Update

As funny as it seems, I squeaked in a 20 minute nap and then went for a 2 hour easy (endurance) spin and I'm much less tired. :-)

I think I'll make it to Tuesday now. . . . . .so there's no need to worry about me. It could be a hell of a lot worse. . . . . .SO. . . . . .it's all good.

I'm tired

I'm tired of having poor race results.

I'm tired of feeling like I'm going to puke while I'm racing.

I'm tired of working so hard at work and getting no where.

I'm tired of being the scapegoat for the market conditions.

I'm tired OF the market conditions.

I'm tired of being told I'm not working hard enough when that couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm tired of not being able to live up to every body's expectations, whether they're professional, athletic or personal. I don't really have as much "power" as everyone seems to think I should/do. I'm just a person.

I'm tired of Mondays.

Interesting quote

"if you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it"

-- William James, Psychologist

Geeze, I guess I better start caring more.

Volunteer day

It seems like my days belong to others lately. . . . . .which is strange considering I don't have any kids. But today had me out at the Superweek race in Cedarburg. I marshaled a busy corner. Between older people needing to drive through the course, slow pedestrians crossing the road and a road crash leaving 3 or 4 riders in need of medical attention, it was a busy day. Thankfully it didn't appear the crash inflicted worse than severe road rash. . . . . .but still, it was scary to watch. I think I'll stick to the dirt.

Yes, it is

Yes, it is my birthday.

No, I am not YET 40. Don't rush me. Come January I'll be writing "40" on all my WORS stuff anyway. Please let me have these last few months of "youth".

Yup, we just TOOK OFF

Since we don't have another "camping race" for a while, we decided to pack the "hotel on wheels" and take off to find someplace fun to ride this weekend. Wanting to stay under a 3 hour drive ruled Hatfield out. . . . . . .so Wausau was the next logical option.

We finally drove up through Rib Mountain to check it out. The views were pretty sweet.

The Thunder Puppy got her first real taste of a lake. She wasn't sure what to make of it when the waves from the boats rolled in.

After a couple hours of riding Nine Mile, we returned to our truck to find our puppy running around the parking lot. Apparently she pulled her corkscrew out of the ground. Thankfully she stuck close to the truck. That would have sucked otherwise.

After we got our ride in, we took her out for a bit. She absolutely LOVES to run in the single track behind my bike. It's her "favorite thing". After about 20 minutes of that. . . . . .we finally had a sleepy puppy.

Now it's time to kick back. . . . . .as we listen to the rain pour outside and watch the puddles grow. Safe inside the hotel on wheels, we'll soon pull out a movie. . . . or play a game. . . . . or sit and read . . . . .or surf the internet as we watch the poor tenters scurry for shelter. All while we crank up the radio and adjust our temperature setting for the air conditioning so it's not "TOO cold".

Sweet. I love camping.

On the wagon again. . . . . . .

I'm officially ON the wagon again. A few too many beverages yesterday made for a very shitty ride today. I can't afford shitty rides right now. Every ride I get needs to be a quality ride if I hope to be in any type of decent shape come cyclocross.

I met up with a few peeps at the Kettles today. Not only did I think I was going to puke during my ride, I actually almost passed out. Between the heat, the humidity, my dehydration, and just feeling like total crap, squeezing out a 2 hour ride was a chore. And there was no one to blame but myself. My heart rate was out of control, even the smallest hill would spike it up to the point of near hyperventilation.

BUT, the trails were in great shape. There are lots of nice, new re-routes, lots of new trails to enjoy. Overall, a good time, even if I felt like crap.

Now I'll work on that rehydration, rest and recovery. We'll see what the weekend brings. I have high hopes. :-)

Annual Realtor's Golf Outting

Today is our annual Realtor's golf outing. I don't know how this happens, but once again I managed to get "volunteered" to be on the golf committee. If you know me, you know I'm a very bad golfer. Despite the fact I actually took golf as a class in college, I seem to have retained nothing. In fact, the only time I would hit a good shot in class was when my instructor followed me around and reminded me what to do as I hit.

It's always a "crap shoot" golfing with me. Once in a while I'll get a great hit off, followed by 4 whacks where I top the ball and it goes 3 inches. One never knows. BUT, I'm told I'm "fun" when you put me in a golf cart and add a couple beverages. . . . . . .so I guess that's what today is all about (having fun).

