Doing More With Less Since 1972

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Ron Jon Cocoa Beach Sprint Triathlon 2013

Ron Jon Cocoa Beach Triathlon

This was a really fun event! Great turnout, with 80 first-time triathletes competing! How cool!!!

It’s really good to see the local scene grow like that. I know not everyone is going to get hooked and start training/racing a lot, but every little bit of growth is great. We have great weather for year-round training and a bunch of local and big-time events within a few hours of here, and that’s just the triathlons. The running and biking scenes are big too, so there’s always something to do.

If the turnout for the kids race is any indication, the sport is going to explode in about 10 years. And from what I saw, swim times are about to drop dramatically. These kids are fish…all of them. Competition at Olympic distance races is going to get tight. Hopefully that means there will be more of them soon. I love that distance.

Oh yeah…swimming. I didn’t do the whole race, but I swam on the Miles of Love relay team, and we won! I was definitely nervous because (1) I’m not a front of the pack swimmer, especially as a sprinter and (2) Everything changes when you’re on a team and the other two people are counting on your performance. It looks like the work I’ve been putting in on the swim (but I still need a lot more) is paying off. Luckily, the swim is by far the shortest leg of the event, so I didn’t have a huge impact on our time.

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I picked out a kid in the same color cap (relays and 55+) I knew would beat me at the start. He was a real swimmer–wearing swimming gear instead of tri gear. He whooped me pretty good; about 40 seconds. Luckily I found the feet of the 2nd fastest swimmer in our cap at about the midpoint and followed him most of the way in. I think he beat me by about 3 seconds, so I feel good about how I executed that. It was hard hanging onto his feet, even with the draft. But it was nice to let him do the sighting and just focus on staying behind him. Side-by-side, he’s definitely more than 3 seconds faster than me.

The best part for me was that I got to swim at the front of a wave instead of the middle. I relished that opportunity–probably the only one I’ll ever get. What a difference it makes when you aren’t being pummeled from every angle! The only real difficult part was navigating through a group of swimmers from the wave before ours. That’s when I lost the guy I was following, but we didn’t have far to go at that point, so I just pulled as hard as I could.

Transitions were super-smooth for our team. It’s really nice when you don’t have to do anything except hold your foot out and let someone else move the chip. Our cyclist (Tom) KILLED it. He was wearing a Go-Pro camera–check out the video! I can’t report on his leg, but the video speaks for itself. He didn’t get passed by anyone and had one of the top bike splits over all. Pretty good for a guy jacked up on Sudafed with nasty chest congestion!

T2 was just as smooth as T1. I felt bad for our runner (Beth) having to wait for the two of us to finish before she could start. I know how anxious I was, and I got to go first. Tom and Beth are both really competitive, so there was a bunch of nervous energy going on. I’m sure she was relieved to get the chance to just run. After T2, we hung out in transition and watched the minutes on my watch tick by as we waited for other relay cyclists to come in. Tom gave us a huge cushion, and Beth brought it home strong! It’s pretty easy to report on Beth’s portion of the race: It was a 5k. 5ks hurt!

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The most nerve-wracking part of the whole day was waiting results to be posted. That’s usually not something I even consider. I’m so MOP, especially since I’m not Clydesdale eligible any longer, that official results/standings just don’t have any meaning to me in individual events.

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A huge thanks to the organizers, lifeguards, volunteers, and Brevard County Sherrif’s Department for keeping us safe, hydrated, and fed for this event!

 

Google Voice To Text Awsumness

Here’s the transcription of a voicemail I received from the YMCA today inviting me to join up:

Hi, this is all of that a volunteer at the center align today. This is a courtesy call to let you back to alive. If you’re enjoying by 7:30 1st still a vagina see if you have any questions, just call ###-####. Thank you.

If this had been an accurate transcription, I may have actually returned the call!

Some Good Old Timey Linking Hospitality

This post on a specific instance of hospitality made me think of this post on hospitality in general.

Look at that…one blog linking to two others.

Since it’s in season, I can give an anecdote of going to the LSU/UT game in the fall of 1992 in Baton Rouge. My traveling buddy was a Lousyanan, but had seen the light and was enrolled at UT. He’d assured me we wouldn’t have to worry about eating or purchasing any pops before the game…we’d be well fed in the parking lot. Having previously traveled to a game in Athens, GA as a visitor, I was skeptical.  But I was pleasantly surprised to hear, “Hey! You Tennessee boys come over here and get a bite to eat!” several times between the car and the game. We were polite enough to stop and sample several plates of food and pops.

It was like “Taste of Tiger Stadium” without having to buy tickets. Genuine hospitality.

