Thursday, April 30, 2009

Wake up and Smile

My phone has a setting which allows me to write something into the phone that will appear when the alarm goes off. They mean for it to be used to say what event the alarm signifies. But hello, when it goes off at 5am obviously it means that it's time to wake up. So I never write anything and just set the alarm. But today when the alarm went off I looked at my phone and saw "Wake up and Smile." Why... because it was time to grab a small cup of coffee, change the setting on my Garmin from biking to running,
Select "Running":
Select "use this sport". YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

As I turned the corner, and the image of the track appeared, I wondered if it was a mirage. After all, it's been a month since I've been able to participate in a track workout.
My smile grew! I couldn't wait to run down and see everyone that I haven't seen since late March. For the past several weeks everyone tried to convince me aqua jogging will keep me in running shape. Yes...and No. I was still able to hold a decent tempo pace, but my higher end speed suffered a small death. And, water jogging certainly doesn't work the calf like running. So I'd need an extended stretching session to prevent this "injury" from returning...
My smile remained as I left a great yoga session with Claire, grabbed a huge coffee at the neighboring Starbucks (thanks to the SBX gift card from the rents!!) , and then put together my doctored up morning oatmeal. My fav!
I decided this morning that if I had to live on one single food, I'd pick oatmeal...

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Just another week

Well I've been diligent about staying away from running because of this month long soft tissue calf issue. I tried doing a test run last monday, but after ten minutes called it quits. It was frustrating, but it presented a chance to focus on cycling. I use to be freaked about riding with Swami's once a year. But in the past 2 weeks I've been lucky to join them for 3 butt kicking workouts. Each time I hang on a bit longer and get a bit more use to the sky rocketing heart rates. My goal of learning a new threshold of pain on the bike is working. I hope it pays off soon.
Katya and I discussed getting back to the top of Palomar and decided to ride out to the Mt. this past wknd. The warm weather had left us, but our minds were set. I didn't think too much of the 50 degree temps at first. We left from home for the perfect 100mile ride to the top of Palomar and back. Sea level to the tallest point in San Diego County. Fun times! Us two girls were thankful Brian and Billy joined in for the fun.
I made my first nutrition mistake of the year. Shouldn't I know better by now! I gave in to peer pressure. As the guys rode by the store at the bottom of the mountain I skipped the opportunity to fill my bottles. This resulted in me conserving fluids over the 12 mile, 5800ft of climbing. Not smart! I had felt so strong on the bike for the past 2 weeks, but as the climb went on I wasn't feeling all that hot. I was greatly surprised when I got to the top, looked at my watch, and realized that I set another PR for the long climb. Not by much...but considering I thought I was WAY off, I had to be content.

Then the ride took a turn for the worse. Yes going up is tough...but going down can be ridiculously miserable! To say I froze my ass off would be a severe understatement!!! My body pretty much went into a state of shock. My mind was shut off, and all energy went into staying warm (and yes I had long sleeves on, layers, and stuffed newspapers in my jersey). I wanted to warn those still climbing the mountain to turn around and save themselves from the descent. I have not been that miserable since the days of dodging icebergs along Belleville lake in the rowing days at UofM. Seriously have you had hypothermia? Riding without any mental power is NOT good! Cars are a blur, and suddenly I felt quite unsafe. I still had 40miles of riding. It took 10miles for me to get my body temp up enough to allow my mind to turn back on.
Once to the bottom of the Lake Wulford climb I felt ok and powered home. Good news: my legs felt ok. Bad news: the nutrition shortage from the Palomar climb coupled with my frozen state resulted in a tough bonk!
Lesson learned: although newspapers stuffed in the jersey help when descending from 6,000ft, its not enough to combat the sub 50 degree temps. No more Palomar climbs in the cold!

I logged 300miles on the bike last week, and about 550 over the last two weeks (with some awesome high quality long fast, break through, group rides).

