Oops...

It's been a while...

I'd like to fill up this entry with cool stories about the end of the semester and how well training is going and how great I've been racing, but unfortunately, I can't... The semester ended, my 4.0 streak ended (furious about that), training is not where I'd like it to be, and I have yet to race this summer (and won't prolly til July)...

I say that training isn't where I'd like it to be, but that's only half true... I'm starting to really (really) enjoy my swim workouts... in fact, it's really the only part of training that I look forward to, but maybe because it's officially hotter than Satan's ass and anything not involving water is sheer torture (which will be discussed later...) I guess that's what I get for living in the South...

I've been at home in LA for about a week and a half, and will be here for another week (possibly two, making it one whole month being away from Ttown) and it's been good for me... I went to Gulf Shores after the semester was done for a few days at the beach, where it was my plan to get back to regular workouts... and which didn't really happen... I did however, have an "oops" moment on a ride while I was there.... I had set out to ride for about 1.5 hours, nothing serious, just an easy spin from the condo to the highway and back... Roundtrip was supposed to be 24 miles, which I hit pretty easily... the road was completely paved, flat, and fast... I decided to continue on towards Ft. Morgan after passing the condo on the return trip.... 44 miles later, I was back home, exhausted, but relishing in the accomplishment of riding that far... It was the longest ride I had done up until that point, and aside from the brutal winds, I made really really good time (2h 11m).... that was, until yesterday...

So as I mentioned, I'm back home in LA, and honestly, feel like a total outsider in this Tri community... even though I've done a couple of races and train, I am clueless as to where to ride... (swimming and running aren't a problem, but people in Lafayette are crazy drivers, plus the shitty roads makes cycling a challenge)... My sister introduced me to her friend Bryan, who just finished the 70.3 in NOLA in April, and he was supposed to help me out by showing me where to ride... So in an effort to prep for my long ride on Saturday, I texted him my email address and asked him for a route to ride.... no response, so I ventured on to mapmyride.com...

Bad move...

I found a route from Lafayette to Arnaudville, which is easily a good 20 miles away... my ride was planned at 2.5 hours, with a 30 minute run to follow.... Shayne and I usually do 36 mi in 2.5 hours, so I figured 40'ish would be doable.... wrong...

Long story short, nearly 4 hours later and 65 miles later, I got dropped off at home by Bryan, hot, tired, dehydrated, and legs utterly destroyed... oops... I guess that teaches me the lesson never to ride somewhere without driving it first.... Or to listen to myself when I tell myself to turn around at an hour and head back, cause I don't know where I'm going.... Or, well, you get the picture...

Oops...

Nonetheless, I'm actually proud of what I did yesterday.... 65 miles is a long way, having had a max distance of 44 mi only two weeks before, and a max of 36'ish prior to that... So in one month, I've nearly doubled my distance on the bike.... (not going to even discuss pace--let's just say I started out strong, actually "riding", then sputtered to Bryan's house, merely "peddlaing")... Although it was brutal at the time, I've taken today to think about it and now know that I'm capable of riding for distance... Now all I gotta do is train up to match distance with the speed I'd like to have...

Running is a whole 'nother story....

What can I say, I hate running.... hate hate hate it.... I need to get back to the place where I was back in February and March, where I had the "hunger" for running.... I couldn't get enough of it! I guess with the slacking off (my own fault, I admit) between March and May because of school, it's taking me some serious (SERIOUS) time to get back to actually enjoying running... I did a 5K TT this past week, and believe it or not, my time was 30:14, only 40 seconds or so higher than my last TT, which was encouraging... what was NOT encouraging was how BAD I felt afterwards... dry heaving, cramping, naseuous... the whole bit.... I've got to find that place again, the place where I'm completely in tune with my body, and better yet, taking CARE of my body so it can perform.... I know this sounds goofy coming from me, but triathlon has become such a mainstay in my every day life, that I find myself talking and thinking like the diehards....

I do plan to scale back on running until I'm back to being comfortable (not sure how comfortable you can be in this heat), and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long... I've realized that up until March, it was running that a) made me lose weight and b) made EVERYTHING else easier... I've got to negotiate the weather to make this happen... I can't ignore it-I've got to find a way to work WITH it to get stronger... I contemplated doing some tread runs just to stay out of the heat, then had an HTFU moment and told myself, "There are no treadmills in a race, get out there and do it."... I have a feeling I'll incorporate at least ONE tread run a week into training ;)

As for summer races, it's not looking good... I had planned to do a TON of races during the summer--pretty much one a weekend mid May-August--but so many things are throwing a kink into that plan... First, I have a class that meets on weekends during the month of June (NOT happy about that)... Second, if I can't get a handle on this running shit, then I don't really see myself doing anything other than Sprints this summer, a prospect that I'm NOT happy about ... Third, finances will limit me this summer... my GA stipend is cut in half over the summer, which means I'll be scraping by every month... as much as I want to race, I almost can't justify spending the $$ to do so....

But who knows, anything can happen...

Despite what I've just written, I actually AM looking forward to the summer.... Only taking 2 classes, working 10 hrs a week, and training and chilling by the pool the rest of the time... Haven't had this little responsibility since I was in college....

Let's hope it doesn't get me into trouble ;)