A Bat out of Hell

Last night I went down to the scary basement at Traphagen to retrieve a box of fish tank parts. By scary I mean full of cobwebs, dirt floor, signs of animal inhabitants. The box was tucked away neatly, thanks to SJ, in the depths of the basement. I was just thinking about how proud of myself I was for bravely going back there to get the box when I heard a shreiking from upstairs. Karl was obviously being spooked by something. From the sounds of it she was yelling something about a Cat in the house. That happens sometimes because there are some very curious cats on the property AND we had just happend to feed them our leftover sardines (that's another story that I don't have the stomach to go into right now) about an hour earlier. I dropped the box and ran up the rickety wooden stairs only to see a BAT flying around the "living" room and Karl locked in her room on the verge of tears. I quickly donned my full protection bee suit (including hat & veil) and grabbed the broom. I had to give Karl a pep talk to get her out of the room and help me chase the bat out of the house. It wasn't an easy task, I was probably swatting at the thing for about 20 minutes before we got it to fly out the back door. Or so we think. There was actually no confimation that it flew out because karl looked away at the split second that I thought it was flying out. So, we still have no idea how the bat got in and we don't exactly know if it got out. Needless to say, I hardly slept last night.

Climbing

This is Arturo showing how it's done on a climbing route called The Dangler. SJ & friends went up this last weekend. Isn't it pretty? This is how the mountain should look come October 11!!

I just came from a run around the base of these cliffs. The trees are still green but it is still absolutely beautiful.

Chicago

I'm not in Chicago, after a few short hours of travel. I had an early flight out of LGA this morning and much to my surprise, I did not get charged for my bike. I did, however, have to pay $55 for checking 2 bags. $15 for the first and $40 for the second, thank you very much American Airlines. The ticketing agent wanted to charge me $100 on top of that. But, for some season, he let me go "this time." We're flying to Turks on AA, but I'm going to make sure not to pack more than just a carry on. NOT bringing my bike to the islands (this time).

I'm staying at the same hotel as last year, but Dark Knight is not being filmed outside. Just hanging out in the lobby until my room is ready.

This week has been a great one...starting with Eamon's Birth Day, my mom being here all week (and Dad for part of the week), Anna moving to town, Sam getting bigger and cuter, SJ's new truck, summer squash and heirloom tomatoes from the CSA, plants planted at Rose Lane, getting 2 boxes of Bear Naked Granola fa'free, and more.

Oh yeah, and workouts have gone exactly as planned, with the surprise of almost winning a bike race!! All it seems to take is the willingness to go hard. ok, and maybe a super fast Wilier bike.

He's Here!!***

I'm very proud to annouce the arrival of the lastest member of the Wassner/O'Connell/Flynn family. Eamon Joseph Flynn was born on Sunday afternoon during the airing of the Olympic Men's 10k. He's incredibly cute and is lucky to have the strongest, bravest mom and the most supportive dad. He also already has an "Aunt-terage" (6 Aunts) who were all there to see him a few minutes after he was born. Eamon shares a name with one of the greatest milers ever, the "Chairman of the Boards" Eamonn Coghlan. If you have any doubt about how to pronouce his name, watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGXGTfGB_wc

It is only 5 min. and is much better than anything on the Olympics tonight!

***When I worked at Amy's Bread, the UPS guy would announce his presense and his deliveries by saying "He's Here" as he breezed through the office. It was if he knew that all the girls had crushes on him and that sometimes the highlight of our days was his brief visit. Does anyone else in NYC have this same UPS guy??

The Weekend!

I woke up this morning with an Olympics hangover. Stayed up way too late watching gymnastics and of course got up at my normal time of 6:15. My morning workout was a long walk to pick up the car and then a drive to NP. Then I had time for a short valley ride before a short photo session. Next up is an interview for the local paper and then a tasting with the wedding caterer. After that, time to hit the town pool and the rail trail.

I'm planning on entering a bike race tomorrow. A 43 mile hilly road race. I say "planning" because I might get there and get spooked by all the professional looking racers! Just kidding, although that may have been the case a few years ago! Last year I finished somewhere in the top 10, after riding solo for most of the race. Not exactly the best bike racing technique. Either way, it is just a workout for me.

In Olympic action, Shalane F. just won Bronze in the 10k!! That's huge and I hope NBC stops talking about MP or gymnastics for 5 seconds to recognize this amazing accomplishment!

Another Busy Week

I've been so busy this week that this is the first chance I've had to sit down at the computer. There is just so much to do at all times.  Early morning workout/midmorning workout/lunch/afternoon workout/dinner/olympics.  Most of the workouts have been extremely hard.  This is all part of the lead up to the Fall - Chicago/LA/Wedding/House/Move (out of Traphapen, fingers crossed).  

Today I decided not to get stressed out about any of these things and just let them happen.  My training partner, Karl, is trying to keep me relaxed in the pool and on the bike.  She keeps trying to talk sense into me in when I go too hard and start fighting the water or when I try to make the computrainer ride out of the Cadence studio.  

