Begin to detoxify: START WITH MORE RUNNING

My weekend was so action packed I don’t even know where to begin. I think I’ll do this backwards and start with today. I met a small group at the track and I did some sprint work: 6 x 400s, the first I ran in 99 seconds, which was medium fast for me. But no, no, no – I need to sprint the pace I eventually want to run, which meant I needed to run between 2:05 and 2:10s. (shut it, 8:30 miles are fast for me)

It’s hard for me not to run fast on the track with short distances because it is the only place in the entire world where I’m usually NOT LAST at running. That doesn’t happen very often and not that I mind it, but sometimes it’s nice to not come in last. But since slowing down the sprints will help me in the long haul, I was a good girl and finished the remaining 400s between 2:00 and 2:08. Perfect. Then we did a few laps to cool down, but before we finished I heard someone make a joke about me smelling like cabernet sauvignon. That made me laugh, but I wasn’t surprised. Let the detox begin.

Because this was the rest of my weekend . . .

Drink wine. Watch bike race. Drink wine. Repeat for three days.

We had a great weekend. We had some local bike races around here so a few of Michael’s teammates from out-of-town stayed at our house. It was a fast and furious weekend for all, but it was complete with a lot of good food, good wine, and great camaraderie.

Cyclists are a unique breed. Over the years I’ve noticed most share many of the same characteristics as Michael: they can’t sit still, are obsessed with the Weather Channel, own over 500 million bikes with at least 3 of every part for each bike, and they can all watch the Tour de France on the trainer over and over and over. And. Not. Get. Bored. I’m not sure if that’s fairly impressive or just insane. We’ll go with insane just to be safe.

One of the wives came too, which was fun because (1) we took a wine and cheese basket with us and tailgated the race while we watched the guys and (2) she was a runner and I had someone to run/socialize with on Saturday and Sunday. (In fact – plug for all runners here – I only ran and lifted last week and I haven’t been on a bike in over a week. Run, Susan, run.)

But back to the bike races because I made an astute observation:

• The men cyclists all look the same: thin and muscular.
• The women cyclists came in all shapes and sizes: from lean and thin to round and muscular, to those who look like they seriously need to back off the steroids.

That bites because I wanna be thin and muscular too and it only only gives credence to Michael’s Man Diet of “I’ll eat a 10 ounce instead of a 12 ounce steak every night” and lose 10 pounds in 2 days. I like steak, that’s just not fair. Although, there were 3 women of varying shapes who kept up with the guys during the crit and seriously kicked some ass. So, go women – kick man butt.

What’s up with the women and men racing together? Do they do that often?

Okay, now back to running. I’ve got a half marathon to get ready for and I need to get back in shape . . . so let the running begin. 4 days a week of running. 2 days of weight lifting and 2 days of easy cycling.

And Internet People, let me answer before you start: NO I am not planning on a triathlon. I am merely cycling to burn more calories and as cross-training because my ankles, feet and tendons hate me.

Now I need to get busy, because I have a wine review or twenty to write.

Let’s play catch up

Good Peoples

Roller Derby

Lighthouse Sprint Tri. Without the Sprinting.

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