And it begins

Marathon training that is. I know...how can you train for a marathon when you're still going to physical therapy twice a week.

The answer is two fold --- first I can't stay this inactive any longer. I'm going stir crazy and I'm starting to pudge up. Second, I really want to tackle the marathon distance --- at least once and since I missed Marine Corp I figured this time is as good as any other.

With that in mind the first day of the DC Road Runner 20-week spring marathon program started this Saturday. Since I was out of town I had to knock out 6-miles on my own.

Luckily, I was able to hook up with the HipAHAs to tag along for part of their 12-mile Saturday long-run. Yay!

We headed north on Coastal from Fenwick to Bethany. It was a classic brisk, but sunny fall day --- but with 25-30 mile an hour winds out of the north. There were a couple gusts that had some power to them and I was fighting to stay straight. I'm convinced we were leaning forward into the wind for three miles. Now that made for a challenging few miles. Overall I was thrilled with my pace and was able to chug along the whole time.

It's been nine weeks since my bike wreck and though I've vacillated between full-on pissed off and resolved to just dealing I learned an interesting fact while cranking out my 6-miles.

I THINK the reason I was supposed to deal with this shoulder setback was to help me reconnect with why I like training and how much running has been a key component.
I started all this madness with a challenge to myself in 2009 to tackle the Army 10-Miler and it was through running that I discovered a whole new and wonderful world.

What's the old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

I should own stock in Neosporin

It's day three and I continue to see improvement. My road rash is drying out, which means it's itchy and a bit oozey. Lovely.

My deeper cuts are healing nicely as a result of bathing them regularly in Neosporin and keeping them covered. Check out the front of my left leg and the back of my left arm....looking so much better!


[Front of left leg]



[Left forearm]

I'm pleased to report that though my left arm muscles still hurt like crazy my range of motion is improving. I may grit my teeth, whimper at times, throw out a few curse words and move as slow as molasses, but I definitely notice improvement. I'm still not able to extend my arm fully to the side or lift it above my waist --- but that's a heck of a lot better than 48 hrs ago!

My goal is to not only rest it, but also keep getting blood in there by carefully but regularly moving it. Move it or lose it I say. I've noticed that the result of trying to be "active" is that I get really tired, really quickly. Note to self...don't over due it.

As time goes by I continue to notice little things that remind me how bad this crash and the related slide was and how freaking lucky I am. A few new observations:

. While taking a shower I noticed that the bottom of my platinum wedding band and engagement ring have noticeable scratches and dings from sliding on the asphalt

.  More bruises have appeared on the right side of my body --- legs and arms --- where I must have slammed on top of the bike.

. The tape on the left side of my handlebars is torn/sliced away from the sliding

. The front of my aerobars are deeply scratched from slamming into the road

. The side of my left tri shoe is scratched up from the sliding

. Looks like my bike's back rim is twisted from the wreck too

All minor things, but in totality a little freaky.

I know that the goal will be to get back out there as soon as I am physically able. I am not going to let this incident hold me back and will continue to ride hard, but this experience will ensure I continue to ride smart.

The Day After

A day after the accident and I'm definitely feeling sore and tired.

My wounds look better due to regular and intense cleaning. Here's a pix of my left hand. It looks way better, though you can't see all the scrapped pink road rashed skin. It may be painful...but at least it's healing. Let's just say that I have my own mini-pharmacy set up in my room with drugs, creams, tape, bandages and gauze.

I've also noticed some soreness on some of my fingers. Must be where my fingers got jammed during the fall. I'm also starting to see more bruising on my legs and arms where I'm guessing I slammed against the bike during my fall.

In all seriousness, I'm most concerned about my left arm's range of motion. I am confident that it will be better soon...but it sure is frustrating right now. It really hurts like crazy.

I'm learning to do a lot of things one-handed, though I doubt I'll be blow-drying my hair or getting fully dressed on my own for a little while. Oh well...better just build time into my schedule in the morning.

