Not physically. Not yet. But leave it to me to send out my blog URL in my belated holiday cards and then decide to switch over to a new blogging program. Everything has moved over, comments and everything, here's the new URL...
http://mdwulf.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday, September 14, 2009
Big Shoulders: The Adventure
Yesterday, I completed the Big Shoulders 5K SWIM in 1:41:52. I had no idea what time I would get. I typically swim about half hour miles in a pool, so initially figured about an hour and a half. However, the weekend before the Race (Labor Day Weekend) I swam in Lake Michigan and since it was so wavy from boats, it took me about 40 minutes to complete a mile. So then I began to think it may take me more like 2 hours to do this thing! But luckily the flat water was on my side, and I averaged between 33 and 34 minute miles for 3.1 miles.
The course was set up as a triangular course from Ohio Street Beach, which you swim once for the 2.5K and twice for the 5K. The first segment of the course ran along Navy Pier, the hypotenuse crossing over to Lake Shore Drive, and the last segment of the triangle ran along Lake Shore drive back to the beach. There were three 8 foot tall orange cone-shaped buoys marking the course that we swam around at each corner.
I was in the first wave, based on my age and distance, and had a green cap. (Each wave had their own color cap and start time.) As we were heading into the 70 degree water for the kick off of the 2009 race, I ran into an old swimming buddy from KC, Joy Stover. Spoiler alert! She got 3rd place in our division, I did not place. :) Anyway, it was great to run into her, I knew she was swimming, but wasn't sure if we would be able to meet up. My old media director Sam Wehrs also swam, but I never did run into him.
So we all walked into the water a few minutes before our start time, bobbing up and down like a Red Cross beginner swim class might do. It was cold, but not freezing, thank goodness! I thought the water temperature was great, and would have been way too hot if I would have been in a wetsuit like the wussies out there.
That reminds me! The race director made a snide remark about triathletes that I got a kick out of before the race started. He said, if someone swims into you, just take it easy, we are after all not a bunch of triathletes nervous in the water. I wonder how many triathletes racing found it less humorous.
So then they started the race with a countdown and a foghorn and the raising of a rope between a rowboat and the shore. Unfortunately, they must not have practiced this detail, because they kept clotheslining swimmers as we crossed the start line, including me!
Once I got past the start and we started to spread out a bit and I could get into the rhythm of my stroke, I noticed the guy next to me was swimming butterfly. BUTTERFLY! I thought to myself this guy can't be for real, starting off a 5K with butterfly? For some reason I knew he must have been planning to do fly the entire race, and he did! I saw him finish as well. And the announcer even called it out, and said he does it every year. Crazy!
So I continued on, leaving him behind me, and then we went through this crazy seaweed area. It looked like a scene from a Harry Potter movie. I tried to ignore it and eventually the seaweed went away.
It was really hard to find something to use to sight on the first leg to swim straight other than other swimmers. You couldn't see the buoys until you got within about 500 yards I would say.
Once you round the first corner though, you could use the Hancock and buildings to the right of it to sight on that leg. Each leg seemed to go on forever until you could finally see that bright orange cone in your goggles.
The last segment of the first 2.5K was also really easy to sight, because there's that building, the only one east of Lake Shore Drive which is right behind the beach. Lake Point Tower, google just told me, it is called.
Maybe this should be a good time to point out that I was up at 1 a.m. before the race puking and having other digestive issues. I thought for sure I had gotten food poisoning, but now I'm thinking I was just nervous, because no one else that ate with me that evening got sick.
So I say that because I almost didn't even go to the race, and at this point just wanted to finish and was not concerned with my time. But as I crossed the halfway point, I looked at my watch and it said 50 minutes and I suddenly realized I could actually do this thing in 1:40 as opposed to 2 hours.
So that gets my motivation up as I started the second leg. I actually started kicking. Ha ha. I must have been booking too fast because a piece of seaweed knocked me in the head. Momentary freakout as I had to work to get it off my forehead without breaking stroke or even worse, touching it.
I'll talk about the water now, it was okay other than the occasional seaweek issues. It was actually fairly clear and I could see the bottom most of the time, if not all. I didn't see any dolphins or sharks or stingrays or anything. Just kidding, but seriously I didn't see any fish or whatever else lives in Lake Michigan. I swallowed a bit more than I would have liked, but whatever, I'm still alive, and don't seem to have e coli poisoning today. There was one point during both legs where it smelled strongly of gasoline. I think it was just because one of the rescue boats was nearby, but I was especially careful to keep my mouth closed there.
