...and a Happy New Year

Christmas '04 is over! It was a fun day here at the McLarty Farm...although not much time was spent on the 'farm' because it RAINED the entire day! So the family just chilled inside, played card games, watched TV, ate food, opened presents, played Texas Hold'em (Dustin won), etc.
I enjoyed all the gifts I recieved...hot pink retro bike jersey, the first 6 of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books, "Supersize Me" DVD, 1GB card for my digital camera, and lots of other cool stuff! I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas gifts from me...and if you didn't get one...I'm sending lots of love and good cheer in your direction.
I am currently in the middle of week 3 of training. It's going to be hard but there is a light week after this to recover. Monday training started with morning swim practice, followed by a 6 mile jog at noon, and finishing off with a 35 mile ride with a huge group of people. Today was all pool work...I actually swam twice today...and went over 10,000 meters (my shoulders can attest to this:). Tomorrow starts with a nice brick workout...25 ride followed by a 6 run (with Yvonne who is a marathonner so its not like I can keep up on the run or anything)!
That's about it from this side of town.
I hope everyone was able to spend the holidays with loved ones and has a great new year!!!

Bikin'

It's like freezing outside...but probably not really because I live in Florida...but it sure feels like it to my thin blood! Change that...it's actually IS freezing (I just looked at a thermometer)!
But back to the topic of this post...bikin'. I sure have been spending a lot of time bikin' lately! Some people would be impressed (I'm impressed:). On Sunday, I rode 65 miles with a 19+ average! Then today, after swim practice and a run...I rode 25 miles. Thats almost 100 miles in 2 days! I really am turning into a triathlete (or a biker)!
The other news from me is: picked up a Christmas Tree today. I know, it's like 3 days 'til Chirstmas! But it's the thought that counts.
Tomorrow I am having lunch with none other than Carrie Ross...it's been a while since I've seen my Smile buddy...should be good memories!
The family has finished our traditional photo-Christmas-card and we are printing away in the computer room. I should be able to post it up here soon...but I'm not going to do it now becasue it's 10:30pm and I'm tired!

I've got a song stuck in my head!

"You are so beautiful...to meeeee!"
I've been singing that all afternoon because someone sent me the song in an instant message (I didn't know you could do that) and I listened to it like 5 times...at least it is a good song:)!

The simple bike ride that I started on this morning turned into a chilly, rainy, windy, loonng, and fun adventure. My training partner (dad) and I started biking as the skies were turning dark...we rode about 3 miles and saw Rachel (other training partner) riding the other direction...we turned around and joined her while the sky started drizzling...10 miles later, the rain stopped, the winds didn't, we kept on riding...arrived home after 40 miles of adventure.

No relaxing time yet...I had 3 gallons of orange juice to squeeze for the Gator Swimmers/Divers (I can't tell you how many oranges it took to squeeze those gallons because that is the first question in the Christmas Training Hell Week of Games...read previous post if confused). After the orange juice was procured and the lasagna for Dustin packed in the car...it was time to drive BACK TO SCHOOL!!

Yep...I'm in G-ville again! Picked up my CAP & GOWN earlier...looks pretty cool! I will take photos and post later! I thought that my college (Journalism & Communications) had a light blue tassel...I was wrong. It is half white and half black (real GATOR colors, huh! What's up with that?)

Etta (she's from the Netherlands) and I in the bus in Dubai. We are heading back to the hotel after a day at the beach!

The Persian Gulf...I wish I could swim in water like that every day! 

Makin' a list, Checking it twice...

