Monday Musings

It's Monday - again. Not sure how that happens. Thursday morning, Monday seemed so far away and yet, here it is again!

Today is the first day of the infamous Eric Hodska "Cleanse" diet. 2 weeks to get his athletes back on track, break bad habits and hopefully develop some good new ones. It's 8:30 AM and I'm starving already. Ok, ok, Eric said "no bitching" so I will try to keep my hunger crankiness under control.

Yesterday I made a breakfast to remember... think of the last supper, but then move it a few hours earlier, and add cinnamon rolls. Yum. I'm a super breakfast person, no matter what workout I have on the schedule any particular day, I have a big breakfast (sometimes multiple) and then I'm set until dinner. Yesterday Sam broke out the remaining H&H (famous Jewish bagels from NYC) bagels, we made scrambled eggs with swiss cheese, chopped tomato, hot pepper, cilantro, fake bacon, fruit, coffee/tea (yup, bottomless cups, just like any fine establishment!) and to top it all off, we made cinnamon rolls. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but this morning, I am seriously missing it.

2 weeks. I can do this and I'll be better off if I stick to it with no cheating.

Today I'm finally back in the pool again - E had me starting my run focus and it went really well last week, save for a few hiccups. Lots of fun was had and I had plenty of company for my adventures - a night hike on Thursday followed by "Marley and Me" - not the greatest film of the year, but I cried like a baby at the end and realized as bad as my dog is, she's not THAT bad. Her new nickname is Lucifer - promptly given after she chewed off my turn signal knob in protest when I left her in the car while I grocery shopped.

Friday brought a high temp of 17 degrees, but somehow I convinced the boy to go ride bikes with me. Outside. On slushy, icy, nasty roads with wind chill in the negatives. It was a blast and I had the added benefit of riding behind a cute roadie butt! The ride took us from Cannondale out around Redding and other towns. It was just beautiful and the cars were really courteous. Somewhere near home, there was a road that had not been cleared at all. Covered in about 5-6 inches of snow, ice and slushy mess - and Mr. Super-Cross rider and I accelerated into it. I'm addicted to that just on the verge of being out of control feeling and this was a blast.

A few years ago on a similar ride, my buddy Sean gave me the best advice for riding in bad conditions - he said," Don't death-grip, just hold your bars loosely and you'll find your line and traction." So that's what I did. It worked and then just as I got back on clean roads, I stopped paying attention for a minute and landed on my ass. Cracking up, it didn't occur to me that maybe I should be worried about falling on my ass in front of my new boyfriend. I hopped back on my bike, but it seemed instant that Sam was at my side, checking to see if I was ok. Wow.

We gingerly rode home and huddled around a space heater to warm up. I still had a run to do and with a cold, wet ass and a face frozen into a stuck-on smile, I was losing mo-mo fast. We were already at Cannondale, and as much as I hate treadmills, I had an oddly enjoyable experience running in the C-dale gym. No music, no tv, just running. I varied the workout and it just flew by! I finished the day up with some yoga and core work (be prepared my lovely Spain campers!) and then went to find S. I heard music blaring and made my way to the shop where my bike was on a stand, sparkling like I have never seen it sparkle before. He appeared from a back room, cog in hand and I swear, it was the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life. Ok, well, maybe not the sexiest, but it was definitely a site to see!! I hopped on my bike yesterday and it ran smoother than it has in months. My poor road bike. I promise to be better with the new Super Six that's on it's way... any ideas for what I should do with my current road bike?