A new twist on an old favorite

This morning I wasn't particulary motivated but with my events looming on the horizon I needed to get a few things done. I rode my mountain bike over to Strawberry pool expecting to swim at 7:30 but discovered the pool didn't open until 8:30....that's typical... me not looking at the schedule ahead of time! So I ventured up the road a ways to the trailhead and went for a decent ride . I noticed a bulldozer off to the side of the trail and as I worked my way up I could see many places where the trail had been worked and lots of loose dirt. As I peddled along my thoughts drifted to a show I watched the other night on the Discovery Channel about cougar attacks....they like to grab there victims by the head and I wondered if my helmut would make a difference in the event of an attack....such lovely thoughts!! By the time I got to the foot of Big Bertha, her steepness combined with the loose dirt made it impossible for my tires to grab the road and I had to walk my bike up....that was harder than running up! I stopped at the top to catch my breath, saddled up again and proceeded upwards.

The perspective going up on the bike was a pleasant change from running. I was more relaxed and seemed to notice more things along the way compared to when I'm running. I only planned to go as far as I could until 8:15 so I could turn around and be back at the pool by 8:30. The ride down was really fun and when I got to Big Bertha I noticed a couple of hikers heading up. I dismounted and walked until they passed by and than got back on and had the descent of my life......steep and fast (pretty fast...the loose dirt put a damper on my enthusiasm) Woohooo!
Rounding the corner at the bottom of the hill I slowed down for another hiker and just cruised back down to the pool.

Now let me just say, Strawberry is one of the nicest pools in all of Berkeley and as a result is quite popular especially in the afternoons and evenings. Early birds get the bonus of less crowded lanes for sure. I was the second person in the pool today and had a lovely lane partner who wasn't huffy cuz I was slow and we'd chit chat a little every so often. Today I concentrated on my kick, staring down at the bottom of the pool to try to maintain a more horizontal position and slowing down so I'd have enough energy to keep going and not have to rest every lap....the slower I went the better my breathing went. I'd go 25 x 2 before a rest....and rest breaks are getting shorter. As usual I lost track of how many laps I did.
I swam for approx. 40 minutes and then headed home. What a difference from last nights workout.

I managed to get out of working 2 days early so vacation is officially on! Need to clean the nest and finish up laundry so I can start packing. I went to AAA the other day for maps and guide books. For the first time ever we've booked 2 rooms, so M will have her own space ( or rather so T and I will have our own space! M is less excited about this than we are, but I know we'd probably go crazy in the same room for a week!) We're staying at the Hilton one night in Universal City (T had two nights comped from a job he did for them, so we'll stay there the first night and then the second night when we head home) The rest of the stay(5 nights) will be in San Diego at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina. One detail I haven't figured out yet is how to store the bikes, since we're staying at the Hilton the first and last nights, I'm a little hesitant about schlepping our 3 mountain bikes through the hotel lobby..........T thinks it's okay to lock them up on the rack but I'm not so sure. I could pull out one of the rear seats of the Element, but that would make it less cozy for M...what to do?

Monday Night Workout

Tracy and I got together for a swim lastnight....we rode our mountain bikes from my house to Strawberry Pool. The ride wore me out as the mountain bike on the asphalt hills is a wee bit harder than on the road bike...I figured it was more good cross training.

Tracy is a strong rider, commuting from El Cerrito to Emeryville everyday while pulling her 30 pound son along in a side care! In addition to the Tri4Fun coming up in Aug, she and another friend are doing the Mermaid Tri in Santa Cruz.........she's trying to convince me to enter but I'm not ready to tackle to the ocean yet! Hell, I still need to get my butt in the lake. I'll more than likely tag along as support and maybe even make a girls weekend of it.

Anyhow, the bike ride was short but challenging. Swimming after biking was harder than I expected....I understand better why the swim is the first event in triathlon, you want to be as fresh as possible when immersed in water! I was tired and sluggish plus the fact that I'm not a regular night time exerciser really challenged me. We agreed that it was an ok effort on it's own and gave ourselves extra credit on account it that was monday night afterall! We're gonna try a swim/run when I get back from vacation. As much as I prefer to workout in the morning, I'm willing to give the evenings a try. Mixing things up should make me stronger too, right?

Did I mention that at the Triclub get together last week that I won yet another prize(a pair of Yanx) during a raffle? This is the 3rd time I "won" something as result of being involved in running and triathalons...Funny thing, I'm not a "lucky" person per say...I'm never caller "9" when I try to win concert tickets on the radio, I never win anything from the school raffle despite purchasing an entire book of tickets and I have extremely bad luck with parking tickets.

Strangely though, my luck seems to improve whenever physical exertion is involved. Like the time I won a bottle of vitamins at the gym, or the $75.00 Fleet Feet gift certificate just for wearing Montrails at my first trail race. I've won a couple things since starting triathalon too, the racing belt and the now the Yanx...kinda cool, kinda like the universe is rewarding me for putting in the effort. I need to reflect more on my good fortune and how the training draws good things into my life. How about you?