About Cars and Autos

Today in Valencia the wraps will come off the Sauber and Renault challengers in preparation for the start of testing tomorrow. The week ahead will see McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Sauber, Williams, Renault and Toro Rosso all in action. The drivers expected to be seen are Gary Paffett, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button for McLaren; Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher for Mercedes; Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso for Ferrari; Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber, Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams; Robert Kubica and AN Other (probably Vitaly Petrov) for Renault; and Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for Toro Rosso. We will not be seeing Red Bull Racing, Force India, Lotus, Virgin, Campos or US F1.

[Via http://joesaward.wordpress.com]

What a race.

The weather was an against us from the start and the track was pretty slippery through the mid laps. It started out OK but with 105 sets of wheels across it after the first lap, it quickly turned into a slip and slide.

I got a jump on everyone into the single track and smashed myself through the first lap to try and open a gap. It seemed to work pretty well however I nearly slid right off the edge of a bridge and decided to slow up a little. I think everyone I spoke to after the race had a story of a near death experience in the greasy conditions.

For the last couple of laps, I just rolled around trying to keep the bike upright. Gingerly pottering through corners to try and stop the front from washing out. It was a funny sort of race, I only averaged 156 bpm and I think it was due to the conditions. You couldn’t push hard on the climbs or the rear wheel would slip, you couldn’t push hard through the corners or your front wheel would wash.

On the last lap, chain suck arrived wearing a party hat, although I still had some brake pads left unlike half of the riders. I spent the whole of the last lap looking over my shoulder – waiting for someone to catch me, but they never came.  I dragged my sodden carcass across the finish line about 1-2 minutes ahead of the Danbot in second place.

So now I have a conundrum. Do I continue to sandbag in B grade or step up to A grade and have my arse handed to me as a hat? I certainly don’t have the pace to  mix it with the fast guys in A grade however I don’t race for podiums – I race to do better than I did last time. So perhaps therein lies the answer.

I think the right decision was made to run the race and I am surely glad we got to play in the mud. I am glad we didn’t race the new section of track – it would have been absolute carnage!

Thanks to all the race volunteers and to the other competitors for a great day!

mud and lots of it

[Via http://pi11wizard.wordpress.com]

URL : http://www.flashgame-girl.com/girl-Dressup/Pimp-My-Sleigh.html

Game description :

Participate in a sledge slalom with Santa Claus. Pick up the presents, avoid the obstacles and get to the finish line in the less time as possible. There are different difficulty levels

Game controls :

Mouse – Setup the Sleigh.
Arrow Keys – Drive.

[Via http://liwenfeng3.wordpress.com]

To the 4 people plus my mom that are following my blog, it’s official guys…..

I bought my ACA license yesterday!!!!  This means that I can now race in ACA sponsored road, track, and cyclocross races!  I got tired of always telling myself that I’d eventually start racing CX and now it’s going to happen – I bought the license and, come Fall 2010, I’m going to be ready to get waxed in some Cat 4 cyclocross races!  Bring on the cowbell!!!

[Via http://gmcastil.wordpress.com]

I’m not sure if it’s the result of my unhealthy enthrallment with the statistical wizard that is my Nike+,  or if it’s the fact that there’s a 10K race this spring that I’d sell 90% of my goods and soul to run in, or if it’s the surprising fact that I’m nearing a 30-minute 5K time that is setting off a tsunami of self-competitiveness…  Whatever.

All I know is I want me some 10K glory.

To get it, I have to ramp up the training.  I’d be more than willing to wake up earlier and run longer and I’d definitely find a training plan and stick to it.

However, I’m very apprehensive about training for a 10K and upping the distance I run each week for a few different reasons, all of which converge to leave me in a state of worry that is most noisome to The Husband (who is sadly subjected to my thoughts on the subject more often and vociferously than is good and necessary for him):

