iRow, iRide, iHurt: Version 2.0

Dear Internet,

It's been a busy September thus far - back to the whole "I-don't-want-summer-to-end" thing. The weather has been beautiful - sunny, gorgeous. I've been out and about attempting to enjoy as much of it as possible.

For example:

My dad and I went to a baseball game. I shan't talk about the score (talk about painful!). But I shall say "Hi, Dad!" and mention that it was fun to take him to his first game at Target Field as a belated Father's Day present.

I went to two games in a week and a half, and the lineups were almost completely different both times - but, similarly, they both contained people I'd never heard of. Oh, end of season woes.

Then this past weekend, I did something I said last year I'd never. do. again. Do I listen to myself? Apparently not. Anyway, the Pike Island Challenge was a good time - 13 miles with 3 delightful friends, all in 90 minutes. There was bacon at the end of it, so you know I was rowing a little harder to get to it before everyone else. Highlight of the day: when one of our teammates decided to turn the challenge into a biathlon, and swam over the finish line with his boat in tow.

Then on Sunday, on to the St. Paul Classic. It started out in a, uh, ahem, rather entertaining way. I - quite dumbly - wasn't really awake in the morning, and right outside my friend S's house, I clipped in, leaned too far over, and fell over. While at a complete standstill. So my first visit after pedaling a mile or so to the start was hitting up the first aid tent to get a bandage before I registered.

Entertaining facts: they only provided the nurse one large band-aid, but since I was the first person to visit her, I got it! And yet she told me that every year, she runs out of all of the sizes of band-aids...BEFORE the tour even starts! This year, with 7,000 registrants, I can see how that would happen.

D'oh! Here is the part that I can show you - after I got back home and scrubbed out excess gravel and skin, and once the bleeding had stopped (other parts involve bruising and some more road rash in unmentionable places, i.e., the entire right side of my body, apparently):

Here are the two lovely ladies I tried to keep up with for the last 10 miles or so: A & S. Unfortunately, one of our quad had to bow out with a back injury (we missed you, K!), but I ran into all sorts of rowers, fellow orchestra musicians, fellow government peons. It was great good fun.

We did the same 39 miles as last year, but this year, Internet, we stopped at more of the tour's rest stops to enjoy delightful music and treats. Oh, the brownies with chocolate frosting that I missed last year at the Lilydale stop - how could I have gone by those in 2010 with nary a thought to their deliciousness?! Well, I know they're there now, so I'll make it a point to stop next year. (Yes, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably be dumb every year, and will continue to do these two events for quite some time to come...never mind how much my rear end hurts by mile 10 of each event...)

And finally, I have decided that since I'm on Twitter a bit more often lately, I am now feeding it onto this blog so people will know I'm not dead. (Yet. I haven't biked or rowed in a few days, so that probably helps my chances of not keeling over from tiredness.) It is unlocked, and the people may rejoice and read it if they so desire.

xoxo,

Minny LinnEy