New Leaf

Caleb wanted in on the leaf fun

My new car!

I replaced my 10-year-old PT Cruiser with a brand new Nissan Leaf this weekend. Woot! So far, one day in, I am loving it :-) It will be an adventure, figuring out where and when to charge it and learning its limitations. But I'm still pretty excited. No gas? Yes, please!

Milestone

I hit another milestone on my car today: 150,000 miles. I hit 100,000 at Thanksgiving in 2009, so that means I put 50,000 miles on my car in less than 3 years. Yikes!

150,000 miles, May 2012

New Tires

Saturday and Sunday turned out to be decent days. However, both started out cold, which changed my riding plans on Saturday. Instead of meeting Shelly and Val at the Y, I got up early and rode for 1:30 on the trainer. I had hoped for 2 hours but still wanted to meet them to say hi, so I did a shorter pyramid than a couple weeks ago. Today: 10-minute warm up, 5-minute tempo, 5-minute recovery, 10-minute tempo, 5-minute recovery, 15-minute tempo, 5-minute recovery, 10-minute tempo, 5-minute recovery, 5-minute tempo, 15-minute cool down for 90 solid minutes of riding. Then I headed to the MFY parking lot to chat for a few minutes and then inside for 60 minutes on the step mill and a few minutes of lifting (real lifting, like on the machines, not isos like normal). I can’t run and still ride well, but I want to stay in good running shape, and the step mill doesn’t seem to be affecting my legs like the treadmill or pavement. I haven’t really tested my legs to see whether they’re in running shape, but I certainly feel like I’m getting a good workout in on the step mill.

After all that and some research on the computer, I went to Discount Tire to get new tires for my car. They took care of me well enough last time I needed new tires, and today was the same. They had the tires I wanted, they got my car into the garage pretty quickly, they let me watch the whole then, and I was in and out in about an hour.

No tires...

And they're back on and almost done

Church later included a good message about the difference between religion (your basic good works) and the gospel (God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice and my obedience). Bill summed it up by saying essentially that with religion, “I obey, therefore I am accepted”; whereas with the gospel, “I am accepted, therefore I obey.” We really can’t ever do enough to actually earn acceptance because we are inherently sinners, but Jesus took away that shame and our deserved death penalty so that we can be loved and accepted—in thankfulness and love for Him, I obey.

I had a movie to watch then, Forever Strong. It’s about rugby and a rugby coach who takes boys and trains them to be good teammates and good men. I’d highly recommend it, and I know slightly more about rugby now than I did yesterday :-)

Sunday was another chilly morning and I’d planned to spend a little time training before our team ride, but I didn’t get out of the house early enough and instead got breakfast from Kroger (complementary brunch on Sunday mornings!) and then went to Todd’s studio. Todd, Val, Anna, Parri, Lee, a possible new recruit Jess, and I (with Shelly meeting us on the road) headed out to Metro Center for fantastic teamwork practice and sprint work and then out to Titans Stadium for tough cornering work. Our first race of the season is next Sunday, and we all need work on taking fast tight turns with other people around. A course that we’ll be racing on is the best place to practice, and practicing with people we know and trust makes it much easier to begin to feel comfortable at a fast pace in a slightly dangerous situation.

Lots of back and forth and around and around

The day ended up being beautiful, perfect for a team ride, and I thought perfect for a hike. Sadly, everyone else in Davidson and Williamson counties thought the same thing about the hike. I stopped at Radnor Lake on my way home from downtown hoping to get a parking spot, but there were 5 cars in front of me and no one was moving—everyone at the park wanted to stay at the park! Instead I walked around a parking lot in Brentwood, staying in the sun, for a few minutes and headed home. It’s just not the same.

Body Pump

No crack—I can see clearly through my windshield and smile!

After my 10×30sec workout tonight, I decided to go to Body Pump. Anna S has been going and said it was a good workout, so I tried it. I'm not sure why I was thinking that I might do OK in that class after the hard workout, but I thought that going in and realized coming out that I'd been quite wrong. The class was hard, and it involved a lot of squatting and lunging and push ups, which I had just done. Nonetheless, I did all the exercises (sets, I think the instructor called them), albeit without weight on some lunges and squats.

I will probably go back—to get in some different workouts and to remember why I appreciate Will and his workouts. This class seemed to have no purpose, so I had a harder time focusing than normal. But unlike with pilates, I'm willing to give this a few more chances.

On another note, I finally got my windshield replaced after months of having a crack from the January snow and February car adventures. Getting car things taken care of is the thing I hate the most about being an adult, which is why I put this off. But I now have a new windshield, and the people at Safelite made me happy when I left!

