I've committed to volunteer at IMMoo in that I've booked a hotel room and told Husband I'll be gone that weekend.
Beyond that... I need some advice before I officially register. I haven't done it before and there are so many options I'm not sure what to do. Since some of the jobs only have a few slots open I figure I should sign up now in case I decide to do one of the scarce ones.
The volunteer site is great and spells out what each volunteer duty is so you can make an informed decision. I've narrowed it down based on criteria including:
- my inability to do complex things before sunrise
- my lack of "extensive knowledge of Madison streets"
- my desire to hang out with the Tri-Geek Dreamers if they end up doing something like dinner afterwards
- my preference to see at least some action (i.e. not hiding in a food tent or sitting at an intersection all day)
- the possibility of recording (I have a great DVR) in-race interviews with Tri-Geek Dreamers to pass along for GYGO
I'd absolutely love to hear thoughts from anyone who's either volunteered or raced an Ironman.
Here's what I'm considering:
- Wetsuit peeler... it just sounds cool
- Driving a sag vehicle for the bike course... I have a big van that's easy to toss bikes into. I have no idea why but this appeals to me a lot. It also has a responsibility factor (reporting DNFs). Would love to hear thoughts on the down-sides.
- Bike aid station... special needs or regular, don't have a preference, like the idea of interacting with the racers
- Finish Line Awards... sounds like a ton of fun, this one might allow a shift on another task earlier in day, and would be great to be able to photograph team TGD members as they arrive
- Bike taker... I'd be afraid of screwing up the bike giver thing, but wouldn't it be fun to grope all that carbon fiber?
I also like the idea of being a finish line "catcher" but am a bit intimidated by such an important job at my first volunteer outing. A friend said it sounds pretty hard core and maybe I should do that another year, after I see in person how intense it is.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Confession
Geeks turn me on. And I'm not talking about Tri-geeks, although they have their own special charm.
I'm talking about glasses wearing, mom's basement living, MIT going uber-geeks. The kind of guys whose only form of social interaction is online video games. The kind of guys who could resolve the national debt if they sold their comic book collections. The kind of guys who, at some point in their lives, probably attempted to build a robot. Geeks with a capital "G."
Because of this, I myself have, by association, become a teeny, tiny bit geeked out about some seriously geeky stuff. For instance, last night sitting around a bonfire with friends, just for a moment I got sucked into a lengthy discussion about which actors played Batman in each of the four Batman movies. Before Batman Begins, that is, which (god help me) I believe is the fifth. But I caught myself after suggesting a single name and then returned to what I should have been doing all along - rolling my eyes and giggling with my girlfriend.
But I have to admit, I have, in my past, engaged in impassioned oratory about Tolkien's brilliance with the use old English etymology in the naming conventions of Rohan.
You get the picture.
But I was never interested in tech stuff. Until now. It was a gradual transition, and even I am still surprised when I hear something majorly geeky and actually understand it. I'm not over the top, mind you, not even close to as bad as my husband, who saves stray bits of wire and old computer parts "just in case" and not only dreams of building his next computer, has already started sourcing the parts... but bad enough that I've become a geek genre video podcast junkie.
I go nuts for DL.TV. I knew I had a problem when I started asking on a daily basis if there was a new episode posted yet. (My husband made me learn the schedule - which I didn't want to know because only Geeks know the show schedule - so I'd shut up about it.) I've got a little crush on Robert Herron, which is probably why I am now the proud owner of information I used to find unbearably irrelevant to my life, like what it means when a TV is 720P or 1080i and the various software applications suspicious Geeks install to catch their unfaithful girlfriends. (Seriously, don't cheat on a Geek.)
I loooove me some Diggnation. Those guys are freakin' hilarious. (And I might have a massive crush on Alex Albrecht.) Tiki Bar TV fans should check out Episode 45, filmed at E3. It was a very special treat for geeks like me, with a cameo by Dr. Tiki himself.
