world of dreams

this is the map of the world on my wall. the yellow sticky notes are places and things that i would like to do...they have specific dates that are mentioned, but i don't think they are all going to play out. this definitely doesn't completely encompass all my travel aspirations. let me know what you think!

---trip to ethiopia/sudan
---hike up mt. kilimanjaro
---work as a PA in antarctica (if single in my 40's)
---scuba in the great barrier reef, australia
---go to banff and lake louise, canada
---bike trip in europe
---chile
---tour of central america
---tour of northeastern canada..possibly on a bike
---new orleans 70.3 in 2010

victory is mine!

okay, so that might be exaggerating some! i did participate in a sprint triathlon this morning. it was a 300 m swim, 12.5 mile bike, and 3 mile run. it felt good, but i haven't done that distance in forever so i would change my approach a little next time.

i ended up getting second in my age group which was pretty good. it was a field of 25 so pretty decent. this is the cup that i won...the shower was even better, but at least i can use the glass. actually this is the only glass i actually own!

i will need to look at the results once they are posted to see how i did overall...i would assume definitely in the top quarter. some of those men in their late 30s and 40s can really crank. that is the good thing, you don't usually peak until your later thirty's....that means i have at least 10 more years of training to get better. maybe i should really think about a tri bike!

anyhow, it was fun...and hot. what else is new...

naked meter

i think all gyms should be labelled with a naked meter....or with towels or something like that. it would be nice to look on city search and not only learn how clean the gym is, but how comfortable people are with flesh in the locker room.

if i had to assign a towel-rating to my gyms, the results would be different. first, you must know the scale.

1 towel = buck naked is A okay
2 towel = tighty whities only
3 towel = pants and a bra is acceptable...just don't make eye contact
4 towel = change in the bathroom and get ready in work clothes
5 towel = a sari is good...but a hijab is better

bally's was a 1...mostly with the elderly ladies, but you get used to it. skin was definitely okay. LA Fitness, my new home, is more a 3.5 to 4. definitely a different environment!!

sorry if you are disturbed/offended/turned off by this post. i will assure you that i'm in between the 1 and the 4. working in health care, you don't let skin bother you as much. i worked as a tech for 4 years during college and before PA school. part of my job was bathing people that were elderly or incapacitated. it is a vulnerable situation to be in. ever since that time in my life, i've been much more relaxed about the whole nakedness issue...and now i work in GI so i talk about all sorts of inappropriate topics with people i have just met!

happy father's day!

well, it is father's day. i actually don't have an overabundance of pictures of my father on my computer so these will have to do......dad is from minnesota and has always wanted to be a pilot...maybe that's not true, but i think he should be a pilot when i see the picture above. he is a hard-worker though...not only with shovelling snow, but in his career as well.

he is hard-core biker....maybe not, but he did consider buying a motorcycle and driving it up to alaska in his 20's. i'm thinking it was a good thing he didn't.

dad likes to have fun---only in the setting of large quantities of ouzo! maybe not...but his teetotaller self can joke about it!

more seriously, dad is extremely loyal and dedicated to his wife and family. mom and dad have been married now for 29 years! (i'm catching the theme that he likes hats in these pictures too!)

he is a great example for christy and me...although making it hard for other men that we might glance at to live up to him!

i wanted to put a picture of him skydiving in hawaii, but i can't find my pictures right now! that was a stretch for him, but it was such a neat experience to skydive with my sister and dad! hopefully there will be another adventure like that in the future!

happy father's day dad! i'm planning on another 40 more!

Career Options

so, i have read through some of my old journals (more to come on that) and saw my thoughts about majors during my senior year of high school.

for your reading pleasure:

-accountant
-counseling
-pre-med/doctor
-paper engineering
-dietician
-journalism
-sociology
-missions

i don't even know how to explain the paper engineering...it would not have been a good fit!

the crash

galveston has not been kind to me lately. the weather has been HOT and HUMID here (97-99 degrees) so i decided to head to galveston for my long ride today. i got there early and the winds were nuts. that was my first bone to pick with the island!

after grumbling through the first 17 or so miles, i decided to head back. i was about 5-7 miles away from my car....i believe a jon mclaughlin song was running through my brain (to take my mind off my burning quads) and a bright yellow car turns right immediately in front of me. i mean IMMEDIATELY in front of me. this was not an intersection...i was not in the wrong at all. i had those 2 seconds to compute that i was going to be in an accident but not enough time to react.

the next thing i knew i was lying on the asphalt. i honestly don't remember the fall, but i guess i let go of the handlebars. this was a good thing because my shoes are clipped into my bike and i think my bike would have landed on me had i not let go off the bike---giving the chance for my legs to break out of the clips.

i slowly got up. the car had stopped, but no person had yet immerged from the vehicle. i knew my hip and back were not happy, but i also knew that i wasn't gravely injured....honestly, i was just feeling relieved at that point...and shocked at what had just happened.

