Brick, 4th, Canoe and Fish

That basically sums up the past week.

Sunday, July 3rd, I took myself out on a 90 minute ride and 30 minute run. The ride felt pretty good, until I looked at my average. Not sure what happened, I added a few extra hills on a pretty flat route, but man did that slow me down! My run felt surprisingly good for the 30 minutes, so that was reassuring. But that was 2 rides that were just not up to my expectation.

So, I decided a break was the best thing and the Personal Cook took me to the Rappahannock for a 2 day canoe trip. Is there a better way to celebrate America's birthday? I think not!
The days included about 14 miles down river with a few class 1-2 rapids, a 'rock garden' to make our way through, and the PC even found a civil war bullet! There was fishing (well, he fished, I worked on getting rid of my wet suit tan line), relaxing, and did I mention rapids? In a canoe? Yeah - that part wasn't very relaxing but super exhilarating.
And food? Well, he did not disappoint with steak, potatoes and zucchini. Oh, and no worries Mom and Dad, I brought my pie iron and made cherry pies for dessert and grilled ham and cheese for breakfast.

It was a great few days and really made me miss that type of outdoor activity. I am hoping we can squeeze in one or two more trips after the big day and before it gets too cold. But definitely after. Only once did I fall on a rock and get caught in between the canoe and a rock...

After being nice and 'rested', I thought my 2 hour run would be great on Wednesday. Not.So.Much. It took my body about 20 minutes to realize the run was happening, but then I felt AWESOME! I was the BEST RUNNER EVER! For about 30 minutes. And then I hit the wall and ran out of gas/steam/energy/motivation and the last hour S.U.C.K.E.D. It was ridiculously disappointing.

So, I spent today emailing Coach about the crappy ride/run/canoe/run and he reminded me of how much the heat/humidity takes out of your system, that I am in panic mode with nothing to panic about, and everyone (even him) goes through the "i'm not doing enough" phase. But the plan is to keep moving forward. And move forward I will, with a 6 hour ride on Saturday. And that will have to go well because it's the "world's first Birthday Bike Ride Rest Stop of Awesomeness" or BBRRSoA as we are calling it. No, not my birthday, Karen's. And there will be cupcakes. And Gatorade snow cones. AND BACON!

So, it will be an awesome ride. Be sure to check back on Saturday/Sunday/when I write about BBRRSoA for the awesome details that will make you want to ride 6 hours!