While comics are definitely not my thing and I couldn't care less about what Hollywood is up to... I braved immersion in even that sub-basement of geekdom to catch the Geekdrome episode where they interviewed Kevin Smith.
I even watched an episode of Hak 5. Dude. That shit is seriously over my head. And quite possibly, not entirely legal. My husband digs it, but it's so crazy even he admits he doesn't get it all. Or even most of it.
Ctrl-Alt-Chicken burst onto the scene in recent weeks to feed both my Alex Albrecht obsession and give my inner Martha a coronary. If you haven't yet seen this, stop what you're doing now and check it out. Few things have made me laugh harder. It's Geeks... doing a cooking show. With drinking, of course, a la Diggnation. Now before you think, "hey, Geeks are smart people, surely they can follow a recipe so how bad, really, can it be?"
Oh, seriously you must watch this show. For instance, in the third episode, Heather demonstrates that she is not entirely capable of buttering bread.
I have to physically restrain myself from dashing off helpful e-mails, explaining things like the necessity of bringing egg whites up to room temperature before making meringue. Because while it pains my inner Martha, the rest of me gets that if we tell them how to cook the show won't be funny any more.
So next time you're not sure what TV to buy or how a particular model of flash memory mp3 player stacks up, or you just want to see some attractive, intelligent twenty-somethings made inedible food, check out some of the techno geek video podcasts. These guys come out of their moms' basements to share their knowledge with us so we never have to research an electronic product again.
I'm talking about glasses wearing, mom's basement living, MIT going uber-geeks. The kind of guys whose only form of social interaction is online video games. The kind of guys who could resolve the national debt if they sold their comic book collections. The kind of guys who, at some point in their lives, probably attempted to build a robot. Geeks with a capital "G."
Because of this, I myself have, by association, become a teeny, tiny bit geeked out about some seriously geeky stuff. For instance, last night sitting around a bonfire with friends, just for a moment I got sucked into a lengthy discussion about which actors played Batman in each of the four Batman movies. Before Batman Begins, that is, which (god help me) I believe is the fifth. But I caught myself after suggesting a single name and then returned to what I should have been doing all along - rolling my eyes and giggling with my girlfriend.
But I have to admit, I have, in my past, engaged in impassioned oratory about Tolkien's brilliance with the use old English etymology in the naming conventions of Rohan.
You get the picture.
But I was never interested in tech stuff. Until now. It was a gradual transition, and even I am still surprised when I hear something majorly geeky and actually understand it. I'm not over the top, mind you, not even close to as bad as my husband, who saves stray bits of wire and old computer parts "just in case" and not only dreams of building his next computer, has already started sourcing the parts... but bad enough that I've become a geek genre video podcast junkie.
I go nuts for DL.TV. I knew I had a problem when I started asking on a daily basis if there was a new episode posted yet. (My husband made me learn the schedule - which I didn't want to know because only Geeks know the show schedule - so I'd shut up about it.) I've got a little crush on Robert Herron, which is probably why I am now the proud owner of information I used to find unbearably irrelevant to my life, like what it means when a TV is 720P or 1080i and the various software applications suspicious Geeks install to catch their unfaithful girlfriends. (Seriously, don't cheat on a Geek.)
I loooove me some Diggnation. Those guys are freakin' hilarious. (And I might have a massive crush on Alex Albrecht.) Tiki Bar TV fans should check out Episode 45, filmed at E3. It was a very special treat for geeks like me, with a cameo by Dr. Tiki himself.
While comics are definitely not my thing and I couldn't care less about what Hollywood is up to... I braved immersion in even that sub-basement of geekdom to catch the Geekdrome episode where they interviewed Kevin Smith.
I even watched an episode of Hak 5. Dude. That shit is seriously over my head. And quite possibly, not entirely legal. My husband digs it, but it's so crazy even he admits he doesn't get it all. Or even most of it.
