Update

Yes, I've been bad about posting. I'm not going to go through all of the workouts I haven't posted about. Let's just say there has been a lot of biking, a lot of running and not nearly enough swimming. This week is pretty crazy since I'm trying to finish all of the revisions for my dissertation. It should start getting better next week and then get better each week after that. I will have several weeks in SD before starting my new job with pretty much no work to do, so that means lots of time for training. Woo hoo!

The plane tickets and bike transport have been booked, drinks and meet ups with fellow IM CdAers have been planned, it's getting really, really REAL. Cue nightmares and anxiety. F that! I'm going to do this! Must get in the pool. I just bought a really neat waterproof shuffle case that attaches to the strap of my goggles on the back of my head and has waterproof earphones. I've been listening to music and podcasts to get around my ADHD boredom while swimming. When I was a freshman in college, Nelly's Ride Wit Me was huge and played at every frat party I went to. It always makes me laugh. So, I was swimming and that song came on. I literally shook my booty while swimming. Serious skills :) though I can only imagine what that looked like for spectators.

Saturday ice breaker swim and long bike ride:

Last Saturday, I did an OWS/race with my friend Mel. We were in the non-competitive division. The race was a 0.5 mile triangle in Folsom Lake. Swimmers could do one or two loops. The water was 55 degrees and everyone cried. Mel and I thought that was pretty awesome because we've recently been swimming in 46 and 47 degree water. For once, I actually got into the water ahead of time to acclimate to the temperature. Normally, I'm so freaked out that I have to pretend I'm not swimming until it's time to actually do it. I think it helped. When the horn went off, I ran in and put my face in. Only a couple of minutes of brain freeze/ice cream headache. My sighting was still terrible. I was all over the place and my stupid goggles were leaking! Crap! Decided to only do one loop since I didn't want to screw up my contacts for my bike ride later. Finished. No Big Deal. Felt easy, though the entire time I was in the water I was thinking about getting out. Need to train my brain a bit. The good news: OWS is definitely getting easier!

Afterward, they fed us pancakes and sausage. Yum. Then I grabbed my bike and set out on a ride around Folsom Lake and down the American River Bike Trail. It was a windy day and that made me much slower than normal. It's a hilly course, which I like, and it's getting easier. Here are the highlights of the ride:

• I saw the man from my STFU A-Hole post "counseling" another rider. This is about 60 miles from where I ran into him. He's everywhere. I zoomed past so as not to fall onto his counseling radar.
• As I rode up to another girl on a bike, I called out "on your left!" She didn't move over, so I assumed she didn't hear me or maybe had earphones on (BAD! but that's another issue). So, I yelled louder and louder and she didn't get over. When I pulled up along side of her during my pass, she snottily said, "I heard you." Bitch! I replied, "Well, then you need to get over." Then she tried to bitch me. Honey, please, I can outbitch you with a single glance. I then gave her said withering look and sped off.
• There were two couples riding next to each other on tandems. The men were in the front (captains, maybe?) and the women were in the back (strokers? It's just too funny). The men had one conversation and the women the other. It looked like they were having fun.
• Came around a corner and almost ran into a...HORSE that was on my side of the bike path. Yikes!
• And, the ultimate highlight: I saw a woman walking along the dirt part of the path (there are lots of side trails. Nice area) wearing a backpack. However, the chest strap, which goes above the tatas, was firmly wedged beneath them, so it looked like her breasts were trapped inside this small open-topped rectangle that squished them. I guess she was confused...or wanted more support. It was weird.

continued along the bike trail until the flooding started then called Mel for a pick up. Rode about 70 miles total. Felt strong. Legs were golden. Ready for longer and harder rides.