Dry run? Not so much.

6:02 am my alarm goes off. As usual, I wake up in a panic and wonder a) why I am waking up early and b) whether I am late for something. It usually takes a good 30 seconds before I get on track. Mornings can be rough.

In spite of my morning fog, I arose and got ready for my triathlon workout. I suited up in my new two-piece TYR swimsuit with some sweet spandex biking shorts and top over it. As previously mentioned, I look like I'm wearing some sort of leather cat suit...meow! Maybe I will be cast in the next Batman movie? Wishful thinking. I hopped on my bike and rode to the pool to swim 1000 yards (or 40 laps for you non-swimmers), which is a little more than the distance I will be swimming in the sprint triathlon. When I got out of the pool as some Pleasantville Swim Teamers were getting ready to begin their last practice of the season, it had begun to drizzle. I was already wet though so it didn't bother me much. Even though it was pretty rough having to put on the tight cat uniform over a wet bathing suit when it's really muggy out. So much for fast transitions.

As I got back on my bike I started to plan out the route I was going to ride. I was hoping to complete anywhere from 12-16 miles. Unfortunately, I had to cut my ride to 10 miles because I got caught in a TORRENTIAL downpour. And I'm talking heavy rain, borderline hail. My cat suit was like second skin at this point and my sneakers were completely water logged. Thank goodness for the nifty visor thing on my helmet that shielded my eyes from the rain, otherwise I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to see anything. I was pretty annoyed because I woke up really early on purpose in order to avoid the storms that Mr. G had forecasted for later in the afternoon! Not cool. All I could think about was whether or not I would be able to complete my tri workout and run in this weather.

Fortunately, by the time I got home and changed my shoes, which felt like bricks by now, the rain had let up a little. I threw on my mom cap (shout out to Hannah--the original owner of the mom cap) and headed out on my run. Of course, the skies open up yet again when I am on the opposite side of town. Why does it always happen that way? It was raining even harder this time and reminded me of that fateful day at Connecticut College when we ran the NESCAC race in 60 mph winds, hail, rain and waist-high puddles (aka the worst experience of my life). Even though this storm did not even come close to measuring up to that horrible (dare I say life-threatening?) weather in November 2006, the flooded streets of Pleasantville did make me think of that race, and not in a fond way. I found a picture from that day from the infamous Facebook group "Victims of the NESCAC rash" that I thought I would share with everyone to give you a glimpse of what it was like that day. I will do you all a favor and spare you the details of the disgusting rash we all suffered as a result of the fungus puddles (as if running in that weather was not punishment enough). Let's just stay we were all thankful it was cold enough to wear pants for six weeks because the rash was quite unsightly.

Random Colby runners completely oblivious to the fact that their post-race frolicking in the puddles will lead to a vicious skin rash. Way harsh.

So, although this was a very long-winded post, I wanted to give some detailed feedback about my not so dry run of the triathlon this morning. Plus, the whole time I was thinking, "Well at least I'll have something to blog about." Clearly my life is really exciting. Ha! All in all, it was a good practice and I know I'll be ready if it rains on the day of the triathlon!

As if my tag line isn't lame enough....

Here are some Kodak moments from our field trip from Columbia. Calling all journalists, major nerd alert! Liz--please be kind and spare me too much embarassment, otherwise I may be forced to post the pics of you post-Swim Across America. A sand goatee definitely tops a first day of school pose in front of the academic building, hands down.

Two for Two

Ok, here we go. I made it a priority to blog tonight so it doesn't seem like I am abandoning my new project after a mere twenty four hours. Even though I considered it after Liz made fun of my tag line that is an adaptation of the New York Times' infamous motto, "All the news that's fit to print." Not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of my creativity, but Liz thought it was too nerdy. In fact, I believe her actual response was, "your tag line is BEYOND lame." Thanks, Liz. I guess I will take it as my first constructive criticism that I'm sure I will be getting a lot more of once Journalism classes start. I have a feeling the feedback from Columbia will be a little more useful though. Just kidding Liz, love you!

Speaking of Columbia, my mom and I ventured down there this afternoon so she could see the campus and take a walk around. Her reaction was somewhere along the lines of "Wow, I had no idea the university was this nice. I thought it was just one building or something." Gotta love her. Then we took the 1 train down to 79th St. and enjoyed lunch al fresco at the Boat Basin on the Hudson. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the scenic view of the dirty Jerz (haha--love you Molly!). Taking my mom on the subway is also a unique experience in and of itself. All I have to say is, you can take the girl out of the north country, but you can't take the north country out of the girl. LaFargeville, NY for life!

In other news, I am training for a Triathlon that I will be completing (hopefully) in about two weeks. I've already got the running down, as well as the swimming after doing Swim Across America last weekend, but still need some more practice biking. I got a new bike that I'm still getting used to. It's a big upgrade from my fire-engine red bike I got in fifth grade and would ride up and down my cul-de-sac for hours after school. I also may or may not have pretended to be a soccer mom carpooling kids around in my car (aka bike) and that the big circular bush in my yard was the McDonald's drive-thru. No big deal. Don't ask questions, just accept it. I had a vivid imagination, goshhh!

Anyway, enough about that. I think tomorrow morning I'm going to try a "practice" triathlon of sorts. And by that I mean simply doing an early morning swim, directly followed by biking and then running. I'll let you know if I survive. Just thinking about it is making me tired. On that note, time for the CW 11 news at 10. I hope Mr. G gives me a good weather report!

Disclaimer

I was just informed by my other nature-loving friend, Emily that it was indeed a BOBCAT that Hannah saw today, not a beaver. Sorry about that folks. Clearly I have to brush up on my wildlife skills, but that's what outdoorsy friends are for, right? So glad I cleared that one up before it was too late! Phew!

Breaking News: I finally started a blog

Great news! I decided today was the day to stop procrastinating and start my blog. The reasons for this are twofold:

1) My wonderful, nature-loving friend Hannah emailed me a link to her new blog, http://wildlifeencounters.blogspot.com/ and I was so inspired by the beaver she saw on her drive to work this morning (Hooray for Western Mass!) that I decided to get to work on my own blog.

2) It has been pouring rain all day and unfortunately NYC Prep or Real Housewives repeats were not on.

Oh, and one more reason--I'm starting Journalism School in a mere two weeks and I figured it's a good time to get back into the writing groove after my summer hiatus post-graduation from Hamilton College. Am I the only one still feeling the effects of Senior Week? (Just kidding, sort of). I'm also hoping that I will have some exciting stories to share with you from my adventures on the streets of New York City. Yay reporting!

Anyway, I don't have anything too enlightening to share in my first blog seeing as I'm new to this and desperately trying to figure out how to make it look cool. Anyone good with graphics who wants to create a newspaper template for me? It would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,

Virgin blogger

P.S. I had the ultimate celebrity sighting last night at the Katy Perry concert at Hammerstein Ballroom with my sister, Liz. Liz was telling me how her daily gossip column informed her that Rihanna was is town and since her and Katy are friends (they even vacation in Barbados together!) we were hoping that the pop star would make an appearance. Fast forward ten minutes later to me complaining how much my feet hurt from standing in the ballroom when Liz exclaimed, "OMG there SHE is!" Let's just say we were pretty psyched and everyone around us was congratulating Liz on having such a good eye! I was basically watching her the whole time and checking out her sweet dance moves. Love her! Oh, and we also saw The Donald in his suit with his hot wife by his side. All in all, great night!