Poop

We met on a cool Saturday morning. The mist/rain didn't seem too bad and we all showed up at our meeting spot. I believe there were 7 of us, many speeds and abilities, but all ready for a good ride. Followed by lunch. Followed by shopping. A pretty good Saturday if you ask me.

Anyway, we clipped in and it was pretty cold as we made our way up MacArthur. As we started up the hill, one by one those that were behind me passed. I am really not good at hills.

After what seemed like 20 minutes, I made it to the top with everyone else. We were chatting, had a snack, discussed the remainder of the route and breaking up into 2 groups. Then the following conversation

JN - "SB - how did you get mud on the top of your helmet?"
SB - "I don't know"
JN - "It looks like poop"
SB - "Eww"
JN takes the helmet touches the mud, smells it and says "Oh, that is poop"
SB - throws it off and says "GROSS, how do you know?"
JN - "Oh, I smelled it".
The rest of us "Blah" and bust out in hysterical laughter. I managed to get this quick pic of SB trying to get the poop off of her helmet with a leaf. Too.Funny - because it didn't happen to me. :-)

Lunch. So good.
Shopping. Even better.

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Hi

Yesterday I had a great ride with 6 other ladies from DC tri. This was followed by lunch and shopping and overall - just a great day.

I have a funny story to share - but am heading out to Dulles Airport as I am heading to Canada for work. Ottawa, here I come!

And I am not sure what my internet situation will be - so it may be awhile before I can post my funny story on yesterday's ride.

Until then...

Twice Baby!

That's right. Not once, but TWICE this week I rolled out of bed at 5:30 am and went to Wilson pool for a swim. T.W.I.C.E!! I'm on a roll!

And feeling good about it. The change started on Sunday with my ride with Karen. It was so great to be outside on a beautiful fall day. It was perfect riding weather followed by a great sandwich and converstaion.

This was followed by meeting up with AJ and Bri for a morning swim on Tuesday. I had been talking with a few people about swimming at Wilson and we just needed to pick a day. There is a good group of people on the list and I knew that they would be there Tuesday. So after the alarm went off, I so wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. But I got up, and the swim felt great. Same with this morning.

I am pretty luck to have people to swim/bike/walk with and really feel it helps my balance. Hopefully it will continue and I will stay injury and spams free!! (knock on wood!!!)

Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all who have and continue to serve. Happy Veteran's Day

Not Quite Dead

But I thought I would after I said I would bike with Karen yesterday. We went out to MacArthur which has a few lovely hills. It was an amazingly beautiful day and I was just happy to be outside. Riding with Karen was great. She let me lead so she didn't leave me in the dust. Unless we were going up a hill - she just smoked me on those. And so much so that when we got to a downhill, I couldn't catch up (unless she slowed down). But overall, it was a great (only 25, but still - first time since Augusta...) ride.

On the way back, we wanted to stop at a sign to take a picture. See, I am always a fan of the 'thumbs down' pics by signs I don't like to see. See, here I am in Ireland when a trail was closed off.

So we really wanted to put our bikes with this sign to do a thumbs down picture. Indoor cycling classes!?!? It was 70 degrees! WIMPS! HA!
We were pretty excited, until we got there and there was an outdoor yoga class going on. Kind of kills the mood when we want to make fun of a sign and they were in a zen-like stage. Oh well, it was still funny.

And did I die on the ride - not completely. We had a great lunch after with with of the best sandwiches I have had in a long time. It totally hit the spot. One of the main reasons is because on the way back we had a huge whiff of BACON! Oh, Karen and I talked about bacon the last 2 miles back to the cars. How great would bacon be on the course?!?! Protein, some fat, and sodium! It's the perfect food! And you know the rule - nothing new on race day so that's a lot of practicing with bacon.

Ummm... bacon....

Sad Decision

So many people are down in Florida right now for 140.6 miles of awesomeness. I couldn't be happier for the people who are racing their first IM's or 40th IM's. And I really wish I could be down there to cheer and support. Especially becuase that was the plan. Go down, cheer, and sign up for 2010. However, I have been giving it a ton of thought, and realized that 2010 is not my year for IM number 2.

After the last set of back spasms, after I did NOTHING, I realized that this might not be my best choice. Mentally, I am there. I am ready to train and take on another Ironman. But my body isn't - and for once, I have to listen. I am no longer a young whipper snapper and have to make smarter choices. As Karen said, she "is tired of being a responsible adult". And right now, as much as it makes me tear up, I just can't do the IM in 2010.

That being said, there are other events. I am signed up for Eagleman 70.3. Karen also had the idea of doing Chesapeakeman - Aqua Velo - 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike. So I will do stuff, just not sure what.

And to quote Karen one more time "sometimes it's lame to have to always make the right choice".