I slept a lot today. I did force myself to get up, take a shower (I've mastered the one-handed shower) and get out b/c I couldn't stay in the house any more, but that resulted in getting tuckered out pretty quickly.

I keep rethinking the accident and wondering what I could have differently. Obviously I could have been further away from the cyclist in front of me; I could have not looked back that second time to check on the advancing cyclists; I wonder if I really did have enough room to somehow safety shift slightly to the left and around Diana before the other cyclists were in range...at the end of the day...it doesn't really matter --- but this is the shit you think about when you're sitting around wishing you were playing outside.

Here's to hoping that every day continues to bring noticeable improvement!
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Guardian Angel

As I was laying face down partially in the northbound lane of Coastal Highway this morning there was a split moment that I thought, "this could really be bad." Thankfully I had a guardian angel looking out for me.

This morning during a group ride I had a freak accident with another cyclist that resulted in a lovely trip to the ER. The good news is that I've continued my streak of never breaking a bone and other than some painful bruising, some gnarly looking cuts and road rash I'm really no worse for wear. As the doctor said in the ER --- it is incredible that I literally walked away from the accident.

The story goes that I hung back and decided to help out a fellow rider, Diana, who was new to cycling. I guess I can't help myself. I remember the frustration of being new, trying to understand all the bells & whistles and feeling frustrated. I've also greatly benefited from the kindness of others and I truly believe in the adage that you should pay things forward.

As we tackled the Indian River Inlet bridge (which is terrifying at times) we celebrated our success by rolling along toward Dewey Beach to meet up with the rest of our crew.

Diana was a bike length or two ahead of me so I could watch her and give her some pointers. As I turned to check out who was coming up behind us I noticed that two rockstar triathletes were gaining on us fast. I yelled out to shift to the right to let these folks pass. As I looked back again to check their position I didn't realize that Diana had correctly shifted right, but had also slowed. As I turned my attention forward I now was in the dangerous position of being too close and my front wheel was now dangerously too close and parallel to her rear wheel and pedal.

I made a split second decision that meant that I would take my chances trying to recover myself vs. probably saving myself from serious injury but likely taking Diana out and causing her harm.

I was able to slow, but given our speed and proximity I ended up going over the handlebars. Though some of this is still a blur I've pieced together that:

• As I tried to slow and maneuver to safety my wheel got a bit too sideways. and I went over the handlebars

• I wasn't able to safely unclip in time

• My forearm and then shoulder slammed into the pavement as me and my bike fell back to Earth

• I then started sliding across the pavement still tangled up in my bike

•. My helmet and sunglasses saved me from a serious head injury and facial lacerations (looking at the scratches on my helmet and across my left lens I am immediately aware how bad I was sliding)

• I stopped sliding partially in the northbound traffic lane of Coastal Hwy

I remember hearing someone scream, "Roll out of the road! Get her out of the road!". I soon realized that the two rockstars who were behind us quickly were on the scene and took charge.

I yelled out that I couldn't roll or even move myself to safety. I now know that it was the shock, I was a bit out of it and the pain was incredible. I (and others) initially thought I broke my collarbone or shoulder.

One of the cyclists carefully rolled/pulled me out of the road, while the other grabbed my bike. The woman gave me a quick medical assessment and we were glad to discover it wasn't my collarbone, but getting a set of x-rays would be imperative.

I'm not gonna lie --- I was bleeding, I was scared, a bit in shock and I was in pain. The left side of my body took the brunt of the crash and it just hurt. My hand, forearm and leg were bleeding and felt raw. I could feel the blood dripping.

Someone had the sense to grab water bottles and start cleaning all my wounds. Folks took off their bike socks and used them to stop the bleeding. A guy stopped and gave me three Advil. The most creative thing was when Diana tore her own pants and made a sling for my arm.

