Thursday...

Thursday is my ride day with one of my best buds, Pat. We started early and it seemed to be going okay. I was testing out a new saddle and it was a little high but I really liked it otherwise. We get to the turn off to our big loop and we had made it there faster than I had before. What a great day I thought it was going to be...we get to our regular stop for some fuel. We start riding again and WHAM...the wind...more hills...pain. This started to be the never ending ride, I did not ever think we would get to the turn off. My legs were screaming. Finally, we make it to the turn off and it is downhill for a long way. We manage to get in but both of us were glad the ride was over. Good news is we got over 70 miles in before noon.

If you do not know Pat, he is great! He is very kind and thoughtful. He is one of only a handful of people that I know would not leave me on a long ride. He always watches out for me and makes sure I am okay. He is actually one of the best all around cyclists in our club. He doesn't think he is but HE is! He can ride short, fast, long, not so fast and despite his thoughts, he can climb pretty well. He doesn't ever seem to mind that our rides take forever. We get to chat a lot and that is fun and therapeutic for me!

Yesterday, I did a 1000 yard time trial. Inspired by an article I read in Triathlete magazine and watching the Olympic Trials, I decided this week to try a four beat kick instead of my normal two beat kick. So, I felt pretty good in the water yesterday and despite my thoughts about getting tired too quickly, I tried the four beat kick. I did tire near the end but the laps seem to fly by and before I knew it I was at 850. The last 150 went quickly and I came out with a time of 19:08. Last month was an off month because I sort of felt like crap but the month before I did 19:37 so I was thrilled with a 29 second decrease! YEAH! If I can do that over 2.4 miles, it would be a 2-3 minute decrease in time.

Workouts so far this week...
Monday-swim and run, teach one spin class
Tuesday-bike, lift weights
Wednesday-teach two spin classes, swim trial
Thursday-lift weights and bike

For the rest of the week, I hope to ride and run over the holiday weekend. Headed to the beach soon to get rid of this cyclists' tan. If the riding and running doesn't work out, oh well. Maybe it is God's way of telling me I need a break. Next week, back to business and I do mean business. As of Sunday, 8 weeks to IM Louisville.