Showing posts with label ask super awesome wife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ask super awesome wife. Show all posts

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Super Awesome Wife Answers

A few weeks ago I opened this forum to my readers, letting them ask the Super Awesome Wife any questions they had. Only a few questions were asked, and she did her best to answer them. So let's get to this.

Sean:
Oooohhh. Fun!
1) What is the most embarrassing things(s) Doug has ever put you through? Feel free to use a separate piece of paper and you may stop after the first 50 or so.
Must think about this.  Nothing jumps to mind.  But there's probably something. [Ed. Note: Seriously, I bothered her forever about this and she swears I've never really embarrassed her. I must not be trying very hard. Even this didn't.]
2) How long has "The Dirtbag" been referring to himself in the 3rd person? And does this concern you? As in, "Grand High Master Dirtbag of the Universe and Beyond went to work this morning and his subjects did not bow to him..." (You might have already answered this in question #1)
At least as long as he has a blog.  Maybe as long as he's had a Facebook account.  Or maybe always, but I'm so used to it now I can't remember if I ever didn't hear it happen.  Luckily it occurs mainly in his written words, so I don't have to LISTEN to him refer to himself in the third person.  So far it has not been of any concern, but in the event that he starts referring to himself in the third person while talking we may have to find him help.  Do you know anyone in the field?

Grandalf the Grey:
1. How did the whole "dirtbag" nom de plume begin? Is it a term of endearment you use at home? (My wife uses a similar one, it starts with "sack of...")
It's a name he gave himself.  It started sometime in the first year of us dating, and it was when his hair had started growing out during a week he didn't shave.  The hair had reached a point of no longer looking okay without hair gel and he said he looked like a dirtbag.  I said something to the effect of “I like my dirtbag.”  Then we went on a 12-day motorcycle ride and he called himself Dirtbag the entire trip.  In fact, he came up with “rider” names for all of us.  If you look through the archives in his other blog you can find out all about that adventure.  The name is not a term of endearment used at home.  I don't think I've ever called out “Dirtbag” while hoping to gain his attention.
2. Does he wear his hair long and have a goatee because he is a metalhead, or is it really because he has a secret fantasy of being a wizard?
It's because he wants you to think he's a metal head, and because he has a secret fantasy about being a wizard.  Professor Snape to be exact.  If he finds out wizards aren't real he'll probably decide he wants to be a Jedi instead. [Ed. Note: Pirate. Duh.]
3.Does he steal your hair care products?
Nearly all of them.  To be fair I don't have many.  Mostly he's after the hair ties and my brush.  And if we go somewhere he needs to use my comb because he never remembers to bring his own.  The only thing he hasn't stolen is my hair clips.  I don't have to worry about my shampoo or conditioner though.  He has his own.  For a while there though, he did have more products than I – because he was using hair gel.

Kepa:
1. What did you do in the Army before getting your medical discharge?
I was an intelligence analyst.
2. Are Doug's students scared of him when they first see him in his long hair and tattoos?
Nah, they've all been hoping since at least the third grade that they would end up in his class.  One fourth grader (who actually didn't end up in his class) has been hoping to be in his class since kindergarten. [Ed. Note: Children have a much more acute bullshit detector than adults do and they read me instantly. They know I'm playing too.]
3. Does Doug obsess about how is going to fit in a training session?
Yes.  And he turns into Mr. Grumpy Pants if he misses them.  But he's worst when he's hungry.
4. Where are you folks from?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle.  After the army I spent a lot of time in Colorado.  Doug grew up in Southern California, near LA.  We met here in Hawaii.

The Maple Grove Barefoot Guy:
How do you feel about Dirtbag's seemingly ridiculous training schedule?
The training schedule seems a little out of hand sometimes.  And every now and then it is incredibly annoying because there is something I want to do but it has to fit in around his workout.  Or I want to stay home but he's already left for a destination where I have to meet him in half an hour.  Mostly though it isn't a problem.  I just finished a graduate program so most of the training was happening while I was studying or asleep.
Would you like to do more races and other sorts of senseless acts of fitness?
I have begun doing my own random acts of fitness.  Mostly walking.  It doesn't interfere with my intense water phobia or fear of two-wheeled things.  I would run, but I gave it up when I left the army.  I did the 5k of Sharon's ride/run/walk and the Women's 5k.  I am planning to do the three events in the Women's run series [Ed. Note: the Tri Fitness 5k, HPH 10k, and Wahine Half Marathon] .  Mostly because after the out loud thought of “you're crazy” when people said they'd done a marathon or half marathon I would secretly think “hey, that's kinda neat. Too bad running sucks.”  Then I found out I could walk the events and I decided to go for it.
How do you like living in Hawaii? 
Living in Hawaii is alright.  Sometimes I miss winter because I enjoy skiing.  I've also reached the point in my life where I think maybe having a couple of kids would be a fun thing to do, which makes me wonder how much longer I can afford to live here.
How do you feel about Doug lifting my idea to do a post like this? Feel like he lacks creativity?
It isn't too bad, I did answer the questions. [Ed. Note: To be fair, it worked really well for you. And if teaching taught me anything, it's steal good ideas.]