As we waited for a ride to the ER I was again impressed and grateful for all the people who stopped to offer assistance. I was also grateful for Diana --- she kept me laughing and stayed with me the entire time. I was even more touched when Diana placed her hands on my good arm and said a beautiful prayer asking that God watch over me and ensure that I was kept safe.

Luckily, soon enough we were headed to the ER where I learned that I had again escaped serious injury --- no broken bones, no stitches. Not to minimize the situation, but I literally limped away just with some soft tissue bruising/damage between my left shoulder and elbow and lacerations on my hand, forearm and leg.

I'm on IR for at least a week and racing at Nations is likely not in the cards this year. Though I am disappointed I know that I've worked hard this summer toward my fitness goals and I don't need an official time to confirm that I am a winner and would have crushed my PR.

Most importantly, I am so very grateful for the guardian angel who was watching over me today and for having the chance to take a potentially horrible situation and making a very good new friend.

Of course...least I forget...how's my bike?! I haven't done a full assessment yet, but I think considering the day she's had...she looks pretty good. It's likely I have a bent back tire or something like that b/c the rotation feels off.

All in all I am one lucky chick.
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PR-ed my 5k today!!!

[Post race --- I am a sweaty mess]

I must preface this by saying I'm not a fast runner. I lumber along, I don't look elegant, but I am happy to just be out there getting my heart pumping.

With that in mind I was hoping to use this morning's 5k in Dewey as a fitness test. Though I am thrilled with my PR --- 28:28 minutes (9:09 min/mile) I am bummed that I wasn't 100%.

I foolishly wore a pair of shoes yesterday at work that tore up my left heel. Just call me a slave for fashion. As a result I've been hobbling around and even drove w/o my left shoe last night to the beach. Good thing my car's not a stick shift.

Anyway, I taped it up, added three heavy duty bandages to my heel and delicately jammed my foot into my running shoes this morning. As I limped to the starting line I already had decided to just see what happens. Worse scenario --- I stop and turn around or try and limp along.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it's as if I passed this pain threshold and was able to just focus on the task at hand. I just wanted to "do this" and didn't give a shit about the consequences.

I felt good out of the gate. I really felt confident out there.  My first mile pace was in the 8-minute+ zone which is beyond stellar for me! I faltered a bit from mile 2.25 to 2.5-ish. I was hurting, hot (man was it humid and the sun was brutal) and scared I was going too fast so I slowed down. I swear...it's all mental for me because I still felt relatively strong.  After seeing my time I'm bummed that I didn't keep up the intensity because if I had I would have broken the 9 min/mile mark.  Oh well...just another goal.

Anyway, I just put my head down and continued to focus on passing people. Me...passing people!  Hilarious!  I had been passing people throughout the race and felt good that even toward the back-half of the race was passing people here and there.  Go me --- Though having a group of 10-year olds sprint pass you didn't feel so good.

As I rounded the second to last corner I decided to turn the jets on full blast, open my stride and sprint hard to the finish line. It was a "wheels-coming-off-the-bus" feeling, but what did I have to lose --- other than tripping over my own feet and falling into a heap just shy of the finish line?  Luckily that DIDN'T happen.

As soon as I caught my breath at the finish line I carefully removed my left shoe to reveal a painful mess. Nothing that some air, hydrogen peroxide and some neosporin can't cure...right?  Anyway, I walked around w/o one shoe and caught up with the HipAHAs. Yay!!!!  As of this evening I've got another blister courtesy of the run...but it does look "better" than this morning.

The great news --- I PR-ed!!!!!!

The good news --- I gutted it out. [You can do almost anything for 30 minutes, right?]

The bad news --- my heel is very angry with me.

Re-entry

It's my first day back at work and I am grateful that it was completely uneventful. As a result I was able to head over to Tidal after work for their Monday night Snapple group strength training class.
It is incredible how long its been since I've been in Tenleytown.

Unfortunately I didn't get there early enough to really get a good run in on the treadmill before class, which was a bummer. I really wanted to get in 3-4 miles.

