Off to a good start

Over the weekend, I got in two fabulous outdoor rides and two longish runs. I also moved back to my old 'hood and made lots of food. It was a damn near fantastic.

Firday was so gloriously sunny and warm, with just a little crazy wind. I mean, shorts on the bike on December 31st?!? Yowza.

I had planned to start the year with a 5 mile race....but I woke to rain, which didn't scare me...but then my buddy called and told me it was $35 registration. And I just got my first real paycheck the day before. I think living like a miser cheapened me up. $7 a mile, or more than $1 a minute just seemed to rich for my blood. So, I bagged it. Instead, I got myself settled into my new digs. And that's when I discovered that I may have a clothes addiction. Half my clothes are still in storage and I have 32 tank tops. I also have about 14 pairs of jeans, 7 pairs of black tights, two huge drawers full of winter training clothes... just at this location! And I've downsized every time I've moved (which was more than a few times this year) and I haven't bought much of anything in the last six months.

But whatever. I waited 'til the sun decided to shine and went out for a nice 10 miles at a brisk pace. It was sooo nice to go out and run an old familiar course. Again, in shorts and a sports bra. The temps were dropping, but I was taking full advantage of the warmness that was.

Sunday morning was a scheduled run with a buddy of mine. Unfortunately, he bailed without really letting me know (hence the word: bailed). Fortunately, I recruited a cyclist buddy that signed up for IM St George so I was not alone. It was a coldish run. I went from wearing shorts and a sports bra on Saturday to tights, sleeves, jackets, gloves, hat on Sunday. I wasn't planning to go fast or hard, but I think the pace ended up fairly spirited.

After 13 miles, I arrived home to a text from Judi asking if I wanted to ride. I had just enough time to down a smoothie, a coffee and warm myself up before piling on riding layers and hitting some good hills for a couple hours. Let me just say that 30 degrees in crazy heavy wind is not the most fun riding I've ever had. And it's much more exhausting than you might think, but we had some good laughs and we're building back our friendship in a good way.

By the time I got home, I was ready to scarf some homemade black beans and rice, thaw in a hot shower and cuddle up with Clubber.

I think the only good thing about Monday is that I got to make the two mile trek to work and then again after work. The legs are feeling a little trashed as we acclimate back into base training, so the active recovery is a nice bonus. Plus, not fighting traffic and paying exorbitant parking fees, not to mention getting to watch the sun rise AND set is pretty cool.