The highlight of the month came on Sunday. I returned to my favorite workout: Sunday Ranch Run! I kept to the short loop (only 8.5mi) but completed it with limited pain. I was back to running, and felt better than I thought I would. My lower legs were tight and a bit painful, but I was just ecstatic to have my Brooks on and be running with my great sunday run buddy's.
Plus, a quick trip to the pool and Sculpt Fusion for Yoga would help alleviate the calf tightness. (I showed up at the studio in my bathing suit, as I didn't have time to change. People looked at me like I was a bit off. But that's just how the weekends seem to go. From one workout to the next, and then running to the next social gathering. I made it into the yoga room with 10seconds to spare before class. Perfect- that means I maximized my run and swimming time). Yoga was a savior! My legs felt great again, and I was ready for a few recovery days before hitting it next weekend. Just have to say another thank you to Sculpt Fusion for helping me through the mental and physical struggles that come with this sport (and life in general)!

On other news, the Red Wings are on to Round Two! Yeah Baby! Oh and...only 18 sleeps until my Birthday in Bermuda trip!! I can't believe its almost time for that big big birthday of mine. I think it will be my 28th this year ;)

Sunday, April 19, 2009

OH HOLY DAY!

Yes, yes, I know that Easter was last weekend. However, my Saturday workout made me feel pretty thankful. I made the decision to join the Swami's Sat ride. I by no means feel as if I "belong" on this ride. This is a ride for REAL cyclists. Few women can really hang with this group, and even fewer woman triathletes can hang. Oh how I wish I was one of those powerful women! The only way to get there is to keep trying and not give up on myself.

And so I gather with the group, and prepare my heart and mind for the pain that soon ensue. Today, I wanted to hang on. I didn't just want to hang on to "a" group, I wanted to hang with the main/lead pack. (I've gone on this ride several times, and just wait for the group to break apart and typically hang with one of the last packs or with just one or two other stragglers). I wanted to hang with the main group all the way to the point where we re-group (a church- how fitting!)- but let's be honest! I didn't believe I could. And so I made a deal with my inner self: move to the front pack and hang with them, and then hang on longer than you ever have.

We were up and over a few rolling hills, and I was still part of the group. I started believing I could do this. The guy in front of me allowed a tiny gap to form, "NOOOOOOOO" I thought (clearly I couldn't speak, as my heart was about to pop out of my chest). With determination I passed and grabbed a new wheel. And I hung on!!! The WHOLE way! As we turned into the church the guy next to me said "now there's a girl that can ride." Wait...me? Is he talking about me?? Hehehehehe, an instant smile came to my face.

This was a Holy Day! I hung onto those blue jersey's and never let myself give up. I took a moment to say my thanks before heading out with a smaller group of these guys for another several hours. Me and 8 guys that had already kicked my butt rolled out towards Lake Wulford.

The rest of the ride goes out east, up a decent climb, and then rolls up and down through the hills until re-joining with the coast. It's probably my favorite 100mile loop from my place. I tried hard to hold onto those blue jerseys, however knew I had already succeeded on this ride. Now I had to make sure I didn't crack too early, and stayed with my nutrition.
What a gorgeous day in San Diego!! I actually felt great the whole way back. This ride will definitely go in the bank for a future withdrawal. The rest of the night I'd remind myself that a real cyclist commented on how "this girl can ride." For me, confidence on the bike is half the battle!

Ride over, time to EAT! You know when you walk in the door, can't wait two seconds to eat, so you grab anything in site. I'm notorious for not taking in calories near the end of the ride. I start thinking about all I can eat when I get home that will be better than another Gu or bar. Yesterday the first thing I could grab was the cereal box. As I made my smoothie I wanted cheerios. But can you believe it. The ENTIRE box fell over and spilled onto the floor. Seriously!?!?! I just want food. Have you ever wondered what an entire box of Cheerios scattered across the kitchen floor would look like? Wonder no more:
Ok Cheerios...fine, I'll go aqua jog without that bowl of cereal. But after...I want a big burrito! MmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmAnd after that....time to head out for a birthday celebration. Ike's a fellow member of the Univ of Michigan athletic department family. As a 100m runner he doesn't quite understand my crazy obsession with endurance sports! I knew he'd ask how far I rode today...I tried to lie, but he didn't buy it. Happy Birthday Ike! xoxoxoxo

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Patience, and Pain

Running was going so well this year! Improvement kept coming my way, and I loved pushing my limits at the track and during my longer runs. I had a few great half marathons early on. I couldn't wait to mimic those races in the run portion of a half ironman.