Overall it was a perfectly fine workout. I wasn't bored and there was some challenge, but definitely not the same challenge as a morning with HipAHA. That's a bit of a bummer. Makes me feel like I should go home and do a bit more to make up for the missing intensity. I'm used to feeling more spent and I'm definitely used to doing 2/3-a-days.

It's a bit of an unfair comparison --- the duration is different and the workout is completely different.
Regardless, J's class is back in the rotation and I'll be back next Monday night.

All good things must eventually end

So Friday has come and gone...which means that I packed up the truck and headed west.

To say that it was a sad day was an understatement. I had such an incredible experience. --- meeting wonderful people, trying new things, training hard and just living a more quiet and selfish life. It was heaven.

It was the last time I would wake up early, gather my things, kick off my flops and walk over the dune at Atlantic Street for daily HipAHA bootcamp. The good news was that the last workout didn't disappoint. Lots of core mixed in with cardio blasts (suicides and dune runs). Good...good times.

After class they made a little announcement about my departure (tear), they gave me a very nice card and we headed over to Perks for our last after workout coffee break and gab-fest.  I am really, really gonna miss this group. They pushed me hard, they were a lot of fun and they are just good people.

Friday was such a gorgeous day at the beach that after class all I wanted to do was grab my bike for One-More-Ride....but I knew that if I did that then I'd never get home and since I hadn't finished packing I knew I had to just stop living in denial and get moving west.

As I jammed all my gear into the truck, I wondered: (1) how did I originally get all this shit here and (2) I sure have a lot of shit --- most of which I never even needed.

On my way out of town I said good bye to my neighbors and as I headed over the Rt 90 bridge I made one last glance over my shoulder at the shore to say "goodbye good friend...I'm gonna miss you." If I didn't admit a tear came to my eye as I thought about the wonderful "summer camp" I've had over the last two months then I would be lying.

T-minus 48 hours before I have to do my hair, make-up, put on real clothes and shoes...and be a grown-up again.

I'll always keep a piece of this time in my heart and a jar of sand from Atlantic Street on my desk.

T-minus 24 hours to reality

[Today's crew showing off the fruit of our labor]

So in just a few short hours I will be packing up and heading west...to reality...my real job...a schedule (that's predetermined by someone else)...and responsibilities.  Though I am really going to miss my life at the beach I do miss home too.

Today I spent time jamming more things in before heading home.

Biking
I knew when my alarm went off at 5:00 am that I shouldn't have gone out last night and that last beer was a bad idea...just as I had thought when I ordered it.  I somehow got up, got organized and out the door with biking and SUP gear because it was a two-fer kinda morning.

We all let at Becka's temporary house on the beach for some interval biking on Coastal Hwy.  The plan was to complete the following:

• high cadence warm-up to North Bethany Beach
• five 5-minute intervals at race pace (90-95%) with 2-minute recovery in between
• high cadence cool-down back to Fenwick

The weather was a bit dreary this morning and as we headed out I was glad that I had a hit of Diet Coke before the ride to help wake everything up.

I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but the moment we started the intervals I was like a rocket.  I had a good feel for the bike and my gears and was launching into the front position very quickly.  Somehow I had the energy and strength to stay in aero while I jammed down and up on those pedals. 

It was incredible.  I was cruising and setting a crushing pace.  It was as if I was possessed.  I think the truth was that I knew this was my last ride with the crew and a good fitness test.  Doc says I passed with flying colors. :)

SUP Bootcamp

[Last time paddling in to Coastal Kayak.  Insert tear.]

After grabbing more caffeine and chit-chatting at the local coffee shop we headed over to Coastal Kayak for SUP bootcamp with the HipAHA crew.  As has been the case all summer, the class was sold out.  Go Lori!

Coastal Kayak was jammed with tons of people since folks were renting stuff and there were two tours getting ready to launch.  All this meant that parking was a bitch and we ended up helping set up the newbies on their boards --- which included hauling the gear out of the storage shed.  Nice.

