Group Ride Last Night

Whew, I was so excited to tell you about something new I learned. I went on our group ride last night and learned a basic skill. After the ride, I walked in the door stoked and said, "Jee-hum, guess what I can do now." After telling him, he already knew how to do it. Jeez, why hasn't anyone told me? It's opened doors to all sorts of places I can go. I am taking my camera from now on. Beautiful places! One of our biking coaches taught us how to descend down hills without our bikes wibbly-wobbling. We went down huge hills and my heart wasn't even pounding.

We did some hill repeats in the middle of our ride. I found out that I get faster and faster the more I do. I love hill repeats. I know that's crazy. But, it's true. My legs get warmed up after 3 of 'em. I push it on the first one. I keep pushing the following 2. Then my legs just let me go on the next ones. Even the last, I can go. It's bizarre. I know, it's crazy. It really is. I love 'em! My ankle taped, doesn't give me trouble on the bike. Doesn't swell up all that much either on the bike. (I have to say, thank you, Eric, for showing me some stuff a/b hill repeats.) They thought I was racing. The truth is... I just love to go up those things. My legs get warmed up and they go. It feels good. 

One of the coaches asked me about my ankle after we were nice and warmed up. He gave me an alternative to running and now I don't feel so trapped. He asked why I was NOT chillin' on the running. I thought I was supposed to be running. Now I can do something different and no pounding on my ankles or my head. I can focus on biking and swimming, too, as suggested. The runner "girlie doc" would be happy, too. This alternative will still workout the running muscles. Makes for a happy me. My tri-team (namely, Juliet and Melissa) is very encouraging... telling me that my 1st tri is still doable by focusing on bike and swim. I can keep in aerobic shape and stay strong. Slow down, "Missy," I'll be fine. Life's too short to take so seriously. Enjoy it. Yes?  

I am so excited about descending. You have no idea!!! Time to discover new places. By the way, I had a blast on the repeats w/ a teammate. She also helped me mentally "let-go" of riding error I made. 

Please look on the USAT site for dealing with injury. By pure coincidence I talked about injury in my previous blog. USAT quoted David Glover. On his blog he discusses his own dealings and true feelings with his current injury. He's a good writer and survivor. Not just a cheerleader. I feel very sad for a fellow tri-mate who is dealing with serious injuries, not just a minor ankle issue. She's not a teammate. She's a good mom, wife, and athlete. She's hurting. I wish her all the correct help in the world so she can recover. I know she is strong. I hope that her surgery and recovery go very well and success is achieved. She's a fighter. I know she'll do her part. 

Training in the moment,

Christy