Testing week

We've just finished a week of baseline testing in the gym, on the track, and on the water. There are a bunch of out-of-towners here at the training center and I'm glad, because it's more lively and fun than normal. For me, the testing went fairly well considering it started less than 24 hours after the half-marathon.

Some numbers, compared to testing at the end of September (7 weeks ago)

Weighted chin-ups: 25% increase in weight
Max. Bench pull: 8% increase in weight
Max number of chin-ups: 20% increase

And, coupled with my nifty 0% increase in body weight, we are looking at an official improvement in strength-to-weight ratio in the past 7 weeks!! Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

Half-Marathon pictures

Don't let these poorly exposed, blurry photos fool you. When not hastily snapping photos on his iphone, Tyler is actually an impressive photographer. You can find some of his work here.

A Whole New World of Pain

I was unaware that my legs could be this sore.

Fem's Distance-Running Debut

I ran a half-marathon this morning. The Silver Strand Half Marathon, to be exact. I "enjoyed" it and feel that it was a learning experience. The most important lesson that I learned was that you can't run this type of race without training properly for it. Fitness doesn't apply across the board: you can't go from "paddling fast" to "running fast" unless you actually put in the miles. If you don't, the race itself will be very painful indeed.

Anyway, now I can check "half-marathon" off of my life's to-do list and never run one again unless I want to.

(Certainly within the next year.)

What have I been doing lately?

Getting destroyed by hard week... and making this scarf!

My car

As some may know, my car was stolen over a month ago here in San Diego. They found it outside of Los Angeles (2 hours north). It's an old car, but beloved nonetheless. The insurance proceedings have been interesting ( you mean it's only worth how much!?) The funny thing about it is that the money I was offered for the car is less than the combined worth of the two pairs of rollerskis and boots that were in the trunk (and are still in the trunk, according to the police report). Apparently the demand for rollerskis on the black market is very slim, as this is the second time they have been left behind by thieves that break in to my car.