first ever 7 mile run!  And I felt great, totally in the groove and I definitely fel like I could have kept going.  I've also done a brick workout, with a 12 mile cycle and a 4 mile run, and I felt pretty good.  I'm looking forward to my 27 mile bike ride tonight, and my 8 mile run on Friday.

It's still tough to try and balance in 6 workouts a week, and to be honest, I'm mostly doing about 4 a week.  But as long as I make sure to get my long cycle and long run in, I'm okay.  The other thing I need to focus on is a couple of outdoor swims in my new wetsuit.  I'm not swimming as much as I should be, but I'm glad that I'm focusing on my weaker legs.  Maybe this week I'll get a proper swim in!

I also got my start time - I'm in the 8.30am wave on Sunday morning - look for number 6664!  Last year, I didn't start until around 12 or so, and I felt awful all morning, too anxious.  I'm glad I won't really have time to think about it, I'll get up, eat, head out and go!  All in all, I'm feeling really pumped! :)

crop

On Monday, R and I went to go see Breathless.  How very French, oui oui!  And oh, how I was taken in by lovely Jean Seberg and her beautiful pixie crop!

I have always wanted to chop off all my hair, but alas, you normally need a beautiful pixie face like Winona Ryder or Halle Berry (or Jean Seberg!) to get away with it.  I've cut my hair pretty short in the past, but have always shied away from the proper pixie crop.  Should I finally go for it for the summer?

Here is a pic of the sorta-short crop I've done in the past:

Should I go the full monty, or grow it out?  Decisions decisions!

Rainbow Extraordinaire!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I decided to make a baby blanket for my niece/nephew to be.  As we didn't know the sex, I decided to go for something bright, colourful and gender neutral: RAINBOW!

And I thought to myself, "Well, it needs to be substantial enough, with lots of colours...." so I decided on six colours.  I've done stripey blankets before, so I decided on granny squares.  I found a neat pattern on Ravelry called Around the World Crochet Quilt, and therefore went forward with my 13x13 blanket.  13x13=169 squares.  That's a lotta squares.  A lot a lot.  I started this back in March, with the baby due in May.  I have to admit, I slacked a bit, especially when we went to LA.  But all in all, it didn't take too long to make all the squares.  I was still working on it when Aodhan was born (May 10), but I finished the squares soon after.  Don't they look pretty?

And I thought to myself, "Goody! The tough part is over!"  All that was left was to sew them together.  Easy peasy, right?

Oh. My. God. Wrong.  First, I needed to sew them into 13 strips.  It took me over an hour to do one strip.  So 13 hours later, I had 13 strips that still needed to be sewn together.  But that should be easy enough, right?  No stopping and starting at ends? 

Oh. My. God. Wrong.  To sew one strip to another took OVER an hour. Aye Caramba!  But I missed my first deadline anyway (seeing him at 2 weeks old), so I worked to my new deadline (seeing him at 2 months old).  Sew sew sew.  Sew sew sew.

I finally finished sewing it together and it looked bloody fantastic!!!!!!!!

I quickly added a thin red border around it (once again thinking, "Oh this part should be easy", and once again, being totally wrong), and voila!

Slightly blurry!

pre-sewn, foolishly thinking I was almost finished! Ha!

All in all, I'm very pleased with the results, but very finished to see the end of it!  Now on to something for meeeeeeeeeeee!