Overall it was a hard workout.  We paddled out toward Fenwick and did a bunch of resistance exercises using the bands.  My arms are sore, but I actually have the muscle definition to prove that I've done some actual work this summer! 

The wind turned on us and we enjoyed a nice, hard paddle back down the Bay.  It was a little sad knowing that next Thursday morning I will be land-locked at my desk without a paddle.  I do not doubt that I will be inundated/ tormented with regular updates on all the "fun stuff" I'm missing.  With friends like that...

Trying to fit it all in

Unfortunately Michelle can't squeeze in a SUP surf lesson this week.  Oh well.  I'll just have to put that on the list for a future date.

Bootcamp
It was "Instructor Choice" day, which meant more running and maxing out on other strength exercises.  The core workout was a VO2 max set of 16 sprints in the soft sand.  Soft sand...is...so...hard.  You are digging for dear life to just keep moving forward.  Favorite bootcamp phrase --- "You can do anything for [insert period of time]."  I kept thinking that in between each set of sprints.

[Part of today's group wrapping up the second set of soft sand sprints]

We added in a set of wicked 120 push-ups, side lunges up and over the dune and some abs.  Yep...gonna feel those later. 

SUP-ing

[Dragging our gear to the beach]

 After class Jeanne and I launched our SUPs for a little cruising.  The shore break was a bit brutal and took some navigating to get our boards in and out safely.  Overall, another wonderful, zen moment.

[Launching from Atlantic Street]

[Cruising south]

Biking
Unfortunately today's recover ride was cancelled due to poor weather.  Boo!

Flo-Go-SUP-Yoga
Unfortunately the weather just wasn't cooperating and as soon as we got to Fager's and got our boards to the pier the sky opened up and it started to pour.  Damn!  Two events cancelled in one day.  I have too much energy that needs to be burned off and since I have NO desire to focus on packing and my Gold's membership expired a few days ago I am contemplating just going out for the night...BUT I have to be up for a 6:00 am interval ride followed by a SUP fitness class.  On second thought...I better just stay in and start packing and cleaning up.

The good news is that I met another local cool chick.  Dawn is a triathlete, fitness instructor and SUP-lover.  I had her flyer stuck on my fridge for the last few months and this is the first time I made time to check her out.  I suck!  Anyway, Lori introduced her to me and I learned quite a bit about more local SUP stuff.  First, she regularly teaches a yoga-flow-SUP class (the one that we were trying to crash, but for the rain) at What-SUP and she recently hooked up with SUPAnnapolis to participate in their race series.  She plans to organize a SUP race in OC this fall and next summer.  I am ALL about that!   They were also talking about how SUPs are starting to grow on the east coast and a network of groups are working hard to spread the word by hosting events and setting up races up and down the east coast.

Have board...will travel.

It's all about the SUP

[Dragging this through the parking lot and over the dunes = extra credit workout]

For my last week I decided to jam in a few last minute activities that I've been meaning to do --- namely, take my SUP in the ocean. Unfortunately in order to do that we had to rearrange other scheduled events and I had to miss beach yoga.  Kinda bummed about that, but was psyched to SUP.

Running
We were scheduled to complete a 20 minute warm-up, four 1-mile repeats and a 10 minute jog. Since we planned to ocean SUP at 7:30 am-ish we pushed the run to 5:30 am and met at the Park. Seriously --- we are INSANE. The sun wasn't even up when we started our warm-up, but it was beautiful to see the sunrise over the Bay.

The good news is that my splits were very good (for me) again this time --- all in the low 8 min zone with the first one being sub-8!!! That is seriously wicked since I am known for being slow as molasses! My left knee was feeling "a little weird" but I was able to push on through.  I worry that that's gonna be a problem later.

SUP-ing
Lori and I have been talking about christening our boards in the Atlantic and more importantly surfing them.

