long and hard...

seriously.
I finally kept up with "the group" for Saturday's bike ride, which surprisingly left me with mixed emotions. I was so proud of myself for "hanging on", but by the time I had a chance to realize what had happened, I was well passed the half way point (which means, there is no short-cut home) on a 70+ mile ride in the middle of no-where, when I realized I was exhausted!  The pace was a blistering (too me) 20 mph or so, but the worst part wasn't the pace, it was the focus.  If for a split second my mind wandered off to notice a munching cow or  even a crazy cloud formation, I would have been done for...stranded in wheat fields with only deranged farmers and their ruthless dogs to boost my motivation.  About that point, Ryan said to me, "you know, you're the only girl here"...yah, and I was beginning to think it was a very bad idea!  Not only were they really messing up my potty break, but when was chat time?  Don't you guys ever just ride at conversation pace?!?!  When we stopped to get some water, I looked around and thought who the hell are these guys?  The only recognition I had for the past 3 hours was of what they looked like on their bike from behind.  Once they took their helmets and glasses off, I realized they probably didn't care about chit-chat, they wanted this ride to over with as much as I did!  As we trudged along thru the wind, I began to appreciate the silent communication of group rides - and that the group seemed to not think of me as a girl, but just as a rider...who better start pulling her keep!!!  Hey, I'm working on it.

Hills

Who thinks running 5x3min hills with a 15lb weight vest sounds fun?
I DO!!

Celebrate the IRISH!

In honor of St Patrick's Day, we did the St. Patrick's Day 10k (of course).  
The run was going great, until, while running thru the park, a bird decided to go potty on me.  Luckily (thanks to the irish), it only landed on my hand - gross!!!  Unbelievably, that's the first time I've had a bird go on me, not sure I would run in the park if it had ever happened before - but since it was a race I'll give the bird the benefit of the doubt - I mean, it never would have done it had it not been for all the excitement of the race...right!?  Another first - stomach cramps!  It started as an innocent (so I thought) side ache and by the end of the run, I was practically doubled over in pain - yowsa!  Despite these minor set-backs I managed to pull off a win - whew.  I think that deserves a toast...of the green variety that is.

6:15

So, I realize that there are a lot of people that swim faster than me...but, I'm not disappinted with my swimming abilities.  Yesterday, I finally broke my PR for a 400...woohoo :)  6:15 had been my fastest time for as long as I can remember, and finally I broke it.  Sure, I did it with my goggles full of water and nearly choked to death on disgusting pool water - but I still made it to the end in 6:10.  Honestly, I was proud of myself for staying relaxed despite the few obstacles.  SO, what did I do next?  Naturally I wanted to see how my time compared with REAL swimmers...not a good idea.  The good news is that I swam fast enough to have broken the world record in 1920, apparently swimming has come a long way since then.

Too good 2B true

After last week's training, I thought I would be nothing more than a pile of useless goo puddled up at the bottom of my bed.  Much to my surprise, I actually feel great today - which is to say that it won't hit me until tomorrow - OR all this hard work is starting to pay off.
Of course, I do have one other theory...the sun.  I can't remember the last time the weekend weather was so nice!  What are the extent of the sun's medicinal powers?  Is it possible that they have given me some sort of superhuman power?  Is it the simple mind boosting effect that has completely changed the way that I'm recovering from and looking forward to training?
There is one more theory - that after the nearly 6 hours of training on Saturday followed by a just under 14 mile run on Sunday has left me in an altered mental state, and I've pushed so far past the point of pain, that there is no returning.
I'm sticking with the sun theory.