Here are some movies I am excited to see in the theater in 2009:

Watchmen – opens March 6. I already signed up for ticket text alerts!
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – opens May 1. I have a major soft spot for Wolverine and pretty much anyone with adamantium features.
Terminator: Salvation – May 22. Why not?
Public Enemies – July 1. Johnny Depp versus Christian Bale!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – opens July 17. Finally, some stuff is really going to happen. Horcruxes anyone?
Sherlock Holmes – November 13. By Guy Ritchie and filmed in Brooklyn. Sounds interesting.

Here are some strange ones I found…

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino movie about Jewish soldiers brutally scalping and killing Nazis. It has Brad Pitt and Mike Myers in it. Is this a joke?

The Informant – A spy thriller with Matt Damon and Scott Bakula! Scott Bakula!

Old Dogs – John Travolta, Robin Williams “The dynamic duo co-star as close business partners’ whose lives are turned upside down when 7 year-old twins are left in their care.” Of course! There hasn’t been a movie like this since 2007’s The Game Plan. How have we gone so long?

In the pre-race information for the Nike Half Marathon, they gave tips for getting better pictures. One was to do something celebratory crossing the finish line instead of just looking at your watch. My knee was killing me by mile 6 of the race, so I spent most of the race very very sad. I still managed to finish in 2:19:22, which isn’t terrible although I barely finished. Crossing the finish line, I decided to try out the advice and I feigned excitement. I look pretty sad.

Click here to see a picture of me where I look ripped (and miserable).

I have been watching lots of movies (The Dark Knight twice), but I have also been training for NY Olympic Distance triathlon. The race was on Sunday. Here is the quick hits:

• Swam in the Hudson and got stung by jellyfish. The water didn’t seem that dirty and it was a pretty relaxing swim.
• Ran 1/4 mile in my wet suit just to get to my bike.
• I rode the first half of the 25 mile bike at race speed. Then I got really tired and finished the bike very slowly. The Bronx are (is?) hilly!
• I ran the first mile of the 6 mile run in 8 minutes. The next mile was a little slower. By mile 4 I was cursing the race and taking a lot of long walk breaks. It was a heat wave!

So it wasn’t my best times, but my goal was to complete the race. I was hoping for a finish closer to 3:30. I have no idea what triathlons will be in my future.

Division Place: 224/261
Total time: 3:38:14.73

swim | t 1 | bike | t 2 | run
29:12 | 9:32 | 1:53:26 | 3:58 | 1:02:09

So I did my first triathlon on Saturday June 28th. This picture is me napping before the start in my transition area. I have a superhero suit on under that t-shirt. Here is my summary of how it went:

The swim: We swam out to buoy for the starting whistle. Halfway out I just stopped and Jenn had to coax me to the start. I spent the first half of the swim getting my bearings. The second half of the swim flew by. I only got hit in the head once by swimmers.

The bike: I forgot to bring a watch and I forgot to put any nutrition bars in my pocket. The bike was pretty boring. Three laps of a flat street. Also, I couldn’t find my stuff in the transition area. Someone had stuck their bike over my area and I wasted about a minute trying to find my stuff.

The run: I kept telling myself to just wait for the run because I know I can run fast and pass people and feel good about myself. I was having trouble controlling my breathing and I started to cramp and had to walk a little. Later, I found out that I was running pretty fast! I had no idea and no watch on to keep track of it. Even with walking, I had a great pace.

My times:

Place Bib#  Name               Age G City       St Rank .25misw Pace  Tran1   Rank

===== ===== ================== === = ========== == ==== ======= ===== ======= ====

 405   270 MICHELLE KEMPNER    31 F BROOKLYN   NY  437   15:47 63:06    3:41  423

12mibik Rate Tran2   Rank 5krun   Pace  Penalty Final   Div/Tot  Div     Gen/Tot  G

======= ==== ======= ==== ======= ===== ======= ======= ======== ======= ======== =

 48:00  15.0    2:41  247   26:46  8:38         1:36:53  15/24   FT-FEMA 150/185  F

If you can’t read that, basically I came in 405th out of 458 that finished. My 1/4 mile swim was 15:47 (437th out of 458), my 12 mile bike was 48 minutes (423rd out of 458) and my 5k run was 26:46 (247th out of 458). So I kinda sucked, but they were 458 very in shape people!

(Image Transition originally uploaded by JLB)

I haven’t been feeling too well these last few days. I am not sure if I have a cold or if I am run down from work and tri training. While I know I seem really low energy to people, I am not very good at taking it easy. Being sick meant watching movies and sewing elephants. They aren’t perfect, but i think they look alright. I hope Sona likes them. By the time she knows what they are they’ll probably be pretty beat up and then I can make her new elephants.

The pattern is from Diana Rupp’s Sew Everything Workshop.

(image Mama Elephant and Baby Elephant originally uploaded by mikey_k)

When I started riding a bike, everyone told me I was crazy to get a hybrid bike. After about a year and a half, I relented and switched to a road bike. Now I have to ride all leaned over on a teeny seat. Then everyone told me I was crazy to have normal pedals. So I got pedals with toe cages… no different… so I finally graduated to clip pedals. Meet my Crank Brothers Egg Beaters. Every time I fall over sideways at a red light, I’m thinking of all you guys and your advice.

Here are my splits from the Mother’s Day 10 mile run (official time 1:44:46):

10′36″  11′01″  10′56″  10′51″  11′18″  10′56″   9′27″   9′51″  9′52″  9′22″

(Crank Brother Egg Beaters originally uploaded by mikey_k)

On Sunday, I ran the Brooklyn Biathlon for the 2nd year in a row. I only rode my bike one time before the race (oops) and it shows in my times. The race was a 2.1 mile run, 10 mile bike ride, 2.1 mile run. I finished 4 minutes faster than last year. I came in 133rd.

Place Bib  Name                 Representing          Division        Run 1    min/mi   

133   118  KEMPNER, Michelle    BROOKLYN 11211        NT-F 30-34      16:28.4  07:50.7  

T1      Bike     MPH  T2      Run 2    min/mi   Total Time

01:12.7 42:26.6  14.1 00:58.6 17:10.9  08:10.9  1:18:17

I also watched a lot of bad movies, so more movie confessions coming up next.

Just so you all know, I’m trying to mend my couch potato ways. On Sunday I ran the Scotland Run, a 10k. Here are my split times:

mile 1 …………10.31.53
mile 2 ………..10.20.62
mile 3 …………9.45.54
mile 4 …………9.46.37
mile 5 …………9.12.51
mile 6………….8.45.24
.2 miles ……….1.50.12

total 1:00:11

Looking forward to getting faster… and then maybe watching Chariots of Fire a few times.

Out of shame for Bye Bye, Love yesterday I got up at 7 AM today and ate breakfast, ran 3 miles, did laundry with James. I asked James how many people said hi to him when he was running and he said, ‘what?’ I don’t know why so many people say hi to me when I run. I guess I just look friendly.

While I watch movies, I either knit or work on my laptop. During Inside Man I unsuccessfully tried to do both. I’m surprised I didn’t end up with a SQL statement scarf.

A few months ago, I wrote up a pattern for Craft magazine for knitted police tape. The pattern is for 9′ of police tape. I sent the pattern and samples to Craft magazine to take photos and they decided to feature the police tape on the cover of volume 4. The issue will be available on newsstands August 6th. The samples live on my desk at work for anyone who wants to see the celebrity police tape.

Some more pictures and information are available at http://robotclothes.com/projects_policetape.html.

Link to Craft magazine