But, as you can see from my previous posting I've been nursing what I now know is a soft tissue injury in my lower leg. Thanks to acupuncture and a few trips to Brian Kildow for a.r.t. I hope to get this thing behind me ASAP. I still feel tightness from a nagging injury to the paronial tendon. And that happened at some point during the Clearwater70.3 race back in 2007. That lead to 4 months w/o running and I do not want to go through that again! I now sleep with compression socks. It helps. With this added tension in the lower right leg I woke up every day last week thinking "maybe I should take the day...or week totally off! This is awful." But each morning I'd walk it off and continue with the prescribed training.

After Cali70.3 I was in a lot of pain. By Monday I could indeed hardly walk. I took the week off from running, and tried again on Sunday. I was stupid and went out to run with the sunday group run. Who can start with a group and then say "ahhhh, this hurts. Think I'll turn back!?!?!" Not me. Nope, I didn't have that kind of patience last weekend. But now I must demand that from myself!
So step one: avoid anyone who might ask me to run with them, and stay far far away from my weekly group run workouts.

Step 2: learn how to aqua jog my heart out! I spent over 2 hours in the pool monday. 30mins of aqua jogging and then swim practice. I tried using the boyancy belt, but I couldn't work hard enough w/ it on. I did a lot of reading on aqua jogging form and workouts. I decided today I'd return without the belt, and get in some intervals. Almost any article or internet posting about aqua jogging says to bring a partner. Thing is, no one that can run will volunteer to aqua jog with you! But then there's Katya! She is an animal...and is always up for another workout. Little did I know she too wanted to do some aqua jogging intervals today. She's battling a little achilles issue, so we jumped on our bikes (she just got her new Orbea ride. Snazy!!) and rode to the pool.
Ok 45mins of water running. Here we go. In the middle we busted out some intervals. We sure weren't moving fast from end to end, but we were working hard (and focusing on form. He couch should be proud ;) !!). The articles I read said to bring a friend so you could chat and pass the time away. We were not chatting! Instead we were huffing and puffing our way from one end of the pool to the other. Without the belt I was able to work a lot harder, and my body position in the water was much more efficient (efficient as in mimicing running, not efficient as in moving faster).

And so I will be patient. I believe this whole intense aqua jogging won't be too bad (if it doesn't have to last that long). Tomorrow I return to Brian, then a weekend without running. What will I do when the alarm goes off on Sunday! I love the ranch run :( But I know if I go, I'll do a "test run" of 11.3 miles. Not smart. Instead, I'll remain patient. Return to Brian on Tuesday and then give her a go. I hope by then things have worked their way out and I can bring that new pair of Brooks out of the closet and pick up where I left off.

Yesterday I enjoyed riding with Katya during the heart wrenching Wed Swamii's ride through Camp Pendelton. This workout kills me. It is my attempt to re-define my pain threshold on the bike! I believe this ride is harder than the Sat rides. At least in the Sat ride there is a second group that forms as they get dropped by the first group. On this ride, everyone is so strong (I mean it's Wed at 8am... clearly these people are strong because they are able to do this ride at 8am on a weekday!)
Yesterday we were fortunate to have strong strong on-shore winds. So many found this to be an excuse to stay in bed. However, after racing in Kona twice last year I know these days are what will make me strong. The higher the wind, the harder the day...so embrace it! Hell, people live on the Big Island and deal with that crazy wind all the time! Time to toughen up.
We rode onto the military base and the pace picked up. Time to hold on for dear life. I just wanted to get up each hill with the group and then work hard to hang on at the top of each. I was up the first two, and my heart was about to leap out of my chest. I had to make it up hill number 3 and out of the base. When I found myself a good pocket within the group and felt a strong draft I took a second to check out my heart race. Ahhhh, 179. Yeah Baby! This HURTS! But I tried to hold on. I felt a bit like I was doing my VO2 tests. As they increase the intensity the person running the test keeps asking "can you go 30 more seconds?" "30more?" I was asking myself "can I make it 1 more minute" ok I did it, "one more?" THIS REALLY HURTS!
As we made a sharp right turn (those that raced Cali70.3 know this is the turn right after you leave the base before hitting the path) I fell off the back with 3 others. We looked at each other (no one could talk, as we needed all the oxygen we could get) and gave ourselves 30secs to somewhat catch our breath, and then it was back at it (I could have used about 5minutes to catch my breath . We cycled through a pace line and kept the intensity up. Into the wind we rode. My legs were on fire! I think I might re-join this group on Sat for their weekend pain extravaganza! If I can't run, I mis-well ride hard.