Blue Lightning's Sad Adventure

Yesterday is past, thankfully. However, today I have to deal with yesterday's drama. My car broke down during the snow storm, and though I made it safely to a gas station, I had to get it towed from there to a shop today because the car is completely undrivable. The left wheel just won't turn with the steering wheel, and that made it very challenging for Roger, the Harpeth Towing driver who so graciously towed me (thank you, AAA, for towing coverage!). There was some serious maneuvering going on with chains, pulleys, and winches, and I had to sit behind the steering wheel to help at least one wheel (the one that would listen to the steering wheel) stay straight so that we could get it on to the truck.

Roger trying to hook up my car; he couldn't get it to go straight and line up with the truck bed, so he had to winch it up

Poor little blue :'( 

After everything that happened yesterday, my crazy long drive over very slippery roads seeing lots of people having hit guard rails, be completely stuck, or abandon their cars, I know that God was protecting me from that. I don't know why, but I'm grateful. And I can honestly say I don't know how I would've made it to the BP had he not been directing my car. With one wheel not reacting and the other sliding on the ice, there's no reason I didn't have to get my car pulled from the ditch (rather than from a safe parking spot in a gas station 1 mile from home) except that God protected me. I am so grateful for His care and protection.

My car is currently at the shop, and I'm sitting here hoping and praying that it's only the tie rod and that it will be quick and cheap to fix. but I really have no idea how something like that breaks (though at least 2 people asked me whether I hit a curb, so I'm guessing that can cause it) nor how it's fixed.

Thank You, God, for protection!

Worst. Drive. Ever.

Today's drive home from work was a nightmare. Work was fine, I went to DHY at lunch with no problems, then the snow came and 3:40. It came hard and fast, and it froze immediately. Meaning that the roads were pretty much ice. My 20-mile drive from work to home usually takes me 20 minutes since it's nearly all at highway speeds. It's taken me up to an hour before if there are wrecks, but I usually beat the rush and am on the road for no more than 20–30 minutes. Today, on the other hand, was awful. I left work at 4 o'clock along with what seemed like the rest of Nashville, Franklin, and Brentwood.

With more people on the road than normal and slick driving conditions, I spent 2:45 on the road and didn't make it home. I have a little hill to drive up to get to my apartment complex, and then immediately in my complex there's a downhill leading to our buildings. I'd already decided to not drive into my complex because I knew if I went in it would be difficult to get out. I pulled into a gas station, and it was like pulling teeth to get my car to move where and how I wanted it to. I thought I was just sliding, but no one else looked like they were struggling as much as I was. I parked and called Dad. And pretty much finally let go of the last 2:45 when I hadn't had time to think of how long this short drive was taking me and how slippery it was and how slick and unsafe it really was.

Dad had pretty much convinced me that it was OK to have been stressed and that it was OK to leave the car and walk home (3/4 mile) and get my car tomorrow, provided it would drive alright. I was so close to home and parked in a safe place (I thought, except that while I was on the phone I nearly got hit by a Mustang), so I gathered up my stuff and set out to walk home. Then I looked back at my car and realized why it really wasn't doing what I told it to do—the driver's side wheel was as it should have been, in line with the steering wheel; the passenger's side wheel, on the other hand, was turned completely to the left as if I'd left my steering wheel turned all the way. I then called Dad back and said, "Dad, there's a major problem here!"

 Driver's side wheel--aligned with the steering wheel

Passenger's side wheel--off on its own, doing its own thing, causing me to slip-slide along

There wasn't anything I could do at the time, so I just left my car and walked home. Dad said it was probably the tie rod and I could wait to call AAA (because they would be super busy today!) until tomorrow. So finally, 3:30 after leaving work, I made it home. And trust me, all I wanted to do was go to sleep, but instead I began my 10×30sec workout, doing what I could while on the phone.

• Lunge L, R 6×30
• Standing ham 10×30
• Push up on the wall 10×30

It still took me forever to settle down, but I finally made it to sleep knowing I wouldn't be going to Todd's class or to work in the morning.

Week Recap + Run

Isabelle, MaryVonne, Angela, Michelle, Robin, Jason

Susan, Randy, Jen-Luc, Isabelle, MaryVonne, Angela

Lucy, Judy, Gavin, Katie, Marilyn, Randy

Robin and Michelle hard at work sorting photos; Jason and Mike watching ESPN

Car milestone: 100,000 miles!

