Week in Review

-The Contessa needs a trip to the shop
-My legs are sore
-I have a lovely welt/bruise/cut from my right pedal
-Workouts 6 days a week are here
-The Wonder Years - need I say more?

This week has been quite a training whirlwind all starting with a few days back in Greensboro for the big shoot. I stayed at the fabulous proximity hotel - an eco-friendly place with a great fitness center. It will be my new home for my countless more trips to the land of sweet tea and humongous trees.The best thing about the proximity is its proximity to the Performance Bike shop. Oh was I in heaven and boy did I buy way too much- it was fabulous. Tri shorts, jerseys, socks, glasses and a fantastic new heart rate monitor- and yes all purchases were on sale, of course - it is performance bike!

Wednesday night's swim was great and I felt like I really got the 2-beat kick and the much needed rotation of my hips. I knew I was doing something right when Coach J told me I have it with a big smile on his face. Yea, to swimming. Now if only I could run faster. Thursday night I went to my first spin class at the gym. I told the instructor I was a newbie to spinning to which she replied, but you look like a pro! Hah! Me?! Don't let the cool bike shoes and the sleek tri pants fools you. The class was hard, damn hard but I kept up. The last stretch- a 12 minute interval with 30 seconds in the saddle and 30 seconds standing just about made me throw up but I lasted and felt great and only slightly exhausted after. Friday i went for an easy swim- my body felt sore and I wanted to have plenty of energy for Saturday's ride.

Yes, Saturday. The GTS was planned for a BRICK (Bike/Run - your legs feel like bricks) but at the last minute the coaches changed it to just a bike since so many people were away for the weekend. I was disappointed but instead of riding with the group which really means riding alone, I met S for a nice, long, hard, adventurous ride. We rode all along Riverside Park to 125 and then up and around somewhere and back on some other path and up some crazy hills and pass assistant Sara on her way to tennis! Over some more hills and all the way to the top, err, tip of the island. And then back. 24 miles in all just over 2 hours. It was hard. By the time I made it back home I was shaking which explains why though I clipped my right foot out of the bike in front of my house, I didn't get my other foot out and somehow the Contessa ended up underneath a parked Jeep and i was in a split - ouch! And hello to my neighbors walking by and not stopping. I love New Yorkers! Don't speak to the crazy girl half under a car, oddly attached to a bike. Keep walking, honey. So that explains the bruise. But that doesn't explain the problems with the Contessa. On my way to meet S, i realized I couldn't shift gears on my left side. We stopped and tried to fix the chain but neither of us knew enough to set it straight and of course after the fall I didn't have enough energy to ride to Velo to have her looked at. So somehow I'll have to get over there before Saturday's Brick to get the beat up Contessa fixed and back into shape.

Saturday night and Sunday was spent at the beach where I took a much deserved break. This morning was a short run with L along the Westside Highway. I decided not do too much since tomorrow night is a hard run in the park.

I'm realizing that I'm actually planning my weeks around my exercise schedule. That can't be good, can it? When B mentioned going to the country one weekend, I thought, will my bike fit into his car? Will the bikes at the house be good enough for me to ride? So that brings me to the Wonder Years. Friday after dinner we went for ice cream as always at Cones. As I debated between the Watermelon Sorbet and the Corn Gelato I could feel the presence of a large man looming over me eying the tasty selection. I stared at the nice looking gentleman and realized I knew him. But was he from Law and Order or LA Law? Neither! Wonder Years! Yup, that's right- the Dad from Wonder Years was at Cones and I couldn't have been happier. Of course B was not impressed. He was impressed by the movie being filmed down the street starting Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards. We stopped to watch as it began to rain on the set two blocks from my place on what was a beautiful night. However, none of this tops my earlier sighting of one of my favorite photographers, Chuck Close.

It has been a good week of training. I'm watching what I put into my body more and more. I'm questioning if I should start taking more supplements and vitamins. I'm still trying to figure out my new heart rate monitor- why can't they make the damn thing easier? I have 9 weeks to go until the race and though I'm still nervous about the whole running 6 miles after biking 25 thing, I'm starting to realize that I can do this-- I have to do this, I am, after all, a wannabe tri-athlete.