Typically the golf outing falls on the week of my birthday. One year it fell ON my birthday. . . . .that's something you don't want a bunch of Realtor's to know. I don't remember that golf outing all that well (although there seems to be pictures). In fact that was the year people were STILL talking about it at the Christmas party. Yikes. Kind of scary to make THAT kind of impression on people. Thank goodness THAT doesn't happen every year.

I think this year will be a nice, calm day with some "work peeps" out in the sun. I'm golfing with my manager (who, by the way, can get become more "fun" than myself when beverages are added) and her husband. I think we may be a golfer shy, which probably means I get to drive my own cart around. Sweet. I apologize ahead of time if you're programmed into my phone and I call you today. :-)

After the outing we have a delicious dinner and an awesome raffle. I helped with the shopping for this year's prizes, nearly $1200 in prizes. Last year I won a TON of stuff. . . . . hopefully this year will prove as profitable. I have my eye on a few of the items. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Whatever YOUR day brings today, I hope it involves bathing in the sunshine, a little laughter, and a bunch of smiles. Those are MY goals for the day.

SOOOOO tired

I don't know if it's my cold that's almost gone that's making me so tired, or if it's the heat, or the training, or working, or not sleeping all that well, or taking care of everything and everybody. . . . . . .or a great big combination of all of the above. Whatever it is, it's making me REALLY TIRED.

I think I could lay down and sleep for a week.

Finally. . . . .some decent rides

While the cold I managed to catch took me out for a few days, I was able to return to the "land of the living" towards the end of the week and catch a couple nice road rides.

Friday was a nice, slow, leisurely ride with a couple peeps on the interurban trail. We hopped on in Grafton and headed North. 3+ hours later we returned nice and refreshed, and a bit hungry. It was a slow pace, but being that I'm a couple months behind everyone else. . . . .I guess base miles are a good thing. Plus that pace allows for lots of chatting, which is fun sometimes too.

Saturday I took the pace up a couple notches as I ventured out in the overcast day fearing I'd get dumped on. It was a strange ride. I started alone, picked up CK about 30 minutes in and rode with him for about 45 minutes. Then I branched off by myself again to head further north. My goal was to ride through Dundee, so I went for it.

At the corner in Dundee I stopped for the stop sign, only to look over and see my husband talking to an old friend of ours at the Hamburger Haus. He had taken off that morning with a couple other fast peeps to hit the infamous "hill route" (you'd have to ask them what that really is). We both wondered if we'd end up seeing each other as we figured we may be coming back through that area at the same time, and sure enough! So I took the pace up yet another couple notches and hopped on their little train to head back home.

After almost puking up my Cliff bar at the top of a hill 30 minutes later, I thought I'd better take a short cut back and let them catch me. I needed a bit of rest. We all pulled onto our road together (except for CK who I think was already taking a nap). That was the longest road ride I've done this season. A bit over 3 hours, about 54 miles, with an average of 17. And that left me COMPLETELY famished. :-)

Sunday offered up a day of work for me. I had a couple sellers who really wanted open houses, so I had to take care of that. Of course I didn't really have any interested buyers, but I guess that's the way the ball bounces.

Now it's time to get a few chores done, and then take the Thunder Puppy out for some exercise so she'll be a good puppy and do THIS:

Mother Nature

Mother Nature is really a bitch. She rained on my parade. No Kettles ride for us today. . . . .they closed the trails.

Now I'm waiting for the rain to clear so I can get some type of road ride in. Doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. What the hell? I thought it was supposed to be sunny and 90 today?!?!?

Stupid dope smokers.

More vacation highlights

What happens when you mix these 3 things?

You get this:

How does this happen?

It's in the 80's, I just spent 9 days pretty much cut off from almost all human contact. . . . . . and somehow I managed to catch a cold yesterday.

What the hell?

Tagged

Ok, I don't want to tag anyone. . . . .but I'll at least play along and tell 6 things since 2 peeps tagged me while I was on vacation. Here are 6 things you maybe didn't know about me.

1) I was born in York Pennsylvania.

2) I played the violin from 4th grade until I was in my second year of college. I also dabbled with the cello, guitar & piano. I played in the youth division of the Milwaukee Symphony (Music for Youth) for 2 years. I also played in a duet at one of our high school concerts, with our full orchestra accompanying. I had a few gigs playing weddings and a few other misc places along the way. Now I haven't touched my violin in at least 15 years.

