Learning to Ride a Bike (Again)

The street kids breeze by on their bicycles, elated to be done with school and feeling the warm air on a sunny, summer Martha's Vineyard June day. "Watch out for the car!," exclaims one particularly cautious and smart kid.

I am patiently trying to help my wonderful husband Mike, who doubles as a bike mechanic, with my new pedals and pearly white bike shoes. They will finally make their way out of their box, where they have lived for the last 2 months since the delivery of one of our many Bike Nashbar purchases. I had decided to use toe clip (basket) pedals for my first tri for faster transition times -- and I had enough new gear to worry about and practice in.

Mike still reminisces about his summer job in a bicycle shop on Martha's Vineyard every time we pass by Ray Cutler's bike shop in downtown Edgartown. Ray is long gone but his name remains - last time we saw him wandering the quaint, red brick streets of our home away from home, he was partially paralysed from a stroke but seemed happy living on his boat in the azure blue harbor of millionaires. I'm sure he regularly gave the happy boater wave with the side of his body that worked to Walter Kronite, whose house and boats occupied the same marina when he graced the earth.

Mike has learned a lot since he walked in as just another scrappy 16 year old looking for a job. "Do you know anything about repairing bikes?", and so the interview went. "Oh sure," he fibbed. "You're hired.". Of course, the facts to the contrary soon became apparent as Ray scoffed, "I thought you said you'd done this before.". But, thanks to Ray who inevitably said the same thing to every teenage hire, Mike became his apprentice for the summer. And so every year when we pass by the shop, Mike stops and tells this story to the newest 16 year old apprentice who grins in familiar confirmation.

So, we are almost done with the latest mechanical project but the very last screw in the shoe is amiss. After 15 minutes of tiny hands (mine) and strong hands (his), we come to the conclusion this just isn't working. We find an alternative set of screws and, voila. Sometimes you just have to keep trying;)

I'm now ready for my inaugural ride -- I'll finally be a real and official bicycle rider. I don my yellow Nike Tour de France jersey for the occasion. I purchased it in France when I was serendipitously in Paris for last year's Champs Elysee finale.

Mike follows me to the street where I will take some practice runs at getting in and out of the clip on pedals that until this year I had said, "no thanks." But, as long as I'm trying the tri, what's one more new thing to try?

He holds me steady while I attempt to click in my left foot. It takes a few tries, but then I announce "I'm in". Now, the harder part is the right foot that just doesn't want to click. I let out small cries of worry that I'm going to fall over and Mike assures me that he's got me. Finally, "click" and then I have no choice but to go.

"Just ride...you know how to ride a bike...go down to the V where you can turn around without stopping.". Uh...ok...I do as I'm told, and when I return, he's there ready to catch me but I successfully click out and stop without the aid.

Feeling I've got it, I go to the other end of the street where there is no V. I realize a little too late that I won't be able to make a sharp enough turn with both feet firmly clamped in. I turn into the mossy grass and feel myself falling over. At the last minute, my left foot unclicks and I save the fall. Hmmm....more practice needed.

Five more successful ins and outs and I feel ready to go. "Which way?" Mike inquires. "Whichever way we don't have to stop," I declare. We head out on the bike path down to South Beach.

During the stretch through town, there is one small incident in which I don't want to stop at the stop sign and neither does the car at the intersection. I win and he honks. Mike is not pleased. Note to self, get ready to stop earlier next time. And, purchase and wear a sign: "Student driver aboard. Please be patient."

We finally are full speed ahead and my legs feel like they are working harder than ever. I can feel the power of the extra pull up. "Wahoo - 21 mph Mike calls out.". He's thrilled with my new ability to keep up.

We keep up the pace as we pass by the big open sheep grazing Katama meadow and turn right on the road paralleling South Beach and then right again to make our way pass the grass runway airport. I feel like I'm gliding just like the no engine plane that takes off from there. Heading back, we are at 38:23 when we hit the 10 mile mark (my time in the tri was 40:01 and this ride has included some slow town parts).

I feel like a kid again, having learned my latest trick in record speed, averaging over 15 mph on the entire 12.2 mile ride. Next time, I'll just heed the advice of the smart street kid to watch out for the car.

