Woke up this morning to find my recycle can tipped over with about 5 dozen water & gatorade bottles all over the street. My trash cans were knocked over too.. nice and soggy were the bags that held the trash from the mother's day dinner. ew! Its past 8am and the township hasn't picked the trash up? The kids at the bus stop see me picking up every bottle off the street... look at the crazy lady chasing plastic bottles down the street with her dog! Any other trash day, these cans were picked up before 7am... what gives today? a little rain keeps them? We all managed to get going this morning....they are all hanging out at Wawa somewhere.
cold, rainy, windy, its like 40 something outside? no running, no biking, but i can always rely on swimming! this is when having 3 disciplines ain't so bad (that, and cross training is good for the joints) Swimming has been my rescue of sorts these days. Nothing like floating legs in 70 degree water after a hard run, or bike race. Sunday & today I got in the pool, and covered about 5 miles between the two. I like to say I am a superfly fish, but I am more like Shamu. And why does my appetite go ravenous after swimming!??! According to my index I am only burning about 500 cals per hour. Again, I guess am like Shamu!
raced French Creek "on the rocks"... it was Gnarly, Dude! (uhh.. being little sarcastic there) it was sloppy, moist, slippery, muddy, and skiddish, and the runner I am... took the bike on the trail run with me for the first 1/4 up the water barriers. The trails were dry on the pre- rides days before, and I knew I would get frustrated riding on teflon rocks.. soo why, not? I just flippin ran with the bike. Susan (mother of 4, no brakes, 5 inches of travel on her fork, who came in 1st place!) was like "uh..nuh-uh, this ain't gonna work girl" to the racer in front of us who kept flippin over her bike. Then Susan took off on a downhill. I was behind her for about the first 20mins, and then lost her. She looked good. 1st place good.
My game wasn't there, I already psyched my self out at the start line.. I was trying to calm Susan with a little background music from Wizard of Oz (when the witch is on her bike/broom.."den dent den dent"..) It was her first MASS race (and she won it). I told her its just a race, and her excuse was "I am a mother of 4 kids" at the end of the day... mine, well, I really didn't have a good one. I see people get soo darn serious about the MASS races. I am racing to better my skills... Its the races that keep me focus on my bike training. I also want to score some points for the team. I really like being on this team..the more I get to know them, the more they motivate me. I would rather help my teammate with a problem then pass them and worry about it later. I have to admit, my riding/racing reflects who I am. I am not going to get deep here, but really... I enjoy helping others enjoy the sport and watch them excel...if its coaching, teaching clinics, or making muffins! But sometimes I get mad too... at myself, of course. I know I can do better. So what did I do after racing FC? I ran for 25 mins and threw in a hill that fuckin hurt like hell for a brick workout or more of a reminder to self.... time to get back in the saddle and race. Time to focus on what it is I really want from this race season....Maui & Kona. to some people its about where they place in race! to me? its about where the race takes place!!
getting ready for King of the Hill this weekend in Jersey! A friend pointed out how much my split times have decreased over the past 3 years. I have done this race since 2005. Yes, I have decreased my times (-40 mins), but I have increased my waist! "strong like bull"...but I feel healthy and the better than last month, where I was just too tired to train regularly. Looking forward to see what times I can pull out this year. I have to split after this race quickly to get back to coach the kids who will be running the Area Championship at West Chester University on Sunday afternoon. Alot of the kids on my team did soo well this past weekend. These kids truly inspire me, I need to learn more about racing from them! I am not a mother of 4, but a coach of 30+ kids.
