Warming Up Helps

My first Greentree training crit of the year!  YAY! 

I really love this ride.  The guys that are out there are pretty great (except for the dude who kept taking his hands off the bars last night to "stretch" in the middle of the pack - bozo) and the riding is fast and smooth.  It usually takes me a few weeks to work up to jumping off the front or otherwise getting snarky with the boys, but I was excited to be out there for the first GT of the Spring!

And, I was thankfully not alone.  The ever-awesome Dana Hanchin was in the house, along with Barb "Super-legs" Statton, Victoria "RAWR" Hanks, and the entire Fearless Femme team (that would include TWO national Crit champions!!).  It was a GREAT night.... eventually!

I got there just before 6pm, knowing that the start time was 6pm.  Translation?  Not a second of warm up... unless you include the neutral lap (which I don't!).  Needless to say, my butt was popped off the back in the first 10 minutes.  I knew that it was only due to my cold legs and need for some opening up, so I did a quick spin around to loosen the legs and hopped back in. 

The rest of the night went swimmingly.  I surfed the back, moved up to the middle a few times, and generally felt confident both inside the field and cruising the edges.  It was a good night, with some great folks, and I'm very happy to be getting back into the swing of things.

This week was about facing reality.  The reality of what my season is going to look like due to Dissertation completion and defense, working during Summer I to rack up some cash to enjoy our 10 year anniversary somewhere WARM in 2014, and just trying to enjoy my life, my team, my friends, and my husband without going nuts.  My season is going to be marked by FUN.  My season is going to be marked by racing hard when I can and understanding that some things just aren't in the cards for this year.  There's a little sense of regret about that.  Very little.  But, I've already moved on from it.  I'm happy.  I'm content.  I'm riding my bike!  YAY!

Ooooommm!

So, a few days ago, I was down in D.C. with the department bus trip.  It was a beautiful day for walking around town and buying delicious goodies from Teaism!   I got a supply of my favorite Lavendar Lemon Mint tea and picked up a little Organic Earl Grey, too.  And, of course, some Salty-Oat cookies.  Mmmmm....

After the museum visit - which was great, by the way - I headed off to meet the Badger at her place of employment.  Have I mentioned that the Badger is, well, kind of a big deal?  She does incredible stuff as an Energy lawyer working with one of the major Republican Commissioners in Washington.  I am amazed that I know this woman, and I am in awe of her on a daily basis.

With the Borda coming down by car, we had planned a girl's night out at CorePower Yoga, dinner at Matchbox, and a ride with LJ and Zig on Saturday morning.  It was going to be fantastic.

Little did I know that I was about to be hooked.  I mean, really hooked.

I've done a few yoga classes in the past, and I've always enjoyed them.  But, I always shied away from the Power Yoga classes for fear that I wasn't ready for them.  Well, the class we did on Friday was POWER yoga.  I was sweating like a fiend within the first few moments, and was splendidly gross by the end.  And, I loved every second of it.

So, I found a studio nearby and decided to give it a try here at home.  Today was a nasty snowy/rainy/cold/windy/icky/yucky/terrible day, except for one redeeming thing.  The Honors crew decided to cancel our afternoon meeting.  :)  This meant that I could get off of campus earlier than expected and catch the 3:30 session at the studio.  It was GREAT!

So, while I'm a long way from doing this... ummm, OUCH...

I have come to a place of great peace with my inner tree pose.  :)

I am planning on making yoga an integral part of my training from here on out.  My hips are feeling better, my arms are already less chicken-like and more rawr-like.  And, I just generally feel great during and after a positive practice.  Yep... I'm hooked.

Good Boy, Quin!

Show that rug who's boss!

I think he taught it a mighty good lesson this evening.  

Glad That's Out of The Way

The first race of the season, that is.  I was on the fence about racing this early in the season.  It's always hard for me to get motivated in March, and I usually don't really hit the road until later in the month (of course, I guess it is already the 17th!)...

But, BChan and Borda convinced me to do a TRAINING race.  Yes, that's right... a TRAINING race. I had to keep telling myself - it's just like doing Greentree on Thursday.  It's the same guys, it's a simple little loop, it's gonna be a piece of cake.  Sit in.  Ride some wheels.  If I feel snarky, try a move.

No problem.

Enter really cold temps, a WICKED headwind, and a field with 30 men and 4 women.  Damn.

It started with a prime on the first lap.  Double Damn.

All three of us girls in the first turn - BChan at the left, then Borda, then me

It was super fast for the first two laps and I found myself hanging onto the field as riders were shelled out the back.  Of course, the gaps began to open.  And, I worked on closing them.  Eventually, I bridged up to a solid group of chasers - the first chasers behind the front group of 10, that eventually dropped to 6.  I was pretty stoked to be with a couple of the Viking guys that I've ridden with over the past few months, a Pro Pedaler (we picked up another PP rider a little later), a Somerset rider, and a Caffeinated Cyclist!  We had the lead group in our sights a few times - massive pulls by each of us might have closed it - but the elastic snapped and they started pulling away.

I have no sprint - surprise surprise - so I didn't really have much to say heading up to the line, except to be very happy to have finished 13th and had a safe, fun day in the saddle.

Nick from Caffeinated had a GoPro on the back of his bike.  And, I was behind him a lot!  Once he gets the video posted and I have the link, I'll put it up!

And, here it is.  I think it's great, I even got a shout out as one of the "stars!"  ;)  I especially love that I'm on camera doing snot-rockets at around the 16:10 mark.  Sorry, Mom.

 Great props to BChan who finished our race and then hopped in with Mr. Borda in the 3/4.  And kudos to Mrs. Borda for racing even though she was a bit under the weather.  It was AWESOME to be out there with my Wasabi Gals!

BTW - Congrats to Mr. Borda, who took an awesome 4th place in the 3/4 race after being in a 3 man break (one rider was off the front solo) for most of the race!  Yeah, baby!!