What We Did Right

For all of you beginner triathletes:
Summarizing the things I did right...
-Download a workout plan & modify it to your needs.
-If you're not a swimmer, take lessons, get good goggles and ear plugs if needed.
-Use "Swim Ear" to prevent ear infections and dry up water in your ears.
-Build up your workouts gradually, stick to the 10% rule.
-Do core training and light weight lifting.
-Buy a wetsuit that is right for your individual preferences.
-Don't panic if you miss a workout - after every 6 weeks of training your body need a "rest week".
-Have a good bike mechanic.
-Research what type of fuel and hydration work best for you prior to the event.
-Eat as much "real food" as possible.  Avoid processed food and look for natural ingredients.

Cathy asked me if I have any new triathons planned and I do not, but I'd like to do the Everybody's Tri in NJ next year.  My body needs a break from "training mode" for a while.  I'm considering doing a 25 mile bike ride here in Lebanon County at the end of August though.  I took a full week and a half off, thanks to a nasty chest cold I got after Quakertown.  My husband said I had swamp fever from eating lake water!  But I needed that break, and I'm easing back into a new workout routine focusing on some aerobic exercise followed by strengthening my leg muscles (hamstrings and hip abductors/adductors).  This should be good for my knee and also my back.  Swimming this week seemed daunting and I was afraid I had lost all of my breathing technique after such a long break, but it felt surprisingly good.  I wanted to jump out of the pool and yell, "I'm a swimmer now, go me!"
I'm happy for Cathy in her new found enjoyment of sport.  I, on the other hand, have been playing sports all my life, and am content to just be in shape these days.  During track, I would always put in extra hours - I started my workouts 2 weeks before the season and spent weekends working on my hurdle form.  Field hockey, track, basketball, years of running, and even playing street hockey with our 3 boys has kept me in shape.  After I had Derrick, I did exercise TV shows like Gil Janklowicz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT-aH36JFXo  in my living room.  I ran in the evenings, took D for long stroller walks, and was in my "skinny clothes" by 2 months.  Whenever I see movie stars on the cover of a magazine boasting about their post-baby accomplishments I think, "big deal".  I did it without a personal trainer or private chef!
 Now I just do exercise because I enjoy it.  Training for the triathlon was so much fun because I didn't get bored working on 3 different events.  The whole experience has renewed my enjoyment of the training process, and it was good to do something for myself again.  I plan to continue triathlons, but in order to save my joints, probably just one a year.  

Analyzing the Results

When people ask me how I did in the race, I'm pleased to say I was #1 for my state. Of course, I was the only Connecticut Yankee in the race. It's kind of like the Jamaican bobsled team theory. Of course, as I've said all along, I was just going to enjoy the journey and my real hope was just to finish and I did both.

My challenges in the swim impacted the rest of the race as time went on. Ok, I wasn't the slowest swimmer of the 269 participants and at least I didn't have to call it quits like the poor woman I encountered, but I was in the very tail end of the swim pack and the energy I expended really impacted the rest of my race as I was still trying to calm my breathing throughout the bike ride and into the run. While I had a decent bike time and made up a lot of lost time, by the time the running came, I could only manage a slow jog and I suffered from side stiches. At least I did have decent transition times.

As I look at the results, it's amazing to me how minutes can really make a difference. I finished at 1:22:11. I had calculated that I thought the best I could do would be 1:10 based on my training times. That would have put me in the top 60 of the 269 total participants and within the top 10 of my division of 38 women 40-44 -- quite a difference from being in the bottom 20% on both accounts.

If Barb and I took the best scores between us, which seems totally doable -- her swim and run and my transition times and bike, we would have scored in the top 100 overall. Looking at it that way, also makes me realize how well our division did -- we would have been in the bottom 40% of our division even though we would have been in the top 36% overall. Again, yeah for middle aged sisterhood! We did beat many people younger than us and a few men - go us! And, there were plenty of older women who beat us so I know we can still do better.

I did some things right -- I think for a short sprint like this one that didn't have many hills the decision not to wear bike shoes and save on the transition times was a good one. The slip on laces worked in the end and I was glad I had figured out a week before that I could go without socks. Just wearing a tri suit throughout the whole race worked well, and having the race belt for the run was easy.

I've just signed up for my next race - The Housatonic Valley Sprint Triathlon on Sept. 17 in Danbury, CT. As I have my eye on the next one, here's what I will do differently:

• Continue to put extra focus on my swimming -- and fortunately now that summer is here, I can put in much more open water swimming. Barb said after the race that she thought the water felt "heavier" -- it certainly was harder to swim in than I anticipated. I wasn't sure how it could be "heavier" but in talking with people there seems to be a general consensus that lake water is "heavier" than pool water although in my online searching I haven't found proof of that. Salt water is heavier than fresh water which is why we float easier in salt water and it can be easier to swim in. So, in theory, heavier water should make it easier, not harder!