So the last leg was the hardest. Lake Point Tower looked like it was right there, but similar to walking in Vegas, it took forever to actually get to it. At this point, I just wanted to be out of the water. Then midway to shore, I had a wardrobe malfunction and had to actually stop to fix my caps and goggles. I was wearing two caps to keep my body heat in and they were slipping off my weirdly shaped head to the point where my goggles would not stay on and kept filling up with water. So I stopped to fix it, which I actually think kept me from getting under the 1:40 mark. Bygones.
I eventually made my way to shore and then actually had to walk and/or run to the finish line that was 10-20 yards from the water. I remember a little kid yelling "Run! Run!". I giggled to myself and kept on walking...
I was trying to do a deck change where I was camping out before and after the race, which I didn't realize was in front of this sign, a key photo opportunity. Needless to say I didn't complete the deck change.
Here you can also see the 8 foot cones, and how small they actually look out in the water as well as the finish line.
The course was set up as a triangular course from Ohio Street Beach, which you swim once for the 2.5K and twice for the 5K. The first segment of the course ran along Navy Pier, the hypotenuse crossing over to Lake Shore Drive, and the last segment of the triangle ran along Lake Shore drive back to the beach. There were three 8 foot tall orange cone-shaped buoys marking the course that we swam around at each corner.
I was in the first wave, based on my age and distance, and had a green cap. (Each wave had their own color cap and start time.) As we were heading into the 70 degree water for the kick off of the 2009 race, I ran into an old swimming buddy from KC, Joy Stover. Spoiler alert! She got 3rd place in our division, I did not place. :) Anyway, it was great to run into her, I knew she was swimming, but wasn't sure if we would be able to meet up. My old media director Sam Wehrs also swam, but I never did run into him.
So we all walked into the water a few minutes before our start time, bobbing up and down like a Red Cross beginner swim class might do. It was cold, but not freezing, thank goodness! I thought the water temperature was great, and would have been way too hot if I would have been in a wetsuit like the wussies out there.
That reminds me! The race director made a snide remark about triathletes that I got a kick out of before the race started. He said, if someone swims into you, just take it easy, we are after all not a bunch of triathletes nervous in the water. I wonder how many triathletes racing found it less humorous.
So then they started the race with a countdown and a foghorn and the raising of a rope between a rowboat and the shore. Unfortunately, they must not have practiced this detail, because they kept clotheslining swimmers as we crossed the start line, including me!
Once I got past the start and we started to spread out a bit and I could get into the rhythm of my stroke, I noticed the guy next to me was swimming butterfly. BUTTERFLY! I thought to myself this guy can't be for real, starting off a 5K with butterfly? For some reason I knew he must have been planning to do fly the entire race, and he did! I saw him finish as well. And the announcer even called it out, and said he does it every year. Crazy!
So I continued on, leaving him behind me, and then we went through this crazy seaweed area. It looked like a scene from a Harry Potter movie. I tried to ignore it and eventually the seaweed went away.
It was really hard to find something to use to sight on the first leg to swim straight other than other swimmers. You couldn't see the buoys until you got within about 500 yards I would say.
Once you round the first corner though, you could use the Hancock and buildings to the right of it to sight on that leg. Each leg seemed to go on forever until you could finally see that bright orange cone in your goggles.
The last segment of the first 2.5K was also really easy to sight, because there's that building, the only one east of Lake Shore Drive which is right behind the beach. Lake Point Tower, google just told me, it is called.
Maybe this should be a good time to point out that I was up at 1 a.m. before the race puking and having other digestive issues. I thought for sure I had gotten food poisoning, but now I'm thinking I was just nervous, because no one else that ate with me that evening got sick.
So I say that because I almost didn't even go to the race, and at this point just wanted to finish and was not concerned with my time. But as I crossed the halfway point, I looked at my watch and it said 50 minutes and I suddenly realized I could actually do this thing in 1:40 as opposed to 2 hours.
So that gets my motivation up as I started the second leg. I actually started kicking. Ha ha. I must have been booking too fast because a piece of seaweed knocked me in the head. Momentary freakout as I had to work to get it off my forehead without breaking stroke or even worse, touching it.
I'll talk about the water now, it was okay other than the occasional seaweek issues. It was actually fairly clear and I could see the bottom most of the time, if not all. I didn't see any dolphins or sharks or stingrays or anything. Just kidding, but seriously I didn't see any fish or whatever else lives in Lake Michigan. I swallowed a bit more than I would have liked, but whatever, I'm still alive, and don't seem to have e coli poisoning today. There was one point during both legs where it smelled strongly of gasoline. I think it was just because one of the rescue boats was nearby, but I was especially careful to keep my mouth closed there.