a 25 year old (or so) girl with a cigarrette got out of the car and asked if i was okay. she then proceeded to tell me that it wasn't safe to be riding my bike on this street---as if this were my fault!! i very calmly told her that i ride that road all the time and that i am not the only one.
(this whole time my brain is just thinking "i can't believe i got hit by a car. my back and hip hurt, but i'm so thankful that is it!") eventually i just said i'm fine and let her go...then i road the miles back to my car.

i went into walmart to change clothes because no one likes to see spandex without a bike! i looked in the mirror and i had gravel and asphalt all over my back and arms. i think i hit pretty hard. my left hip was already starting to bruise.

i'm finding new things as the day progresses. i have a huge knot on my left leg that isn't backing down. my left hip is a sight to behold. i have a piece of gravel imbedded in my left palm. i have a bruise forming on my left elbow. my back is getting more sore by the minute. i'm hopeful that this will start to improve over the coming days, but if not i will have to find either a local masseuse or a chiropractor.

all in all, very glad to not be in the hospital right now. i do not want this to happen again, but the odds are that it will if i continue road biking. it was scary, but i will be on a bike again tomorrow....likely in the comfort of my new gym. i do have a triathlon next weekend, so i will be out on the road in a week.

more gym excitement...

i'm sure most of you don't care about my gym issues, but i spend anywhere from 1-2 hours a day there. i don't spend that much time one-on-one with anyone else...maybe my clinic team but that is in a flurry of patients.

so i went to the gym tuesday morning at 5:00 and won't you know, they are opening at 6:00 until they shut the doors. i decided to run in that area...let me tell you, there is little reprieve for houston humidity and heat even at 5 AM! that also meant that i ended up in the dark running by myself---the whole purpose for a gym. anyhow, i ran for an hour and then hit the gym for the rest of the run. i literally was drenched---and people wonder how i don't meet anyone! by the way, during my outdoor run i inhaled 3 gnats. delicious!

so tomorrow i'm going to visit a gym. i talked to the bally people on the phone today and they are charging me a cancelling fee. that just doesn't make any sense to me. the lady was trying to convince me to keep the membership and then drive 5 miles away from work. those extra 5 miles would result in an extra 15-20 minutes to my commute. i like a cheap gym, but i'm not crazy!!!!

sad day....

so i went to the gym this morning and the pool was closed. it has been high in chlorine recently so i wasn't too shocked. i put in a call a few minutes ago to see if it was fixed for the morning...i mean, it is difficult to get a long swim in without a pool!

the receptionist said that it is closed for good....not only the pool but the entire facility! now, i have always called this place my "ghetto bally's" but it has always been busy so i didn't anticipate a complete closure.

so i'm on the hunt for a new gym...and quickly...because not swimming for even a couple weeks is a bad thing. you get out of swimming shape super quickly!

anyone have any thoughts on LA Fitness vs. 24 hour fitness?!?!

hiking

i could have gotten on a plane to hike mt. kilimanjaro today....sad. so, the opportunity presented itself about a week and a half ago. gene alford's physical therapist has been planning this trip for months and i just got in contact with her. she was very willing to have me come with her.

after about 24 hours of thought, i decided i had to pass the opportunity up. it is difficult to just pick up and go when you have patients that depend on you being there. if i had a couple extra weeks, i think i could have made it happen. dr. varadhachary, the attending i work with the most, is moving to a new house in this time and is going to be out some. it just wasn't the best timing.

that said, i'm planning on next year. i know angie and jeff are interested in going. hopefully it will work. it would be a memorable trip! if no one that i know wants to go, then i will just go on my own....i am okay with that...

so right now i could be over the atlantic ocean....that would be nice...oh well!

p.s. i learned why triathlons go in the order swim, bike, and run today. i did a long run followed by a long swim. both sets had some sprints included. honestly, the swim felt more like drowning and i'm actually comfortable in the water. i really think that more people would drown if the swim wasn't first!!

who is your dinner buddy?

mine is wheel of fortune. most nights i get home from work just in time to turn on the tube and have a great dinner of whatever frozen dinner is up in the rotation. (i wish i were joking about that). i'm getting pretty good at the game....and i'm thinking about joining the wheel watcher's club. it's difficult for me to see those free trips given away every night...i'm not very lucky, but the chance is greater if i join.

does that make me 80?!?!?

half ironman #2

i signed up for another half ironman. some people will think i'm crazy (mom and dad), but i really enjoy working toward a goal and the variety of training that triathlon offers. so, the next one will be in oklahoma city on september 19th. this will be a little more of a commitment since i will have to take the day off work to drive there on friday. this is one of the rare triathlons that is on a saturday instead of a sunday. it is about a 7 hour drive...not horrible. i'm not sure if i'll hit the road right after the race and drive back that night to avoid another hotel stay or just drive back on sunday. we'll see.

i am excited to see a US city that i've never visited before. i think with this race i'm going to try to keep a tally of all the miles it takes to complete the race. we'll see how good i am at that, but it might make it more interesting. i'm doing a sprint triathlon in a couple of weeks as well. let's see how well my fast-twich muscles work after the distance training!