Instant Fans...Just add Ice

I know, I know, the Coyotes season is pretty much over since they didn't make it into the play-offs this year. Thanks to the San Jose Sharks making that a certainty last night. But, BT finally got these pictures to me.

It was almost 4 weeks ago, Tuesday when he was able to get us 4 tickets (Thanks, Mike!!) to the Coyotes v. Ducks game. And 4 seems to be the number because we were in the 4th row!!

A-Maz-Ing! I couldn't believe how close they were to us. We could even see the Great One, Wayne Gretzky himself right across the ice from us. The action was fast, loud and exciting. Spencer and Trenton came with us and they were instant fans. The players crashing against the plexiglass windows made us jump and laugh each time.

The game was awesome. The kids enjoyed the crowd chants and songs. Especially when players were put in the penalty box. "Bad Boys! Bad Boys! Whatcha gonna do?" Then the Coyote Cheerleaders performed after the 2nd period to Janet Jackson's Feedback. Too bad we had to leave our seats 5 minutes into the 3rd period, with the Ducks leading 2 to 1. After all, it was a school night and already way past 9 o'clock. The drive back would take at least a half hour, too.

But we even ran into some action in the hallway of the Jobing.com Arena as we were walking to the exits. We saw the SRP Water drop guy. He's the Salt River Project mascot named "Dewey", dressed in blue tights and shaped like a big blue water droplet. Trenton got to give Dewey a High Five.

Then, one guy walking by stopped us and handed me a box. "Here you go. This is for him." and he pointed at my 4 year old.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a bobble head." and he walked away after I thanked him.

It was the bobble head of the Coyotes Mascot Howler. Wow! Trenton was cleaning up.

Then, we heard the crowd go crazy! The Coyotes just scored another goal and tied it up! We stopped in front of one of the TV screens to watch the replay.

Spencer couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had! She was disappointed when I told her that it was almost the end of the season. She wanted to go to another game.

By the time we got home, the game finally ended. The Coyotes won in overtime in a shoot-out, 3 to 2!

Nice Tri

I think I kinda like the visceral nervous excitement you feel right before an event like this. Your doubts, fears, and anxiety churning in your stomach like a protein shake in the blender. Even though this is as mini as a tri can get, you still get that feeling. I actually am thinking I should go ahead and finally register for the Tri-for-a cure next month.

My Tri Notes.
The swim. We were required to wear the swim caps that were given to us at check in. I usually wear the lycra/spandex swim cap that's soft and easy to put on. They gave us those tight rubber caps that feel like your trying to slip a condom over your head. I did a warm up lap and felt like my head was being squeezed by the thing. Oh well, it's only a 10 minute swim. I did 14 25 m laps, 350 meters.

The bike. We were supposed to have a 10 minute transition, but our swim started 5 minutes late. I was still setting up my bike as my wave started. My hair wasn't as wet as I thought it would be and the drops of water from my hair helped keep me cool. The rubber swim cap actually kept it less wet than it does with the lycra cap.

We weren't allowed to touch the resistance on the bike. Apparently, I have been WAY too easy on myself during spin class because the resistance was about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest I ever go in spin class. I was able to do 9.1 miles in 30 minutes.

The run. The 5 minute transition was plenty of time to change into running shoes and get to the treadmills. But again I wasn't ready for this. They made us set the incline at 2%. I was pretty tired from the earlier events so I ran it at a leisurely pace. Plus, I heard about this from many triathletes, that running right after the bike is a really funky feeling. The transition to using the muscles differently is kinda wierd. My legs were feeling wobbly for the first 5 minutes. I did only 1.76 miles in 20 minutes. Not at all my usual pace.

But I'm done!! I did it!! And I'm proud of myself, despite the pace. To treat myself, I headed to the cafe for a Strawberry Sunrise Smoothie. The guy at the counter saw my "Tri it Indoors" shirt and told me that it's free if we're a participant. Score!

