by I like Mondays — they are the days where I regroup and get organized for what’s to come. Typically, Monday’s an “off” day (though I was regularly spinning on Mondays when I couldn’t do anything else). I really need a breather today, and the rain makes it feel like a nice, easy day.
Soccer Mom
I meant to go on the Pedal through the Pines ride on Saturday but my crazy life as a soccer mom completely drained me.I’d spent from 12:00 to 10:30 p.m. Friday doing soccer-related things: selling posters at school, picking up pizza for the concession stand, opening the stand, selling posters at the two JV games, and then finally watching my son’s Varsity game. It was a very rough match, the kind where security officers stand in front of the heckling student group (McNeil), and elbows and cards are thrown with regularity on the field. There was a horrible melee in the final minute…and I hated seeing my kid’s legs at the bottom of the pile in the net, with the goalie and a defender swinging away at each other on top of him.
Rides, Runs, and Races
All I wanted to do was sleep in on Saturday, and so I did. I hit the veloway in the afternoon for a very pleasant set of hamster loops, though I did notice that, toward the end, my bike seat presses when my hamstring hurts. The Hill Country Inline Club was out repainting the stripe and it was nice to be able to thank them for their work. After hearing my husband’s description of the ride and the crowded conditions on the hills, I’m glad I opted as I did, but at the time, I really felt like a loser/slacker for not saddling up.
Sunday, I ran an easy 10 miles with Dr. Stephanie. She had never run the Scenic loop, so we did 3 miles on the trail as warm-up and then hit Scenic Road. I think it had been at least a year since I’d done any portion of this route. I need to be back on the roads more regularly to get some speed back, but I was still cautious regarding intensity and hills due to the hamstring injury. I made sure to do some icing and stretching afterwards (along with watching The Hurt Locker — what an intense movie!). I even took a 3-hour nap!
Dr. Stephanie and I had planned to do Zooma Half Marathon together again but it turns out the race is the same Saturday as the Tri Zones Training kick-off for the new spring triathlon program. I’m committed to that as an assistant coach for the weekday morning group; I’m really looking forward to it — there is just something so special about helping women discover their inner athlete for the first time. The Rosedale Ride is also that day, and I’d wanted to do that one again. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make the Red Poppy Ride — that was a nice one, and I’m going to need some longer rides if I’m really going to do Shiner GASP again this year.
Sigh…it looks like I’m back to my previous post, the one about too many things to do and not enough time to do them all in.
Workouts and Allergies
In a few minutes, I’m off to the endocrinologist for my regular appointment. It’s going to be interesting to hear what the test results and the doc have to say; after all, I dropped my thyroid medication dosage at the first of January by 30mg on my own when my running went to nothing due to injury. I could feel that I was overdosed. Right now, everything is well, and I think the test results will show that my levels are great. But what we need to talk about is scheduling: when I need to make changes, I can’t spend a month or two on the process. Somehow, there needs to be better, faster response to perceived issues than what I’ve had.
Tuesday’s the allergist. I finally got my trail shoes washed from the Tulsa race (see “An Accidental Ultra”) — they were muddy through and through. I confess that, when I opened up the plastic bags I’d wrapped them in, I was slightly worried that handling the shoes and the mud would set me off again, but I’m fine. It will be interesting to hear what the doc wants to do regarding testing.
