The past several weeks could be described many ways...and have many different titles....like "Train, Train, Train"...."Always wear your gloves - who needs skin anyway?"...."Wheezin' the Pollen Blues"....."Why don't you write anymore"....
Somehow, between all the training and the in's and out's of the days, and that "other stuff" I have either allowed to take over my life or has just snuck up and done it anyway, I have miserably failed to finish any post I have begun - until now. I have decided to sit down and write today, and post whatever makes it on here, I promise! So here goes....
I sit in my chair in a hotel room in beautiful Carlsbad, California where I just finished watching (that's right - watching, not racing) Andy Potts pull of another win at the Ironmam 70.3 Oceanside. It was a beautiful day here - and still is, but I am enjoying a little quiet time to myself out of the sun before the rest of the weekend unfolds. just an FYI - I wasn't planning on racing when I came out this weekend, and it turned out to be a good call after the last few weeks with a bike mishap (or crash....but all's good now) and coming down with the usual chest congestion I always get this time of year. Everythig seems to fall into place somehow...
I am here this weekend as part of the Zoot Training Camp where most of us who were selected to be on the team are meeting each other for the first time as well as meeting the Zoot Staff and associated team sponsors. It will be a fun time i'm sure, and by the looks of the schedule, it will be a busy one as well.
So...what's been going on over the last few weeks you ask? well, a lot. I've been spending a lot of time with my Grandmother going through all the usual doctor visits and tests and all to be sure everything with her remains stable and her life can continue the way it is - playing bridge, sippin on martini's, and gettin' around on her own! All of that seems to be working out very well as the doctors seem to like the way she is responding to her meds, and I'm grateful for that. i've also been taking Moorie (granny's cat) to the vet and back every week - seems she has had an ear problem for quite a while and turns out her ear drum was messed up and she had a rally bad infection - one they weren't sure they could cure. but after a month of treatment with drops and pills, and back and forth to the vet for tests - seems like she's doing fine now and the infection has cleared up. That's a good thing....
Lets see...what else...I crashed my bike about 2 weeks ago going riding in 2o-30 mph winds. the wid got a hold of me in a turn and the just happened to be a pile of gravel there with my name on it and I bit the dust. I was alone, and went thru the usual "oh my gosh" freak out dance until I did the full body check and realized I had no broken bones and didn't need stiches anywhere. So I got back on the bike all bloody and dirty and rode to the Park, cleaned up, got into their first aid kit, then decided to keep on ridin'. I finished the rest of my ride although I was shaken up,but I figured it would help the keep the blood flowin and help with any soreness I might have. Well, if it helped any I'd be shocked! I was sooo stiff over the next few days I didn't run at all and swimming was a chore - I fell right on my hip and shoulder and was weary of an injury I may have caused. After 4 days, I ran a bit and it still hurt, but I ran in the Crescent City Classic the next day anyway (I wanted a poster!)- and my hip seemed fine. Ironically, the only thing that hury on the run - other than it being a hard effort - was my shoulder! Go figure.. well, that's all gone now. I still have some stiffness, but no pain. let's hope that keeps up.
After the CCC, I had a hard ride and run - and for the second weekend in a row i came home with a thick yellow film all over me and my bike. I could only imagine what was in my lungs....This is the time of year I suffer, and well, this year would prove to be no different - or will it? I have been as they say "down with the sickness" since monday and have spent the grand majority of my time indoors and unable to run or do anything that gets my HR over 110 since then. That's part of the asthma thing with me and just one of those things. everybody's got something, and this is my something and i've got to deal with it. The trip to California couldn't come at a better time I think it has helped me get over it - even if just a little. Being away from the Louisiana air is a good thing. I have been able to run since being out here, not fast or anything, but run nonetheless - and it feels so good. Watching the race today has me conflicted in a lot of ways - watching everybody duke it out makes me super motivated and I want to train harder....NOW !......but Im limited to what my lungs will do, so now is not allowed! yeah, i know, I need to be patient, and I have no choice - but I want to do it all NOW! AAGGGHHH!
So... there's a a lot of what's been going on with me lately. I will be here till monday, then back home to get on it and focus on St Anthony's!