A Must Read Tumblr

Ok, so I’m probably kind of an idiot for doing this because this kid’s Tumblr already has way more followers/readers than I ever will, but this is some good stuff people who read (and by “read” I mean “mostly-ignore”) my blog would like.

Here’s the short version: search engines and social media sites are personified, have crushes on one another, and say funny things. Make sense? Here’s a sampling. Definitely check it out.

This is your pain….Don’t deal with this the way those dead people do. Deal with it the way a living person does.

~Tyler Durden

That Rude Smart Phone Thing

The topic of discussion on a local radio talk show this morning was “things people do that are unbelievably rude”. The general consensus was that the most rude behavior in our culture is paying attention to your phone when others are trying to engage you in conversation. This behavior is also known as “I-Don’t-Know-Who-This-Text-Is-From-But-It-Has To-Be-More-Interesting-Than-What-You-Are-Saying-Itis”

We’ve all done it. Some more than others. Some are aware we’ve done it and have tried to correct it. I’m proposing a nation-wide movement to address it.

I’m going to be trying out a couple of behavior modification initiatives on people I come into contact with. To be fair, there aren’t that many, but I’m interested to see what happens.

If I’m in a fixed location like a living room and am having a discussion with someone, I’m going to stop what I’m saying mid-sentence until they look back up from their phone, then continue on until they look back down again. I can only assume they are completely bored with whatever I’m talking about, so this is sort of a spiteful way to get back at them for ignoring me by making it drag out even longer.

If I happen to run into someone coming in/out of the grocery store or something and we stop to talk, I’m going to walk away the instant they start paying attention to their device. I’ll just assume the conversation is over and we’re done.

Turnabout is fair play. Do the same thing to me if I’m paying more attention to a device than I am to you. Feel free to add a throat clearing sound in there too.

I won’t think you’re being rude, but I may be embarrassed at my own behavior.

Aren’t You Supposed To Be Hungry In College?

College students on food stamps.

“I did not even know that I was applicable for food stamps until someone told me about the site and to apply to see if I would get it.”

Added Smith, “Since then, I have saved a ton of money.”

I remember being a cash-strapped and hungry college student. My solution was to get a job at the school cafeteria. Minimum wage at a crappy job, but it was an easy job to get since no one else wanted it, and you got to eat when you worked. There were lots of days when the only two meals I ate were immediately before and immediately following my shift. I never even considered there may be a better different way.

You know what would be awsum? A Broadway version of “The Itchy and Scratchy Show”.

They already have the catchiest theme song in history. Let’s make this happen!

Put On Your Dunce Cap

You’ve all heard the phrase “Put on your thinking caps”, right? Well, this is sort of like that, but the opposite version. There are many times when we, as parents and teachers, act a bit “slower” than we are for the sake of giving our children an extra boost of confidence to discover things on their own. This is what my phrase “Put on your dunce cap” is all about!

If you’ve ever stared in open-eyed amazement at a five year old who just found you in your “impossible to find” hiding spot during a round of hide-and-seek, you know exactly what I mean.

This pretend lapse of intelligence on your part is sometimes just the thing your child needs to get motivated and involved in a learning game. It gives them such gratification to find out new things while getting the chance to “teach” you something for a change. So go ahead and put your dunce cap on for some extra fun during the lessons, games, and activities that you do with your child!

Silly Sentences – Lesson Idea #21

Use this activity as a review for letters you’ve worked with. You can do this one whether your child knows how to read or not. Your purpose is to reinforce the letter shape and sound in a fun way.

  1. Write a silly sentence so that all of the words in it begin with the same letter and sound. For example: Handsome Henry hugs happy hyenas.
  2. Read the sentence aloud and have them repeat it with you. They can also try to say it fast several times. Ask your child what letter and sound they think is special in this sentence – /h/.
  3. Ask your child to think of other words that start with the same letter and sound. List what they come up with and go over the words.
  4. Some other sample sentences:
  • Jolly Johnny jiggles Jackie’s jewels.
  • Silly Sam says scallops soak soda.

The listing of words can also help develop your child’s vocabulary. Get ready for tongue twisters!

I Spy – Lesson Idea # 20

An oldie but a goodie. You can play this with the focus being on sounds or letters. This helps develop their ability to match sounds and/or letters with objects and reinforce their knowledge of word meanings. Play at home, in the car, at the store, at the mall, or anywhere!

  1. Pick some random object in your surroundings that begins with the sound or letter that you’d like to work on.
  2. Say “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the sound/letter ____.”
    You can have your child repeat the rhyme when giving you the answer. Then they can even take a turn asking you to find an object!
  • Take this opportunity to discuss meanings of words they don’t know by choosing/pointing out objects they may not be familiar with.
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