So the last leg was the hardest. Lake Point Tower looked like it was right there, but similar to walking in Vegas, it took forever to actually get to it. At this point, I just wanted to be out of the water. Then midway to shore, I had a wardrobe malfunction and had to actually stop to fix my caps and goggles. I was wearing two caps to keep my body heat in and they were slipping off my weirdly shaped head to the point where my goggles would not stay on and kept filling up with water. So I stopped to fix it, which I actually think kept me from getting under the 1:40 mark. Bygones.
I eventually made my way to shore and then actually had to walk and/or run to the finish line that was 10-20 yards from the water. I remember a little kid yelling "Run! Run!". I giggled to myself and kept on walking...
I was trying to do a deck change where I was camping out before and after the race, which I didn't realize was in front of this sign, a key photo opportunity. Needless to say I didn't complete the deck change.
Here you can also see the 8 foot cones, and how small they actually look out in the water as well as the finish line.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Happy Labor Day
I can't believe summer is over. I feel like it just started in Chicago. Sad face. Here's what I've been up to all summer.
This is my birthday dinner at Cesar's (home of the killer margarita). Left to right it's Melissa (roommate), me, Shayla, Lauren, Carrie, McD and Alex.
Shayla came from Lawrence to help me celebrate.
Tiffany and I went to Boston over the long 4th of July weekend. This is me stealing Norm's beer.
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Mom, Debbie, Jakob and Hannah drove up to stay with Melanie for several days. I went to visit after a day of golfing/drinking. I gave everyone those I heart NY shirts for Christmas following my trip to NYC last fall.
This is Beluga (my blue bike) all geared up for Late Ride. I had lights all around the frame of my bike and my helmet. The picture doesn't really do it justice.
This is Lisa, me and Leigh in San Francisco. We visited just in the nick of time, since Lisa moved back to Kansas City last weekend!
Me, Megan and Brandi at Megan's wedding at Boulevard Brewery. It was so much fun, I highly recommend that venue.
Spencer, me and Bridget at the Flying Saucer after their wedding. What a great day to see old friends.
OK, I'm off to do my final swim in Lake Michigan before the Big Shoulders 5K next weekend. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my birthday dinner at Cesar's (home of the killer margarita). Left to right it's Melissa (roommate), me, Shayla, Lauren, Carrie, McD and Alex.
Shayla came from Lawrence to help me celebrate.
Tiffany and I went to Boston over the long 4th of July weekend. This is me stealing Norm's beer.
nu=3239)465)33;)WSNRCG=327255(;62339nu0mrj.jpg)
Mom, Debbie, Jakob and Hannah drove up to stay with Melanie for several days. I went to visit after a day of golfing/drinking. I gave everyone those I heart NY shirts for Christmas following my trip to NYC last fall.
This is Beluga (my blue bike) all geared up for Late Ride. I had lights all around the frame of my bike and my helmet. The picture doesn't really do it justice.
This is Lisa, me and Leigh in San Francisco. We visited just in the nick of time, since Lisa moved back to Kansas City last weekend!
Me, Megan and Brandi at Megan's wedding at Boulevard Brewery. It was so much fun, I highly recommend that venue.
Spencer, me and Bridget at the Flying Saucer after their wedding. What a great day to see old friends.
OK, I'm off to do my final swim in Lake Michigan before the Big Shoulders 5K next weekend. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thanks Dad!
It's hard to believe that it was one year ago today that my dad died. In some ways it seems like only yesterday, and in others, it seems like a lifetime ago. I miss him everyday, and sometimes as I'm strolling along in life I forget about it for about a minute and then I remember all over again and it seems so unbelievable.
Today, I wanted to reflect on all the awesome gifts my dad given me in my first 29 years on this planet. I have jewelry he picked out himself, dolphin and whale figurines, a bicycle, a Jayhawk tire cover, all of which I cherish greatly. But what I really cherish are the lessons that stay with me each and every day. You see, my dad armed me with many gifts that I will use as I continue on throughout my life.
Some of the highlights:
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Emerson.
Today, I wanted to reflect on all the awesome gifts my dad given me in my first 29 years on this planet. I have jewelry he picked out himself, dolphin and whale figurines, a bicycle, a Jayhawk tire cover, all of which I cherish greatly. But what I really cherish are the lessons that stay with me each and every day. You see, my dad armed me with many gifts that I will use as I continue on throughout my life.
Some of the highlights:
- How to drive a stick
- How to float on my back with my feet in the air (Don't ask!)
