Adventures of the Northwest

Slowly enjoying life again.... coming on up the hill.

I decided to get off the bike a bit. I had to take a mental and physical break from everything to get through these last few weeks with a positive attitude. Thursday, I did a bunch of errands and stopped by the track. I got to watch some of the practice but more importantly I took my roller skates and I went to where the Cirque du Soleil setup was and practiced. It felt VERY good to be doing something else, having fun and getting my skate legs underneath me. I then went to the local roller rink and skated with my girlfriend. I haven't done that for about 2 years. It was a lot of fun to see a bunch of old familiar faces. I definitely want to incorporate 2x/month, at least, roller skating in my fitness workouts.

Friday: I had off work. YEAH! I chilled, cleaned, chilled, cleaned. I went to Talledega Nights - awesome!!! TOOOO FRILLIN' HILLARIOUS!!! :) Definitely needed that. Then I cleaned my car - needed that. I then went to the track and watched the races. It was a lot of fun. Some people are definitely coming back strong these next few weeks which is awesome. I got to cheer people on with Sile, Jill and Jitka. Sile challenged me to not cheer on anyone during the Cat 3 Men's last race. MAN that was difficult. Kevin was doing awesome and bridged up really well from the pack to the breakaway! He's definitely a strong rider and is about to upgrade to Cat 2. His first Madison Race is this Friday. It will be fun to watch him do that.

Saturday: I did a short bike ride in the morning. Then Kevin and I got together and went to Rattlesnake Lake. We just sat, chilled and talked. We were easily amused by a bunch of middle school boys. It was fun to get away from the 'world' for a little bit - the city, the bikes, a lot of people and so forth. Definitely needed that time.

Sunday: I woke up at 6 am to get to Seattle by 7. I then fought traffic to deal with getting to the Danskin Triathalon buses. Got shuttled over to Genessee Park and watched my girlfriend compete. She did really well! she coached 65 women this year and did really well. :) I am very proud of her. I also saw one of my track buddy's wife's come across the finish line. LOL! He emailed me that she (along with my friend already trying) is going to work at convincing me to do this next year. After standing around for 3 hours I then went to the bus again and got shuttled back to Safeco Field. I then did some city type things until the "Sprints to Nowhere" happened. I got to Magnuson Park/Sandpoint to watch the races. Jane and Jill R, from Byrne, were there! They kicked butt! Jane won 1st place!!! She rocked!!! Jill took 4th place. Jose, from CounterBalance, did well too. Messman was there and he did well. Kevin was there and even though he said he didn't want to race, I guess he changed his mind with all the prizes that were available and the chance to win one of them. He did but I have no clue what he choose to take home. Jenny, Lara and Sharon were also there and 'working'. It was a lot of fun as the group of people that showed up are really cool. Afterwards Jane, Jill and I went out for dinner. I was tired though. I was comatosed essentially and could barely stay up or have a conversation. I then drove home and my dang GPS system took me the most direct route from where I was but it was SLOW! :( UGH! I didn't get home til about 10:30. I was very tired.

Monday: Some interesting developments are occurring in my life. On a personal note, I look forward to the changes, the challenges and so forth. It is also making me nervous and a bit sad. It will be ok though. I'll be stronger for all of it and keep working at moving forward, progressing forward. It felt better to be at the track and hang out. It was fun to watch Jane practicing her cyclocross mounts and dismounts as the newbie track racers were racing. I also sold my Fuji track bike to one of the Starbuck's girls. I hope she really enjoys it next year and will have fun with all of us! :)

Jane and I are looking forward to racing at Alpenrose on the 7th. We plan on getting down there early to practice on it and then just racing to have some fun. The 8th we may stay to practice a bit or head on home. We haven't co-ordinated about that yet. Unfortunately, my friend Brian gave me horror stories about racing down there that I SO did not need to hear about. Thanks Brian! :) I'll keep your reminder in the back of my brain and try to be as safe as possible.

Tuesday: Today, I woke up at 6:15. I was ready to get on my rollers at 6:30. I could not pedal to save my life. UGH! What is going on? I'm barely awake and I'm trying to figure it out. Is the band broken or off the roller? No. Is my tire flat? Yes. What the?! Why is my tire flat. Dang, I buy the bike on Wednesday and now the first thing that happens to me is my tire is flat?! Great. So I pump it up with no confidence that it will stay inflated and that I'd be spending my workout time fixing a flat rather than working out. Then it dawns on me.... KEVIN! Kevin let air out of my tire last Wednesday night to see what type of tires I had. OK Kevin! You are now on my: "Track men are bad" list. #1 Position. LOL!

Tonight, I am going to meet up with Jane after work and do a fat test. The hydrostatic body fat testing. That will give us a starting point. I am excited to be getting into the gym to lift weights. It will be fun to watch what happens this year as I do more weight lifting (as I've got away from that the last 2 years), eating less again for the winter, working with Kenny and doing more cross-training type work. Should be a fun, powerful, challenging and life changing winter. I am looking forward to it and seeing where it will progress to for next year.

posted by Seattlebiker @ 8:52 AM