(5) Days of Summer
When I first left my job, I had big plans for how much fun Bobby and I were going to have together. There was talk of making a list of fifty "must-do" activities, and we planned to make each day our own version of a summer vacation. That didn't happen. There were some good times, but more often than not the days would either creep by in a swamp of apathetic boredom or fly by in a whirlwind of crossing off to-do list items. The lack of money also scared us into trying to be cheap. Once I found a job and had an official start date, though, we got serious and decided to go all out for my last week of not working. Each day was going to have an agenda and we were going to cram as much excitement into that week as two people reasonably could. The ...continue reading.
Motivation!
Today was a complete drag. I had no motivation to do anything beyond watching cheesy shows online, and despite having all the time in the world, I didn't start doing any part of my workouts until after 6:30pm. After moaning and pouting through two sets of pushups/crunches/back extensions, I then spent another twenty minutes debating about whether to move my intervals workout until tomorrow. I could hear my coach telling me to suck it up and get on the damn bike, though, so I kitted up and rolled outside into what had been a sunny, humid evening.It began to rain the moment I stepped outside. Bobby had followed me out and, upon seeing the rain, commented that the bad weather should pass very quickly because the Doppler radar showed no storm activity in our area. [Side Note: Bobby clearly missed his calling as a weatherman, because the guy is obsessed ...continue reading.
Postmortem: 2009 Nationals
I've been putting off writing this post since I got back from Colorado because there is so much to say about my trip to Nationals. Since the moment the race was over, I've had mixed feelings about everything, feelings that vacillate from happiness and satisfaction to disappointment and frustration. I thought if I gave it some time, I'd settle on one concluding feeling, but that just doesn't seem to be happening. I left Washington, DC early on Friday morning to fly out to Denver, CO for the race. The week prior had been a lot more stressful than expected; nothing I'd planned for shipping the bike was working out and I ultimately decided on sending the bike by FedEx at the last minute. Packing the bike up was a nightmare - it wouldn't fit in the box, I had to ship it out later than expected, the shipping ended up ...continue reading.
On coming off a recovery week.
My training ride today was excellent. I felt fantastic and filled with energy, and I actually had to make a conscious effort to slow myself down to stay in the target heart rate zones. On the way home from the ride, I even waved and smiled at people (as opposed to my usual droopy expression of indifference and exhaustion) while singing out loud to my iPod. (Incidentally, there is probably nothing more irritating to a sweaty, bedraggled jogger than having a perky Mary Poppins wave gaily as she breezes by casually on a bicycle. But I was too chipper to care.)The combination of having my legs be fresh from a week of rest and the joy of finally having a chance to work off the excess three million calories I've eaten lately made riding easy and fun. I also feel less stressed and happier now that I've restarted my training ...continue reading.
Plan B.
Updating this website hasn't gone so well for me in the past year. I used to be quick with the witticisms (or so I tell myself) and filled with random anecdotes about my daily life, but then that well dried up and I couldn't think of worthwhile things to post anymore. I would have written about my job, but there was little I could say without sharing too much about my workplace or my coworkers. I would have written about Bobby or my family, but those relationships tend to fare better when I'm not making fun of them on the Internet. Finally, I would have written about my biking, but I didn't think you'd care. I ride through the woods fast; how exciting.But I have realized recently that in my biking, there are still tidbits of absurdity that would make for good posts. For example, on two consecutive nights a ...continue reading.