Oh man...

Life has been kinda crazy as of late for various reasons. This past week has been a bit of a blur. There was a three-day weekend that went by all too fast. And lots of work. And meetings. And training sessions. Though not much in the way of socializing.

Saturday morning started off with a lactate threshold test on the bike. And then off to work at the bike shop. Wow. I missed that place. SOooo much different than corporate world. By the time I got home that night, I was ready to crash.

Sunday was a nice long run. I awoke willing to give my left leg for a pancake, but instead had a banana...and off I went for 13 miles. It was glorious. And cold, like 21 degrees. But I enjoyed every minute of hills. I later went to the gym for some weights and core work.

Monday was the Holiday. And I actually worked from home. I awoke and worked and decided not to leave the house until the work was done. That was before a two hour trainer ride, which, to my surprise was somewhat taxing. Coach has us doing these one leg drills. I am so not skilled. But I am convinced that I will improve.

This week at work has been pretty insane, so I find myself reaaaaally looking forward to my training sessions. Ironically, I did mile repeats on the track yesterday morning in 40 degree weather. And today after work, I cancelled my run because we were getting more white death. By the time i was making the trek home at 4:30, there was about 4-5 inches. And the snow kept getting under my pants leg and chilling my ankles.

So, this cleanse? Um,...it's not exactly easy. Especially when training 2-3 hours a day. In fact, tomorrow I get to introduce organic free range chicken and fish. And. I. Can't. Wait. The guys at work are having a heyday with this. Every day, I get invited to go eat lunch at the pizza buffet. Or Chipotle. Or to join them for coffee. Or go to happy hour. Fucking hilarious. Tonight, I caved and had a heaping spoon of natural peanut butter. Nuts are not on the cleanse, but seriously, I'm not out to purge my system, just to get rid of the preservatives and crap in my diet. So I don't feel so bad. I just needed something to make me not feel ravenous. I really wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so at least I didn't go off the deep end.

I don't know I've lost ant significant weight, but I do feel better on the whole. Save for last night, I've slept better this past ten nine days than I have in a very long time. And my legs aren't swelling like they usually do with a heavy training load. And I generally just feel good. In fact, this morning at swim practice, a fellow swimmer told me I was "on fire today". I'm not sure if I was actually swimming any faster, but I didn't feel like I just wanted to stop.

A more intense hunger and a bit of fatigue has hit the last couple days and despite that, I was thinking last night about how if I went to a pub right now, I most definitely wouldn't be ordering a burger and fries. Too heavy! And I think a large portion of bread and/or cheese would make me feel lethargic. I'm quite enjoying these veggie based meals. So, don't be surprised if my diet changes for the better permanently. If that's all I get from this, I'm a happy camper.

No joke

The winter wonderland has continued. I awoke at 4:30 am to an additional three inches of snow blanketing my car. And the roads. And the walkways. This means a few things. 1) Clubber will not go potty outside. 2) There will be massive accidents on the roads - allow for extra time to get anywhere. 3) The city will damn-near shut down. And we'll get out of work early.

And so far, the first two of those things has occurred. For some reason, today, the city is still in motion. The first time it would have been justified that they shut down, we're all working. Like, full days. Kinda. I mean, half the people didn't show to the office today, but those of us that did, I think we're stuck here for the long haul. But the snow hasn't yet stopped. I'm wearing a little school girl skirt, tights and hiking boots. It's a good look. If you're 12.

Since I was able to make it out to swim practice this morning, which requires a trek on the highway, across the river, etc., it was only right that I come into work. Swim practice didn't disappoint either. It wasn't a ton of yardage (~3k) because we did some non-free stuff to start, but seriously, 8x200 on 3:00 with 10-15 sec rest is no joke.

Aaron only stuck me in that lane because he said he wanted to see me "go after it a little more". Right. What about what I want? Whatever. I survived. And I made all the sets, though those last two only had 3-5 sec rest.

And my legs were only a little achey and oxygen-deprived feeling today. I spun them out and then attempted to roll the knots out of my quads on the foam roller last night. Um, ouch. It was all I could do to BREATHE while attempting the roll. I guess it was all the jumping over logs and scaling the sides of mountains and sliding down hillsides that left my legs so trashed. Because I haven't felt like this since post-IM.

Tonight, trainer ride! If I ever make it home. It's funny because people who always get snow think it's no big deal to get 8 inches of snow. Difference between Cincinnati and Denver? They're prepared for snowfall. Removal and salt and plows and all the things that are required to NOT induce panic among the citizens are built into the budget. Not so much here. We got snow on Friday and aparently, that took out seven of our plows. Seriously. SEVEN of them broke down! That's, like, half our fleet.

OK, was I just whining? I just got a call that we're leaving at noon. Later peeps! I'm going to get on the trainer