I talked to Michelle over at Sommers Surf about setting up a private lesson for our first ocean adventure. Unfortunately, due to the bad surf break Michelle doesn't offer surf lessons right now in Fenwick.  Instead she offers lessons at Assateague Island.  After much hemming and hawing, we decided to launch on our own for our first ocean adventure and save our money for a SUP surf lesson later in the summer.

[Here we are getting the leashes attached to the SUPs]

Since in all of the state of Delaware's wisdom they decided August 1st was the perfect date to start tearing up the beach and dredging, we had to launch from Dagsboro vs James Street.  Bonus that the beach was a bit of a mess this morning as a result of the dredging and we arrived to a river of slippy clay that we had to navigate through before getting to the other side of the beach.

In summary, ocean SUP-ing was just awesome. After we got our boards and gear over the dune and through the river of dredged slime we pushed our SUPs into the surf, over the breakers and were up and standing in no time.

[Me & Lori getting ready to launch into the Atlantic for the first time! Notice the river of slime we had to cross before reaching the ocean.]

It is an incredible feeling to be standing on top of the ocean, riding over the baby waves and cruising down the coast.  There were some swells and it was still challenging to keep your balance as the waves pushed toward shore.

[Cruising down the coast toward the Maryland state line]

As we turned to shore we were a bit apprehensive given the bad shore break in Fenwick. The good news was that Lori had some good advice from her ocean kayaking experience.  I paddled toward shore, let the baby waves push me in and then easily dismounted in waist deep water in order to protect our fins/boards from the shore break.

We already are itching to schedule our SUP surf lesson.  I have a message into Michelle to determine if there is any way she can do a lesson before I leave.  I think it's doubtful give her schedule and that the beaches have limited times for surf/SUP, but we are crossing our fingers!

All in all...a successful adventure...and one I plan to repeat many, many times in the future.

The Countdown

 It's 7:00 pm on Monday night and I am sitting on the beach reflecting on what an incredible summer I've had here at the beach.

Here's just a slice of what today's activities included --- all never would have happened if I didn't decide to:

(a) arrive at the beach without a plan or a schedule or a support system

and

(b) spend every day saying, "what's the worst that could happen if I tried to [insert verb]"

Bootcamp
It's Monday and that means I said hasta luego to The Husband as he commuted back to DC for work and I headed to Atlantic Street in Fenwick for Travel Bootcamp with the HipAHA chicks.

Parking my car, taking off my flops, walking over the dune and seeing all those high energy and empowered athletes makes me happy. The fact that the majority are women just reminds me how strong and determine chicks can be --- and that's not just b/c we can set an alarm and get to class.  I have met some really fabulous people and am physically stronger than I probably ever have been.  I even have baby guns now.

It was Coach Lori's first class since coming back from vacation and she brought the hammer down.  We worked our asses off today.  It was all about running today --- alternating timed runs in the packed sand (yay!) and a number in the soft sand (boo!).  I am here to tell you that running in soft sand is incredibly challenging and everyone was huffing and puffing after the sets.  There was no rest for the weary as we integrated in strength training for our lower bodies between the run sets.  That's gonna hurt tomorrow.

Stand-Up Paddle Board
Since I was going to test out the SUP in the ocean the following morning, I headed over to Delmarva to pick up an extra SUP leash.  Janis and Chris were there and as usual were incredibly helpful.  Chris showed me how to attach the leash and we talked about my new paddle.  Did I tell you how much I love it???

I also spent time talking to Janis about the business.  She is such an incredible marketer and you can tell that she and George just love what they do.  Kudos to them!

Janis also gave me some great intel about other SUP-ers west of the Bay Bridge that I can hook up with once I get back to reality.

Oh reality...you are just around the corner.

Mail Bag

I love getting unexpected messages of encouragement from automated sites --- like DailyMile.

I got a nice little note from them complementing me on my "gnarly" training last week.

