Brick, German, Ice, Fun!

My day started like this...

And (thankfully) ended like that...

In between, I did a little of this...

And afterwards, put on these...


I rarely, if every, cry "UNCLE!", but yesterday with 10 minutes left on my T-run, I was done. Toasted. Game over, man! Jen's workout had done the trick, and my legs were feeling the accumulation of tough effort over the past few days.

And before my northern counterparts made disparaging remarks about my bike being on the trainer, in my defense the bike part of my workout called for me to hit specific wattage. And while biking in Southern California traffic WILL get my heart rate up, it doesn't do much for the watts. Stop and go, go and stop. And wait. For. Lights.

So, the trainer it was!

The T-run was just funny. Really. At least I found hilarity in the situation, if anything else. 10 minutes to go, and I was thinking evil thoughts about my coach. She had done it: I was done. Yes, I'll happily bike up Mt. Palomar, hang on to Spencer Smith with all my might, do track work to my heart's desire, and swim with freakishly fast German ITU people - but run for 10 more minutes?

No way.

Done.

My swim was pretty much on the same page. I took it as easy as I could, coasting in the draft of people who shouldn't swim so fast on a recovery day, doing everything I could to keep up. Fins, paddles - all the swim toys you could think of became my new friend. Who cares if all the Germans gave my bad looks when I grabbed the zoomers for our kick set? I couldn't understand what they were saying anyway.

And then they (without said zoomers) dropped my sorry ass.

Oh yeah, well (and this is taken from Fawlty Towers, so please don't be offended) - we still won the war.

But the effort was well worth it! As my last HARD or LONG day before my official Oceanside taper begins, I gave it my all. And then I was done. Seriously.

A quick trip to the store, and I emerged with 40 pounds of ice for the ever-so-important-but-chilly ice bath. The clerk who joked about 'all the beer that ice would hold' had no idea. I didn't even bother explaining it was for me to sit in. Yeah, better to let people think I'm doing if for something normal.

I did have a few friends with me...(Not the most flattering shot of Tabbitha, I agree. But my big girl was being careful to avoid slipping into the tub).

(And of course, Anabelle just had to 'pop' up to see what was going on.)

The best part though? Enjoying dinner, dessert, and wine with friends! Super Sassy Shannon and her One-of-a-kind Sidekick Stephen came over for Tofu Pad Thai. Even Nathaniel enjoyed the tofu (what a good boy!) I was more than happy to cook the meal, so long as they provided dessert. Yum!

So all it took was a little perseverance, a sense of humor, the will to survive, high tolerance for cold water, and the promise of yummy food and beverages with friends. If only every day could be so fun!

Now, off to Lunch time Masers. Today is Friday, therefore "sprint" day. Does anyone else find this funny? Sprinting, me?? Ha ha ha ha ha. I think I'll try to just hold on for dear life - it can't be tougher than anything else right?