Oh and the NHL post-season is under way. As I write this posting I'm watching the first game: Detroit vs. Columbus. Yes I know people in San Diego know nothing about the game of hockey, but that isn't the case where I'm from! Hell the city is referred to as "Hockey Town." I grew up playing street hockey w/ the neighborhood kids on a daily basis. So Hockey Town get ready!!! let the chants begin!
LETS GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

History can be reason for concern!

Ok so the last three weeks I've been scared about this pain in my calf/shin. I ran in for a.r.t. and Brian felt pretty confident that it was a soft tissue issue. But the pain is VERY close to the bone, it is very localized, and it really feels like a stress fracture. AND I'd know. I've stopped counting the number of shin stress fractures I've had when I reached 15. Through college it was a yearly occurrence. Because of this history, I am quite scared of those little nasty fractures. It is why I moved away from marathon running and into triathlon. It is why only 10% of my weekly mileage is spent on the roads. Yesterday I went in for acupuncture. Again, he thought it was a soft tissue issue. Acupuncture helped quite a bit, so I was partially convinced. But still not sure, so today instead of running I went to the pool early for 30mins of aqua jogging. Is there anything worse?!?!?!
After leaving the pool I had to know. I drove over to a sports medicine facility near me and requested a medical tuning fork. The P.T. there looked at me like I was crazy (after all I'd never stepped foot into that office before!). She's informed me that "this is the old school method, and she didn't even know if they had a tuning fork. She dug through the drawers and found one. "have at it" she said. I was scared for the truth. I just stared at the silly fork thing for a while...and stared...and stared. She looked at me and said "it won't hurt that bad. Do you want me to do it." I looked up, said "yes, please. it hurts right here" she wailed the tuning fork against the wall. The tuning fork was active, placed on my bone. NO PAIN. I looked up with this surprised look. "Can you try it again?" She did. "Again." She complied. "Are you sure you're doing it right?" She made sure to remind me this isn't the ultimate test. I was happy, thanked her (the receptionist laughed at me and looked at me like I was crazy), and I left. hehe...I can't wait to run!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and speaking of history: history builds habits, and today I was ready to break a bad habit. I hate swimming on Fridays, because it is known as "Fast Friday." Yup, its a day of low volume, but increased intensity. I typically obsess about how many yards/meters I will get in, and just stay at the same pace throughout the workout. I do not have much high end speed in any sport, so why test it. Well after the race last weekend I decided I need to treat swimming like running. Make sure to get in a "track" workout once a week, in the pool. So today I embraced fast Friday. A set of 15x100's ranging from base +10, to base -10, was prescribed.
I worked hard! I kicked!!! I never kick! I was so proud of myself. Half way through the set I started thinking my typical thought, and began calculating how many meters I'd get in once this set was over. But I stopped myself. When we go to track, we don't obsess over the mileage. We focus on speed. Why do it in the pool? No, I wasn't going there. Head down, kick hard, and swim fast. Go, go, go! Stay consistent. Nothing too fast (since I am incapable of "too fast"), just tried to stay in the low 1:20's e/ 100m (man long course is harder than short course). 12 down, I'm dying. Does Terry see that I'm actually trying to sprint? #13, that hurt, a bit slower. 2 more.

For the first time in 10 years I was reminded of high school swimming. Pushing off the wall with girls on both sides of me, and hanging with them on the sprint workouts. I couldn't sprint back then, and nothing had changed. But back then if I put my mind to it, I could hang on. Time to try to hang on! During the last two I noticed I was almost a full body length down w/ 20m to go. I got to the flags, put my head down, and hit the wall first. I didn't care about beating anyone other than myself. I just used those around me to do so!
I did it. I worked hard on fast friday, AND didn't complain once that I wasn't able to get in 5k, or that I don't like sprinting. I need to remind myself what it feels like to suffer in the water. and it was fun too ;)

As I got out of the water I was reminded of this same experience last season. I had an awful swim at Honu. I came home and worked the speed workouts. 3 weeks later I was the first female out of the water at Buffalo Springs. So for the next few weeks, I will make pact with myself. Embrace the speed workouts! I know I'm not a sprinter (my VO2 max testing last night confirmed this!), but working hard at my speed workouts will be key. I wouldn't run the same speed on every running workout, so why do it in the pool.

