Race Week

So I have been busy. I did not get out a post last week because my summer vacation ended sooner than I thought it would. I had some great workouts where I stacked a 90 minute bike ride on top of a 4 hour bike ride just 12 hours apart from each other. I also got in a good long run in the heat. Pool work was good and strength training was spot on. I was on my own at home and enjoying my solitude. I even went to the movies and saw The Other Guys. I laughed so hard I caught myself snorting a few times. Pimps don't cry....

Well everything came to a halt last Tuesday. I found out that a fellow Team in Training coach, and friend, had lost her battle with cancer. Sue was only 50. She was a super athlete and a super coach and her nickname was "Super Sue". I ran the Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon in her honor. So very sad.

I also had to get the house picked up a bit and retrieve my kid from the airport at midnight after his trip to the San Juan Islands with my Dad, my Step Mom, my Step Bro, Eric and my sister-in-law, Diane, and cousins, Max, Spencer, Evan, and Jason. He had a great time. Well I found out at 6pm that El Esposo was also on his way home from Chile where he has been since the beginning of July. I really had to get the house clean!!! I stayed up late cleaning rather than taking a nap before heading to the airport to get the kid, got to bed around 1:30 am, got a few hours of sleep, was up and cleaning again by 6:15 am, and just missed getting the sheets changed on the bed before El Esposo walked in the door at 7:30 am. My clean house became messy again with exploding travel bags and wet towels on the floors of the bathrooms.

So with that drama out of the way on Wednesday morning it was off to work and get my workouts done. On Thursday we had neighbor drama. We came home from eating out and saw our neighbor across the street sitting on her porch with the front door standing open, a cell phone in her hand, and her chest heaving. I ran across the street to check on her and she was hysterical. I asked if her husband was ok or if she needed an ambulance. She mumbled something about her husband and that he left and that it was too embarrassing and she could not tell me. I saw that her feet were bleeding and then I turned as El Esposo and the kid were coming up the walk....and then I saw the car. One of my neighbor's cars had all of the windows and lights smashed out and there was a shovel sticking out of the windshield. The car had all sorts of dents and scratches on it and glass was all over the place. Then I saw a police car drive by and I started out in a sprint to chase down the car as I was yelling and waving my arms. The cop finally saw me and slowed down about 4 houses down. My neighbor only wanted to talk to the police about what happened and El Esposo said he would be back in 15-20 minutes with a first aid kit. It seems that my neighbor's husband (who I have never seen in the 10 years we have lived in this house) got fired from his job for having material on his work computer that was not supposed to be there. And this was not the first time that it had happened. My neighbor went nuts and went after her husband's car with the shovel. Then, to top it off, when El Esposo goes back over to check on her and to retrieve an inhaler in her kitchen, he finds out that the neighbor is a hoarder. BAD, like Discovery channel bad. In a span of one hour we found out more about our neighbor than we had known in all of the 10 years we have been living in our house.

I tried to get to bed at a decent hour because I had to be up at 4:20 am to get a 90 minute bike workout in. I got to the park a little late because I hit the snooze button one too many times, but I got my full 90 minutes in. I did just shy of 30 miles and when I finished at 6:37 am it was already 85 degrees outside. The sun wasn't even up yet. On the way home I was treated to a rainbow dropping out of the clouds as a little reward for my hard work. I ate a big second breakfast and headed off to work. Later that day, we did family movie night and we saw Salt. Pretty good stuff. The ending leaves things open for a sequel.

On Saturday morning, Greyhound and I did an Ironman Texas bike course reconnaissance mission. We left from where the transition area will be set up and we followed the tentative course that has been talked about out to Montgomery, Texas. This is going to be a fast course! As we were rolling along at 25 mph, all I could think was that White Hot Ironman Ryan would be zooming by us at 31 mph. The road conditions are good. There was only one area where there were some cracks in the pavement and I am sure they will be sealed. The first 30 miles is pretty smooth with a few rolling hills and good shoulders on the roads. The Exxon station in Montgomery has Dublin Dr. Pepper for a pure cane sugar pick-me-up and clean bathrooms. We saw a bunch of other cyclists and triathletes out on the ride as well. On the way back, we took the tentative route back to transition and found that the roads were smooth with only one stretch that did not have a shoulder on Jefferson where it becomes 149. We found another good Shell gas station that had Mexican Coke (again, pure cane sugar) and Coconut Water! I was stoked. We only encountered one massive a-hole in a Hummer that honked at us and tried to run us off the road about 7-8 miles from the end of our 65 mile jaunt. The rest of the day I tried to stay in the air conditioning and drink lots of fluids. The Pan-Pacific Swimming Championships were on television so staying inside was pretty easy to do. Oh, I also got to see one of my TNT buddies/fellow coach, Bill Dwyer. Bill, it was SO good to see you and give your friend a big hug for the lovely compliments she gave me. They made my day. :)

This morning I got in a hot and sweaty 9 mile run in Zone 2 and Zone 3. Again the goal was to stay in the air conditioning and drink lots of fluids. Eh, not so much. I had to do some school supply shopping for the kid and hit the grocery for lunch stuff and pizza makings. Yes, I made homemade pizza for diner and there are left-overs if any of you want some. So now I have to convince someone to start getting ready for bed and El Esposo leaves in 30 minutes to head to Venezuela.

This week should be an easy week because I have my first race of the season on Saturday. I will be racing in the Clear Lake International Triathlon. It is an Olympic distance and my first race in the 40-44 age group. I am a little nervous because this is the first Olympic distance in two years. I am also nervous because there are a ton of fast women in my age group at these shorter races. I have a feeling I am going to get my @$$ handed to me big time. Any encouraging words would be helpful even if it is, "Just don't crash your bike." I am comfortable at the long course distances, but short course is giving me the willies.

Well, I will let you know how it goes,

Later Gators,

Liz