It's been awhile, busy weekend aside it's time to reflect. It started Friday with a nice easy ride at Annadel park. My training asked for 70 minutes. So of course, I try to make the most out of that 70. So I make it a strength workout. The whole time I just climb, climb, climb up hill for about 45 minutes and come down with an easy 15, and then finish with some rollers for the last 10 minutes. Nice sunny day. Time to go home and stretch. I love my life.....

Saturday comes and I decide to go for a club ride. There's one set for 55 miles, but I don't want to do the whole thing, maybe just a couple hours of riding. It starts at Willowside school at 9:00 am. Just enough time to walk Bosco (my beastie yellow lab) in the morning so he gets his workout, then I can get mine. He drives everyone crazy if he's not exercised first! It's all about him, you know! I get ready to go to ride to the school. As I come upon the group sitting in the parking lot, I notice there are not alot of women, I'm the third and last to show up out of about 25 people. Oh, well, I'm only doing about 30-40 miles. Then I hear a "Loni, Loni...". I turn to see my brother-in-law on his cervelo tri-bike. He stands out of the crowd. I thought oh boy, he's going for the long ride, but after chatting with him, he's deciding to a short route as well, he has to run after he rides and just wants an easy ride! OMG! I'm tired already. The club takes off towards Occidental, working it's way to Tomales and back. We get just out of Sebastopol and one of the ladies gets a flat, half the group stops and helps her. How many people does it take to change a flat?! It took 10 of us to watch two of them change the tire. We return to riding, into Occidental for a quick "natural stop"...that would be the same as "nature calls" in my book. I take them up on it of course, then off we go. Down Joy road to Hwy.1, what a ride. Then towards Tomales on Valley Ford Road, that's where Mike and I part ways from the club riders and head back. I'm doing my best to stay with Mike. I draft behind him, it must feel like pulling a sled behind him. But don't forget, this man is like a horse and he can afford to work hard, oops did I say that. I can't feel my legs for a moment. I look down, they're still there! Thank goodness. I let Mike know (a copout) that he can take off if he wants and not wait for me, but he does until we hit Guerneville Road and off he goes, free like a bird as I watch him get smaller and smaller and smaller! He waits for me at Willowside, he kicked my ass and he doesn't even know it! It was like riding with my local hero, trying to keep up with the big dogs (Mike's 6'4" and 205 lbs), it was fun. I get home and feel like I'm going to throw up. It was the quickest 2-1/2 hours/ 35 miles I ever spent with alot of climbing. So much for an easy ride. And today was suppossed to be my OFF DAY on the training schedule. Ha, ha...

Sunday comes and I get to sleep in until 7:30 am, thanks for that recovery sleep. I have to run today for 32 minutes. Not 30 and not 35, but 32 minutes. I chuckle. So I get ready to run for my 32 minutes. I have to time it right, so I can watch the triathlon episode on TV at 11:00 am. And then the Tour de France at 5:00pm, and in between I take the boys' swimming to Grandma Dorothy's house. That's my schedule, don't you love it. Everything goes as planned, except while running in the first 5 minutes, my ipod shuts down. So I keep running with the earphones in my ears so it looks like I'm listening to music, psych people out. Who's the pysched one here....So I find I'm singing to myself. I recently got a tune my son put on my ipod, it's called Low Rider. It's a good warm-up song. "All my friends have a low rider..." Okay, I'll stop singing. Not that I have a low ride, but it's a good song! Are you yawning yet? I am...bless you for staying with me on this, I'm almost done. I did everything I needed to do, the boys' swam and wore themselves out, they're taken care of. See the pattern here...dog exercised, boys' exercised, Steve got exercise (he rode 3 hours to Healdsburg and back), I got my workout and we all sleep well. Life is good. The highlight of my day was watching the Tour de France from 5:00-8:00 pm. I get to do my stretches on the mat while watching these awesome athletes climb a part of the Alps mountains in France. I have to say I love listening to the commentators, Liggett, Roll and others. They make you feel like you are there, they are constantly talking the entire time about the riders, the weather conditions, the strategies and much more. These world of cyclists is remarkable. They ride for 100+ miles everyday, climbing mountains and descending them. They crash and they get right back up and keep going. One rider, Alexander Vinakourov, crashes, has a nasty raspberry on his hip, knees and elbows, and gets back on the bike and keeps going. That evening he was in the hospital getting stitches on both knees and his elbow. I saw him on the next day cycling stage with bandages on both knees and one arm. He's not giving up on this TDF, he's not abandoning it at all. He's having to dig deeper to find the effort to ride another 100+ miles with his team and strategize and keep good time, and he manages to do so with flying colors and my respect. Bless him and the others for all they do and what they inspire in us. For me, I get very excited to watch them. If they can do what they do, I can do what I do, Life is definitely good, wouldn't change it for anything, well maybe eat more pizza, but that's not going to happen! Have a great week everyone and do something outside that pleases you! Luv LB