3) I started college as an elementary education major (I actually wanted to be a music teacher). At the end of my 3rd year I wasn't sure I wanted to be a teacher anymore so I changed my major to sociology with a minor in psychology. I had no idea what I was going to do with that. . . . .I just knew I'd get that stupid Bachelors of Science degree everyone said I "needed".

4) I have great difficulties with people yelling at me. I think it's part of the reason I get so worked up in the elite races this year. I understand people aren't necessarily yelling AT me. . . . . .but I'm overly sensitive in that area. Talking nice to me during a race will get you everywhere.

5) I have an irrational fear of trains and "wind turbines". I'm also not crazy about deep water.

6) I have absolutely no athletic background. I was in forensics and orchestra and never owned a bike (except as a kid) until I met Bill. When I turned 30, I finally decided to become "active". I secretly hate those people who have that natural athletic ability. . . . .the ones who don't have to "train". I thought maybe if I trained really hard for a few years, maybe I could become one of them. Yeah, that's worked well for me.

I hope you enjoyed my little tid bits. I've probably got better ones. . . . .but I'm a little slow today.

Finally back

We're back from vacation, but yet I feel like I need another already. It will probably take me a week to unpack and clean everything up from the week. For some strange reason. . . . . .I'm already looking forward to the next weekend.

We kicked our vacation off at the Levis Trow WEMS race. That was great fun. I did the 25 mile race, which meant 3 laps. When they sent us out, I felt like a racer again. Nestled among a nice sized group of men and women, I worked my way up from the back to settle into a nice position going into the single track. I had to remind myself it wasn't a WORS race. . . . . .I'd be best off getting into that single track sooner vs later, since I can typically ride that stuff relatively well. It felt good to actually pass people and feel like I was among others of the same speed throughout the race. I forget how much I like that feeling.

The course was spectacular. The 25 mile race did the shorter course, but even that was great fun. There was one bridge I didn't feel comfortable with, so I walked it. Other than that, I rode everything relatively well. Unfortunately I didn't plan appropriately. I didn't have enough to eat or drink, and one hard lap was all I could muster. I scaled it back for the second and third laps and rode at an endurance pace. While that felt a lot better. . . . . .it was also WAY more fun.

I only had one, maybe two "near-death" experiences. . . . so that's always good. I also had a fellow blog follower identify me as he passed me, which made me laugh. I forget how many people end up visiting my blog and recognizing my name.

There were only 3 women in the 25 mile race and for various reasons, I was the only one to complete all 3 laps, I took the win. Although there was some mix up as they some how missed my finish. I must have crossed that line SOOOO fast they didn't see me. But it's all good. My fellow racer peeps straightened it out for me.

The rest of the week involved a few more rides at Hatfield (awesome, AWESOME trails), a trip to Standing Rocks (a little tight and twisty for my taste) and some down time to read and just enjoy life. Thunder puppy got lots of hiking time and actually almost died one time (which was scary). She got a little too close to the bluff and almost lost control. Needless to say the rest of the time we were atop the bluffs, she was on the leash.

We rounded out our camping trip at the Chippewa Falls race. The pre-ride was good. . . . . .I did nearly 2 laps. I hit a stump about 10 minutes into the ride planting myself face first in the dirt and adding a couple bruises and scrapes to my battered body. The race was. . . . . . . .well. . . . . . .less than perfect. A few altercations left me worked up and stressed out and had me pulling over time after time to let the comp riders pass by. I was just about to pull the plug and take my DNF when I decided, who cares? I was out there to ride, so I might as well ride. If that meant stopping to get out of the way at times, then so be it. I'm never going to get into race shape if I don't race.

That thought, and the fact that most of the comp riders has passed through had my second lap going MUCH smoother than the first. THAT lap was enjoyable. I felt strong, I rode just about everything clean and kept it under control. Of course I rode by myself, but that's ok. Lap 3 brought more fast boys and a few more pull overs for me, but again more relatively clean riding.

Now it's time to rest and recover. Find some more enjoyable riding, get back to the rides that don't stress me out. . . . .the rides that are fun. And if those rides are by myself (which most of them are), that's A-OK with me.