• Will try and remember to start taking off the wetsuit as soon as I'm getting out of the water -- although I'm not sure in the end if it cost me -- that transition is a bit blurry


• Get a little more organized at the start of the race. Barb's ideas of baggies with the equipment for each leg of the race sounds like a good plan!


• Put additional focus on the run -- this will be a 5K (3.1 miles) so I've got more distance to do


• Consider wearing bike shoes - I think this bike route may have more hills which could make the shoes worthwhile (Barb did pass me on the up hills) but I need to try out the shoes that have been sitting in a box for 2 months.


• Remember to eat my banana! I forgot and perhaps the potassium would have helped to prevent the running side stitches.


• Try to figure out a way to get more sleep the night before!

But, most of all, I will continue to just enjoy this journey. Now I can also inspire others to make their own journeys. I'm so happy my friend Allison is planning on joining me in the September race for her first triathlon. The journey continues...

Sisters

The week leading up to the Tri I had to force myself to take it easy.  I did a lot of stretching, back exercises, and stim + ice on my knee.  I was skimming the book Cathy shared with me, "Triathlons for Dummies" like I was cramming for the SATs.  There was a women's collegiate triathlon on TV, I called Cathy and said, "nobody is wearing socks!"  I hadn't trained without socks so I decided to keep mine.  Cathy was able to get a run in without them so she saved time in transitions ultimately.  I ate plenty of healthy food like blueberries, and boosted my general potassium intake with bananas and yogurt.  Packing my tri gear in separate gallon ziplock bags marked "swim" "bike" and "run" prevented me from obsessively checking my gear pre-race, all I needed was 3 ziplock bags rather than many items.  My biggest fear was that I would forget my wetsuit which I wanted to keep on a hanger, but decided to fold and pack to be safe.  Since ipods were not allowed in any part of the race, I chose 5 songs and put them in a playlist so I could listen to them all week and they would be in my head for the race.    
We got to Quakertown for the "first timers meeting" on Saturday which, thanks to Piranha Sports, was very helpful.  My husband said they should make it more challenging by putting actual piranhas in the lake.   Cathy, Mike and I ran around looking for some "bike fix a flat" for her, which my awesome bike mechanic / husband had already gotten for me - complete with presta valve converter.  We also picked up anti fog spray for our goggles, most people just use spit but I thought with the cool morning temperatures predicted it couldn't hurt to try the spray.
After dinner I was exhausted, but had that familiar pain in the back of my leg that has been bothering me on and off for the last 6 months.  A mix of piraformis and lumbar disc issues, it makes running difficult.  I suggested we go in the hot tub to relax, and Cathy reminded us not to stay in too long causing dehydration.  I made sure to drink a decent amount of water afterwards, but not too much which would dilute the potassium and sodium my body needed.
The Stanley Cup was on TV and as Bruins fans, we were definitely going to watch the game.  I think I fell asleep somewhere in the third period.  Around 3am I woke up and tried to go back to sleep, but my body had already decided to start the adrenaline.  My playlist songs were circling in my head and I closed my eyes but never did fall asleep.  This may be the only time in my life that I was exactly on time, I habitually run late..but was in the parking lot at 5:15 as planned!
I set up my transition area, peed twice, kissed my husband and my Morkie (Bella) and headed to the water.  I felt very calm, and my heart rate monitor agreed.  After a 12 minute wait, we were off!