Glad that someone noticed my efforts.  :)

Living in the dark

Sometimes sticking your head in the sand and being ignorant is perfectly fine.

This afternoon I realized a very critical fact and am floored by this news. For the last two months I've been training with a crew of triathletes who are training for an upcoming half Ironman. While that is incredibly impressive and I have been thrilled to be able to hang with these folks ---- I found out today that they are also training for a fall Ironman!!!

What's the distinction? The distinction is that instead of thinking that I've spent the last two months at a half Ironman pace, I have instead been hanging in a program that is geared for folks who will complete a full Ironman in the fall!!!!! Dare I say OMG?!

I guess I never really asked and no one told me all the details about all this extra credit training I've been doing in conjunction with the daily bootcamp classes.

The good news is that I am incredibly impressed with myself. I bad news is that it is going to be a real challenge to keep up with these multiple workout a days once I get back t work. The initial game plan is to make sure I do one workout a day and Lori plans to send me her training block for the next month so that I can aim to virtually train with the group once I move home.

It's a significant goal, but I'm going to try and go for it. Here's to hoping!

Flat Tire!

How many HipAHAs does it take to change a single flat???

Well, last week it took three riders, two tubes and a friend playing "the sag car" to stop by and provide assistance.

B. hit some glass during an interval ride and as we slowed to recovery pace we all wondered, "where the heck is B.?????"  Turns out she was a quarter mile away sitting on the side of the road.

As luck would have it, none of us have ever had to change a tire...BUT I have seen it done enough times that I felt confident enough to try.

I was able to get the old tube off, the new tube on, the new tube slightly inflated and then struggled a little to get the tire over the new tube since it was tight in a few spots.

Just as we have everything going peachy, I inflated the tube w/ my CO2 cartridge and it was just shy of totally inflating the tube.

L. grabbed her CO2 cartridge and started filling up the remainder, but the CO2 came out faster than expected and WHAM...the tube POPPED!!! That sucked.

Luckily a friend was nearby and drove over an extra tube (since no one else had a spare that fit her wheel) and a manual pump.

Within a few minutes we were back on the road and all thankful it wasn't a rear tire flat...now THAT would have been stressful.

Moving makes me happy

Well, that's no surprise. You hear it all the time that a sedentary life blows.

Tonight during yoga I was reminded how much getting the blood pumping and being around other like-minded moving people is such a benefit.

Before class I was chatting up this older woman who religiously attends Thursday night yoga class. She shocked me when she announced that she was 83 years old! 83? I thought she was in her late 60's!

She told me she believes in trying new things and keeping her body as young as possible.

Under the heading of "new things" she told me she took belly-dancing classes for a year and even once took a pole dancing class --- to which her 85 year old husband was quite impressed when she demonstrated part of her routine. Hilarious!

During our poses I would periodically look over at this 83 year old yoga-loving lady and think...she's gotta be doing something right.

Here's to moving and stretching and trying new things!

Sun Salutations

Today it was all about sun and heat and warmth.

I started the morning with Rhonda's beach yoga. Another wonderful combination of strength, balance, stretching and calm. Just as we started our sun salutations, the clouds broke and the sun arrived. Perfect timing.

Rhonda has a great cycle of core and ab work that really knocks you out. I am mega sore.

After class I noticed that Coastal Kayak planned to bring folks over to the wildlife refuge later in the afternoon for an independent exploration of the wetlands. I decided to crash their party with my SUP.

The folks at Coastal gave me directions to Sassafras Landing and after winding around farm and dirt roads I finally arrived at the launch site just after the kayaks were launched. Check it out.

There weren't many people there. Frankly I think it was too hot and folks didn't want to venture out.

I launched my SUP and cruised around the inlet. Only the sound of the marsh birds, my paddle stroking the water and a few kayakers broke the silence. It was just stunning.

Brick-a-mania

[The bike route]

At 4:30 am I was rolling out of bed and grabbing my gear for the BIG BRICK-A-MANIA.  YAY?!

