It's strange to think that I have been back home from school for 3 weeks already, not because I desperately miss being Ohio (I do miss my tri club teammates), but because I cant seem to get into the swing of going to work (still feel like I just got home on that side of things). I know that sounds bad, but I make my own schedule so I don't have to go in everyday, but I really need to. Let's not lie triathlon is possibly one of the most expensive sports, so making moola is important. The problem is I have my fathers sleeping skills, which can be described as minimal on a good day, so sleep is hard to come by, which makes days that start at 4:30am or 8am pretty darn difficult. April, my awesome coach, implemented a sleep "goal" (aka a bed time ;) ), which is a good idea and I have made it into bed before 10:30 like I was instructed, but it's the sleeping that is the challenge (not even my accounting could make me fall last night....). So, my goal for the week is to actually sleep at night so I can make it into work for the next two days.
One the bright side.... MY UPPER BACK (aka shoulder) IS GETTING BETTER! For those who don't know, triathlons involve a descent amount of stress on the upper back (or what most would describe as their shoulder) and when you are horrible at stretching that area, aka me (I admit to it openly), you can compress the muscles and pull your neck bones out of alignment. But under the advice of Coach Tracy and April I went to 1st choice healthcare... MIRACLE workers! Been twice and getting so much better. So much better that I was able to go for a mile swim in the lake today and it didn't feel like WW3 was occurring in my back/ shoulder muscles. As Tracy would say "pound sign winning".
Many other victories are also occurring on the training front, such as: faster bike times, starting to get some climbing legs (thanks to Matt Russ's encouragement on the hard as heck Team Sport Factory rides and April's never ending bike workouts... which I must say I enjoy (not being sarcastic either), and doing the fastest runs I have ever done. I must say these are 3 things I have been trying to achieve for a few years now and I owe the successes to April's KILLER schedules and her pushing me. In fact, I regularly ask her if she and Matt if there is a conspiracy to do off with me... completely kidding. Even though the training has been mentally and physically hard, I have to say I have ENJOYED IT and I have never felt this strong and confident going into a race... especially a hard race like Chatt.. and I owe largely to April, Tracy, and Matt.
Another #winning moment... I have finally found nutrition that doesn't upset my stomach... 1st Endurance Sport Nutrition aka EFS aka that stuff Leopard Trek, Team RadioShack, and HTC Highroad use during their bike races. Not going to lie... I completely tried this stuff just because Andy Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, LEVI Leiphiemer, and Mark Cavendish use it. But it worked so take that anyone who says I'm jumping on a bandwagon created by these teams.... :-p
Finally my BIGGEST win of these 3 months... I'm no longer OVERLY petrified and terrified of Sport Factory people. For those of you who do not regularly race against members of this triathlon machine let me explain who they are... they are usually the ones who are blowing right pass you on the bike or the run or who never see after the start until they go to the podium to accept a trophy. They are a group of hard working amazing athletes who are led by Matt Russ... Basically they scared me because they are fast and I'm moderately fast on certain terrains, but after training with them for 3 weeks now I am now no longer scared to ride with them... however, I am still envious of their speed.... I guess that will only mean I have to work harder... April bring it (or as she says "if it hurts go faster")
11 Days till tri 1 of the season and 12 days till the grind towards my 70.3 begins
