Funny this is what is supposed to be the happiest time of my life but it seems like it's been a while since I have smiled whole heartily. The training for IMAZ seems to loom over my head. For CDA I trained pretty hard. A lot of it was with Tim and when it wasn't I was just getting a leg up for the next time we rode. Remember I had to drop him to get the ring I'm wearing. I thought I was ready to train again but mentally I haven't been in the game. I didn't know how much breakdown comes after race day. On most days my training seems listless. My head is in another place and frankly so is my body. Instead of pulling watts out, I'm pulling my hair out. I used to say that I ate hills for breakfast but now my mental image is that of me chewing my finger nails. I don't like this feeling of fretting. It doesn't agree with me. I used to think about dropping boys but last night I gave serious thought to dropping out. I do triathlons because they are fun. I realize it's not meant to be easy but if I'm not having fun....it's time for a break. This used to be fun for me but with my left foot rebelling I'm limited in my running. Trying to "make up" for not running by swimming and biking more has taken all of my free time and burned me out. I feel like the joy of my wedding preparations is being overshadowed by "training". I don't think this is a healthy way to live or a healthy way to start a marriage. I know something has to change. I know I am the only one who can change things. Time flies and my wedding will come and go and I don't want to miss out on the funny fretting about getting in my miles. I talked to Tim about this last night. I suggested I give up on IMAZ and focus on the getting healthy fixing my foot and preventing any thing else from going. We talked about this and came to the conclusion that I just needed a break from the pressure of committing to a training plan and scheduled workouts. So I am officially "not training" until after my wedding ;) Not that I will be sitting around eating bons bons but I just can't handle a spelled out training plan interfering with moments of my life that I'll never have a chance to do over again. For now I'll be working on the "craft" of riding my bike, swimming, and when healed running without the pressure of feeling bad about not logging the miles.
Set Me Free
Funny this is what is supposed to be the happiest time of my life but it seems like it's been a while since I have smiled whole heartily. The training for IMAZ seems to loom over my head. For CDA I trained pretty hard. A lot of it was with Tim and when it wasn't I was just getting a leg up for the next time we rode. Remember I had to drop him to get the ring I'm wearing. I thought I was ready to train again but mentally I haven't been in the game. I didn't know how much breakdown comes after race day. On most days my training seems listless. My head is in another place and frankly so is my body. Instead of pulling watts out, I'm pulling my hair out. I used to say that I ate hills for breakfast but now my mental image is that of me chewing my finger nails. I don't like this feeling of fretting. It doesn't agree with me. I used to think about dropping boys but last night I gave serious thought to dropping out. I do triathlons because they are fun. I realize it's not meant to be easy but if I'm not having fun....it's time for a break. This used to be fun for me but with my left foot rebelling I'm limited in my running. Trying to "make up" for not running by swimming and biking more has taken all of my free time and burned me out. I feel like the joy of my wedding preparations is being overshadowed by "training". I don't think this is a healthy way to live or a healthy way to start a marriage. I know something has to change. I know I am the only one who can change things. Time flies and my wedding will come and go and I don't want to miss out on the funny fretting about getting in my miles. I talked to Tim about this last night. I suggested I give up on IMAZ and focus on the getting healthy fixing my foot and preventing any thing else from going. We talked about this and came to the conclusion that I just needed a break from the pressure of committing to a training plan and scheduled workouts. So I am officially "not training" until after my wedding ;) Not that I will be sitting around eating bons bons but I just can't handle a spelled out training plan interfering with moments of my life that I'll never have a chance to do over again. For now I'll be working on the "craft" of riding my bike, swimming, and when healed running without the pressure of feeling bad about not logging the miles.
What's New?
Not a lot to blog about of late. Thursday, I did go for an Epic ride in East County, known as the Great Western Loop. I rode with my friends Kim and Elizabeth. It was really fun because there is a lot of climbing followed by long descents (the fun part). It was though so hot I wanted to stick my head in a bucket of ice. We actually parked behind 7-11. All I could think during that ride was that I was going to get through that ride as quickly as possible and climb in that cooler. I refrained and settled for some post ride V8, pretzels, and cold water from inside the store. In retrospect I think the cooler would have been a better idea. Later that evening I headed out for a "bachelorette" party with the 5 of my colleagues who happen to be getting married in September also. (Popular month). As I tried to get ready for a night out my face was still as bright as a tomatoe. Tim arrived just as I was alternating the use of a hot straightening iron on my hair with an ice cold bottle of Thomas Kemper Root Beer to cool my face. Classic.
