First Triathlon update:
My first race was on June 3rd. It was wee - 500 m swim, 16 km bike, 3 km run. I learned that thou shalt not race is cotton shorts. You're never really dry in a triathlon, and wet cotton shorts lead to terrible chaffing. The insides of my thighs actually had teeny little scabs on them the next day. My time was 1 hour and 24 minutes - adequate. I was dead last in my age category, though, mostly because of my bike time. I'm not a great cyclist in the first place, and I have an old, heavy mountain bike, which doesn't help. For next year, I will buy a new bike. For now, I'll be pokey. The run actually went quite well, although I use the term "run" loosely. I was not dead last in it, even though I walked about half of it, and it only took me 20 minutes. Training runs where I'd tried to "run" more had averaged slower times than that. Huh. The swim wasn't up to my usual standards either. I'm actually a pretty good swimmer, but it took me almost 14 minutes to swim that distance. Lame! Like, barely passed Bronze Cross lame. I blame the pirate party the previous night - it was wicked fun and I'm glad I went, but I didn't exactly get a full night's sleep the night before the race. And no, I wasn't hung over. I didn't drink the evil blue grog. I drank six beer and one tequila shot between 9:00 pm and 2:00 am. Anyway, all in all I had a lot of fun and I want to do more of these. So I signed up for another on on June 17th.
"Second" Triathlon update:
I road my bike to and from work for a bunch of the days in between the two races in an attempt to start sucking less at cycling. I live in the Bowness area and work in Marda Loop, so the trip there is a real workout. Home is all downhill. Wee! My husband also starting riding his bike to work during this time. He works downtown, so there's no big hill, but he discovered he can actually get there faster by biking than if he takes the bus. Cool. However, his bike turned out to be extra crappy (wheel falls off 'cause the frame's bent) so he got a new one this week. He's pleased with it.
As far as the actual race goes, I was supposed to be swimming 750 m in Arbour Lake, and biking 20 km and running 5 km in the general vicinity of it. Does anybody remember what the weather was like in Calgary on the 17th of June? It was total ass. Windy, pouring rain, and 6 degrees (Celsius) at the time I was supposed to start racing. I had a wet suit, so the swim probably would've been fine, but spending the next hour and a half to two hours after the swim still soaking wet and freezing was more hardship than I had signed up for. I bailed. I was far from the only one to do so, but I still felt bad about it.
I may do another race in Edmonton on the 26th of August, but I can't actually register for that one until we get our performance dates for Edmonton Fringe. Sigh.
And yes, Scorpio Theatre will be at the Edmonton Fringe (and the Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary Fringes) with a show called Sacrilicious! I'll post details once we have them all. The tour means I can't do any races for the rest of the summer, but I can still run, which is what I'm doing. I can actually run for 20 minutes now, and I can go about three kilometres in that time, so I'm up to my earlier race efficiency without the walking in the middle. Yay!
I am stage managing this show, not acting in it. There was a brief time when I thought I might be acting in it, but I don't think anyone (including me) was surprised when the director chose the other option. Sigh. Anyway, I found an interesting stage manager quote the other day, which I will leave you with.
"Perhaps, therefore, ideal stage managers not only need to be calm and meticulous professionals who know their craft, but masochists who feel pride in rising above impossible odds."
- Sir Peter Hall, director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
My first race was on June 3rd. It was wee - 500 m swim, 16 km bike, 3 km run. I learned that thou shalt not race is cotton shorts. You're never really dry in a triathlon, and wet cotton shorts lead to terrible chaffing. The insides of my thighs actually had teeny little scabs on them the next day. My time was 1 hour and 24 minutes - adequate. I was dead last in my age category, though, mostly because of my bike time. I'm not a great cyclist in the first place, and I have an old, heavy mountain bike, which doesn't help. For next year, I will buy a new bike. For now, I'll be pokey. The run actually went quite well, although I use the term "run" loosely. I was not dead last in it, even though I walked about half of it, and it only took me 20 minutes. Training runs where I'd tried to "run" more had averaged slower times than that. Huh. The swim wasn't up to my usual standards either. I'm actually a pretty good swimmer, but it took me almost 14 minutes to swim that distance. Lame! Like, barely passed Bronze Cross lame. I blame the pirate party the previous night - it was wicked fun and I'm glad I went, but I didn't exactly get a full night's sleep the night before the race. And no, I wasn't hung over. I didn't drink the evil blue grog. I drank six beer and one tequila shot between 9:00 pm and 2:00 am. Anyway, all in all I had a lot of fun and I want to do more of these. So I signed up for another on on June 17th.
"Second" Triathlon update:
I road my bike to and from work for a bunch of the days in between the two races in an attempt to start sucking less at cycling. I live in the Bowness area and work in Marda Loop, so the trip there is a real workout. Home is all downhill. Wee! My husband also starting riding his bike to work during this time. He works downtown, so there's no big hill, but he discovered he can actually get there faster by biking than if he takes the bus. Cool. However, his bike turned out to be extra crappy (wheel falls off 'cause the frame's bent) so he got a new one this week. He's pleased with it.
As far as the actual race goes, I was supposed to be swimming 750 m in Arbour Lake, and biking 20 km and running 5 km in the general vicinity of it. Does anybody remember what the weather was like in Calgary on the 17th of June? It was total ass. Windy, pouring rain, and 6 degrees (Celsius) at the time I was supposed to start racing. I had a wet suit, so the swim probably would've been fine, but spending the next hour and a half to two hours after the swim still soaking wet and freezing was more hardship than I had signed up for. I bailed. I was far from the only one to do so, but I still felt bad about it.
I may do another race in Edmonton on the 26th of August, but I can't actually register for that one until we get our performance dates for Edmonton Fringe. Sigh.
And yes, Scorpio Theatre will be at the Edmonton Fringe (and the Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary Fringes) with a show called Sacrilicious! I'll post details once we have them all. The tour means I can't do any races for the rest of the summer, but I can still run, which is what I'm doing. I can actually run for 20 minutes now, and I can go about three kilometres in that time, so I'm up to my earlier race efficiency without the walking in the middle. Yay!
I am stage managing this show, not acting in it. There was a brief time when I thought I might be acting in it, but I don't think anyone (including me) was surprised when the director chose the other option. Sigh. Anyway, I found an interesting stage manager quote the other day, which I will leave you with.
"Perhaps, therefore, ideal stage managers not only need to be calm and meticulous professionals who know their craft, but masochists who feel pride in rising above impossible odds."
- Sir Peter Hall, director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
We should do the 20 minute challenge run thing in Winnipeg on the 18th. Yay running!