Step 1: Apply Fencing Logic to Softball

Step 2: Get robbed anyway.

I did my best saberist impression while running bases tonight during my softball game. My theory was that if I looked confident when I got on base, then regardless of how close it was, I'd be called safe. I think the theory would work if the ump was being impartial. I was called out on both close calls, one of which I was so sure of, I stood on base looking confused while everyone else was heading to the dugouts. Didn't work. Sigh.

I suppose it's all okay. People from the other team also mentioned (after the game) that I got robbed. I managed to mow over the third baseman, which was satisfying in its own way, too. My only regret is that I didn't drop my shoulder.

I went to fencing afterwards and fenced really well, I think. Next week should be interesting.

Think of the Twinkies!!

The Indiana State Fair is going trans-fat free. This will include all the vendors that sell elephant ears, fried veggies, funnel cakes, and *gasp* deep fried Twinkies.

Is eating deep fried food ever "healthy"? Will this switch make anyone "healthier"? Does deep frying Twinkies significantly change their nutritional value? If not, why does it matter what's used to deep fry them?

I suppose it's a good thought, but the big problem is that people eat the equivalent to this crap every day without regard to portion control. Switching oil type won't change that. It may actually make it worse. I can obviously eat more of this--it's trans-fat free!

Off rant.
I'm going to go eat ice cream.

Ups & Downs

It was one of those days that keeps you guessing about your karma.

Ups:

• I got my shoes! I ordered them Thursday and they showed up today. I would have had them Friday if I had ordered them earlier on Thursday. They're Clarks Carlenes and Thunders. Yea, Zappos and their free overnight shipping and free returns!!
• I had a good fencing practice and I managed to do some armoring tonight and I have 5 working weapons for next week.
• The dress I'm making is almost done.
• I made banana bread which smells wonderful in my apartment. I'll share with the class tomorrow. Maybe.
• Nice thunderstorms.
• A text message from my boy at a very good time.

Downs:

• Nomadshan's bad news from camp.
• Everything in Nashville closes at 6. I couldn't get the last bit of stuff I need for the dress tonight.
• The morning just "wasn't right" and I was off my schedule and routine.
• I found out that there's a show on MTV called Engaged & Underage, which isn't quite what it sounds like, but almost.
• What seemed like a host of really bad drivers following me around, never mind some poor driving direction choices on my part.

Neutral:

• The afternoon fire alarm. Evidently power glitches are triggering alarms. This would normally not be a problem, but the previously mentioned storms were near, which would have put a serious damper on the engineers-getting-fresh-air feeling. We all figured that the stairs down, standing outside, then stairs up was probably to be the best exercise we got and theorized that it was really a ploy by our advisers to make sure we went outside. We figured that we could sue for distress.

Anyway. I'm just glad it's over. I'm ready for a fresh start tomorrow.

Season's Firsts

This weekend, I went for a riding on the trace twice. Saturday marked my season's first road ride, today marked my first brick of the year.

Saturday, I started out at around mile 440 and ended at the Leipers Fork station. It was really bloody hot by the time I got going, around 10 am. The temperatures were in the upper 80s and humidity was such that only Middle Tennessee can provide. I was fairly miserable. I had planned to ride to Garrison Creek, but the hill between LF and GC was too much to stomach at the time.

Today, I started and ended at the Tennessee Valley Divide with Leipers Fork as the midpoint. If you look at the map, you can see that the previously mentioned hill is on this route, but didn't look nearly as bad at the half-way point with temperatures in the mid-70s. It really pays to get up early. After the ride, I ran a horse trail (indicated as a hiking trail, but there was plenty of evidence otherwise) from TVD to almost Burns Branch. The trail was all through the woods (at least the part I was on) and had lots of fun creek crossings and altitude change.

My foot at one of the multiple creek crossings.

The Trace

Having finished the rough draft of my paper, having finished the week of school and the office, having already decided that today was a day off from workouts, and having no better sense than to drive out of Nashville at rush hour, I took off after work this afternoon to scope out Natchez Trace, a 444-mile "scenic byway" that, according to the website, "commemorates an ancient trail that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee." The Trace is a popular biking route--a well-maintained road with a low speed limit through beautiful scenery.

I ended up driving about 50 miles, only 5 of which were on the actual trace, because I had a hard time finding the access points. But, I got a good feel for where I can park my car and what the road feel is and I can imagine the tremendous quads and glutes I could develop from riding the hills. I'm hoping to get out for a ride sometime this weekend.

Then, having no better sense, I went to the grocery when hungry.

Car? Check.
Gas in the car? Check.
Navbitch? Check.
Common sense? Che--umm...

More swimming

Yeah, yeah. It seems that the only workouts that I really post about are the swimming ones. I'll give a little blurb about the muddy softball from yesterday after I post today's swim workout.

• 200 SKPS
• 2 x 50 kick hard
• 4 x 100 @ 1:40
• 3 x 100 @ 1:30
• 2 x 100 @ 1:25
• 1 x 100 @ 1:20
• 100 cool down

2000 yards total. I didn't quite make the 2nd on 1:25 and I had aimed for 1:15 for the single, but it was a good workout anyway.

Muddy softball was...muddy softball. You couldn't see second base. A good time was had by all, though my team lost 5-4 (I think). My batting could have improved, but it was probably better than last time, and my fielding was definitely better than last time. A few more games and, well, the season will be over, but maybe next season. It's been a great time, as little as I've played.

Workouts

I finally decided to buckle down and start with workouts again. It seems that a fencing tournament is coming up and I need to be in better shape. In the last couple weeks, I've managed:

• Swimming
• Fencing
• Salsa dancing
• Softball
• Power workout
• Running (trail, road, and speed work)
• Mountain Biking

Not so bad. Just hope I can keep it up.

Fast Food

Driving home last weekend, I needed a quick stop for supper. I chose to drive through a Wendy's. While waiting to pull up to the first window, I looked in my rear view mirror at the SUV behind me. I watched the guy, while pulling up to the speaker, shift the small, white bag he had on his lap to roll down the window, reach into the bag, grab a sandwich and take a bite before placing his order. I watched him struggle to finish another bite as the attendant asked a question the man hadn't anticipated. I watched him grab a quick drink from a not-quite-finished soda as he pulled forward to collect his order.

Were there other people in the car that he was trying to appease by making multiple fast food stops?

Was he stocking up for later so he wouldn't have to make another stop?

Is there a good explanation for this?

What's Wendy's thinking trying to make us think that Vanilla Frosties are a good idea???

Swim Lessons

While I've disappeared from the blogging for a while, I've not been completely idle. I finally managed to get back in the water this week. I got a quick swim while I was in DC for two weeks, but hadn't been in the water since mid-May. There's some sort of "camp" activity going on in the VU SRC, where every child in the Greater Nashville area descends on the SRC to learn to swim. Even with this, I didn't have to share a lane (yea!). My workout was pretty straight forward:

• 200 SKPS


• 500 Swim


• 10 x 50 Swim (2 of each stroke, then finished with kicks)

Turns out to be 1800 yards, which was respectable.

With all the kids running about, the other activities scheduled for the pool at that time were a little more cramped than usual. About halfway through my workout, I was asked to move over a lane to make room for the water polo club. I moved and was appreciating the added wave action as an addition to my workout--more like open water, right? I was fine until I started thinking about the potential of stray water polo balls flying into my lane...and swimming backstroke. Naturally, as I was thinking about this, a ball landed at my hands. I decided to avoid backstroke for the rest of the workout.