A journey of 1000 miles....: Much needed rest and a little drama

Last week I just wasn't feelin it. My resting heart rate was high several days in a row and my motivation was seriously lacking so I decided to take a few days off and rest up for my weekend race instead of pushing myself and overtraining and having a crappy race day. By Friday morning my resting heart rate was back down into the 50s and I felt a lot better.

Friday I came home from work ready to head to NH for the Graniteman Tri the next day and much to my surprise and horror there were several police cruisers in front of my place and "Police Line Do Not Cross" tape around the entire condo building. All the worst thoughts started racing through my mind. Was my place broken into? Did someone die? Did one of my crazy neighbors go off the deep end and hurt someone? I asked one of the cops in the street if it was ok for me to go home and he said it was fine so I felt a little more at ease. I then asked another cop what had happened and he said he wasn't at liberty to discuss it but I could go turn on the news and find out. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the news van across the street. Well, I turned on the news and there was no information. I called my friend that was on her way over to drive to NH with me and warned her about the scene. Come to find out, one of my elderly neighbors go into a fight with her son and called the police. He tried to attack the police with a knife and they sot him twice. CRAZY!!! What a great way to start off the weekend.

Anyway, we made it to NH safe and sound despite the drama and a few severe thunderstorms along the way. Saturday morning I got up and we headed to the race. 3/4m swim, 15m bike, 4.2m run. It was my 3rd year doing the race and I really wanted to place. The swim is so long! This year it felt even longer, but I felt pretty good for the first time ever. I was able to relax and just breathe and swam the whole thing without stopping and switching to the breast stroke or side stroke. I got on the bike and that's when the real work began. It's a very hilly course, but I maintained a great average speed and passed a ton of people. I picked up a ton of speed on the downhills maxing out at 47mph on the last hill. My legs were spasming and then I had to try and run. The run starts really as a death march up this giant hill. You can try to run it, but even the best runners end up walking towards the top. The mile markers were all wrong and I thought I still had like 2 miles left when I rounded the last corner and could see the finish. I finished a little slower than the previous year, but I felt great. Other people were saying that the swim felt long so maybe my time wasn't as bad as I thought. Well, I didn't place, I came in 4th. Just missed gettng a chunk of granite by the exact amount of time I lost in the swim. Oh well, there's always next year.

I hung out for a few hours and relaxed after the race before driving back home. I got home quickly showered and went to Kim and Bill/Shannon and Anthony's summer bash. Huge party and I missed some of the late night festivities because I went home at 9:00pm to go to bed and get rest for my long run in the morning. I still had an amazing time. So many great friends and good laughs and good times.

Sunday I did 18 miles. It was ridiculously humid and gross out. I was slower than I wanted to be but I felt comfortable and hydrated well, so it wasn't too bad. Plus, I got the miles done. After I took my ritual ice bath and rested on the couch for the remainer of the day.

Since I haven't posted pictures in a while, here are a few from recent races: