Missing out

It has been really easy for me to get into a negative frame of mind recently. And it's been easy to add up events and turn them into patterns. And it has been hard to try to tease out the difference between real problems and invented problems, and how to respond in an appropriate manner. This has been true across different areas in my life.

In particular in the area of triathlon training, I feel like I miss out on the longest rides. I felt like this when training for Longhorn. There were three 55+ mile rides in the training, and I missed them all. Missed one for work I couldn't get out of, and the other two were rained out. I survived Longhorn, but I bet those long rides would have been helpful. And it's just not the same on a trainer. Even three hour trainer rides don't push you like riding outside.

So far this year in training for Lonestar, we've been rained out, frozen out, and the one weekend I was out of town on a long ride weekend, perfect weather for a 70 mile ride and everyone is gushing how great it was. So is it appropriate to feel like there's some force that doesn't want me to ride long? That there's something wrong here? Or am I just being a whiner? One T3er told me she did 112 miles on the South Mopac loop. That would be 14 laps, 8 miles each. Which sounds a little excruciating, but it got the job done. And that road is safe pretty much all day, except for the worst of rush hour traffic. So really, I could do that, except I already have a 1pm appointment on Tuesday I can't miss. So I will have to ride in rush hour if to get a 5 hour ride in. Maybe two shorter rides on Tuesday?

So then I just say, fine, there's no sense in forcing it, just ride long this coming Saturday. No problem. Except they're already predicting a big rainy front coming in for the weekend. Really.

Olympic Fever

I love the Olympics. I love all sorts of random sports, and the Olympics, both winter and summer, are full of random sports. And having been skiing just a couple of weeks ago, I feel an even closer bond to the skiiers. Of course, I can barely ski, compared to what they are doing.

And add to the that all the exotic names:
Armin Zoggeler
Jason Lamy Chappuis
Felix Loch
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
Magdalena Neuner

And I have been helping name some of the new intakes at the shelter recently, so I foresee a slew of Olympic inspired names coming up. If you're interested, take a look at our new website: http://www.austinhumanesociety.org and keep an eye out for new Olympic animals up for adoption in the future.

And one other thing, if you believe FAQs should not include an apostrophe, contact them! They seem to think it should, and I disagree!

37 degrees and fog

The route for the ride this morning was from Lost Creek, up 360 to Jollyville to Duvall to Parmer. I had done sections of the route previously, but not the whole part. 360 is really hilly, and in talking with other members of Team Turtle, apparently it induces quite a bit of crying. Great, the longest ride of 2010, plus the hilliest. And then add in cold weather- 37 degrees and foggy, though the forecast was for the fog to clear off and sun to come out and warm up into the 50s. But fog and cycling is not a good combination and I was concerned no one would show up.

I was wrong. 40+ T3ers showed up, plus some Olympic team members- never did figure out who they were. JK wasn't training for anything yet, and said she would ride with me, and without K to organize, the other members of Team Turtle took off and we never saw them again the rest of the day. But JK was great to ride with, and due to the cold weather, and concerns about the hills coming back on 360, we decided to turn around for the 40 mile route, and that was a smart decision. So we stopped for a bathroom break and some hot chocolate to warm up.

And then, the honk. I'll set the scene. There was a 25 yard section from the driveway of the 7-11 up to the light. The right hand lane was a right turn only lane, and there were two other lanes going straight. There was a marked off island at the light. So I wait in the driveway for a clear lane, and when there is no one in sight in the right hand turn lane, then go the 25 yards to the island, thinking JK is right behind me, turns out she's fixing something on her bike. That's when a gray Audi sedan honks repeatedly and guns up to the right turn, and a middle aged brown haired woman has rolled down her window and she shouts: "Hey fat ass, get out of the road!" There is another woman in the passenger seat. And then they speed away. After a second to comprehend what happened, I waved at them. I've learned that giving drivers the finger when I'm on my bike is not a good idea. I think she must have come out of the Sonic next to the 7-11.

So what did I learn from this experience? I was totally not at fault here. There are angry people everywhere and they are going to be angry no matter what you do. And it's not my fault that this woman lives such a miserable, worthless life she feels the need to take the time and energy to yell at cyclists. Really, she is pitiful.

Then the rest of the ride was good. The sun finally came out, and there were a lot of cyclists out on the roads, which is always good to see. JK got a flat, but she changed it quickly and easily. And then the 360 hills going southbound- they are as difficult as they said, but no tears. Just a pain in the ass, literally. It's tiring to sit and grind the small gears for so long. And add the squeaky creaky seat post, just irritating. But luckily no return of the saddle sore from last week. And then finally, we're done. We finish at the same time as some of the longer distance T3ers so I get a chance to chat and stretch. Then home for shower, sandwich, and a nap. And the Olympics are on! But another post on that...

Bee Caves Loop- Great Ride!

A good ride this morning! Team Turtle was out in force, with C as the ride leader and enforcer of the No Drop Rule. Yes, really. A T3 ride that was No Drop. I must say, most of the time I am dropped within the first mile, so a ride where I wouldn't be out on the road on my own! Fantastic!

And it was a beautiful day- the sun was out, and it warmed up to about 50 by noon. There were a ton of cyclists out enjoying the day too, so that was pretty cool. There was a group of five of us that stuck together, and even though I still was the caboose, they would stop at regular intervals to regroup. So that was nice, but it did add a lot more time. It was 32 miles in about 3.5 hours. So that sounds really slow, but I felt really strong. The hills were a little tough, William Cannon, 71, and Southwest Parkway all have long hills. And really, it's the long, gradual hill that kills me. Short hills are usually part of rollers, and the downhill can really help me get up the uphill. But false flats, which are just really really gradual hills, are awful. You think you should be able to make some progress, but you can't.

All in all, a beautiful day for a bike ride!

Please excuse the puddle of drool under my bike

Tonight's spin class was the biggest one I've ever seen- I counted 40 people! Normally, morning spins are 5-10 people, and 20-25 on Tuesday evenings. The spring training season has really started! Though of all the 40 people, I got lucky and set up my bike behind a really hot guy, none other than Brendan Hansen! I've heard he's doing more training with T3, creating wakes in the pool, and generally looking like the former Olympian he is. I'm just amazed I didn't fall off my bike!

And getting the opportunity to examine such a fine specimen up close and unobserved was fantastic. First off, he looks like a scruffy laid back guy, which is exactly my type! But a really fit one, with super broad shoulders, really wide lats, tapering to a small waist and narrow hips, though slightly abnormally long arms. And then his legs! If you took a cross section of a regular person's thigh, it would be round. His are trapezoidal, with the quads extending laterally and the hamstrings more medial. I mean, that's just extraordinary, and I really had to resist the urge to go touch them! I didn't get the nerve to talk to him, because it would have been a stuttering mess of a conversation. But looking at him was much better than focusing on the "dew" forming on the floor from the 40 people sweating inside a warehouse, though that, of course, includes my drool.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! I hope you have a great day Dad!

I am alive. It's been a while since I've posted, and I took some time off for the new year. Then a week being sick. And last week was a great time skiing in Jackson Hole. I'm hoping to get the pictures posted soon.

So back on the training schedule and I'm figuring out the new schedule due to some changes, but I think it will be a good change. And I'm looking forward to having some good weeks!