Catching Up

I feel like I’m always catching up. Maybe I should stop going places on the weekend so I can instead sit in front of my computer and keep this thing updated. Nah, I prefer traveling.

Here was our car after we picked-up borrowed sleeping bags and air mattresses. It had been full of cans and bottles to drop off with our recycling friends. They take the bottles and cans we collect and then donate the CRV and recycling monies to MS charity bike rides and Eric’s Team in Training events. They had $500 to donate to Eric’s tri this time!! Unfortunately, Eric got to talking didn’t pass the recylcables off so they had sat in our car a few days. Our trunk smelled like a drunk. It was gross.

Random shots from the weekend. The Avia (shoe company) Wildflower Triathlon was tons of fun. The course was incredibly challenging–lots of hills, some trail running and a steep boat ramp up after the swim into transition. Eric loved it and is already signed up for the Pacific Grove Triathlon in September.

Dane and Blaine from this season’s the Biggest Loser were participating in the long course (half-Ironman) race on Saturday. They looked good. They said they have lost 300 pounds combined since the season started. Amazing!

Here’s are ghett0 tent. It was actually a great tent, but we ended up with an extra tent pole that we just assumed wasn’t needed anywhere–when in fact it went over the entrance to keep water out in case of rain. We improvised with duct tape and trash bags until some let us in on that spare pole’s purpose. I think we’ll be camping plenty as it was great fun, but we’ve sure got a bit to learn yet! Like the tarp underneath should be no larger than the tent so rainwater doesn’t pool under the tent. Thankfully, it didn’t rain too much and only rained on Friday.

I’ve been busting my behind this week to get back into training mode. I’ve been lifting weights, ran once, am swimming this afternoon, and had a crappy bike ride today. The first time I rode in California was AWESOME. It was with a group and I managed to keep up and everything. This ride was terrible. I think I was trying to do too much in the ride. First my gears were being wonky and made hideous clicking noises as they refused to shift. Then it was my first ride with my new bike computer and I immediately realized that my natural cadence was at 65, not anywhere near 85-110 range Eric said it should be in. Add to that my intense fear of hills, and it was not pretty. I haven’t even put my clip less pedals on yet. Oy vey! I will keep working on riding though, because it is definitely my weakest triathlon discipline and I know I can do it. Does anyone have any training websites, books, or anything to suggest?

Peace,

Katy