This week was fantastic--I love my family and being able to spend Thanksgiving with them! We did a lot but it seems like not much:

• Sisters were both there, which was great fun!
• We went through Mom's 8 boxes of photos, 4 of which returned to TN with me.
• We played lots of games: Uno Attack, Catch Phrase, Pictionary, the Name Game, and more.
• R, AJudy, and I did a little shopping.
• We all helped put up the Christmas decorations.
• I did a few workouts (Wed. AM with Will; Thurs. AM 5 minutes lunge R [2:36] L [1:36], wall squat, standing ham, curl, push up; Fri. AM 100 altitude drops lunge, standing ham, wall squat, bench, bentover barbell row; Sat. throughout the day 5 minutes wall squat (4:08), lunge, standing ham).
• We enjoyed the traditional foods: Pizza for Wed. supper; sandwiches and turkey/beans/mashed potatoes/corn/rolls/amazing desserts for Thurs.; La Gandola spaghetti and lasagna for Fri. supper.
• M and I worked on a little project.
• I went through M's clothes and practically doubled my wardrobe!

Since I got home yesterday, I was hoping it would work out to run. It didn't, so we went today. Thankfully it was earlier than we'd gone last week and I was riding later, so I had time to nap between!

Here are the results from today and the last three times (Nov. 21, Nov 14, and Nov 1):

• 15:07, 2.33 miles, 6:30 pace, 153 HR (186 max); 10:52, 1.84 miles, 5:54 pace, 146 HR (185 max); 10:39, 1.79 miles, 5:58 pace, 137 HR (200 max); 8 minutes, 1.33 miles, 6:03 pace, 150 HR (197 max) HR
• Lap 1: 2:16, 5:58 pace (5:09 best), 0.38 miles; 2:28, 5:55 pace (4:54 best), 0.42 miles; 1:48, 5:33 pace (4:57 best), 0.33 miles; 1:26, 6:00 pace (5:14 best), 0.25 miles
• Lap 2: 1:02, 5:53 pace (4:53 best), 0.18 miles; 1:58, 5:59 pace (5:21 best), 0.33 miles; 1:56, 5:55 pace (4:55 best), 0.33 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 3: 2:02, 5:57 pace (5:12 best), 0.34 miles + 00:42, 7:33 pace (6:06 best), 500 feet; 1:33, 5:59 pace (5:24 best), 0.26 miles; 1:41, 5:48 pace (4:51 best), 0.29 miles; 5:22 best pace
• Lap 4: 2:39, 6:27 pace (5:38 best), 0.41 miles; 1:37, 5:36 pace (4:22 best), 0.29 miles; 1:39, 5:39 pace (4:53 best), 0.29 miles; 1:27, 6:03 pace (5:25 best), 0.25 mi
• Lap 5: 3:15, 6:44 pace (5:41 best), 0.48 miles; 1:56, 6:08 pace (5:18 best), 0.32 miles; 1:58, 7:16 pace (2:42 best!?!?), 0.27 miles; 1:28, 5:42 pace (5:03 best), 0.26 mi
• Lap 6: 3:09, 7:11 pace (5:43 best), 0.44 miles; 1:19, 5:44 pace (5:16 best), 0.23 miles; 1:34, 5:45 pace (5:20 best), 0.27 miles; 1:10, 5:54 pace (5:08 best), 0.20 mi

Will decided we'd not count Lap 2; good thing. On that one, I just quit. For no reason. Then I wanted to leave. Thankfully, we didn't, and I was happy we didn't leave. I felt tight the entire run--not comfortable running--and I obviously got progressively slower. Not that I was running all that slow anyway, it just felt slow for some reason. Today I was glad for a coach making me work hard. If it had been a race, I would have had to find a way to push through (I said I would have gone slower), so I just bore down and ran on. My goal is to run a fast mile, but I know I can't get there yet and it feels kind of overwhelming. It helped today for the last 4 lap that Will said, "Just run to me." That was better, because I had a destination (albeit moving). Lap 2 I split where I felt like I was slowing down; the change in pace is evidence that I was. After Lap 5 and before I looked at time or distance, I said that felt like a pace I could keep for a mile (6:30 according to distance).

We ending up riding outside despite the threat of rain, and it turned out to be nicer than I'd expected. It still required multiple layers and it started getting dark at the end, but we didn't get rained on. It was a good group of riders: Lisa C, Lisa S, Parri, Jen, Anna, Jonell, Robert, Cali, Valerie, and me. We had a great ride until less than a mile from Lisa's house, when a driver pulled out from a side street directly in front of Anna and she fell. Fortunately she wasn't hit and wasn't hurt badly, but it's never fun to fall! She got back on her bike and rode the rest of the way to Lisa's, where we enjoyed cookies for Jonell's birthday. Yum!

• 2:12 total (it was SIGNIFICANTLY windier this week!)
• 38.44 miles (and we obviously changed the route slightly, since it's been about 35 miles)
• 17.3 average (37.7 max)
• 165 HR (193 max)