So there we go, folks. This first Ask the Super Awesome Wife Answers. It was fun. Maybe we'll try again in a while. Keep an eye out for Super Awesome Write-Ups about the random acts of fitness she's been undertaking recently.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Whiff of Potential

Swim
1 x 200- Warm-up
1 x 500- 7:28
1 x 50- easy
3 x 200- 100-5, 7, 9/ 100- fingertip drag
1 x 50- easy
1 x 500- 7:17
1 x 100- Cool down
total- 2000yd

Ride
2 Scoops Pineapple Hill
time- approx 2:15*
distance- approx 35mi*
* stoopid watch battery died halfway up the second lap

Strong day today in Dirtbag Fitness World. I needed a day like this. My swim, while not all that long, left me feeling good about swimming for the first time in a few weeks. Every session recently had been off. I've been a swimmer for long enough to know stuff like that happens and the only way to fix it is to suffer through and wait for the body to catch the expectations. I'm almost there. The set design was pretty simple. Throw down a strong 500. Do a drill set. Try to best the first 500. Did it, check. By 10 seconds too, which is big time as anyone who swims knows. I know I did better the second time because a 200 warm-up isn't really all that much, especially at oh-dark hundred in a cool pool. By the time I got to 500 number two the muscles were stretched and ready to pound. My biggest goal for both 500s was to stay present in them and not lose focus. The more I do this, the shorter the distance gets, the easier it will be to stack sets like this. I can smell the potential for a sub-30 minute Honu swim from here.
And today's ride was one I've been thinking about for months. I knew there would come a time when Pineapple Hill repeats were going to happen. And, to be frank, I was pretty nervous about it. Sometimes that damn hill seems awfully long. But, much like the 500s, repeated exposure has shortened and flattened it a bit. I felt strong, friends, and tried my damnedest to attack each section of the climb. Goals were to pump, stay present, and try like hell to avoid the lightest gear. Mission accomplishedish. There are a few points where the granny gear is still my friend, but I stayed away. In all honesty, the ride wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I don't know if that means I wasn't suffering as much as I should have been or if it means I'm dogging it when I'm doing Pineapple
Like this but, you know, for real
on long rides. Or maybe today was the breakthrough I've been waiting for and my body has found that
next gear and my mind has recognized the gear's existence as well. Or maybe all this talk about how strong I felt over two laps of Pineapple will just lead to the Grey and Diesel taunting me next time I find myself getting dropped like a burning baby.* Either way, now I know, or I think I know, that I can attack Pineapple better than I have been. Which really means I see three scoops Pineapple in the future.
Don't forget to submit your questions for my first Ask the Super Awesome Wife blog. I'm probably going to be as amused and surprised as you are.

*No, I have no idea where this metaphor came from.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Ask the Super Awesome Wife

*Full Disclosure: I am completely ripping off the Maple Grove Barefoot Guy with this, but I really like the idea and I give him full credit. Wouldn't want to anger a local barefoot superhero.*

Ladies and gentlemen, Dirtbag friends and followers, have I got a treat for you! Now is your chance to ask the Super Awesome Wife of your favorite Dirtbag any questions you like, and she has promised to answer all of them*. You can ask her anything you want about herself and about the care and feeding of the Dirtbag triathlete himself.
Some background about Super Awesome Wife to help you get started. She spent 2 1/2 years in the Army before getting a medical discharge. She just finished school and got a job teaching Pre-K (read: 3-4 year olds) Special Education. She thinks that squished pennies are the best souvenir a person could possibly get for themselves somewhere and has developed a system and rules to govern the selection and creation of said squished pennies. While not as active as myself she has completed the Great Aloha run and the Dash portion of a Splash and Dash biathlon relay as a walker. She is also signed up for a 5k this weekend, and another next weekend. The latter is part of a Women's Fitness Series which will include a 10k and half marathon. Most importantly in the Team Dirtbag context, she is the Official Dirtbag Fitness Nutritionist, Photographer, and Cheer Leader. I would totally ask her about food, she is an awesome cook. And I don't just say that because I would starve and die without her at this point.



Please post the questions in the comments section of this post and in a week or so I'll turn it over to her and let her make fun of me for 500+ words. Have fun and be creative. I'm as interested to find out what I'm going to learn as you are.
**Edit: Here is the post with her answers**

*or as many as she feels like before she gets tired of it