Ctrl-Alt-Chicken burst onto the scene in recent weeks to feed both my Alex Albrecht obsession and give my inner Martha a coronary. If you haven't yet seen this, stop what you're doing now and check it out. Few things have made me laugh harder. It's Geeks... doing a cooking show. With drinking, of course, a la Diggnation. Now before you think, "hey, Geeks are smart people, surely they can follow a recipe so how bad, really, can it be?"
Oh, seriously you must watch this show. For instance, in the third episode, Heather demonstrates that she is not entirely capable of buttering bread.
I have to physically restrain myself from dashing off helpful e-mails, explaining things like the necessity of bringing egg whites up to room temperature before making meringue. Because while it pains my inner Martha, the rest of me gets that if we tell them how to cook the show won't be funny any more.
So next time you're not sure what TV to buy or how a particular model of flash memory mp3 player stacks up, or you just want to see some attractive, intelligent twenty-somethings made inedible food, check out some of the techno geek video podcasts. These guys come out of their moms' basements to share their knowledge with us so we never have to research an electronic product again.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
New Level of Newbie
Last night I was in the throes of just-kill-me-now cramps and a particularly bad bout of bitch-moster-from-hell / look-at-the-cute-kitty-I'm-gonna-cry. Because of this I blew off calling Swim Coach Marcy to confirm this morning's ride because I knew if I called I'd cancel, and there was always a chance I'd wake up in the morning and not want to use my bike as a murder weapon.
By some miracle I woke up this morning eager to ride. Called SCM and thankfully she was still up for it; I'd have been a lot less motivated to go alone with temps already approaching 80 and the first sign of returning cramps. I mentioned we could start out from my house and I'd be happy to top off her tires if she needed.
She said 'yeah, they probably need it, I haven't ridden my bike in like 2 years.'
Dude, I sooooo thought she was kidding! She's signed up for a race in 4 weeks!
Not kidding. She was a little late because she'd forgotten how to use her bike rack. She found a Wisconsin State Park receipt on the bike that was stamped September 2004, which truly was the last time she rode it. Rust was starting to form on the handlebars and the tires were so flat I had to pump for a while to bring them up to zero. I made her lube the chain too, once I found out she'd never put anything on it in the five years since she bought it. I was pretty worried she'd drop that creaky chain or blow a flat and, with her lack of gear and experience, end up with a bad case of road rash.
She was looking adorable in a spaghetti tank sans bra, cute little coordinated shorts, movie-star sunglasses and no sunscreen. Oh, and she skipped breakfast and only had a bottle of water with her. No helmet either, she's gonna borrow my old one for the race (just ordered my Atmos!).
I was fully decked out: tri shorts, bike jersey, cycling shoes, Road ID, wrap-around shades, a helmet and SPF 50. I'd eaten a solid pre-workout breakfast of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, part of a banana, some of that slimy green healthy juice concoction and had a bike bottle of sports drink ready to go. I felt ridiculous next to her, she just looked so darn cute and relaxed... but then I remembered that I was actually prepared for what we were about to do.
I tried hard to remind myself I was once that clueless and it's great to help introduce newbies to the sport... but I truly don't think I was ever THAT clueless. And she's really smart and extremely athletic... guess biking has just never been on her priority list.
Once I grasped the full extent of her bike unpreparedness I quickly revised my original plan and suggested we ride out for 20 - 30 minutes and turn around. She said no, she'd be fine, do whatever I'd planned on. I couldn't imagine dragging her 20 miles, especially in the impending heat without proper fuel or hydration. But by the time we got her bike set up it was nearly 10 and she had to teach a swim lesson at 11:30; she went along with the revised plan so as not to be late for work. Good thing, too.
We did the predictable loop from my neighborhood and down part of the bike trial; made it just shy of 12 miles in about an hour (not too bad considering her speed and that some was spent waiting forever to cross a couple of busy roads). She was hurting on the (miiiiild) hills and near the end was clearly starting to struggle, but in general I was blown away by how easily she managed it.