10 more days 'til Christmas!
3 more days 'til Graduation!
1 more day 'til I'm back in G-ville!
8 more hours 'til my day off is over!
I've actually accomplished a lot of things today. I still have a list that is a mile long of 'Things To Do in the Next 5 Days' but I can cross a few items out.
I ordered some x-mas gifts for some family members today...I realized that a really good idea for 'hard-to-shop-for-people' are food baskets and food towers. No matter what the person's favorite food is, you can find a company that ships it in a decorative basket...chocolate, of course...fruit, you bet...nuts, very popular...wine, surprise...filet steaks, I had no idea...deep fried oreos, gross!!
Fed-Ex drove by today and deliverd my winter gear for cycling. I ordered arm warmers...leg warmers...gloves (didn't fit)...and a new patriotic helmet (yeah, that's not winter gear but I got one anyways).
Let me tell you about yesterday, which I will call 'Torture Day'. Coach Mom's workout sheet listed a 25 mile ride and a 6 mile run in the morning and a DBS swim practice in the afternoon. Well, it would have been hard enough to just finish all that...but no...for the Brick workout in the AM, she invites a marathon runner and her bike crazy boyfriend to come and do the 25/6 also.
To make a long story short...one week into my triathlon training I busted out a 27 mile bike ride (yes it was 2 miles longer than needed...it was 40 degrees outside...the winds were a'blowin) with an 18 mph average* followed by a 6 mile run in 43 minutes* (7:10 mile pace if you're wondering).
*(disclaimer: yeah, this might not seem to fast in the relm of real triathletes...but take 2 years off and then see what you can do!!):)

It's gonna be a chilly one!

No more warmth! A serious cold front moved through last night and now it's in the 50s! That's why today's scheduled bike ride has a starting time of 11am...we're waiting for the sun to warm everything up! So it's 10 am...I haven't done much so far today: woke up, ate b-fast, did some things on my huge 'To-Do' list and now I'm online to accomplish some x-mas shopping.
Yesterday was a fun day...Dad and I attended the Orlando Road Club's Christmas ride & party in Orlando. Of course the only way I could attend (according to coach mom) was if I turned it into a 3-mile run, 25-mile ride, 3-mile run...so I did that...and then relaxed with friends at the pavilion and tasted all the yummy foods that people brought. The cool surprise was seeing Ryan Phelps (one of those 'long time no see' things) at the ride. He's a 20yr old aspiring cyclist who just did a summer racing and training in Belgium...and gave me the idea to start a blog (see his blog from Belgium at: www.ryanracebelgium.blogspot.com).
Off to get some Christmas presents ordered before doing intervals on the bike today!

Ouch, the fun has started!

Yesterday I finished loading my car up to the roof with stuff...it was sitting a little lower to the ground than normal...I stopped by the pool to say 'adios' to Duster-Buster (and saw the new secret to UF swimming is 15 yard pools...it actually just looks like a new form of torture/cruel & unusual punishment)...and then I drove home in the fading sunlight. After a relaxing 5 minutes at home, Mom, Dad, and I went over to a friend's house for a dinner party...yummy! Then we stopped by another friend's house that was having a cookie baking party...more yummy!
Woke up at the crack of dawn this morning...which actually isn't that bad in the winter becasue the 'crack of dawn' is all of 7am! It's a little different in the summer when the light starts shining around 5 in the freaking morning! Anyways...the point is that I woke up, hopped on my bike (amid a cloud of dust...it has been a month since the last ride!), and went on a great 30 mile ride with 'training partner dad'. According to him, this was the last warm day of the year...winter is suposed to be showing up any day now! (Just to let any out of state readers know...it was 80 degrees today...brutal:).
After a bit of organizing during the mid-day (hey, all that stuff that was in the car needs to find a place to go) it was time for afternoon workout...finally an 'afternoon workout' that does not involve a pool in any way. Today's consisted of a 5 mile jog at the local park (it was supoed to be a 'run' but I'm still at 'jog only' abilities). Surprise, Surprise...I'm feeling really good at the end of my first official Triathlon Training Day...anybody have some Advil???

Christmas Games

Does anyone remember the Christmas Training at UF where I did games each day and the winner got a prize? I don't know why I didn't do that more than one Christmas (yes I do, because Christmas training at UF is hard enough with out something else to worry about!) Well, the point is, for the first time in 4 years, I am not involved with UF Christmas training so I have the free time to do Christmas games! I've got the prizes...the chocolate content in my apartment is dangerously high...and now I have to come up with games for the swim team.
Day one...the game is to guess how many candies are in the jar...the prize is the jar of candy! (no tricks like making a hollow center of the jar)
Day two...the game is to guess how many oranges it takes to fill a gallon of orange juice...the prize is the gallon of fresh squeezed orange juice from the McLarty's Farm!
Day three...I've got a few trivia questions (brain teasers)...prizes to the 3 people who answer the most correctly. (A future post will include some brain teasers...they are really fun!)
Day four...game is undeterminded...prize is hot cocoa mix and mugs filled with candy.
Day five (if there are five days of x-mas hell)...game is undetermined...prize is a huge tin filled with those good mints that you can only find around the holidays.
I need ideas for games...I remember one from previoius Christmas training was to guess how much Meredith would beat Kris Weibeck in a 1000 free (didn't she almost lap him?:)

