Last night's swim went well. Seems like I'm making progress every time I hit the pool, with much thanks and gratitude to Greg, the masters swimming coach. When I 1st started swimming with him, I was swimming 3 min / 100 with a certain amount of effort. I'm now swimming 2:20-2:30 with virtually no effort. Still slow by any standard, but major progress nonetheless, so I'm happy with it and look forward to continued massive improvement. That is, by the way, what keeps me going to the pool every Tuesday and Thursday night after work when there are about 100 other things I'd rather be doing.
When I got home from the pool it was running time, since I promised myself that I wasn't going to skip the workout. There's a man-made pond close to my house, and it's about a 1.5 mile trip out around the pond and back, so I took Kramer with me (of course). He used to be great for 3-4 miles. Unfortunately, after being a sedated, lifeless ball of fur for a month (see previous days musings), not so much anymore. He did great for the 1st 1.25. The last little bit we had a nice walk back. Of course, he was a trooper and got some nice, well-deserved water and treats when we got home. I then headed out for the rest of my run.
I inserted about 6 20 second accelerations into the rest of my run, with a few minutes in between each, to work on running form. Overall run was 45 minutes and 4.75 miles.
Since I have plans for tonight (see tomorrow's blog entry), this morning it was up early and on the bike on the trainer for a 45 minute recovery ride. Nothing too interesting to report, so on to the fun stuff.
More often than not, it's the little things in life that make all the difference. For my most recent example, let's discuss the aero bottle for a bit. It's a brilliantly thought of concept, making it really easy to drink while staying aero. It's a great little water bottle that fits right between the aero bars.
There's one little problem with the aero bottle - two actually, but I digress. Instead of having a top, it has a little yellow mesh-like thingamajig (yes - that's a perfectly acceptable technical term) that allows you to refill the bottle while on the go, and acts as a splash guard. What's the problem you ask? Well....if you ask anyone who has ever used one, they'll all give you the same answer. Two problems in fact:
1. Someone forgot to explain to the yellow thingamajig that it's supposed to act as a splash guard. Getting constantly splashed with water is not too bad I suppose. Having myself, my bike, my bike computer, and anything else within a 10 foot radius covered in gatorade is a bit more unpleasant.
2. Someone forgot to explain to the yellow thingamajig that it's supposed to stay in the bottle. Apparently the thingamajig has it's own agenda and would rather be lying on the road than staying in the bottle, because all it takes is going over a really small bump and it's long gone. It's actually pretty funny to see the road covered in yellow thingamajigs at some races.
What's the solution? After doing quite a bit of research (translation - searching the forum on beginnertrathlete.com), I found the ideal solution: the shower poofything (again, a technical term)
The shower poofything does an ideal job at both keeping itself and the water/gatorade in the bottle. I realize that some of you reading this right now are thinking, "DUH....doesn't everyone know that?" Well, to me this has been an earthshattering discovery, so let me enjoy it for a bit.....
Tri bike: Way too much $
AeroDrink: $14.95
Aerobracket: $11.95
Replacement parts kit with yellow thingamajig: $7.00
Gatorade Endurance: 3 for $4.00
Shower poofything: $0.94
Ability to ride without being a sticky mess from gatorade splashing all over me: PRICELESS
Ah yes, sometimes it's the little things in life.
Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure.
PS - Lori - a minor thought: using the shower poofie thing in the shower would probably have about the same result as using my razor on your legs without telling me: really really really bad consequences!!!! :)
2 comments:
Now I didnt know about the shower sponge, but I like it.
I do know that if you turn the yellow thingy sideways and stick it in the top aero bottle it wont pop out, but still splashes..so with the shower thing not splashing, Im gonna try that one.
Now I just have to tape the dang drink tube so I dont suck so much air..
rockon`
you can also (and I didn't come up with this -Jetpack did) simply zipchord the yellow thingy to the straw...looks like it works for him - I discarded mine 2 years ago and live with the mess....
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