I'm still a bit worried about her for the race. (It was pretty funny, every time we made it up a hill she asked "seriously, are there hills in Naperville?" There's not.) Luckily she's got a very realistic goal of just finishing, so I think she'll be fine. I already know she's going to come out of the water at the front of her wave and she's a pretty solid runner. I expect she's gonna blow my time away.
By some miracle I woke up this morning eager to ride. Called SCM and thankfully she was still up for it; I'd have been a lot less motivated to go alone with temps already approaching 80 and the first sign of returning cramps. I mentioned we could start out from my house and I'd be happy to top off her tires if she needed.
She said 'yeah, they probably need it, I haven't ridden my bike in like 2 years.'
Dude, I sooooo thought she was kidding! She's signed up for a race in 4 weeks!
Not kidding. She was a little late because she'd forgotten how to use her bike rack. She found a Wisconsin State Park receipt on the bike that was stamped September 2004, which truly was the last time she rode it. Rust was starting to form on the handlebars and the tires were so flat I had to pump for a while to bring them up to zero. I made her lube the chain too, once I found out she'd never put anything on it in the five years since she bought it. I was pretty worried she'd drop that creaky chain or blow a flat and, with her lack of gear and experience, end up with a bad case of road rash.
She was looking adorable in a spaghetti tank sans bra, cute little coordinated shorts, movie-star sunglasses and no sunscreen. Oh, and she skipped breakfast and only had a bottle of water with her. No helmet either, she's gonna borrow my old one for the race (just ordered my Atmos!).
I was fully decked out: tri shorts, bike jersey, cycling shoes, Road ID, wrap-around shades, a helmet and SPF 50. I'd eaten a solid pre-workout breakfast of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, part of a banana, some of that slimy green healthy juice concoction and had a bike bottle of sports drink ready to go. I felt ridiculous next to her, she just looked so darn cute and relaxed... but then I remembered that I was actually prepared for what we were about to do.
I tried hard to remind myself I was once that clueless and it's great to help introduce newbies to the sport... but I truly don't think I was ever THAT clueless. And she's really smart and extremely athletic... guess biking has just never been on her priority list.
Once I grasped the full extent of her bike unpreparedness I quickly revised my original plan and suggested we ride out for 20 - 30 minutes and turn around. She said no, she'd be fine, do whatever I'd planned on. I couldn't imagine dragging her 20 miles, especially in the impending heat without proper fuel or hydration. But by the time we got her bike set up it was nearly 10 and she had to teach a swim lesson at 11:30; she went along with the revised plan so as not to be late for work. Good thing, too.
We did the predictable loop from my neighborhood and down part of the bike trial; made it just shy of 12 miles in about an hour (not too bad considering her speed and that some was spent waiting forever to cross a couple of busy roads). She was hurting on the (miiiiild) hills and near the end was clearly starting to struggle, but in general I was blown away by how easily she managed it.
I'm still a bit worried about her for the race. (It was pretty funny, every time we made it up a hill she asked "seriously, are there hills in Naperville?" There's not.) Luckily she's got a very realistic goal of just finishing, so I think she'll be fine. I already know she's going to come out of the water at the front of her wave and she's a pretty solid runner. I expect she's gonna blow my time away.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Two Steps Behind
Was working a ton the last couple days and when I came up for air I noticed all the posts pointing at Flatman's new home... but by the time I figured out what was going on and went to post my own new pointer I learned through the general awesomeness of the tri-blogosphere (apparently we can put on quite a flame campaign when one of our bretheren is threatened) he's back where he belongs.
So, in the words of Roseanne Rosannadanna, "Never Mind." Flatman is back to business as usual.
So, in the words of Roseanne Rosannadanna, "Never Mind." Flatman is back to business as usual.
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