I was interested in testing myself, but also scared by the distance.  Luckily all this was made easier because there was a 6-person crew attacking this workout.

THE BIKE

We headed out at 5:30 am.  Our route was --- starting in Fenwick Island, rolled through Bethany Beach, through Dewey, through Rehoboth Beach, past the Cape May Ferry and ended at the tip of the Cape Henlopen Park.  After circling back and adding miles inland in North Bethany we ended up riding 62.4 miles!!!

Surprisingly the ride was not as hard as I thought it would be.  Though my feet did fall asleep a few times, the time in the saddle was really not that bad, I felt strong --- especially on the hills and I definitely was holding back a bit since I knew that we still had the run afterwards.  Damn running.

[Post ride and in advance of getting my new cleats]

 The only bummer was that my cleats had worn almost completely down to nothing and I had to spend the majority of the ride worried about getting stuck in my peddles.  Check it out.  Luckily, the guys at Fenwick Islander Cycles were able to replace my cleats later that day and I am all set

THE RUN

By the time it was time for our run it was SO HOT --- full sun, limited breeze and some humidity.  Great.  We ended up running from King Street to the fence for a total of four miles.  By mile 2.5 I was so ready to stop.  I was hot, getting dehydrated and just ready to be done...which is wacko because my head was what wanted to stop.  I could still keep putting one foot in front of another...granted it was slow.

Luckily at mile 2.5 we grabbed a hose and soaked ourselves down.  What a wonderful temporary relief.

At mile 3.5 I was cooked and just couldn't keep the pace up.  In the alternate, me and another runner did intervals for the next half mile so that we could keep moving, loosen up our legs, but also get some relief.

The good news is that I DID THIS and I am on track to be a Biking Destroyer.

Not the best way to prep for the BIG BRICK-A-MANIA

[Bay front table at Macky's]

 

Sunday was the BIG BRICK-A-MANIA workout.  The goal was a 4 hour ride and an hour-ish run.  Wowzers...that's the longest I've ever been out.

One would think that the day before such an undertaking should be spent relaxing, eating right and hydrating.  Well...I missed the memo on that.  First The Husband and I hit Macky's for lunch --- Corona's do have carbs right?  Later that night, we ended up at Fish Tales for dinner and drinks. 

By 10:30 pm I was finally packed, in bed (dead tired) and mentally preparing for the 5:30 am start time in Fenwick.

7 Days of fun in the sun

[Loving my new board...at SUP Fitness Class in Fenwick Isalnd, DE]

I've completely neglected you Mr. Blogger and I have no excuse except to say that...I've been busy.

Let's think back to what's happened over the last week...

• Happy 4th of July --- crabs, BBQ, boating and fireworks!
• I bought an OxBow SUP at DelMarVa Water Sports...and am loving it...everything except that it's wickedly big and a bitch to find a home for.  Luckily it currently fits nicely on my deck.  Oh well!
• Got a lot of training in this week --- swimming, biking, SUP-ing and something that looks like running

The BIG news is that I hit a new best mph the other day.  I officially maxed at 26 mph on the bike.  GO ME!  That's a huge improvement from the days when 16 mph was a good day.

Biking Destroyer

It's a total exaggeration, but with my new aerobars I really feel like a biking monster living in the big ring.

Yesterday was the first time I rode with them. I hooked up with the Fenwick chicas for an interval ride along Coastal Hwy.

After warming up we set our minds and legs to ride 3 minutes at 90-95%, take a 45 second break and then repeat. Our goal was eight sets with a 10 minute ride at 60-75% between sets 4 and 5.

After the sets and then riding back home (remember that I commute by bike to the hook-up spot) my legs were burning!

I was at first a little unstable in the aero position, but pretty quickly was able to really power through the speed sets. My max speed was just shy of 25 mph --- 24.8 mph to be precise. I want that 25.

Watch out 25 mph...passing on your left!!!!!