• First of all, Carnival is in 17 days.  No way am I doing ANYTHING new or limb-threatening before Carnival.  This girl has paid her costume in full, bought boots and Monday wear, and told everyone and their grandmother that she is playing mas and having a time. I just cannot afford to get hurt right about now. If I can’t play mas, I’m convinced I’ll wither up and die.  I’m not kidding.
• As a corollary, I need to keep up the fitness regime so I’m at potimal road dancing/wining/partying fitness for Carnival.  If I injure myself now, I’ll have to rest until then. and I’m afraid that both my endurance and muscle tone will go kaput.  I know it’s more than a bit taboo to say that I sometimes work out so I can look good, even though running and swimming are so habitual to me that and so rewarding for different reasons that I rarely think of exercise as a way of getting my junk to look hot.  But let’s keep it real:  things can shift and slide in unpredictable ways in seventeen days.  Not to mention that it takes a considerable degree of muscle strength and cardio activity to wine all day for two days without dying of aching muscles or jiggle-caused embarrassment.
• Apart from Carnival-related issues, I am plain terrified of injuring myself  for the sake of races to come afterwards (and now might be a good time to confess that I may be a bit more twingey lately than I’ve let on, even though I’ve kept running).  I’ve done the whole run-crash-burn cycle so many times it’s hard to keep track.  I’ve had patellofemoral pain syndrome, IT band issues, a funky toe cramp that had me jumping and jolting mercilessly, plantar fascitis, and some mean shinsplints.  Rather miraculously, only my booty has remained unscathed, but I knock on wood because I know that the marvels of my weapon of ass destruction are not likely to be impervious to injury forever–it’s just a matter of probability.

When I’ve been injured, I’ve whined and complained like a five year old.  I’ve also had physio for most of these things, and I’ve always been a model patient that ices and stretches and flexes as she’s told.  The physio has indeed worked in the past.The problem was that I was always left believing, either through my own conjectures or those of some narrow-minded health professionals, that my getting injured meant that I wasn’t suited for -or capable of– doing whatever landed me in Hurtville in the first place. Once the injuries healed, I didn’t return to my quest for future sporting glory.

Nowadays, I spend enough quality online time to know that all athletes get injuries, or have tendencies towards these annoying little glitches.  You get hurt, you deal with it, you take a break, you come back.  I know that I would get over the injury, and that running and swimming are now so engrained and enjoyable that I would be chomping at the bit and counting down the seconds until I could start again. It takes about two months for something new to turn to habit.  By my reckoning, it’s been eleven months (and four races, two sets of running shoes,  two swimsuits, three goggles, and a discarded swimboard) for me, so I think it’s safe to say the habit is set and I’m safe from the drop-out urge.

But… what if I’m not?  What if I decided that I’d rather spend my newfound time sewing, or organizing my drawers, or stalking people on Facebook, or catching up on Gossip Girl, or saving dogs and frogs in the neighborhood?  What if the gearlust died?  I don’t want to lose my breath after running for thirty seconds ever again, or stop mid-lap and question my sanity for swimming, or (taboo again!) go back to my old pants (of which I only have one pair left).

I know that I’m over-thinking and over-reacting to a twinge that has not yet grounded me, and is not likely to if I act now and get it checked out.  If I get injured, I’ll just take a break and come back all terrier-like persistence and strength.  In the time it’s taken me to write this,  I’ve given myself a good slap across the face and made an appointment for a physio referral to deal with the nagging leg tightness.  So I’m going to conquer this fear, this leg, and that elusive 10K…  In that order.

___________

What brought this outpouring of babble, you ask?  I went for a run this morning, at 6:30, with no contemplation of staying in bed involved beforehand.  It was a completely automatic get-up-and-run and a completely satisfying 3 mile jaunt, complete with cute dog sightings, toothless men sightings, and heavy drizzle to cool me off at the end and distract me from the anxiety the twinges of tense hamstring were causing me.

After the running and foam-rollling, I put on a new combo which may find its way to my top ten Outfits I Wear When I Want to Make Myself Annoyingly Conspicuous to People Who Openly Dislike Me (or the regular rotation of favorite outfits):

Because vengeance is a dish best served bright!  The polka-dotted skirt is from Marshall’s boutique in Puerto Rico, the top is Kohl’s clearance finest ($7.98!), and the cardigan is British New Look (it probably was 10 UKP–I doubt I would have paid more than that).  The coconut fell from my tree (free) and the dog is a one-of-a-kind Umbi fox terrier, given to me as a birthday present (a much-too-expensive one for two poor grad students) seven years ago in Montreal (current value:  priceless).  Shoes, as ever, Target.  And, despite all appearances to the contrary, I do not represent their shoe line–but i would be pleased as punch to do so if asked!  Some girls aim for Manolos, I am for Merona.

Food-wise, I’m sure you’ve been missing my oatmeal pics (@ Little A and BabyBel, particularly)!  So today’s offering comes with strawberries for your visual delectation:

I learned my lesson fromyesterday’s lunch debacle and went with a safer option: a Mexi-salad with spicy turkey, red beans, tomatoes, green onions and peppers, and hot salsa:

Which was all the tastier for being accompanied by a dose of Gomorrah and a chair for leg-stretching:

For dinner, I channeled my not-so-inner Bollywood starlet and hooked us up with curried chickpeas and tofu, rice (white–why oh why won’t the supermarkets stock brown rice these days? Did the Husband bribe them not to?) and coconutty spinach:

And so another day ends—a day that will bring the end of Six Feet Under watchathon as I weep my way through the last episode in t minus ten minutes.  I’ll be back tomorrow once I’ve regained my composure and can safely wear mascara again.

