All good things must end sometime...

...but that just means it's time for something else to begin!

So, IM training and recovery are through.

And now training starts! I got the email last night from Coach... "Training starts tomorrow". It's not that I haven't been training all along, it's that it's time to start the serious stuff. The hill repeats and the intervals and the tempo runs and track work and the kind of swimming that makes it difficult to even lift myself out the side of the pool after.

And I've been waiting, oh so patiently... all through IM training, all through IM taper, through the past two recovery weeks... just to be able start serious training again. For a shorter race.

And it couldn't have come after a better weekend.

Saturday's ride was beautiful. Sunny and 80 degrees. No humidity. No clouds. A cool breeze. And as I rode over the hills, fallen leaves skittered across the my path. That smell was in the air...you know, the smell of football and pumpkins and trick-or-treat...the smell of autumn. I passed a roadside farmer's market selling apples and sweet potatoes, a few other cyclists had stopped for a treat. I considered it, but I was focused. And having fun. And it ended the same way it bagan, with a big smile across my face.

Sunday morning, I awoke to darkness. One more sign that summer is over. Shorter days. I walked Clubber and got out the door by 7:30 for my 90 min run. I went across to Cincy and then back to KY, up to the hills in Ft. Thomas. I made a little loop and headed back toward home, crossed paths with my high school coach. The weather was, once again, perfect. 56 degrees. Cool breeze. Sun shining. 11 miles of hill after hill after hill.

It heated up nicely and I picked up Barbie for her first OWS. She's got a tri in two weeks and I figured it best to get her out there. She did really well except for sighting...and she even began catching onto that.

I tracked some teammates that were doing IMWI. Amazing! There were some awesome times out there. As I watched finishers cross the line on Ironman Live, I got excited. Inspired. And my heart raced. And my ears buzzed.

Six weeks til race day.