So due to fear of a stress fracture I swam. And during my track workout in the pool I was inspired. Ahhhh yes, what a difference a week can make.

And today, the Easter bunny was re-born (last year mom and dad told me he died). AHHHHh that is just wrong. My mom is close with the Easter bunny, and must have talked to him and let him know I could use a pick-er-uper. Nothing seems to bring a smile like a package made with love from my parents! Growing up every Easter my brother and I got these HUGE milk chocolate hollow eggs, filled with the best jelly beans. Last yr I was told the Easter bunny died, so I'd have to go without. He must be back in business, because he dropped off a giant yummy egg today (its in the blue box. have to wait until Easter to open it).



Happy early Easter everyone!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Looking back, and Moving Forward!

I have to be honest. The start of this week has not been easy for me. I didn't have the race I wanted to have, I wasn't committed to another race, and whatever is going on in my calf muscle or bone (please please please let it be a soft tissue issue and not a stress fracture!!!) is killing me! And let's be honest- that other huge aspect of my life...you know the whole attorney gig ...well it's reached a level of stress that for the first time seemed too much to handle. So many attorney's handle their stress through a beer (or two or ten), I handle it with triathlon training. So when both aren't going well I have some moments of weakness. This week, I've had more than the past 3 months combined.

So, the race report. Yes it was cold when we arived in the morning. But the sun came up, and it was the best weather we've had for this race in years!
Swim: I opted for the clean water over the draft. I didn't know if it was the right decision until I exited the water. Wrong! I've been swimming a ton, but still came out of the water in 31mins. Ugh! I ran up the ramp with Rachel Ross, and knew she'd hop on her bike and start working her way towards the leader. I just didn't know how far ahead that leader was.

Bike: Sadly after about 10miles Rachel was gone, and I hadn't caught many from our age group. I didn't know how many were ahead of me, but I was feeling good. The bike felt strong through mile 40. Then it was as if the light switch was turned off. I literally was thinking about how great I felt at mile 42, but at mile 43 I felt awful. My lower back started killing me. Up and over one of the last climbs I went. But this climb was a bit different than the rest. 3 guys saw my name on my number belt, and started singing Sweet Caroline. I felt rude by not singing with them. I NEVER resist the opportunity to belt out the lyrics to that song. Usually I jump up on the closest table and dance my butt off! But this just didn't seem like the time to be belting out Sweet Caroline. My back hurt and I just wanted to get on to the run. The bike was just ok. My time 5:53. I was about 8 mins off where I wanted to be, but I was still on track to break 5:00 if I had the run I was capable of.

Run: I've been running so strong lately! But not today. Sadly my stomach made it very clear that although I was hungry I didn't want any more calories. I am fortunate that I usually don't have this issue. My legs felt heavy, my stomach really wanted me to stop running, and my mental strength was dying. My run was 1:42. This was the disappointment of the day.
Although Gil (pic at the right) would like me to admit that the disappointment of the day was losing my bet to him. He started 3mins behind me, and we had a bet for who would get to the finish line first. I needed a strong run to catch him...and didn't. He had a great race, and won the bet!

The volume of training I've put in over the last 2 months has been higher than what I've ever been able to do for this race (or maybe for any race...even Kona last yr!). During those high volume weeks I told myself: "I want to do well at Cali, BUT that race is about building fitness for future races." I didn't have the greatest race last weekend, but I did beat last years time by 13 minutes. The best athletes look back at their training and race performance, and realize what can be done to improve performance moving forward. I know my training has put me in a position to have a season that blows away even last years accomplishments. So with that.... I look forward!ROW BLUE! (man it seems like forever ago that I was entrinched in that sport! This past weekend I had the opportunity to check out my girls! Ok they really can't be "my girls" anymore because I don't know a single chic on the team! But they sure did look like the Michigan Rowing that was built back in 1998-2001! The team returned to the San Diego Crew Classic for the first time since my freshman year. Although I was exhausted Sunday morning I woke up and ran to the shore line to chant "Lets Go Blue" over and over! They looked awesome! The 1V took the victory, and the 2V narrowly missed winning. Sadly they lost to our arch rival Univ. of Washington. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Our media man clearly wasn't at the race because mgoblue.com doesn't have any pics from the wknd. But here they are (I'd guess on a training day on Belleville Lk back in MI. They looked way better than this in their race uni's- however it was strange to see them in Addidas and not Nike!)

