I’m Getting an Edumacation

No, not the kind with books and chalk and teachers. (Who uses chalk anymore?) Been there, done that. I think my degree is buried somewhere at home. Instead, I’m getting edumacated about life.

With my time off from soccer, I’ve been able to hunt down some awesome informational sessions and courses in  Boulder—all of which are free. Hurrah! Where have I found these goodies? Full Cycle and REI. They are both the bomb-diggity.

(Confession: Now that I can play soccer again, I don't want to go back. I've been having too much fun off the field...)

Some of the things I have learned:

1. Triathlons. Wow. Where to begin? The most important thing I got from this session is that triathlons are expensive. You could show up with just your Wal-Mart Huffy mountain bike (but that would be frowned upon by the elites); or you could start racing with a "simple," beginner road bike (with a starting price tag of $1,000). It just goes up from there—specialized wheels, tri bars, carbon fiber... you name it. Then there’s the rest of the gear. A decent tri suit is at least $100, and then you need a wet suit for open-water swims at another couple hundo. And then there’s the entrance fee and required insurance for the actual race. See the progression here? It’s expensive. It makes sense why you never see young people in triathlons—they can’t afford it! However, for a 40-something that’s established and has some extra money to burn, triathlons and most importantly the cool gadgets are definitely a plus.

I think I’ll stick to my $200 commuter bike and cheap and cheery running races for the time being.

I'd be the person drowning

2. Bike Maintenance. I’m not gonna lie, I’m spoiled by my mechanic father and two older brothers. They’re so efficient in fixing things that I happily whine and complain until everything is taken care of. This, of course, means that I know nothing about maintenence myself. Even my little $200 bike leaves me baffled. It seriously took me 15-minutes to figure out how to put air in my tires the other day. Sad, but true. So, off to bike maintenance class! The course was also very informative. The most important thing I learned: A clean bike is a happy bike! So, my bike and I are going to have a pool party this weekend. Chain grease (dry, not wet!) and spare tire tubes will be involved. Care to join? Speedos and Bikinis required. Banana Hammocks preferred.

See the pump? I now know how to use that. Everything else is gibberish.

3. Nutrition. I went to a women’s nutritional course hosted by Megan Forbes and Full Cycle. It was fascinating! To sum it all up—eat lots of fruits, veggies, and foods without additives and preservatives. I pretty much know all of this, but it was really helpful just to see it specifically discussed and analyzed. I also found out that my daily multivitamin, of all things, was making me sick and nauseus. Yay for scientific coding. Oh yeah, we also feasted on catered duck confit sandwiches. Yum.

Mixed drinks contain juice so they're healthy, right? Right?

I’m also getting educated in the fact that I’m not young and invincible anymore. I am still sore. I may cry. I played indoor for the first time in months on Tuesday, I lifted legs, back, and biceps on Wednesday morning, and I’ve been close to tears ever since. It’s bad enough that I couldn’t sleep so I gave up and went to the gym at 4 am just to soak in the hot tub and sauna. Brutal.

Finally, I have to share my recent cooking conquests. As always, I get far too excited any time a new recipe is successful. My new favorite is the gem I cooked last night:

Helloooo, lover!

Homemade wheat pasta with cooked asparagus, roma tomatoes, and proscuitto

 
The homemade pasta was very time consuming. Not too hard, per say, but the time involved is questionable when you can easily buy a huge package at the grocery store for a couple bucks. I'm still glad I figured out how to make it!
 
I can barely draw in a straight line, much less cut noodles! Seriously, it's like squiggle play pasta in there.
 

Straight lines? P-shaw!

 
Other fun times in the kitchen:
 

Tomato soup with white wine

Skillet cornbread with hot chilis and cheddar cheese

Soup and cornbread---yum!

Exhausted and bored from reading yet? I am. And I'm sore.