Back in the Saddle

Yippee!!!

I rode my bike yesterday for the first time in two whole weeks. I probably would have bailed because I've gotten to be a big wimp about riding by myself lately (ever since some chick almost took me out on Ridgefield Parkway one morning), but the ever-fabulous TriMom agreed to meet me.

We did the sprint race loop from the Shady Grove Y. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up with her but it turned out alright. For me anyway. Her tire flatted before and after our ride. So my fast speed = Jonah's speed with no air in one tire. We did 12 miles at an average speed of 17.8 mph. I love the stretch down Pouncey Tract where we can fly.

Today, shockingly, I got my lazy butt out of bed for the weekly TriGirl run. I'm up to oh I think four times in participation in almost a year. Impressive, right? I went because (1) we were doing speed work and (2) I had to pick up Kathryn which forced me to get out of bed. Speed work consisted of four, half mile repeats. Now I've heard about the joy of repeats but hadn't experienced it myself until today. I have to admit to thinking something like, it's only two miles in half mile increments. How hard can it be?

Plenty hard, as it turns out. I was panting like a locomotive, watching everyone else dart ahead of me. Most definitely not something I would do on my own. Just in case I ever do them again and want to compare, my times were 3:36, 3:39, 3:35, and 3:40. Now I need to figure out what they should have been.

At lunchtime today, I finally went to Performance to get a little bike storage bag that velcros to the front bar like all the cool TriGirls have. I also wanted a map holder but they don't carry them. I did manage to find a cute pair of socks (pink of course), some gloves for Scouter, and a tire changing tool since I realized yesterday that I've somehow lost mine. All discounted no less. And as if that's not great enough, they had my favorite chocolate Gu on sale for $0.25.

(Note to Jodi - they had a very cool Rocketgirl cycling jersey which I will totally buy for you if you come down for Heart of Va! I know it's a long shot but think about it...)

And to top off my beautiful day in sports, I'm meeting Richard for a bike ride tonight. Did I say yippee? Yippee!!!