Nervous as hell

The duathlon is only four days away and I need another MONTH before I feel ready for this thing. I keep telling myself I’ll survive the first run, I'll rock the bike, but after my performance on last week’s brick run with the girls, someone on a motorized wheelchair could pass me on the second run. Advice or tips for transitioning is more than welcome.

I didn’t get in the training that I said I would do in my previous blog. Wednesday I got up early to run 5 miles at the gym, I came home grabbed my stuff and rode 5.5 miles to work. After work I rode home and then met up with Jackie Carlson for a causal ride in the Medina area. Jackie is a fun and accomplished athlete. She is a strong cat 4 road racer and elite mountain biker. She does psychocross and triathlons for fun and was previously on the US Ski Team for six years. We met up with the MGC group for a little Hammerfest. My quads were screaming the entire time! Jackie kept saying “Dude, they were going fast.” but she didn’t have a problem hanging on. She is a smart rider she stayed second wheel the entire time and gave them a good run for their money at times.

Thursday I was exhausted. I slept in and did the Thursday night ladies ride. This year there is fire in our legs! We averaged 17.3 on rolling hills. Including slowing or stopping to regroup. Part 2 was going to be a short 1 mile run that became a 2 mile run. ½ way I let them go and went my own very slow pace.

Friday-Sunday I was with the parents in ND. I brought my shoes to run, but forgot everything else (clothes, iPod, energy). For some odd reason, no matter my best intentions—whenever I enter that town my healthy lifestyle goes out the door. Needless to say aside from cleaning, fetching whatever my parents requested, or climbing on top of the roof to clean an empty drier vent (I know). That was about all the calorie burning activity I did.

Monday morning I was back to myself. I got up early to run. It was the perfect medication to cure me from my lazy weekend and to get my mind off a situation that plagued my weekend. Sun was up, everything seems to be getting their vibrant color back. The temp was perfect, no cars, and you could smell the lilac trees. I could have ran another hour if I had the time.

Tonight is the Final Opus crit. This one should be nice for us women. They have asked the Cat 1/2/3 to race with the men so us Cat 4’s can have this one for ourselves. I have a feeling Jackie will put the hurt in us. Emails have been swirling about how we are not welcome back next year to this venue due to inconsiderate racers. It’s a nice course—crits are scary for beginners, but the Opus crits made it easier to learn how to race without the tight corners.

What’s next after Opus and the Apple? MTB (riding no racing—need to develop handling skills first, and courage), some serious TT training, and some more crits. Check the left navigation column for upcoming races.