Tri - ing it Indoors

My first Triathlon is this Sunday! Woohoo! I'm excited, nervous, anxious, scared, you name it. I don't know why. This one's going to be a piece of cake.

It's all indoors, in the Lifetime Fitness Gym. Unlike other triathlons, this one is based on time instead of distance. It measures the amount of distance you can cover in a given amount of time.

First, I hop in the pool and swim as many laps as I can in 10 minutes. I'm guessing 8 laps, 400 meters. Then, they give us 10 minutes to get ready for biking. I don't know how I'm going to dry my hair in 10 minutes!! Maybe I will just swim doggie paddle so I don't get my hair wet.

Once in the bike area, you're given 30 minutes to bike as much as you can. The bikes are outfitted with a computer to measure distance. After half an hour of biking, you're given 5 minutes to change shoes and head over to the treadmills. Once there, you run for 20 minutes as fast as you can.

After each discipline is completed, your distance is recorded. The top 3 in men's and women's win an award. HA! I'm not even thinking about that. I just want to do it, just to do it. To finally do a triathlon.

I checked out my "wave", the people scheduled to start out at the same time as I do. In total, there are 64 participants and 10 people in my wave, 3 men and 7 women. The oldest being 52 and the youngest is 31. None of the names look familiar. Maybe, I've seen them around in the gym. Anyway, by Sunday afternoon this will be all over.

After this...an outdoor triathlon sprint. I still need a bike though...

Boston Bar Hopping

My husband and I went on a quick trip out to his home town last weekend for some family obligations. I don't know why I agreed to leave the 80 degree weather to hang out where the night time low was 8.

We did get some time away from the 'family obligations' to hangout in Boston on Friday night. We left Foxboro for the City around 7 o'clock and drove to the South End. We started our night off in The Beehive, a bar that was voted "Best of the New: Diversions" by Boston Globes Visitor's Guide.


The place used to be the old flower market, where flower wholesalers would sell their stuff. It was pretty cool, with the brick walls, the art hanging on the walls, the exposed beams and venting above and lots of place to hang your jackets. Hahah! You'd never find that in a Scottsdale bar.

After a cape cod and a couple raspberry madras (and bribing the bartender to let us bring the food away from the bar and to our counter - Thanks Greg ;) !), the rest of the crew that we were going to meet were finally allowed to go downstairs. I guess fire code only allowed a certain number of people below. It's so typical of Boston bars to be downstairs, sorta like the bar in Cheers.

We didn't stick around for the live jazz that was setting up on the stage next to us. We hopped into the car and headed to our next stop, the Union Bar and Grille. I ordered another Raspberry Madras from the bartender. My sister-in-law had to correct my pronunciation so the bartender could understand my thick Arizona accent. I guess it's pronounced 'mad', not 'maude'. What do I know?



Here, I got to talk to my brother-in-law's friends, Tom and Chris, some more. Tom swears he met me ten years ago in San Francisco when my husband let him stay at his place as he was on his way to Hawaii. I kept telling him it wasn't me!

"No, it had to be one of his exes," I said, " I don't remember meeting you."

"No, it was you!" Tom insisted.

Then I explained, "All my husbands exes are asian and we all look alike. Really. You know how girlfriends go through all the old pictures of their boyfriend's exes and rip 'em up? I don't have to do that. I look at 'em and say, 'Yeah, that looks like me.' even hang 'em on the wall if 'I' look good in it"

Yup, those Madras were getting to me...

We crawled next door to the BanQ Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant is housed in the old renovated Penny Savings Bank building. I loved the interesting design they created on the ceiling with these hanging sheets of maple colored wood. The food and beverage had an asian flair and I tried out one of the japanese side cars, a martini made with sake and an apricot liqueor.

As we left the BanQ that night, it was just beginning to snow outside. My first snow since I left California three years ago. Wow! We got a little camera happy outside the bar...