Saturday, I enjoyed a lovely ride with friends Tina and Stacy , along with new pal Mary. We started at Fiesta Island and headed inland to Rancho Santa Fe. They were great company. I enjoyed catching up with Tina and Stacy and meeting Mary. We caught up on all the Bella gossip. (The Bella's are a female cycling group.....to be honest I joined because they have the cutest jersey) Speaking of jerseys....the 2008 jersey finally came. Each year we are required a new jersey with the latest sponsors. Jersey's are always hard to order because they are cut in two ways:
#1) We'll call it a womens but it really designed for an American male. Broad shoulders, no room for anything that doesn'tfit in a training bra, large paunch, loose waste so the stuff in your pockets can bounce , jiggle and give you something to worry about other than cars as you ride. This is called the relaxed fit.
#2) Euro fit.....this is designed for skinny Tour De France French Men. Long, narrow, no room for hips and the area that should hit your waist hits your hips, but it is sized for your waist which is 10 inches smaller than your hips. Certainly there is no room for anything that doesn't fit in a training bra. They call this fit Euro Racer Fit.
Someday I'll design jersey's for Idropboys.com and I hope I'll do a better job finding ones that fit. For now I would like to share the highlights of this jersey:
For starters. ....It's very cute.
More importantly is what the boys have to read when I finish dropping them...
Oh. ...La...La is right boysNow it's time for a Shout Out:
To the large caucasian male, age late 30's -40's, wearing a red Clif Bar team kit and riding a white Look bike. Despite rolling the stop sign and rudely busting ahead of us as we minded THE LAW and stopped at the stop sign. (Get it.....stop sign.) Your booty got dropped. By not one, but by two ladies during a climb. Despite your size and gravity you didn't catch us on the flats or descents that followed. So nanny nanny noo noo we dropped you. We did it with manners....and skill. My parents always said "let your actions do the talking and your boots do the walking" when I was ski racing. I politely said hello and nice day as I dropped you leaving Rancho. This is more than I can say for you as you grunted past me and my girls at the stop sign ( you know the one you failed to stop at....) I have broken my own rule and allowed my blog to become inflammatory. I am certain though that you will never ever read a female cycling blog so I'm probably not offending you. So in order to follow what my parents taught me as an adult I let my shirt do the talking. Sir.....Mr. I have to get in front of the girls..... this is what my shirt has to say to you, with a flip of my pony tail, Ciao Bella.
To the large caucasian male, age late 30's -40's, wearing a red Clif Bar team kit and riding a white Look bike. Despite rolling the stop sign and rudely busting ahead of us as we minded THE LAW and stopped at the stop sign. (Get it.....stop sign.) Your booty got dropped. By not one, but by two ladies during a climb. Despite your size and gravity you didn't catch us on the flats or descents that followed. So nanny nanny noo noo we dropped you. We did it with manners....and skill. My parents always said "let your actions do the talking and your boots do the walking" when I was ski racing. I politely said hello and nice day as I dropped you leaving Rancho. This is more than I can say for you as you grunted past me and my girls at the stop sign ( you know the one you failed to stop at....) I have broken my own rule and allowed my blog to become inflammatory. I am certain though that you will never ever read a female cycling blog so I'm probably not offending you. So in order to follow what my parents taught me as an adult I let my shirt do the talking. Sir.....Mr. I have to get in front of the girls..... this is what my shirt has to say to you, with a flip of my pony tail, Ciao Bella.
The UP North Vacation: Part 2
July 28th
I call Kristi to make plans. She rattles off a long list of things we can do that we couldn't do in the "city" Take out the canoe, the fishing boat, ride the motorcycles, ride the ATV, shoot clay pigeons. I repeat shoot clay pigeons into the phone and see Tim's face light up again.
Miss Hunter's Safety.Kristi gives Tim strict instructions on the use of fire arms.
O.k. I am along way off from Tales of training and racing if I'm blogging about guns. 
The launcher.
