Team Swiftwick

I can’t seem to keep up. It’s not that I don’t have time to blog, it’s that I’m not making time to do so. I really enjoy writing, but I have definitely liked the break. And I haven’t had many pictures to add, which makes multiple wordy blogs in a row seem so boring.

I got to be a part of Team Swiftwick this morning for the Nashville Women’s Half Marathon. We met dark and early, but if I’d have had my phone out I’d have taken a picture of the sunrise—it was beautiful, and we got to enjoy it while we were getting our assignments and last-minute details for the race. We headed over for the start, listened to the national anthem, and then were off. My job was to carry a radio, ride behind the leader with the 2nd or 3rd or whatever place girl (if they weren’t all together), and communicate with the race organizers at the finish line where the ladies I was with were and who was who. I rode mostly with the 2nd place girl and radioed to the finish line her number and when she passed each mile marker. I also could hear what the leader’s times at each mile marker were, so I could get a read on splits if she wanted them. She never asked, but she was never really out of sight of the leader. I really enjoy supported races this way—you get to see the race from such a different perspective than if you were racing.

My next assignment (after breakfast!) was to just roam the course, cheer for the women who were still on the course, and help anyone if necessary. All told, I was on the bike 4 hours and covered 30 miles. Quite likely the slowest 30 miles I’ve ever done on the bike, but it was faster than I’d have done had I been running! I headed back to the car as the final couple women were finishing and didn’t see the last one finish, but a couple of the other Team Swiftwick women stayed to support her and cheer for her.

Stats from the ride (though I missed at least 20 minutes at the start of the race):

• 24.58 miles, 2:55:43, 8.4 mph (22.4 max), 77 HR (149 max), 2621’ ascent, 2621’ descent

Kat and I then headed back downtown to visit the Frist Center for the Arts. It was something like Smithsonian National Museum day, and I got 2 free tickets for the museum. I had never been and neither had Kat, so we took advantage of the freebie. They had 3 exhibits that we enjoyed.

Exhibit 1

The first was the kids’ place, where we drew a conch shell (as well as we could), admired some kids’ artwork, and drew pictures that were then printed in reverse. As we continued through the museum, we were happy we started with those drawings so we appreciated the paintings even more!

Exhibit 2

The second exhibit was something I didn’t understand about a woman who creates buildings with cardboard and films herself in them in mystery stories. I’m sure there is more to it than that, but I didn’t get it.

Exhibit 3

The final exhibit was a set of paintings from the time of Jesus—his birth and young days, his ministry days, and his disciples. They were really well done, and a couple had interactive pieces that the museum had added (like a comparison of 2 pictures of Jesus as a baby: one was a poor Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, and the other was them as wealthy. Below each print were four textured materials so you could feel the difference in the portrayals.). We also appreciated the description of how they made paints and what materials they used. Then we headed back to the cars, way too late for lunch and quite hungry!

Thursday, Val and I met for a walk at lunch and then Anna S and I met at her house for a run and walk after work—it was absolutely beautiful out, and I was so happy to have spent a couple hours just enjoying the sunshine. I did my 5 on, 5 off thru 40 workout thru the day but can’t remember the exercises I completed.

Friday, I took BB in to Todd for a fitting. I’d only ridden twice since I’d had the bike, and the setup desperately needed some tweaking. He got me all set up, and my next couple rides felt great. Val, Jeremy, Anna M, and I met to ride the race course we did on Saturday and got in a short but fun urban assault. Then it was off to the Farkases’ to chill with the fam for a while.