About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
I'll make you laugh, or break my neck trying. This is usually accomplished with daily bouts of swimming, biking and running. A former "chub-a-holic," I got fit and healthy the good old fashioned way and went from a mid-pack athlete to top age group runner and triathlete. I'm a Writer and USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach. I guess that makes me part Tina Fey and part Jillian Michaels. Visit my coaching site at www.fomotraining.com

Saturday, March 17, 2007

A Different Kind of Ride

I met Shannon dark and early on Friday morning at Barton Springs for a return to the adventures of aqua-jogging. We ended up "jogging" for about 1 hr 15min, which is a pretty damn good workout. She was in a normal bathing suit and I was in my full wetsuit--and still bitching about being cold. I'm such a wuss.


After we finished our aqua-jog, I had planned to swim at least two laps. I'm not sure if it was a combination of factors, but after 1 1/2, I was mentally and physically done. I think the jog took more out of me than I thought. Plus, it really had been a hard workout week. My time for the first lap was still good for me (9:06), but it was a harder effort than I was hoping. It didn't help that the water quality measured "icky" on the scale clean to murky. Time to start working on endurance. We even suggested the idea of swimming first next time to see how it goes.


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Saturday was a new adventure all together. I suspended my usual Saturday morning long run routine for a different adrenaline flow all together. We are the new proud owners of a "gently used" Midnight Blue Vespa LX150 and both Shawn and I took motorcycle/scooter beginner rider courses all day today! We were in the same class as people learning how to ride a motorcycle, so I looked pretty goofy on my borrowed bright yellow scooter, but I truly didn't care! Once I got over the initial fear of the bike weight, throttle and turns, the day turned out to be pretty darn fun. It kinda was like learning to ride a tri bike while clipped into the pedals. Once you get used to the feel, everything becomes second nature. It made us both feel like kids again and I know we're excited to hit the roads of Austin soon enough. And when I say, "hit the roads," I don't mean that literally. That would not be good. It just makes perfect sense since we live so close to downtown, the Hike and Bike Trail, my job, etc. Pretty much everything I do is within a 3 mile radius so hopping on a scooter to go downtown makes perfect sense--especially for parking purposes. Can't wait!!
Learning something new like that is mentally and physically taxing, but it's no marathon. At 7pm tonight, we went out for a 5 mile run to unwind from an adventure-filled day. We have 5 more hours of controlled riding and lessons tomorrow and then it's all up to us!



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

when i moved to austin i had a bright red honda scooter. i rode it for close to 5 years. i loved it! j

greyhound said...

One of the only things I really don't like about my current situation is that I'm condemned to suburban Houston commuter hell. It seems like I'm always 25 miles from where I need to be, and the City is desigend specifically to kill pedestrians, cyclists, or anyone motoring about in something less than a Hummer.

Paco said...

I am picturing you on you scooter heading downtown with helmet on and "Born to Be Wild" playing...very cool!