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| Life on the patio |
Back In The Saddle
School was out on a Friday afternoon and I was at the Mesquite Rodeo Ride bright and early on Saturday morning. It felt great to hit the open road again and I was missing my bike, Johann, as I had not been on it much at all this spring. The folks in Mesquite always put on a nice rally with a well marked route, officers at the intersections, precious little chip seal, and delicious food at the end. I was ready to be done by the end of the 40 mile route and very thankful that I was not riding the 60 mile route that day.
The next Saturday brought another favorite, the Collin Classic. I had memories of last year being hot, windy, and miserable at the end and I looked forward to getting that monkey off of my back. It turned out to be a great day with lots of cloud cover and the occasional rain shower. Hard to top that in June! Once again we were treated to a great rally with a nice route and terrific food at the end. This time it was 45 miles and I was ready to be finished and grateful that I was not riding the longer course. I think I am finally starting to realize that I don't have to chose the longest route every single time.
Leaving My Comfort Zone
I got up super early on the second day of summer and headed towards Mesquite again, this time for an open water swim clinic put on by Tri-Now Endurance. I was so nervous and excited and I knew that I was taking a big step out of my comfort zone - which is exactly why I should be doing it. I have taken to swimming fairly easily in the pool and I spent countless hours in Lake Texoma growing up, but it had been many years since I had set foot in a lake. I took a moment to collect myself upon entering the lake, and then I was off. I did not swim too far away from the shore as I had trouble seeing with my non-smoked goggles and I had not taken the clinic yet. I swam around for a while, getting a little farther out each time, before the clinic began. Coach Frank taught us some of the finer points of open water swimming and gave us a chance to practice these things in the water. I was having so much fun, I didn't want it to end. I can't wait to get back in the open water again; however, the lakes nearest to me are still extremely high due to the record rains this spring. I am looking forward to getting back out to an open water swim with Tri-Now very soon!
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| Open Water Swim Clinic - I'm one of those bodies in the water! (Pic: Tri-Now) |
Half Ironman Training....and go!
Soon after my hugely successful second triathlon in April, I decided to take a leap and sign up for Redman 70.3 in late September. You can only imagine how sweaty my palms were as I hit the "enter" key on my registration. Training started on the first Monday of summer vacation and I have really been enjoying it. I really am a geek for training, I love the process, the hard work, and the nitty gritty of it all. I was able to focus just on training during the first two weeks as there was a break between regular school and summer school. I am excited that most of the training will fall during the summer months so that I can treat training like a part time job. I've been swimming twice a week, riding my bike 3 times a week, running 3-4 times a week, and hitting the weights a couple of times each week. The workouts will increase in time and intensity over the coming weeks and I'm very much looking forward to it.
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| No swimming...or running...here for a while! |
Frundraising
If you have followed me for a while, then you know that I like to chose one big race each year to "give" to the American Music Therapy Association. I am happy to announce that I will be tri-ing for music therapy this year at the Redman 70.3 Triathlon. My fundraising is already off to a strong start and I look forward to reaching my goal in the coming months. I would love it if you would check out my page here and pass it along to those who may be interested.
Of course...Rangers baseball
I can't leave out baseball! I was lucky enough to catch a Rangers game last Thursday and I hope to get to some more games soon. I love a summer weekday game, it is so worth the sweating just to feel like you are "getting away with something" while everyone else is working.
I can hardly believe that June is already behind us and I am hoping that July passes by a little more slowly! I am already looking forward to Liberty by the Lake 5K and El Scorcho 25K and many more adventures on the bike and in the water.