The swim was brutal.  The cold water took my breath away, seaweed tangling around my arms and legs.  The murky water was choppy, and our wave of 47 people were splashing and kicking furiously.  It was impossible to freestyle, at least the way I had trained.  Luckily I had done quite a bit of side stroke and back stroke in training, so I resorted to that plus some breast stroke to get through it.  Happy to have survived the swim, I ran to the transition area but Cathy was nowhere in sight.  I remember thinking while I was in the water that if someone went under, it would be very hard for the safety personnel to see them.  Catching my breath, I kept glancing over hoping to see Cathy while I put on my bike shoes.  I stopped to put on chapstick (something I could have done while riding) before leaving the transition area just wanting to see her face before I took off on the bike.  Hoping she was ok, I clipped in my pedals going uphill.. which is not easy.. and started off on the rolling hills course.  I didn't have any trouble with the hills and felt like I was riding at a pretty decent clip.  Finally, after the first turn around, I saw Cathy on her bike!  Before long she caught me and said, "ok c'mon lets go"!  She pushed me on the bike, and we passed each other a few times.  Heading into the park, she pulled ahead and I got stuck behind some guy who was coasting his way into the transition area.   I was afraid to pass him because I would've had to go over the yellow line, which could result in a DQ.  I contemplated yelling at him to get over, but refrained.  Honestly I think that is the only thing I would do differently, I should have yelled at him "on your left" signaling that I intended to pass.
Cathy was well off on the run by the time I got through my second transition area, and I wasn't sure I could catch her.  My legs were rubbery and I just told myself to keep moving forward.  Fighting a side stitch, at first I couldn't get my breathing settled.  My knee was aching but I told myself that if my son could manage the last 4 weeks of the baseball season sprinting to first base with a painful knee, I could do this too.  I recalled watching him beat out a throw by one step during his last collegiate game even though I knew he was hurting.  Finally I saw her red jersey off in the distance, keep moving.  I knew my second mile would be stronger than the first because in training, it always worked out that way.  A runner since high school, I had practiced a "kick" at the end - which in this case I had chosen the "brown building".  Cathy made the turnaround and didn't see me just behind her, I kept going.  Finally, I came up behind her and said, "it's just me"!  She was happy to see me, but said, "I feel like I've been hyperventilating the whole time".  I said, "ok we're going down hill, go easy and settle your heart rate down, when we get to the brown building we'll go faster."  We came out of the woods together and our families were cheering us on to the finish.  My sprinter instinct kicked in and I gave an extra push at the end to finish just one step ahead of my sister.  It was my desire the whole time that we would finish the triathlon together, and we did just that.  She pushed me on the bike, and I pushed her on the run.  It was the perfect ending to our six month journey!

  

The First Race: A Perfect Finish

Wow – the last 24 hours have been intense! We arrived at the pre-race registration and orientation when it opened at 1pm on Saturday. As I surveyed the lake, transition area, finish line, and all of the “professional looking types”, I said to Barb, “Gulp, this makes it feel real”!

The orientation which was targeted to us first timers was extremely helpful. At least I realized I wasn’t the only first timer and there were a handful of things discussed that eased my worries. We would be allowed to grab onto a buoy or kayak in the water to catch our breath if we needed to as long as we weren’t moving forward. There would be “light mechanical help” for things like flat tires….but, we shouldn’t count on them being there in a hurry with 300 race contestants to potentially service.

I decided not to take any chances on the flat tire front. We went to 3 stores until I found both fix a flat (the first course of action) and a portable bike pump so I could inflate the extra 2 tubes I will carry (the backup plan). In addition, as misfortune or fortunate would have it, my husband had to fix a flat tire on his bicycle so I made him teach me how to do it.

Before we knew it, it was time for our family dinner reservation. My parents had arrived in town and so we went for an early Father’s Day dinner. Mom said she had read the fan instructions had had come prepared with a highly encouraged noise maker – a bell that had been on my recently passed Grandmother’s door. We also would have the barks of Bella, Barb’s morkie, to cheer us on.

Back at the hotel, Barb suggested we head to the whirlpool, which seemed like the perfect thing to loosen up the muscles and relax me for an early bed time. However, by the time I finished preparing and arranging all of my gear, it was 10:15pm and my adrenaline was soaring. I attempted to read for 15 minutes and then decided I had to go to bed for the 4:45 am wake up call in order to get a solid night’s sleep. My brain had other ideas. I tossed and turned most of the night, got up to read once more, and probably got about 2 hours of sleep.

At 4:45am, the adrenaline starting flowing again – it was time to suit up and head out. By the time we left the hotel, it was 5:30am instead of the planned 5:15am. Arriving at the park, Barb and I were extremely happy to have our “triathlon lackeys” (husbands) in tow who helped us with our extreme volume of gear. Often I’m the one playing lackey and/or photographer for my husband’s surfing or kite surfing adventures. This time it was his turn! He has been my biggest fan, encouraging me through all the training the last 5 months.

