Can’t Stop The Beat

Music snuck into my thoughts today.  I’ve always thought that if I stumbled across a genie that my wish would be to have a soundtrack for my life (after of course asking for an endless amount of money and wishes).  Music can express every emotion and can enhance any experience.  Granted, there are times I’m sure when I would want to mute my life-soundtrack – ie I don’t need it to fuel the fire if I’m feeling a little blue, or could you imagine when some situation at work gets you all fired up and then all your coworkers hear some raging music blasting from your office?

Specifically when talking about working out, music can play a big part.  It’s something that can pump you up, get you moving, cheer you on, and get you in the zone.  I personally listen to a different type of music for a lot of activities – when biking I try to listen to something that almost puts me in a trance, pumping the Fe requires something with a bit more umph to it – maybe something a bit harder and louder, there’s also the pregrame music before some team sport that requires some pop music that gets ya dancin.  Realize this comes with the disclaimer that riding a bike with headphones on is not a very safe practice and can limit your awareness of surroundings and traffic.  I’ve seen some near misses between bike and car with a lot of culpability on the ipod blaring in the riders ears.

That disclaimer being said, I’d like to open up a discussion on what everyone thinks is the perfect song.  I aim this more towards a power song while working out – and feel free to explain the perfect moment that this perfect song works in.  For instance, I know some people like to get a little motivation by hearing them told over and over that they are a sexy thing by Hot Chocolate.  I’ve also had a discussion with a friend that if we ever want to feel like a bad-a-mofo we strut to the beginning of Crawl by Kings of Leon.  Or let’s see, while biking or running I like to get in a trance to songs like Sleepyhead by Passion Pit.  When I need a bit more power I turn up the juice with something like Pressure by Swollen Member.

So again, let me hear your thoughts, any song and suggestion is appreciated.  Kelly and I used to track our runs using the Nike+ accelerometer.  You could link a little gadget to your ipod and it would measure your distance and speed.  One cool feature was that you could hold the ipod button and it would take a break from your playlist and start playing your designated Power Song.

I’ll be glad to shell out the money to itunes to buy up all these suggestions and make a great pre-ironman playlist for Kel-Kel.

Updates

oh heeeeeeeeey!!!  I’ve missed you dear old friend.  I swear Mr. Blog I have not forgotten about you, and I have not cheated on you with facebook and twitter – I’ve just been busy.  Can we sidetrack on twitter for just a tick?… Indulge me.  When did that become the ‘it’ thing.  I swear overnight it went from people a bit too overzealous about updating people on their lives to everyone doing it.  You know technology has found a golden child when even my hip (read: nerdy but absolutely amazing/hilarious) father who is way too young to have parented me (read: ha! he’s pushing grandpa age) said to me (when going off on a similar twitter rant) ‘duh Andi, everyone tweets.’  Actually, that makes me wonder if Mulkey tweets – dad do you follow that twit-stream?

So let’s talk updates.  I chatted with my t-shirt extraordinaire (I clearly used spell check for that, it is not in my natural spelling repertoire – ha, did it again).  She has assured me that the Team Preddy shirts will be ready for your wearing pleasure on June 5th.  Don’t act like you didn’t just get excited!  In a leap of faith I purchases a few extra Tees — this is so that either a) I can wear them daily without ever washing or b) I can sell a few more.  These quantities are very very limited so you better get in touch with me soon if you want one.

So I’m not sure if ya’ll can view the poll results or if that’s just me since I’m a big deal — but the verdict is extremely clear that the tattoo is supported.  Actually it was a tad closer than I expected.  If it were the mayoral election in Austin there would be a run-off of Get the Tattoo vs. Don’t Get Hep-C…. but that’s not the way I work it here – 45% is enough for me to pronounce “pony up and get inked” as the glorious winner.

