The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind

Math is like going to the gym for the brain.  It sharpens your mind.  -- Danica McKellar

First of all, how cool is it that Winnie from "The Wonder Years" grew up to be a crazy math genius.  You can be a cute girl and smart at the same time.  Too bad there aren't more of her out there to be role models for little girls.  I'm especially nervous for my daughters as the current Disney sweethearts like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez are testing out their grown-up acting chops in what the press describes as "grittier" roles.  So you leave "Camp Rock" and become tabloid fodder...not a mathematician.  Not impressed.

But back to the regularly scheduled programming - my triathlon training.  It was surprisingly nice this afternoon, so hubby talked me into going for a teensy bike ride with him after he got him.  It was crazy windy...it felt like we were riding uphill the entire way out.  Even when we weren't riding headlong into the wind, the cross-winds were enough to nearly push me off the road.  Not good, especially during rush hour when the traffic is heavier than my normal rides.  On the way home, we did hit a few stretches where the wind was at back, but it was a brutal ride.

So what does this have to do with math?  I flipped out when we reached the turnaround of the ride.  It had been such a battle to get that far and I felt like I was going so slow.  (OK, I was going slow, but  I believed during the ride that I was riding 2-3 miles per hour slower than I actually was.)   I wanted to give up right there and then, but that kind of sucks when you're 6 miles from home.  (Besides, giving up is not very impressive STRIVING now, is it?)  I got back on my bike and rode home - a little deflated, but at least I finished the ride talking numbers in my head.  (Heck it was only shy of 11...and I have to do 58...and OMG I am so slow...how fast do I have to ride in the HIM to make the 8 hour cutoff...if I add together an hour or so to swim, plus so long on the bike, plus so long on the run, etc.).

But when I got home, I plugged in the Garmin and it turns out my mental math is not so good.  I am not good at sensing my own speed and I'm not good at figuring out my speed even if I peek at my Garmin from time to time.  I ended up pulling a respectable (for this part of the season & the windy conditions) average speed for the ride.  And to think I was ready to give up.

I need to get better at feeling the numbers in my head, doing the math.  For one thing, it will help me have a little more faith in myself.  For another thing, as long as I'm spending all this time on my body, I might as well send my brain to the gym too.