Setting up our transition area actually took longer than I thought due to the volume of gear and decisions as to what was staying with me and what my “lackey” would hold onto. Yikes – it was already 6:35am and I still needed to go to the bathroom and get my wetsuit on before the 6:45am race meeting start and closing of the transition area. And, the bathroom line was long. “Come on girls, we can do it!”, we prodded each other in the bathroom line. I got back just in time to drop my sneakers off in the transition area (something I had almost forgotten about since that was my only pair of shoes with me) and for the start of the meeting. I put on my wet suit during the meeting.

We headed down to the water, and as the first wave, we were told to enter – and then wait for 12 minutes for the race start. The 60 degree air temperature felt very cold and those not in full wetsuits were shivering. The rocky bottom was tough on my feet (as it turns out, swim socks were not allowed). Finally – go!

Barb and I stuck together for awhile, but she eventually was faster than I was. The lake had a surprising amount of plant matter I kept getting tangled around me. As I had anticipated, people were bumping into me. I handled it OK, but I couldn’t get my breath. I did a combination of breast, side and back stroke to try and catch my breath. Before I knew it, I was slightly off course, having swum too far to the right of the buoy I was supposed to stay to the left of, and so I had to back track. Meanwhile, the next wave was catching up to me! The volume of people had created a surprising amount of waves in an otherwise calm lake and I drank some dirty lake water. I thought as I rounded the first buoy, that perhaps I could catch my breath and go to freestyle, but by that point it was too challenging. I was happy as I rounded the next buoy for the final turn to shore. I was ¾ of the way there when another woman in my wave said she needed help. I and some others called for one of the kayaks. “I’m out”, she declared. It made more determined to finish - I had come this far.

As I approached shore, many in other waves had passed me and I saw only a handful of the blue caps in my wave trailing behind me. Mike saw me coming out of the water and yelled to me to start taking my wetsuit off – oh yeah! I heard my Mom ringing Grandma’s bell – she was with me in spirit.

I arrived at T1 (the first transition) a bit weary but happy to leave the swim behind me and be onto my best event, the bike. Since Barb and I had registered together, our numbers were 11 and 12 and we were assigned next to each other. She was long gone by the time I transitioned to the bike. Leaving the transition area, the mount and start of the bike was actually uphill – thankfully I had scoped it out and was prepared starting in a low gear.

Now it was my turn to pass people! I cruised on the rolling hill bike course, although I was still out of breath from the swim for much of the bike ride. As I passed someone with a flat tire, I was glad for my just-in-case schooling. I kept watching for Barb to be part of the cyclists who had already made the U-Turn. I caught up to her just after she had made the U-Turn and I was approaching it. We passed each other several times, encouraging each other on. As we approached the park, I passed her one last time and sped downhill to enter transition 2.

Since I didn’t have to change shoes, I was able to quickly grab my race belt and transition to the run in less than 1 minute. Tired from the previous events, I couldn’t go faster than a slow jog and the side stitches started setting in. I hit the mile point and after u-turning, I kept looking for Barb. When I didn’t see her for awhile, I was concerned. Then, out of nowhere she caught up to me! We were both hurting and we agreed to stay at our current pace until we came to the brown building ahead at which point we would pick up the pace to the finish lane.

Our husbands were cheering us along and snapping our photos. We picked up our stride at the building and sprinted to the finish line. We crossed and each recorded a time of 1:22:11, although being the sprinter that she is, she beat me by a nose and placed ahead of me. We started this journey together 5 months ago, encouraged each other along the way, and in the end finished together. It was the perfect ending.

Public Link to Independence Triathlon Photos in Quakertown

We survived!!!!!  Details from Cathy and Barb to be posted later.  Here is a public link to some of the pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150606539585507.675943.885265506&l=987b8ecfe9

The Day Before: Crazy Like A Fox

“Yahoo – LET’S DO THIS” I just texted to Barb. We’re driving to PA each planning to arrive at Lake Nochamixon State Park around 1pm to pre-register and get the beginners run down on the course and what to expect. A rare sight – a fox – ran in front of our car as we left our house in CT. I’m taking that as a sign of a good luck.

