Rest Day!

Gotta love a three day weekend! Especially when the third day coincides with a rest day. :) For the first time since starting with the firm ten years ago, we have MLK day off. I'm enjoying it to the fullest -- watched a lot of the Australian Open, took Lulu to play fetch at the park, did a little grocery shopping and now am spending some quality time on our sectional.

But before I curl back up and get back to resting, a quick weekend recap. Because Coach Mark and Grandison moved the start time back to 7 am, I headed over to Maramarc for my morning cycle....which totally kicked my butt. My quads were still sore from Thursday night's lift followed by 200 repeats with Brenda Friday morning and were not very happy with Ed's level 8 repeats. But the frequent interval change ups made the 2 hours go by quickly and I headed over to WW to lift while the gals did their Saturday run. I added some step ups on the block to my lift routine to try and strengthen my hip flexors. After my lift I headed to the best part of the morning -- catching up with everyone over Starbucks. The last part of my Saturday workout was a quick 40 minutes on McQueen to finish up my cycling time while I watched Federer pull through another match. To reward ourselves for a hard workout day, Bart and I treated ourselves to our favorite bottle of Jordan and a yummy dinner at Chez Max after the Endorphin banquet. Congrats Jill on your big award!

Sunday was COLD! Temperatures were in the 20s with the wind chill dropping the temperatures into the teens. After a lazy morning, TG40 and I bundled up and headed to West Creek for a 90 minute run. Other than a few hills into the wind, the day was beautiful and I was glad we decided to run outside -- the sun was out and my legs still seemed to respond fairly well to the longer distance. I practiced some nutrition (a gu and some sports drink) and managed to keep my HR in the right zones. FINALLY, my average HR seems to be dropping even though I'm running longer and at a faster pace. 8.66 miles in 90 minutes. I had a good laugh when some "sweatcicles" dropped out of my hair as we were stretching post run. Would still take the cold temps than a hot muggy August day anyday! After a quick refuel with my favorite CLIFF Nectar bar, we headed to the pool for an easy paced 40 minute swim. I logged in a mile and stretched out my muscles in the water.

I am now at levels I've never trained at before. Who would have thought that this time last year before I even had a bike of my own I would have trained longer than an olympic distance in one weekend? Certainly not me. Michael talked Saturday night about the way training can become life changing. I couldn't agree more... and I love my new way of life.

Now, back to the couch for a little more of my lazy day.

Saturday with the Gals

Since Naylor's, and the end of my 2007 season, Saturdays have primarily been spent at football games, catching up with things on my weekend "to-do" list and training with my husband. Lately, the two of us have either treked outside for our Saturday morning cycle at West Creek (testing our new cold weather gear) or spent time on the trainers in our basement workout room. While on the trainers, I try to pass time more quickly by watching one of my favorite TV shows or a DVD from our cycling collection (Breaking Away is my favorite). Even still, time spent inside on the trainer seems to tick away slowly.



Consequently, I was looking forward to this Saturday's workout -- the first session of indoor cycling at Maramarc. The only part I wasn't eager for? The 7 am start.



As I had hoped, this Saturday's session on the trainer flew by. Surrounded by twenty some other training partners, the hour of cadence drills and one legged spinning seemed to last only minutes. It was great to meet some new people I'll be sweating it out with over the next few months, catch up on everyone's race calendars for 2008 and even catch a glimpse of some brand new pink tatoos. Soon enough, the bike was over and we were headed to my favorite part of Saturday training with the gals.... post-workout coffee at Starbucks! A few good laughs, lots of smiling faces and plenty of time to catch up over a good cup a coffee..... it is definitely good to be back!