The day off

Sunday won't normally be my day off, but I had a very hard ride (for me, not necessarily for my riding buddies) on Friday and suffered a deep fatigue, that continued on into a Saturday headache.  I had to teach Spinning® on Saturday, so today I'll do nothing, except work on the site.  It is taking me longer than I anticipated to figure out how I want the blog to look and what pages I want on it, but was hoping to put this out there today.

For anyone who is reading this and thinking "oh, I should join her...but she is already fit and I haven't started..." I wanted to give you a glimpse at my past year already.

Just after Christmas last year (2009) we flew to Thailand and I bought a $500 mtn bike.  I love it.  I got it assembled about late January and rode it for the first time about mid-February.  I used to ride a lot as a late teen, but doing the family thing in countries without 911 and questionable common sense on the road, I sort of chickened out of cycling.  So, climbing back onto a bike and venturing out into the pollution, the heat and the traffic of Phnom Penh Cambodia - honestly, last February I didn't know if this was just a passing fad and a wasted $500 or not.

Thats when I met Joe, Laura and Berry (and Emily later).  They were already established athletes who came to my Spinning® classes sometimes.  They took me out on the road and at first, let me just set the pace and distance goals.  They worked with me on cadence and drafting and hydration (a challenge here!) and nutrition...  So from Mid February through March and April I built up enough confidence to send a text to my husband and say - "I want to ride the 204 mile Seattle to Portland bike ride this summer...what do you think?"  And his response was, "I'll drive your support vehicle."  So, I signed up for it and started racking up the miles, where time permitted.

Time is a big issue when you're training - and all of us have this time because of how we organize our work schedule and because of supportive spouses.  During the spring I was teaching classes in my studio at 8am, but attendance was sporadic enough, and there are new options around town for the morning crowd, so that I dropped the classes all together this year.  With the heat/humidity, you really should be finished cycling by 10 or 11 and to put in any real distance, you should start by 6 or 7.

This is just the cycling side of it.  I am riding on the coat tails of my daughter's swim squad which meets Tue/Thur at 6am.  There I can get in some laps with the squad.  The running?  oi.  I have yet to actively fit that in, but it is coming.  I am heavy and it is just unpleasant to run - so, I am going to fit it in when my husband takes the dog at 5am on days I don't swim.

...starting tomorrow.  I just woke up, Sunday...exhausted.  Today?  I will strive to do nothing.  This feels really counter-productive, but deep down I know I need it...and will take it.