This reminds me of an instance when Kelly went to Spain one summer.  She was in a foreign country as a high schooler, so what better thing to do than get your navel pierced?… This wouldn’t be a big deal to many, but to good ol’ Sherry Cragen this was not an approved activity on the Spain agenda.  So what’s a girl to do?  Clearly, the answer is – don’t tell mom, tell sister and get her on your side, then all go to the neighborhood pool to surprise attack mom with the glare of the bling bling in the belly.  Man o’ man, Kelly and I were terrified of my mom’s reaction.  She looks like a small woman, but she was born to be a teacher and a mom because she has ‘the look’ that can stop you in your tracks, burn right through you, and melt you to the core of your being.  You think I’m exaggerating – but seriously, ‘the look’ is the stuff nightmares are made of.  Seriously, I was so scared and it wasn’t even my body piercing – this memory is so clear that I even remember what swimsuit Kelly was wearing.  Needless to say, Kelly received the look and a ‘what is that?’  but my mom didn’t reach over and rip it out as I expected – just a guilt trip and a snide ‘well I hope it doesn’t get infected, hmmphft.’

That is all for now, but check back soon as I plan to have the Idaho itinerary posted.  You didn’t think we were going to idaho for just the Ironman weekend did you?  No no no… there will be shopping, kayaking, and biking galore after Kelly wraps up that little commitment she made for June 21st.

Let’s Get Tatted

Look at what I can do…. I can make a poll.  Have you guys noticed that I get fancier and fancier with every post (no big deal).  I learned how to put links in, and how to make a ‘convo’ (indented and gray), and now…. a poll…. booyah!

Some people get pretty creative with their Ironman tattoos.  Just a quick google search can lead you to some of them.  But in effort to keep you on my page not on google, I’ll put in some that I found:

a little outside the box

small, simple, clean

ironmen have such nice calves

switch it up and move to the arm

Now, I’ve always secretly wanted a tattoo (sorry mom and dad), but I’ve never come up with anything meaningful enough to slap on my body for life (or until I make my fortune and can remove it).  I think an Ironman is just that opportunity, something amazing and memorable, and worthy of a bit of bragging through ink.  I’ll probably be doing my best to convince Kelly to get that little ironman guy inked on her bod.

There was one time in my life I finally came up with a good idea for a BRILLIANT tattoo, and it was recent.  In fact it was a day immortalized in this very blog – Shiner GASP 2009.  As already explained, I was wiped… totally beaten down and tired.  However, I had promised my sister I would finish – so I really had no choice.  What has the world come to if you can’t even trust the word of your sister.  Back to the tat.  I may have been delirious, mind you, but as I kept pedaling and hammering (and getting nowhere) I started a little mantra.  Every time my left knee came up I would say pedal…. when my right knee rose I said damnit.  I didn’t blink, I was focused “PEDAL DAMNIT PEDAL DAMNIT PEDAL DAMNIT PEDAL DAMNIT PEDAL DAMNIT” I think I was hallucinating because I could literally see the words tattoed on my knees, and in that moment I thought it would be totally sweeeeeeeet to get that tatted on the tops of my knees.  So yeah, I see the ridiculousness of the Tat now, don’t worry, but at the time – man o’ man I was ready for the ink.

The professional shiner pictures were posted online today.  Needless to say all mine are horrible — especially the ones where I am desperately trying to fake a smile.  I sent kelly the link to the only one that I thought was reasonably decent… as I prepare for public humiliation (as if the passed out pic didn’t already do that)…. here it is:

Shiner Pic

Kelly wrote me back, thus inspiring this blog: I can almost hear you say, “pedal, dammit”

Deadline

Well guys I hate to do this…. but I’m gonna need to set a deadline for t-shirt orders.  The orders have slowed, and I’d like to get them into production.  The only fitting way to do this will be to set the deadline for ONE MONTH prior to the race itself.  I know this is last minute notice, but it means that the t-shirt orders will only be accepted up until midnight of May 21st (that’s this thursday for those of you sitting away from your handy appointment book).  This means that all of you that are on the fence need to go ahead and bite the bullet and order your shirt.  It also means that you need to turn up the heat on any friends and family members you know will be sad if they miss out on this opportunity.  If you have been under a rock and are unaware of the t-shirts please do not cry, just scroll down and check out all the info under the appropriately named “T-SHIRTS!!!” blog entered last week.