- How to put yourself in others shoes and to never judge
- How to sprint ("a 50 is less than 30 seconds, you can rest when you're done damnit")
- Girls can do anything boys can do
- More importantly, I can do anything I put my mind to (move to San Diego, run a marathon, climb a mountain)
- There are jobs out there that no one wants to do, but someone has to
- Seek as many adventures as possible in life
- If you don't have something important, friendly or funny to say, don't say anything at all
- How to fart on command ("Pull my finger")
- How to listen (or at least pretend to)
- How to shoot a gun
- How to spend all your spare time at home in your underwear (that's for you Melis!)
- Two words - Wild Turkey
- It's better to be a smart-ass than a dumbass
- If ever you blow a tire or the Toyota breaks down for hours in the Colorado mountains, don't tell Mom
- Most importantly, how to love - I'm sad that my dad will not be at my wedding or meet my kids, but I know he taught me what to look for in a husband and how to raise my children. So with that knowledge, I can continue.
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Emerson.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Jai Ho Anoop Dog
The Top 13 Finalists are finally set for American Idol, may the showdown begin! I'm so glad Anoop got through, it was obvious that he and Matt both deserved it. But the gender numbers were not on their side. To make it even male/female, 2 females definitely had to get through tonight and overall the ladies are not that impressive this year. Thank goodness Tatiana is gone, she was super annoying - a total poser. Danny's my favorite, can't wait until next week to see what he sings!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Holy Facebook!
I'm a bit taken aback by the recent influx of people on Facebook. I've been on Myspace for 4 or 5 years I think and have yet to break the 200 friend mark. Facebook seems to be taking over the world, young and old -I've been on it for only 2 years and I'm approaching 600 friends! And I know all of them. (Well, except for that one random admin from our office that I was afraid to decline, because honestly you never know when you might need to call in a favor from an admin assistant and the one place you don't want to be is on their shit list. It's like getting in good with the IT guy.) On principle though, I only accept people I know, even if it is just a one time meeting.
My sisters' friends are all over it these days, and they are all in their 40s. Some of them I fear are confusing me for Melanie and requesting me to be their friend mistakingly. If I recognize their name, I accept, if not I decline. (Sorry Mel!) Friends' parents are signing up left and right. Friends who are "late adopters" that I thought would rather die before joining Facebook, are jumping on the bandwagon and adding 100s of friends within the matter of just a few days. People from Coffeyville that think my "name sounds familiar" are sending me messages asking me "how we know each other". For the record, I ignored that one.
I am founding out things about people that I haven't thought about in 15 years. From people that I would have never fathomed would know the other. But thanks to Facebook we can all snoop on other people's friend lists. It's crazy! Don't even get me started on the photo tagging. Let's just say I've done my fair share of untagging.
All of this said, Facebook is making me feel a bit clausterphobic. Like the whole wide world is closing in on me. I like to use Myspace, Facebook and this blog to keep up with my friends and let them keep up with me (we are all so spread out). But everyone that has ever known someone that breathed in Coffeyville in the last 50 years to follow my every cyber move? Never my intention.
So I'm running like the wind.
To Twitter.
And lucky for you late adopters, I set up a feed on the right of this blog for you to see my tweets! :)
My sisters' friends are all over it these days, and they are all in their 40s. Some of them I fear are confusing me for Melanie and requesting me to be their friend mistakingly. If I recognize their name, I accept, if not I decline. (Sorry Mel!) Friends' parents are signing up left and right. Friends who are "late adopters" that I thought would rather die before joining Facebook, are jumping on the bandwagon and adding 100s of friends within the matter of just a few days. People from Coffeyville that think my "name sounds familiar" are sending me messages asking me "how we know each other". For the record, I ignored that one.
I am founding out things about people that I haven't thought about in 15 years. From people that I would have never fathomed would know the other. But thanks to Facebook we can all snoop on other people's friend lists. It's crazy! Don't even get me started on the photo tagging. Let's just say I've done my fair share of untagging.
All of this said, Facebook is making me feel a bit clausterphobic. Like the whole wide world is closing in on me. I like to use Myspace, Facebook and this blog to keep up with my friends and let them keep up with me (we are all so spread out). But everyone that has ever known someone that breathed in Coffeyville in the last 50 years to follow my every cyber move? Never my intention.
So I'm running like the wind.
To Twitter.
And lucky for you late adopters, I set up a feed on the right of this blog for you to see my tweets! :)
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About The Author
- Melinda Wulf
- Mwanza, Tanzania
- I am originally from Kansas, but have lived in KC, San Diego and Chicago working in the media and event planning industries. I am currently the Administrative Director at JBFC (Janada Batchelor Foundation for Children) in Kitongo, Tanzania. This is just outside Mwanza, on beautiful Lake Victoria.