It’s been a busy week as I had to travel to Toronto for 3 days on business and with Monday having been a holiday, the week flew by. My sole criteria for choosing a hotel was actually its proximity to the YMCA where I could swim! However, I woke up Tuesday morning with a sore throat that gradually progressed to a mild summer cold. BUMMMER!!! I crowd sourced on Facebook the best remedies for quick recovery. Emergen C and Zinc were the #1 answers. I threw Zinc pills into my bag as I left for the airport. A colleague I was travelling with had a packet of Emergen C. Upon arriving, I promptly found a Canadian pharmacy but they did not have the Emergen C. I opted for a $25 echinacea based product that is “clinically proven to reduce cold recovery time”.

So, I decided it would be unwise to swim while in Toronto. It was a choice of an extra hour of sleep or exercise and I figured my body needed sleep most. My attempts to google the answer to the wiseness of swimming with a cold also had returned conflicting results. Returning on Friday, I felt like I was almost recovered, and I really wanted to get one final swim in with my wetsuit so I headed to the gym at 7:30pm.

I’m not sure if it was wise or not. On one hand, it gave me one more chance to practice getting the fit right on the wet suit and getting out of it quickly. I did my ¼ mile swim non-stop which I also really wanted to do for confidence boosting. Although I did resort to some breast stroke to catch my breath a few times, my time was 12:27 even though I felt like it was 20 minutes. But, I was more conjested last night than I have been.

I scouted out the “competition”. Of course, I’m really doing this for me and to say I finished it, but you can’t help analyzing how you think you will do. Last year, the fastest time was just under 50 minutes and the longest time was around 2 hours.

I think I can come in the middle of the pack, which I would be totally happy with for my first race. There are currently 300 entrants. It’s traditionally a women’s race and this is the first year for men, but there are many more women. And, while it means there is more “competition” for me, I think it’s totally cool that my division, women 40 – 44, is by far the largest division with 47 participants – GO MIDDLE AGED SISTERHOOD!!!

I’ve read all of the pre-race information. Women 40+ are the first wave. I suppose they think we will be the slowest, but the reality is last year’s results show that age and body type (there is a division for the heavy set) are not necessarily indicative of success. The water temperature is expected to be 68-70 degrees which is colder than last year and makes me glad I have the full wetsuit, even if it may constrict my breathing a bit.

I made a list all week – thinking of additional things to add every day. There are so many details related to all of the gear and the transitions to think about. It hadn’t occurred to me, for example, what I would do with my wetsuit once I removed it. Last night, I posed the question to my husband who looked over and said to take the small crate that currently has shoes in it – it seems perfect…compact enough for a small transition area but big enough to throw my gear in as I complete each leg. I’ve brought extra everything just in case of malfunction – extra contacts, goggles, sneakers, etc! My gear bag is bigger than my regular weekend clothes bag!

A day before, here’s what am I worried about – in order of worry: 1) The swim: getting kicked or hyperventilating in the stress of it 2) a flat tire or bike malfunction (while I’ve pack extra tubes, I still need a lesson what to do and I’m not sure if I really will be able to overcome that – I don’t have a portable pump for one thing) 3) Waking up tomorrow and feeling worse than I do right now with this cold 4) a bike crash – I wasn’t really worried about this since I’m a pretty adept rider until I heard stories – you never know.

So, am I crazy like a fox? Ironically, pulling into Quakertown, PA the first restaurant I see is Fox Pizza. As we drive to the state park, there is a Fox Run Road. I looked up the origin of the saying: “seemingly foolish but in fact extremely cunning.” One blogger gave his interpretation: “You are saying that the person is smart and can outwit other people. The image I get is that the actions of a fox appear a little crazy but he is in fact acting in a brilliant manner to save himself.”

Just Barb Being Barb

I wouldn't be me without one final faux pas.  Remember Cathy's post about locker room etiquette?  Well, all day yesterday I was running around.  I got to work late, ran errands, stopped at home and rushed off to the gym.  I didn't pack any towels because I already have them packed up for the Tri & had planned to rent a towel when I got to the Y. (You can see where this is going.)  I misplaced my membership card and had to have them look me up in the computer so I guess that distracted me.  My knee has been hurting so I went upstairs to ride the bike for a few easy miles and loosen it a bit.  Then I jumped in the pool, at which point I realized I had no towel.  (Expletive)  So what!  I figured, things may not go exactly as planned Sunday and I may have to improvise.  There I was standing, yes butt naked, in front of the wall mounted dryer in the ladies locker room using a cotton tank top as a towel.  Two spanish speaking ladies walked in and did a double take when they saw me air drying my nakedness.  I'm not sure what they said to each other, but I think it translates into, "crazy white girl."