That said….. I’ll tell a story.  I just need to figure out where to start?…

It was a cold and rainy day (typical for portland, oregon) in November of 1983…. hmmm, maybe I don’t need to start back that far, but that is when I met the nice lady named Sherry for the first time (after I allegedly peed on a nurse, but I don’t recall that detail).  I know what you’re saying , ‘get to the point Andi!’  Point is, Kelly and I have always had a huge support system with our parents.  They might not always get why we’re doing something, or even what we’re doing… but they’ll support it by-golly.  They rarely missed swim meets, soccer games, softball games, bball games, lacrosse games, whatevery games, and on and on.  So I’m not sure that my parents understood the ironman at first (who could?), but they are clearly big fans and supporters of Kelly, and they will be in Idaho adorned with bells, cowbells, Team Preddy Tees, loud voices, maybe some signs, cameras, and in true Cragen-style a cooler full of booze.

And more than just supporting Kelly, they also support me supporting Kelly… it’s a whole chain of love and support I tell ya.  So that brings us to a lovely dinner that I had with my moms and sista on sunday.  We ate at a place called Eastside Cafe and I highly recommend it.  Anyways, we had some amazing convos a lot of which went like this:

kelly: I did blah blah blah while training this week…

mom: you did what? holy be-jeeezus.  Andi you need to put that in your blog, I can’t believe Kelly just said that blah blah blah was easy.  Yeah, put your spin on that in your blog to make people realize how ridiculous this training is.

So that’s my goal, I’m hoping to recall all the things that Kelly said at dinner.  And since I’m a HUGE fan of lists, that’s how the rest of this blog will roll.

• The first ridiculous thing Kelly started talking about was that this past week was her “easy” week.  I learned that with this training she does cycles of  two ‘hard’ weeks and then an ‘easy’ week, wash, rinse, repeat.  But let me explain to you a little something I call perspective.  Kelly’s ‘easy’ workout that she was talking about was still a multiple hour bike ride followed by 10-20 minutes of running.  She was actually beaming because she was so excited that she could finish her weekend workout before noon.  After picking up my jaw I saw that my mom had the same reaction – who in their right mind considers that a ‘light and easy’ workout?….
• On to the next… on this above mentioned bike ride she was out with some of her good friends/training buddies.  One couple she was out with is easiest to describe as the downright nicest people you will ever encounter — seriously, no exaggeration.  The male counterpart to the duo, we’ll call him Fred to keep his identity hidden, was feeling a little under the weather and made the wise decision to turn back.  But what should happen during this ride? – a big texas downpour – huge raindrops, flashflooding on the roads, truly dangerous conditions.  However, there wasn’t much they could do but keep riding.  I believe it was 3 of them riding together at this point, risking their lives for the love of their sport, when they saw a man running to them.  You guessed it, it was Fred.  Here’s the funny part though…. actually I’ll go back to the dinner convo for this:

kelly: so then there was this guy running to us….

mom and me: oooOOOooooo Fred came to get ya’ll!!

kelly: well he had switched cars with his friend so he didn’t have room to drive us and our bikes back.  But he brought us rain jackets.

mom: he couldn’t squeeze ya’ll in?

kelly: well, the car he had traded for the weekend was a smart car.

mom: BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’m surprised he even had room for the jackets in a smart car.

kelly: well he was so nice he drove behind us with his flashers on so that we wouldn’t die in the storm.

mom: BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, like a smart car, a car smaller than your bikes, was going to protect you from anything.

kelly: UGH! mom, he was driving his wife’s normal-human sized vehicle, you’re missing the point.

(I still don’t know what the point was, but I will never get the image of the line of bikes and a smart car in the pouring down rain out of my mind)

• One last story.  This rain was clearly not planned for on this ride.  And kelly always rides with her cell phone — it’s the smart and safe thing to do.  So clearly when the rain came she was concerned about the life of her phone.  But she was so proud because she had a wrapper from some food she had eaten on the ride and had the idea to put her phone in that (kinda like a rain jacket).  Let’s go back to the convo…

kelly: thus my ingenuity saved my phone, isn’t that awesome?

andi: very awesome!

mom: well, but when I called you earlier you said there was a horrible whining/ringing sound in the background.

kelly: well yeah there’s that.

mom: and didn’t you say that some of the buttons weren’t working?…

kelly: well yeah there’s that.

andi: so you didn’t actually save your phone?

kelly: it’s partially usable.