Next up is a tempo workout either on the track or the treadmill.  It is a hard one, but couldn't possibly be as hard as Tuesday's brick.  I came away from that workout pretty surprised at what the human body is capable of.  Not too surprised though, the Olympics are a good indication of that too!

Here's a quick recap of some of the things included in last week's activities...

-Sam, Leezie, Mark and Sarah visited New Paltz!  We took Sam to the CSA to see the chicken, pigs and veggies, then we bbq'd late into the evening at traphagen

-4 hour group bike ride

-long trail runs

-a pot luck dinner with CSA members.  I could write a very long post on that one!!  Yes, we were the youngest people there by far, and yes, even SJ had to forgo hair product for the occasion.  

-Engine light is ON in the car.  Yes, I am driving with my thumb covering it at all times.

And more, but I've run out of time.  Gotta run.  

P-N-P

This morning a Pack-N-Play mysteriously showed up at our doorstep (doorman). After a few hours of thinking, my best guess, since Leezie & Sarah aren't claiming it, is that it came from Jim & Frank in LA. They, along with twins M&K, will be coming to visit NYC next weekend. I'm guessing that this is where the twins "are going to sleep." They are about 6 months old than Sam, but I'm hoping we can all have a playdate at the Bleecker Street Playground.

I could have easily slept in this morning (to 645), but I rallied for a pre-pilates swim. The pool was hot today, but I managed to hit all of my intervals...well, except for the last 4x100 which I skipped so that I could get to Pilates on time. Turns out the class started late, so I could have fit in that extra 4 min. 40 seconds of swimming. Oh well, I'll just add it to this afternoon's endless pool workout.

That is if I make it through the brick workout I have coming up in a few mintues. Down to Cadence I will head to load up the bike on the computrainer for some TT intervals. Then it is outside on the path for a transition run. It will be hot & humid but that is what I need. Remember Chicago last year??

Last night SJ & I went out to eat at our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Our reward for winning our weekend races. SJ won his division ("Beginner") at the Darkhorse 40 mile Mountain Bike Race. He is in the beginner category because this was his first official MTB race. He's been riding his MTB for "yee-ahs" but for fun and for adventure races. The race took over 4 hours and was back to back with his Saturday race, a 25k road bike time trial.

Tonight will be back to the larder. Beet juice. Veggies. No gooey chocolate cake or roasted peaches with pistachios and crystallized wasabi.

Back to the City

It was so nice to be in the country, enjoying the country air for the past week or so. Now it is back to the grind. I drove back yesterday evening after packing in a 12 hour day in the sun. It started with a 2.5 hours of picking squash (starting at 6am, with a 5:45 departure from traphagen). We picked several varieties in all shapes and sizes. This was part of my CSA share and the work, although it was back breaking, was really a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed getting knee deep in the big, prickley squash plants. The squash blossoms were buzzing with "our" bees. I'm telling myself that they were ours since our hive is less than 1 mile away and the farm itself doesn't raise bees. I was totally disturbing the bees' pollen collecting, but they didn't care and didn't sting me. Just a lot of buzz. Did I mention that I did get stung by our bees last Saturday? A girl got stuck in my hair and stung my neck. Not allergic and it didn't even hurt that much.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next day of farm work. Other volunteers were harvesting scallions (glad I didn't get that one!), swiss chard, cukes, basil and other things. I'll have to take photos of the distribution the next time we go. It is so well organized and looks like a magazine perfect farmers market. There's a big chalkboard that tells you how much of each item to take. Of course you have to bring your own bags, preferably the reusable type. We didn't and the lady in chaaage reluctantly gave us a few bags from secret storage.

After the farm, I unloaded my bike at Rose Lane and set up for a transition brick workout. The workout involved a 90 min. workout on my TT bike with intervals, followed by run intervals which I chose to do at the hottest part of the day up my favorite hill. Not much else makes you tougher. Running as fast as you can up a hill on legs tired from a hard bike ride. All I could think about was plunging into the rose lane pond which is exactly what i did when I was done.

I followed up the brick with a 4.5k swim in the town pool. Since I was pressed for time, I did the entire 4.5k straight at a reasonable pace.

Today was another big day of workouts. 10 mile run/5k swim/90 min. bike. The run was sort of a breakthrough day on the treadmill. I'm not sure I've done so much distance/time at such high speeds. Felt like a 70.3 workout! Hmmm.....

SheRox

Yesterday Karl & I finished 1-2 at the SheRox Tri in Philly. It was such a fun race, 1500 women Rox-ing it out on a warm, sunny day. It was one of the those races where everything felt great (hmmm, maybe that's because each distance was half as much as it usually is!!). For someone who is learning how to swim, I quickly found myself leading the race and felt like I was in control and swimming fast. The bike was just go as hard as you can mode and the run was short & sweet. I only managed a 17:54, but I'm not complaining too much about that since I didn't rest at all for this race. Ran a hard 10 miler 2 days before with the first 3+ miles uphill and last mile+ at 6 minute pace including the uphill Rose Lane driveway. That was painful!

Anyway, I'd highly recommend the SheRox race to anyone who wants to do a triathlon, especially first timers. The race is really well organized and has such a positive spirit.