A Good Mistake

I was looking at the times for the Half Ironman last year at White Lake a few days ago. I started figuring out how fast the top women were running a mile and mph on the bike. The bike course is very flat for this race. When I calculated the bike time of 31 mph I about fainted. Then I felt depressed, even with my new Litespeed, I could never ride that fast....maybe down a hill! I started imagining these Speed Racer's whizzing past me. Then I felt bad my husband bought me the new bike because I'd probably come in last.

I went into the bike shop today to get an odometer and a swim cap. I talked to Charlie about the top women's bike times last year. How do you get good enough to ride at 31 mph for 56 miles? He looked at me like I was nuts, 31 mph? So he pulled up the website. I said "See!!She finished the bike in one hour and forty-five minutes!" Charlie replied"You are looking at the run time.." I felt like a dumbass but I was also happy inside. Their average mph was actually 19.5 mph. I doesn't seem as scary as 31 mph, some mistakes aren't always bad.

I have never timed myself when I run. My swim friends and I have started timing ourselves swimming. I think I am afraid of the time because it's the "in your face facts". I decided today was the day to time one mile. I set up the stopwatch on my mp3 player after I ran 3 miles. The end of "Teenage Wasteland" was playing, it was nice and fast. At the half mile mark "Back In the High Life Again" came on and it sounded too slow. Next time I sprint a mile, I will cue up good tunes. I had 3/4 of the mile completed when my husband jumped out of the bushes, started running behind me and was grabbing my ass. I got all pissy "Cut that shit out, I'm timing myself" and swatted him away. I ran really hard then because I felt I lost a few precious seconds because of his surprise. I finished the mile in 6:59 and I was happy. So I turned around expecting him to be there to share my good news but he was gone. I ran to the parking lot at the park and he was getting into his truck. My happiness about the timed mile didn't matter anymore. Sometimes, I take my training too seriously. I felt bad I had hurt his feelings. What if he'd left and got into a car accident? My last words to him would have been mean. He came to the park to surprise me and show me he cared, I should have shown him the same love and respect. There is always another mile to run, lap to swim, hill to climb. Would any of it matter if I didn't have anyone to share my victories and failures with? I think that was my lesson today.

After discussing my crunchy pool hair with other soapmakers, I decided the swim cap and wetting my hair with tap water/applying conditioner before the swim is the best way to prevent damage. I'm going to work on making a deep conditioner and a sprayable leave into conditioner today. Before I do that, I have to clean up pots and pans from my last batch of goat's milk lotion in the soap shack. I love creating but hate the follow through of clean up. By the way, the protein/energy bars I made yesterday rock! If anybody wants, I'll post the recipe. And I did clean up the kitchen after making them! :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recipe for the protein bars

KG's Energy Bars

2 c Grape Nuts

2 c quick oats (uncooked)

1/2 c honey roasted peanuts

1/2 c sunflower seeds (with shells removed)

1/2 c soy nuts, chopped

1/2 c slivered almonds(toasted)

3 tbsp wheat germ

2 scoops of vanilla protein powder

1.5 c brown rice syrup or dark corn syrup

1/4 c brown sugar

1 c peanut butter

1/2 c M&M (optional)

1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13" X 9" pan with cooking spray.Mix the first 7 ingredients (Grape Nuts thru wheat germ) in a large bowl. Put the syrup, peanut butter and sugar in a saucepan. Cook on stovetop on medium until peanut butter is melted. Pour warm mixture over dry ingredients.Use a large spoon to beat the ingredients until thoroughly mixed.Add the M&M's and raisins. Wait just a couple of minutes before doing this so that the syrup does not melt the M&Ms.Pour into 13" X 9" pan and spread out evenly over the pan. Bake for about 8 minutes and them allow to cool for an hour or two before attempting to cut squares.