Fashion

All the cool kids are not waiting til the last minute to put their orders in for Team Preddy Tees.  Trust me, this is not something you want to be left out of.  In fact, yesterday I had lunch at my very favorite North Austin Restaurant called KaProw (I almost hate to mention this because I would hate for people to start crowding the only place in my life where I have ever been considered a ‘regular’ and the cute little waitress named Amy knows me and my order whenever I go in) – wow sidetracked — ANYWAYS, while at KaProw I got a fortune cookie whose fortune read “Be yourself, and you will always be in fashion.”  This lent itself decently the the ‘in bed’ trick, it also promoted my healthy self-confidence, but what it really made me realize is that the Team Preddy Tees are totally fashionable.  They are pretty much the IT item of 2009.

It got me thinking about fashion…. well, fashion from the perspective of an athlete.  If you want to read about high fashion, Jimmy Choos, or the latest convertible cover-up sweeping the lakes and pools this year then read no further.  However, what I am talking about is how you have to look good, even while drenched in sweat and huffing and puffing.  I have some examples:

1. My friend EY and I have started playing on a soccer team.  We have both played soccer all our lives and love the sport.  What we also love? — looking good while doing it.  So, what are two girls to do when no uniforms are provided, just a loose guideline to wear a purple or black top? – we organize.  Don’t think for a second we didn’t coordinate exactly what we would be wearing.  That’s right, we rolled with black shirts, white shorts, black socks with tiny little shinguards underneath held in place with black electrical tape.  I’m not going to lie, we looked like pros.  So much so that we were invited to try-out for a semi-pro team.  I would love to say it’s because of our impressive skills, but I seriously think the outfits played a large part.  What is it that Leo says in the movie Catch Me If You Can?  Something like “you know why the Yankees always win? – cause the other teams can’t stop staring at the pinstripes.”
2. Let’s move to Kelly.  Triathletes actually have to buy/own more equipment than you would initially think.  Obviously there’s the bike – but let’s add on the aerobars, the velcro one-strap bike shoe (for easy transitions), the clipless pedal of your choosing, the water bottles and cages, etc etc.  You also will need some good running shoes and an outfit — something that will be adequate in all events (read: spandex).  But — did you think about a wetsuit?  The water temp of the 2.4 mile loop in Coeur d’Alene was 52 degrees last year.  This year, right now, the temp is around 46 degrees.  You can follow the water data here:   Spokane River and CDA Lake.  Soooo yeah, not only a wetsuit is needed, but one that covers as much of your body as possible.  This week Kelly went and bought a new wetsuit.  She went to a place in town that has a big selection and a lot of knowledge – so I trust that she got the absolute best.  However, don’t think there’s not style involved.  She sent me a link to her suit because she was so excited that it was pretty, so here it is: The Pretty Wetsuit.  And I agree… as far as wetsuits go, this one finally put some nice pizazz on it.  She claimed that it would help me find her when she was leaving the water — but I can tell you right now that finding her after the swim is never hard.  Swimming is her strength and anytime I’ve watched her she’s been the first girl out of the water and beats most of the boys as well.
3. Carrying on with fashion, I’ll show you what I got Kelly for her birthday.  There’s a great store called Athleta that carries functional clothes for female athletes (most of it yoga inspired, similar to lululemon).  The clothing can kinda crossover from working out to life outside the gym.  I got Kelly a dress (that she picked out of course) that I envision making an appearance post-Ironman in CDA.  The dress will be perfect for riding bikes around town and checking out the local sites.  Here it is:  THE dress.

So that was long and winded – But if you have made it through all that, I will once again remind you to put your order for Team Preddy Tees in as soon as possible.