I put a LOT of thought into planning my race schedule for the year. Without a race plan and set goal I go crazy! I had to sit down and figure things out. I was 99% sure I would go back to Honu, but I don't think it is going to happen this year. Instead I will hit up some local olympic distance races (in an effort to focus on speed speed speed!), then head back to Lubbock in June, Vineman in July, and a late season Ironman to cap off the year. That's the plan for now....but with the way my week has gone, that could all change by next week.

However I did opt for a pretty awesome alternative to Honu!!!!!!!! My mom has dreamed of vacationing in Bermuda for years and years. She really wanted to go when she retired (1.5yrs ago), but we haven't made it over there. We also have this tradition of spending our bday wknds at different spa's thorughout the country. She thought of the idea my senior year in college when we were at a resort for NCAA's on my birthday. Last year I broke tradition and chose to race at Honu instead. I sacrificed everything to get to Kona. But is that what I really want this year?! Is that what is most important to me this year. NO! So often as people go through difficult times, they remember what is really important in life. Well I'm goiong through one of those times. And I never want to forget how important my family is to me. Time with them is golden! So in May my mom will board this ship
We'll celebrate our birthdays together- We will get to NYC on my mom's bday, May 16, and get off the ship on my BIG B-day: May 24. Ocean swims in Bermuda....SIGN ME UP! The main island is 14miles long, and 1 mile wide. Hmmmmm, running around the island would make for an amazing LONG run!

That was a long post! Lots going on in this little head of mine this week......

Cheers!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Race Report....will have to wait

What a weekend. The highlight was being able to play host for two great friends and athletes. Brad was out from Boulder, and Jenny flew in from Minnesota (although I know she really wishes she was still living in San Fran and traveling from there!). I have been training way harder than I usually do this early in the year. I have been running really well, riding faster and harder, and swimming a ton. I don't feel like this effort and ability came out to play on Sat. Therefore, instead of going on and on about my dissatisfaction I'll wait another day (or two or three) to write my race report.
In the meantime I'll remember why I did this race: to gain fitness that only comes from racing! So I'll just let my legs absorb the fitness, allow my body and mind to get in a few days of rest....and write later :)

Thanks for checking in!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Ready or Not?!?!

I think I'll pick the "ready" option! Last night I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Wait...that would mean I was dead, lying in the street. I was more like a crazy blonde, unable to keep track of everything I needed to do and get anywhere on time. But I got it all done. Man am I thankful for friends (or as one friend called them...my pit crew, haha. Just like a nascar driver can't win without his pit crew, I can't even get to the start of a race without amazing support!) :)
First I had to make a run by Terry and Billy's place. Is there anyone more kind and giving than those two?!?! Answer: NO! I always stress that no matter how many times I look over my bike, something will go wrong on race day. Whenever I don't have someone look over my bike prior to the race I am plagued with strange noise, or rubbing noises that stress me out while on the course. Billy provided me that ease of mind, by checking over my baby and getting him ready to roll. Isn't he hot!!!

Then it was off to see Brian for a.r.t. Thank goodness I found him and he's part of the "pit crew!" A HUGE part of my ability to get my running back to where it once was is in thanks to him! Not being injured and unable to run sure does help! Not saying I don't have a million aches/pains/disabilities...but being able to run through them thanks to Brian is huge. For those who haven't tried a.r.t, I highly recommend it. But it isn't just about finding the practice. You have to find the right practitioner! I've had a few issues in my lower leg, so I had those worked out one final time.

Then it was off to see Joey to pick up an air mattress to sleep one of my weekend house guests. I was so lucky to pick up dinner from him as well. It was after all 8:30 and I hadn't eaten in hours. (a rarity for me!) Best turkey burger I've ever had. Next time you make a turkey burger add spinach, dried cherries, and feta cheese to the meat before you cook it. It's crazy good!

Not much more to report. I'll head up to registration today, and then my house guests will start arriving. I can't wait! Racing is fun, but racing with great friends is awesome!!
Next entry will hopefully be jam packed with awesome race report news. Until then...make every day a great day!