[Via http://laurageorgina.wordpress.com]

I want this:

And if it didn’t cost $79 (plus shipping) I would already have one.  Thank you Alan for posting this in the first place.

***

I need a suitcase that will fit in the overhead bins on airplanes.  Does anybody have one they love?  I would prefer it have wheels.

***

This is what I am getting for my Christmas present:

Here’s the back:

I am going to look so awesome at the Canadian Grand Prix this summer.  I can’t wait.  The bad news is I probably won’t have this before the season starts, so I will have to borrow Princess O’s Ferrari shirt in the meantime.

[Via http://goitaly.wordpress.com]

I love you guys. Commenters, lurkers, friends and family. The support I get from everyone is unreal. In the end, my struggles are trivial, in that I am so lucky to have so many people behind me. THANK YOU.

Okay, lets not ramble tonight. Let’s get down to business.

I stayed up too late watching Teen Mom last night. I love that show. Thankfully, today was my rest day, so I had lots of time this morning to stumble around in my pre-coffee daze. This also included a breakfast of epic proportions.

I blame Holly for this. She got the idea of french toast in my head!

I tried something a little different today and toasted the bread first, then dredged it in egg whites and pumpkin pie spice. I personally did not care for it. It made it crunchy, and I prefer a dense and egg-y french toast.

I’ve been on a grape kick lately. They’re super sugary and my sweet tooth loves it!

Work was pretty slow today. One of those days spent waiting for people to return my e-mails and phone calls. After work though, I went to a lecture featuring Nik Nanos. Canadian political junkies may know him as the leading pollster in the country. Some excellent  political discussion followed

Came home to my supa-spicy leftovers from yesterday. I put the meatless ground round/black bean combo on top of some cooked veggies today.

This time with steamed green beans, red potatoes and brussel sprouts. Topped with salsa, of course

This was so. much. food. I couldn’t finish it all. Cooked veggies are way more filling than raw ones. I also feel like I’m about 8 months along with a black bean fibre baby.

Making Dates

No, not those kinds of dates… Not yet – sheesh!

I found out today that my personal training course has officially been moved to March, followed by my exam April 16. Eeee!! Excitement!! I was originally supposed to do a three-day course in Moncton (on top of my online and textbook course-work). But the instructor fell ill and had to cancel. So now I’ll be travelling to Saint John for two weekends in March instead. Seeing as my current contract at the university is up April 30, this timeline works perfectly for me! Hopefully I’ll be certified and good to go by the time I finish my contract. It also gives me extra time to study. Cause lets face it, my current schedule is a lot more strenuous than my Starbucks one was

I’m also looking into RPM spin class training. I still have to hear back on this one, I’m not entirely sure when and where they’re offering it yet. I like the idea of teaching spin class, I know I could challenge people and have a good time. But I’m also a very shy person who tends to clam up in front of big crowds. So I think I’ll just do the training and take it from there. If anything, it will be fun and look fab on my resume

And fiiiiinally – I’m starting to make decisions about this coming race season! You may recall that I set three race goals in my Goals For the New Year. In 2010 I want to  compete in a half marathon, compete in a duathlon and bike a metric century.

It’s kinda hard to plan out all my races, because I don’t know where I’ll be living after this spring yet. But here’s the tentative schedule:

Sunday, April 11th – Fredericton Lincoln 5k

Sunday May 9th – Fredericton Marathon – 10k

Sunday June 6th – Moncton Subaru Duathlon – 5k run, 20k bike, 2k run

You may also recall that I originally planned on doing my half marathon in May as part of the Fredericton Marathon. But I’ve decided to do the 10k portion of the race instead, and put my half marathon off until late summer/early fall. This is mostly because I don’t want to spend the winter months training on a treadmill or in the cold when I could be spending these months weight training. It will also be a lot more fun to train for a half marathon in nice weather

Of course, who knows when or where this half marathon will be – I haven’t a clue where I’ll end up yet! As for the metric century, I’m having a tough time finding road bike races in this area. But this isn’t something I necessarily want to do as a race, I really just want to get the mileage under my wheels

So there ya go, consider yourself updated!

Question of the Day: Do you plan on doing any races in the upcoming season? I got a lot of people say they want to do marathons and triathlons in my last post. Even if you’re not ready for a big one, a few smaller races are still a good start!

[Via http://thegreatbalancingact.com]