T-SHIRTS!!!

Ta-Da!!! Team Preddy Shirts designs are finalized… get ‘em while they’re hot!

My awesome roommate Ann Marie has created what I think is an amazing Team Preddy t-shirt.  For those of you who don’t know Ann Marie, she is a freelance graphic designer and does incredible work.  In fact let me go ahead and give you the opportunity to check out some of her work and thoughts:   amflamenco

So here’s the deal with the shirts… I’d like to get a gauge on interest so that I can place a semi-accurate order.  So if anyone (don’t by shy) wants a shirt please let me know ASAP.  You can do this by leaving a comment on this post, emailing me at acragen@gmail.com, or you can phone in your order… you can even let me know through facebook if you feel so inclined.  I know some of you have already let me know you were interested, but please let me know again – just to make sure I’ve got everyone.  Feel free to order a T for every single one of your family members, neighbors, and friends.  Also, don’t worry if you’re out of town, I can mail it to you.

Additionally, if you’re interested in a shirt let me know the size you would want.  They are pretty ‘standard’ t-shirts and I think they range from xs-xxl.

I know the economy is tight (how many times have you heard that phrase lately), but really?… the shirt is but a mere $20.  This is a little ‘over-cost’ for the shirt, but not much I promise… and no, the money is not for me.  What I’d really like to do is make a bit of money from the shirts so that all of us can collectively buy something for Kelly after she finishes the race – there are all those cool jackets, shirts, sweatshirts, etc etc, and I think it would be great for all of us to join up through the shirts and get her something from the Ironman Schwag Tent.

And now….. the shirt unveiling…..

Team Preddy (awesome) Tee

Ninetha May

I can already see this post being a little schizophrenic in nature…. so let’s just do it as a bulleted list.

• The story goes that my dad once had a coworker named Ninetha.  One day he asked her what the origin of her name was since it is so unique.  Allegedly, her parents had so many children they ran out of names.  To make sure they not only had a name for the baby girl, but also always remembered her birthday they named her “Ninetha May” because she was born on the Nineth of May.  My sister’s bday is May 9 so it’s fitting to call her Kelly Ninetha May Cragen Preddy, if you feel the need.
• Another bday fact about us is that we are 3 years and 6 months apart in age.  That means, that not only was a birthday a birthday, it was also a half-birthday celebration.
• To fit the theme of this blog it is appropriate to tell you thousands (ok, tens) of readers just what my sister did on her birthday.  She woke up extra early and did an 80 mile bike ride.  The ride was an organized event, but I don’t recall the name.  She met some nice riders along the way that all had very encouraging words for her Ironman Quest.  As if the ride weren’t quite enough, she got off the bike and ran for an hour.  One of the biggest challenges in triathlons is forcing your legs to run after biking.  To get past this obstacle a triathlete does “Brick” workouts — biking immediately followed by running.  I think the workouts should be called “Jello-Runs” because that’s how my legs felt whenever I tried doing it, but potato potAto.
• And, yes, her life is still balanced – she had fun on her birthday as well.  Her hubby treated her to a fancy dinner (including appetizers and dessert of course).
• I’m also including a little birthday greeting:

Shiner GASP… revisited

Just to help make you feel like you were along for the ride, I’ll go ahead and upload a few things from the Shiner GASP ride o’ misery.

Here I am loading Kelly’s midget bike onto my car (it’s dark because it’s waaaaaaay too early for the sun to be shining).

And here we are before we start the ride, note that we are both still smiling…

Now let’s skip ahead 100 miles…. here’s Kelly after she finished (yes, Bob is indeed double fisting).

Here I am after the ride… Unfortunately this is not staged, and my mom truly felt like she had the right to photograph me in my misery…

and finally, here’s the ladies of the family after riding, drinking, eating, and showering in a trailer…

So there’s some pics.  Also, for anyone interested you can track the ride as viewed through my Garmin watch.  Keep in mind Kelly rode with me for the first 63 miles.  Also, for all of you skeptics out there, my watch battery actually died around mile 93, the data does not cut off because I quit, ahthanku.