"My brother is going to be so jealous"
Tim is now considered an honorary Yooper. My status as a Yooper is in question despite being born in the Upper Peninsula. Kristi's Dad was a hand gun instructor for the state police. She can hit any target. Despite my father being an Expert shooter, I am comfortable with no more than a pellet gun. I also don't like to see anything with fur die. Even if it helps restore the "natural" cycle of things or if those varmints will destroy things. My Dad actually live traps and releases else where the varmints getting into his garage. Hmmm that's a thought instead of releasing doves at the wedding we can release squirrels, raccoons, and skunks. Now that would be unique. Those guns are too big, too heavy and kick too hard for my taste. Besides I like pink carbon fiber toys.
Epic Riding in Northern Michigan
Ready to rideJuly 27th
Tim and I went for a quick 60 mile ride in the U.P. It was like a time trial in that we did not stop once for a stop light. There are NO stoplights in the entire Mackinac County where I grew up. The roads are flats and smooth with a few rollers a little traffic. This made riding really fun. We might have riden across the whole U.P. if Tim hadn't been distracted by the tractor....Just kidding.
July 28th
Tim and I drove across the 5 mile Mackinac bridge because it's forbidden to ride bike. We parked in Mackinac city. We had plans to ride along the lake all the way to Petoskey and get lunch at the Roast and Toast. Petoskey is the town I lived in post college before I became a travel nurse. It's on Little Traverse Bay and the biking is fatastic there except when it snows. These roads are really cool as they are curvy with rolling hills and go along bluffs above Lake Michigan. On this route, Shore Drive, there are no stop lights. The road is known as the tunnel of trees. In the fall the leaves change color and in the spring the road is lined with trilliums. I like it because of it's beauty, it's few cars, and it's curvy rolling hills which remind me of skiing. It's a good place to work on the craft of energy transfer;) There are no stops signs you can't roll through. Without too much effort you can really get some speed going. Around mile 25 we passed a couple roadies in team Bissel get up who gladly glommed on to our rear wheels. This was fun but I think it inspired Tim to really start hammering. He denies he was going very hard but despite that my legs were burning. "I'm in pain becuase of you" My legs were sort of screaming , begging for just 10 second of rest. Everytime I glanced back the roadies were right on me. Here's to a small world.... I actually knew the couple. I had their kids in ski school years ago. I figured if they could hang I would too. They followed us for the next 20 miles. Never once pulling but thanked us for the pull when they turned off. A few miles later Tim came to a crawl (sorry baby doll ...I can not tell a lie) He looked a bit green and said I feel awful. Last weeks virus had become this weeks sinus infection. Tim had a major cheek ache. Tim asked if I brought any ibuprophen.....Nope. It's not a practice of ours to dope with Ibuprophen while training for a whole slew of reasons. "I don't think I can make it." He said looking more green. We were only about 5 miles from Harbor Springs at this time I offered to go back and get the car but that would take forever. The other option was to descend into Harbor Springs buy some Ibuprophen and take a break while the ibuprophen kicked in. Tim pronounced he was Roasted and Toasted so we aborted the additional 10 miles it would take each way to get into Petoskey. Instead of lunch at the Roast and Toast, we bought sandwhiches from the popular local deli Gurney's and took them to the marina. We enjoyed our lunch and then soft pedaled threw a few of Harbor's quaint summer communities.....things don't change in Harbor Springs ever. I'm glad of that. I like it that way. The ibuprophen kicked in a we headed back to Mackinac City. This time a little slower....the scenery is better under 20 mph.
Team Astana.....aren't they doper????
Tim stated those pills were antibiotics.
Ready to play tour guide
Classic Harbor Springs home. A pleasant view.
Think the Bob Seger song about being 1/2 hour out of Mackinac City.That is where is am. No need to get out of aero.
Me with a mouth full of a delicous Gurney's sandwich. Gurney's is famous for good deli sandwhiches.... you can have anything on them except tomatoes. That's just the way it is.
Roasted and Toasted Tim
Molasses cookies......the riders secret formula
Me with a mouth full of a delicous Gurney's sandwich. Gurney's is famous for good deli sandwhiches.... you can have anything on them except tomatoes. That's just the way it is.
Roasted and Toasted Tim
Molasses cookies......the riders secret formula
The gang post race.
Check out that smile.....I could write a whole blog on how he got my mom to say "yes" to the tractor
Tractor Operating 101
I'll show you how it's done!Tim had so much fun digging up stumps with the tractor. His face lit up in a way I hadn't seen since his brother Seth got him a fishing spear for Christmas. I worried Tim would drop out of surgical residency a take up tractor operating. Even worse.....I worried he would skip riding bikes with me in order to spend more time on the tractor.
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