I got a call last night from Danny, who is the coach for the Resident Team Triathletes. We chatted a little bit about what training will be like, who I will be training with, where, when, how, etc. He filled me in on what races the U-23 juniors will be attending. It all sounds like fun. We're not going to go to Europe...but Australia instead, sometime in August to get ready for the World Champs in September in Japan. I still have to talk to Libby (she's in charge)...see what she has to say and have her explain everything to me! I've got this list of questions that keeps on growing...can I choose races to do? what gets paid for? can I start in Feburary?
Other news...I started writing this blog after I finished my last assignment for EviroSci Lab. You know what that means?!? I'M DONE WITH COLLEGE! For real this time!

2 to go!

2 assignments to finish
2 classes to attend
2 days of school left
2 more boxes to fit in my car
I'm definitely not on East Coast time yet. I fell asleep by 9:30 last night and I was wide awake at 6:30 this morning. That is a bit different from my normal habit of 11pm-9am:) But I made the most of being awake so early and went on another jog around Lake Alice. I'm going to miss that 3 mile path when I'm gone. I'm going to miss a lot of things herein Gainesville, that was just one example:)
I made a trip to the local Goodwill yesterday with 4 bags of stuff. Then I had to force myself to not go shopping on the way home!
I'm listening to the soundtrack of Love Actually...favorite song: "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes"! Time to start getting into the Christmas spirit!


This is a great book! I suggest it to anyone...and it would make great Christmas presents too! It's about 100 women in 100 different sports...it is about their search for the Superwoman inside themselves.

Sara's Medals:)

Hardware from the races. Gold, silver and bronze from the Durban World Cup and one big bronze from the Dubai World Championship.

PHOTOS are up and online for viewing pleasure!

I've got PHOTOS!!! It took a while...but i narrowed down my 150+ pictures from South Africa and the UAE to about 50 good ones! The zebra above is a taste of what you will see if you copy and paste all this: http://home1.nikonnet.com/servlet/com.arcsoft.LoginNew?com=arcsoftBanner&awp=index3.html&DIRECT=&USERNAME=sara7411&PASSWORD=nikoneditor_2062077067&WHO=memberguest
I've been uploading and writing captions for my photos all morning. I hope that someone enjoys them:).
This morning I've also gone through my class sylibi to see what assignments I still need to get done. I have one 3-4 page paper on the Project GreenLight DVDs for telecomm class. That should be pretty simple, what I am worried about is the Watershed project for EnvirSci class. I have NO idea what I'm suposed to do and I have 3 days to figure it out! Wish me luck!
Before Dustin left for the US Open, he left my car at the airport so that I would have transportation when I arrived in G-ville at 11pm. Inside were nice big cardboard boxes that he picked up from home during his Thanksgiving weekend. The point of this story is that I am starting to look around my apartment and wonder what exactly is going to go into these boxes that I have brought from my car. I just don't know where to begin.
Yesterday morning I went down to pick up some packages that were waiting for me at the front desk. I knew what one was...I ordered some stuff online...but the other package was a mystery. The first thing I see when I open the big brown box was a beautiful Tiffany's & Co. box wrapped in a ribbon! I couldn't believe it...who sent me something from Tiffany's!?! I continued to unwrap it and pulled out a beautiful crystal bowl with "NCAA Florida Woman of the Year" engraved on it! Amazing!

Back in the US of A

Well, 24 hours ago I was in the UAE, now I'm in the USA! It's great to be home and preparing to sleep in my own bed. It should be an interesting experience because I have just spent 3 weeks getting used to sleeping on beds that are as soft as rocks. I wonder how it will feel to have the mattress actually give a little when I plop down in a few seconds? Before I go find out...thanks to my bro for leaving my car at the airport for me (and for remembering to lock the doors and roll up the windows). I just talked to him on the phone...he is with the Gator team at the US Open this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. Yesterday he swam the 400 free...good times and placing. Today he swam the 400 IM...best time of 4:31 and second place to none other than Ryan Lochte! Congratulations Dustin and Go Gators!