Life’s little adventures

Well it has certainly been a while since I’ve blogged. I could see that happening if I wasn’t training anymore and there wasn’t anything to talk about but that certainly hasn’t been the case. I’ve been busy, been thinking through things and taking a bit of space from this space. But it feels like a good time to get back into it as I’m about to finally jump back into what feels like a normal routine to me. This is a good time to look back on what life has been like these last many weeks.

I’ve spent extra time focusing on my non-training life such as family and friends. My friend and I threw our annual murder mystery party. This year’s theme was 80s high school reunion complete with lots of neon and bad hair. I was going for the 80s aerobics instructor look to go with my character. I somehow accidently bought a thong leotard and did my best to make it give me less of a whedgie. As my husband said, it looked like someone just used body paint on me. I gave a lot of people a good laugh though with my initial panic pictures while trying to figure out how to fix it.  

From a training perspective, I happily got back into climbing mountains on my bike. Have I mentioned I love climbing?! I did a climbing ride up north into NC and did a loop that once scared the shit out of me and forced me to walk my bike a mile uphill. For the second time, I had complete confidence going into it and I once again was no issues doing it. I got the added bonus of enjoying the fall leaves and inhaling smoke from the wildfires not that far away.

 

Then I went up to VA for Thanksgiving. I wanted to try tackling Skyline Drive again since last time it was snowing, I was under dressed and shaking so badly I cut the ride short. Unfortunately, it was about the same temperature this time but not snowing and I was a little better dressed so I was able to get a nice long rides in. I love the challenge of climbing and knowing you HAVE to fight through the fatigue or you will go nowhere. Or maybe backwards. I also love descending but not when it’s 30 degrees at 30 watts and 30mph. That sucks if it’s for more than 3 minutes. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the ride. Maybe one day I’ll do it when there are leaves on the trees, I’m not freezing and blowing snot all of the road.

I also got in some good swimming. I hated the pool down the street from my parents’ house so I found a new pool which is waaaay better. It’s also a SCY pool and I normally swim SCM so it made me feel extra speedy. Seeing those faster times gave me a mental boost which I needed as I mentally struggle in the pool a lot.

I enjoyed the nice change of scenery for running and even got in some family running! I dragged my husband and dog for a Thanksgiving run in between cooking half of the Thanksgiving meal. My dad even joined me for part of a run which I think I’ve only done a handful of times. I’m pretty sure he felt the need to prove something to me because he was running faster than I wanted to but I’ll be damned if I was going to tell him to slow down. Thanksgiving was lots of quality family time and some good downtime away from work and everyday busy life. Nikita especially enjoyed the week of extra running, playing with her new furry cousins and chasing little kids around the house. The cooler weather also means she gets to run further with me since she struggles in the summer heat.

After I got home from VA, I was back for less than a week and then it was off for more traveling. First Arizona for training and then Kiawah Island for a girl’s race weekend. That’s way too much to talk about right now though. The important thing is right now I’m in a happy place and things are going well. I have little body niggles but nothing alarming or holding me back. Training is progressing and building up again. It’s the holiday season. Only two weeks left of work for the year. All is good and I honestly have nothing to complain about which is impressive because I can normally find something. I could complain about the weight I’m gaining but the food is simply too good to care right now. Happy holidays indeed!