The Shiner Ride

Love it.

This is almost enough to inspire me to do an Ironman… ha! I kid I kid, but it does inspire me to film Kelly while she does hers…

Shiner GAAAASP!

Back when I was in my senior year of college (yeah, my first senior year) I was chatting with my sister, and her knowing that I was a poor student she offered an alternative to buying her a lavish gift for her birthday.  Convo went something like this:

Kelly: “hey awesome younger sister Andi (it’s how she normally addresses me), I know you’re broke, but there’s this really cool ride that goes from Austin to Shiner.  You should sign up and do it with me for my birthday.”

Andi: “eh, I’m not so sure about that.”

Kelly: “when you finish there’s a concert and food.”

Andi: “hmmmm, I guess I’m a bit more interested, let me look at my schedule.”

Kelly: “you get free beer at the end.”

Andi: “SIGN ME UP!!!!!!!!”

And that’s how the tradition came to be.  Every year since then my sister and I have made the homage from Austin to Shiner on our bikes (barring one year because I had to attend a silly little thing called Baylor Graduation).  This past saturday was the 4th Shiner GASP for us to saddle up and ride.  Allegedly, GASP stands for Greater Austin to Shiner Pedal.  I would like to contend that GASP stands for nothing, I actually believe they are just referring to what you will be doing the entire time…. gasping.

v., gasped, gasp·ing, gasps. v.intr.

1. To draw in the breath sharply, as from shock.
2. To breathe convulsively or laboriously.

v.tr.

To utter in a breathless manner.

n.

A short convulsive intake or catching of the breath.

Just saying…. this ride is tough.  For the first time, in honor of the brewery’s 100 year anniversary, the ride was made into a century (100 miles).  Additionally, as if 100 miles isn’t tough enough, this year it decided to be windy.  Not just any wind…. head wind.  Ugh! it was demoralizing.  The wind never quit, and somehow, when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the wind actually got more brutal and fiesty in the last 20 miles.  Last year we had a tail wind and Kelly and I were reaching around 40 mph on some downhills.  This year?… same hills…. while laboriously pedaling… I was getting between 10-15 mph.  Like I said – demoralizing!!

But let me get to the point of my story.  This ride was miserable.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many people dropped out.  The sag wagons were full (sag wagons: vans that follow the ride and pick up riders who cannot complete the remainder of the ride).  Not only that, but every truck and SUV that passed me on the way to Shiner was LOADED down with bikes and riders.  I’m talking, rider after rider was dropping out.  Trust me, I do not judge them, I wanted to quit myself, I understand completely why they gracefully bowed out (I can say this now, but as the cars passed me with riders and bikes I probably said a few choice explicatives under my breath).  But you know who didn’t drop out?  Actually, you know who didn’t even falter?  Kelly.

It was the first time in awhile that I’ve accompanied my sister on one of her ironman training events.  Man… she looked strong.  It was also amazing to see how focused she was on not only her biking, but her nutrition as well.  She had everything mapped out: how often to eat, how many calories she needed, how many salt pills she needed to take, etc etc.  It was amazing to watch.  She has truly turned her body into a living, breathing, machine.

I literally had to force her to leave me at Mile 63.  I was suffering and I could not stand to watch her hold back for me anymore.  She has always been an amazing older sister, and I could tell she didn’t want to leave me, and felt horrible about doing so — but I can be stubborn, and I won that battle.  So, at mile 63 I saw her fall into her aerobars and take off… like she could do it all day.  So from my professional opinion, Kelly is looking right on track for her Ironman.  This ride was actually shorter than the ride leg that she’ll be doing in CDA….. but she’s ready.  There’s really no doubt in my mind.  Most people (me in particular) aren’t made to go out and do a 100-mile ride on a saturday, to Kelly, it’s just another day of her training.  In fact, the next morning she woke up and ran 2.5 hours (I, on the other hand, only left my bed or couch to get food.)

So here’s to you Kelly (envision me toasting with a frosty Shiner Blonde in hand)… there’s nothing you can’t do, and I feel so lucky that I can witness it.