...Good thing I only had to swim today.
Has anyone else noticed how completely bizarre the weather has been this year? These storms just in the last couple of weeks are just like a continuation of the strangeness that began with the week long winter storm in February. North Texas needs to get it together.
I know it's been a while since my last blog. With the Playtri Performance Center opening in less than two months, work has been nuts - and that's not including the Buffalo Springs Camp two weeks ago, or the other weekend "activities" (a.k.a. work) that seem to take up all of my extra time these days. I can't say I mind since the Center is going to be basically a dream come true - there is just a lot of hard reality that is leading up to it!
That being said, I came close to have another dream come true at the Doghouse Sprint in Lubbock post-camp almost two weeks ago. I came second overall out of the women at the race, and actually thought I was first until I saw this amazon come streaking towards me as I started the run. However, even 2nd overall is a first for me, and the race as a whole was strategically and technically one of the best I have ever done. I was able to draft the entire swim, and not only did I manage sub 1:50's (a more-than-decent 500m split for this girl), I didn't even feel like I had done any work by the time I finished. Then, on the bike, I managed by far my fastest Lubbock split today, despite the wind, and legal drafted with one of our athletes from the camp the entire time after she passed me towards the beginning - we managed to pass just about everyone else after us (except for the amazon, of course). The run was not my best, but still solid - 22 and change - and it was almost better that it wasn't a PR, because it let me know that I actually pushed myself on the bike for a change. Ironically, I almost dropped out of the race right before the start due to the unseasonably cold weather (Lubbock has forgotten how to provide good weather for a race day, apparently - I've never had good conditions there). But I sucked it up (always key!!!) and had one of the best races of my life.
Made me feel even better about heading to Beijing.
The travel package has been reserved, and the plane tickets are in the works - and I'm making plans to head down to Houston with my mom in July to get our visas for the trip. It's hard to believe that this is really happening - and to me, an athlete with a little skill and some luck, just a totally normal person. Totally normal aside from the fact that I am going to a world championship race with Team USA... It's mind boggling. Also very exciting, and I am doing everything in my power to make sure I am 100% prepared as possible when I get over there. The extra work has been showing itself, of course, in my race results - with the two year recovery that came along with having mono, I had almost forgotten the amazing things that can result from consistency in training. And proper recovery, of course - no issues with that now that my body refuses to function on less than 8 hours of sleep a day! An unexpected blessing that also came from being sick. I've been noticing a lot of those - makes me think there really is such a thing as fate.
Either way, things are going well. I need to be less lax in my posting - it keeps me honest about where I am and what I need to be doing. Self-reflection and accountability are wonderful things.
Happy training everybody
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