Monday, September 27, 2010

Redman Triathlon, OKC

REDMAN
We went to OKC this weekend for a Half Ironman triathlon, the Redman.  I think they named it the 'Redman' because the lake has red clay but it could also be because the athletes become 'red men' once they finish the race!  Will neglected to wear sunscreen so his tan lines are pretty hilarious.

Will did fantastic and placed 11th in his age group out of 30 people and 80th out of 227 people overall!  His time improved 35 minutes from his last H.I.M. so that was a huge confidence booster for him.  I volunteered during the race while I waited to see Will transition and got to put the finisher's medal around his neck at the finish line.

And they're off!
I finished before Will!

Off for a 56 mile bike ride

Off for a half marathon run

Finished!!!!
And... ice bath!
Great race, great trip (no flat-tires or other incidents like last time!) and lovely weather. Proud of you, Will!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Cooler Days and College Football

Ahh...September.  The beginning of cooler weather (unless you live in Dallas) and college football!

NORTH TEXAS GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI CLUB
An exciting thing happened this year - I involved us in the North Texas Georgia Tech Alumni Club.  I say 'I involved us' because I am signing Will up for events with me, he really has no choice.  We decided to attend a meeting in July because it was being held at an alumna's house about two blocks away from where we live.  Usually the 'Dallas' events are outside of 635, so we have not been going.  But, since this meeting was so close to us, we went and are glad we did.  We met some very nice GT alumni, and one of the women there was on the GT gymnastics team with me (and it turns out that she and her husband, who is also a lawyer, live on our street).  Small world. But, the best thing about the meeting was that I met my running buddy, Ashleigh.  She took over as President of the NTGT club and has done a great job of
A:  Improving my running time by more than a minute/mile (thanks Ashleigh!) and
B:  Planning events for the alumni in Dallas
*Not to mention that she's been a great friend :)

PAINTING WITH A TWIST
The first event with the GT Alumni Club was for the ladies in Dallas; we went to Painting With a Twist (PWAT).  http://ntxgtclub.weebly.com/photos---painting-with-a-twist.html
I had a lot of fun and met some nice GT women who live in the area.  It goes without saying that I was the only ID major, and one of only two non-engineers.  PWAT was AWESOME!  The class is taught over the course of two hours and is very easy and fun. All you have to do is follow some simple instructions and drink wine if you like.  We painted a peacock in this class and mine turned out a bit more 'free form' than most everyone else at my table (again, please note that I was with engineers, so imagination is limited - a straight line means a straight line!).  I did learn a few things that night that I would probably not have learned had I not attended, such as electronic circuits are built on single pieces of silicon now, versus separate pieces.  This is why all our electronics get smaller and smaller -- they used to build each circuit on individual pieces of silicon.  Thank you Bahavna for that information (Masters from Tech in Electrical Engineering, currently working at TI... or in other words, very smart).  I also got to sample a glass of the Range Reserve Chardonnay '10.  This is a special wine that is only available from Ashleigh and Brad's house - he makes his own beer, red wine, and white wine.  I was most impressed with the presentation; he had a corking machine or something just like wine from the store would have. He also made stick-on labels with the alcoholic content and everything, but then, why should I be surprised, Brad has a BS and a Masters in ME from Tech (again, another smart person).

GT Alumni Ladies
My Peacock, Henrietta
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH: GT VS KANSAS GAME WATCHING PARTY
I think it's easiest to sum up the game as Will said: 'We got Jay-hawked.' 

It looked as if the Jackets went into the game thinking that their #17 ranking was going to guarantee a win.  Well, it didn't.  The only thing that it guaranteed was a messy, embarrassing game.  But that didn't stop us from going to Fox & Hounds (in a very sketchy part of town, the only place that would dedicate a room to the Tech game!) and cheering on the Jackets.  We chatted with Ashleigh and Brad and other fellow alumni who showed up.  Ironically, I met a woman who's sister was one of my Phi Mu sorority sisters --- again, small world!

Ashleigh & Brad
MGT '04 + ID '05 = Lowest SAT scores in the room

Even though we lost, we can confidently say that 'our athletes are smarter than yours!'  If you haven't seen the GT commercial for this season, check it out at the link below:
http://www.gatech.edu/music/psa.html
I believe it was Ashleigh who pointed out that the commercial features a woman, and music --- see, Tech is well-rounded! hahaha