A Ride for the Children

Yesterday my training schedule prescribed a 3.5hr ride with race pace strategy and effort. I decided the 65 mile charity Ride for the Children would put me among a group of faster riders that I could work with and beat myself up pretty good. The ride began with a nice big draft, as 500 or so riders began at the same time, the cops were blocking off the intersections and we had two lanes to ride along. My friends Lisa, Toby and I put in some work to get in front of as many people as we could so as not to get caught up among the masses/fluff (as I like to call it). After awhile Lisa dropped behind and then it was just me working up some of the hills to latch onto the front pack. I slowed a bit and waited for Toby to catch up, he told me I would probably drop him up the hills but he would work hard to catch me on the flats and that is exactly what he did. Then we worked to find the front pack and we were pedaling side by side, at one point I looked behind me to find about 20 dudes on my wheel... I couldn't believe how many guys were drafting behind me and I loved it! They let me pull for about 10+ miles before some other guy came around me and took his turn, but after a short rest I was ready to pull again and hopped in front. I saw the front pack just ahead I couldn't control myself, I HAD to catch them! Around mile 30 I dropped all the guys who were drafting off me and I was all alone. There were people in front of me, but they were spread out pretty thin along the course. I rode for 15 miles all alone and once I got to the downhill cruise back I finally found some other guys to ride with. One of them eventually asked if I wanted to work with him and I said "of course!" We picked up a couple other stragglers the last 15 miles and pace-lined it to the finish. I stayed in my prescribed zone for the ride, but I killed myself and have never ridden that fast for that long... I LOVED every second of the ride :-) My 3.5hr ride ended a bit early as it didn't take 3.5hrs to ride the 65 miles, but I killed myself and still had to run. I figured Toby wasn't too far behind so I threw my bike in my car, changed my shirt, put my shoes and visor on and headed back to the finish where Toby was hanging out with some friends. I was hoping Lisa would be there as she and I were supposed to run together but she was a ways back so I ran along the course until I saw her, but I was already halfway done with my run then and we only got to run 2min together. The run felt effortless, but as soon as I was done I began to crash. I stayed at the finish and talked to some friends a while, some of who were going out to lunch, but while I was talking to them I had my car keys in my hand and in 5 minutes I dropped them 4 times. I was SMASHED!!! I opted out of lunch and headed home to die a slow death, but I couldn't be happier :-) At 4pm I was laying in bed reading, compression socks on and I decided I could go to bed right then, sleep 12 hours, then wake up for swim... LOL. That didn't happen, but I seriously considered it.

Its about time...

Yeah I know I have been just about hiding under a rock. But if you are so lucky to live near me and train with me you know I am still alive! I have layed off the internet, spent time reading and thinking about some things in my life. One of those is work and if you talked to me two weeks ago I was in a bad place. I don't LOVE where I am work wise, its not where I want to be. Heres the problem, I DONT KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO! And it took me a couple days to come to terms with that, I had to look at the positives...

1. I don't have to sit at a desk 8-9hrs a day and stare at a computer.
2. My schedule is fairly flexible.
3. I am still learning. (this is probably the most important one!)
4. I have a job and an income.
5. I get cheap apparel and shoes that I go through like crazy.
6. The job allows me to meet some pretty cool people and make some great friends.

That's a pretty solid set of positives... Now only if my income could be consistent, meaning salaried and I could have benefits, then I may be a little happier. And heres the deal, IF I knew what I wanted to do career wise, I would have already made it happen. I am not the kind of person who sits around waiting, if I know what I want I do then I do everything in my power to achieve it.

Okay so thats been the major bump in the road... things happened at work that I didn't like and it pissed me off and made me re-evaluate where I am in life and what I want.

Next on the list of topics is... drum roll please! I finished my first week of IM build and just started my second week off this morning with a track workout :-) At this point I am a VERY determined athlete. I have some goals that I want to make happen this year and whether they playout in my favor or not I am doing everything I can to get there. IMNZ lit a fire inside, the training and then the race itself taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I am in a GREAT place mentally when it comes to training and it feels wonderful.

This morning I met up with my friend Becky to do my track workout. She is a great rabbit, always running just a stride or two in front of me and I just chase her down each workout. We had 6x800's to do, descending so that the last 2 were the fastest. Well on the 5th on I was worried that we had slowed down as fatigue was striking and I was not succumbing to fatigue so I got angry and let the fire rip through me, I imagined I had a jet pack on my back and took off. We came in 6 seconds faster than the 4th 800m. Then the last 800m I did the same thing, I got angry and the fire filled my veins to push come in another 4 seconds faster then the 5th 800m! The workout was awesome!!! Track is new for me, I didn't grow up running, nor have I done many track workouts in my life, tempo runs-yes, hill repeats-yes, but track-not so much. I have a LONG way to go, but track was a new feeling for my body, it felt weird at first and then as the workout went on I began to get used to it.

Now its time to swim. I will try and post more regularly now that training is back in full swing :-)

70.3

My life has been kind of a jumble lately. There are a few changes happening and a few changes I would like to make, but need some other stuff to fall into place before I can go that route... vague, right? I know, I know, but I am just not ready to write about everything.

What am I going to write about in my post? Well I have a few friends racing this weekend in the Oceanside and New Orleans 70.3 races! I am SO SO excited for everyones first race of the season and I wish I could be there. I actually had one friend offer to drive me out there, race for her and she would sit and watch :-) I was tempted!

Okay everyone... I will be watching, cheering along while I am working and maybe even shed a tear when you cross the finish line!

GOOD LUCK to Coach Jen H., Marit C-L, Beth S., Angi A., Rachel R., Amy K., Renee, Jonathon, Jeff B., Brad S., and I know I am probably missing people!!!

HAVE FUN GUYS!!!!!!