…a two massage week.  One for my body on Wednesday and one for my mind today.  With intense studying, running a business, working part time, training and being a human sometimes I just need a two massage week.  This week was one of those….ahhhh, listening to myself and giving me what I ask for.  There’s no better relationship than that.

A week from today I’ll be one day into my certification, looking forward to next Saturday night.

2100 yard swim today, felt a bit heavy but at the end was feeling light and relaxed.  Tomorrow, brick at the res, meeting my sister for a ride….just have to get her to lay off the brakes, at least uphill.  Taking her up Old Stage for a good ole’ ass kicking, that will be satisfying to me.

BJ was up and out of the house early for this first triathlon of the year. Mr. 3rd Male 35-39 did not disappoint - even after racing hard on Saturday at the Sunshine Hill Climb.  Nice job babe!  As for me, I was sentenced to the basement to work on my case study for my certification weekend.  Almost there just two more weeks and then I get to tend to the weeds in the yard.

Joined up with the Freisems and BJames for some delicious Illusion Dwellers and burgers at So Sun…home for a 2 hour nap and then straight to bed.  Feeling rested and enthused going into stabilizer.  I am looking forward to my first tri on June 6th with Your Cause Sports…raising funds for my trip to India in September.  Want to help?  Click here….

It’s crunch time for my sports and orthopedic certification - I’m testing May 29-30 and I’m a little book worm these days.  Getting up at 5:30 every morning, building muscles from 6-8am then heading out for my training, seeing clients, home, eat, sleep, repeat.  It’s all good, I’m going to ace it becuase it’s not like I’m really learning anything, I already know it all - it’s just the perfection piece that I am mastering.  Looking forward to getting this off my plate and filling that time with more training.

Got this cute this little photo of Vincent yesterday from my bro….I don’t know which I miss more, my sweet godson or the ocean behind him.  Little jerk gets my ocean every day….I love and miss them both so very much!  Can’t wait for my July visit.

With triathlon training you have the OD ride, the tempo swim, the endurance bike, the endurance run, tempo run, OD run, endurance swim, drill swim, the tempo ride and the brick.  Ahhh, the brick…to me, there is nothing more empowering, challenging or enjoyable than the brick.  I sometimes think about life after triathlon, it mostly just includes traveling the world; long rides across the French countryside, swimming in the Adriatic and running along the beaches of New Zealand - definitely an active lifestyle but not triahtlon specific.  A life beyond biking, swimming and running 6 days a week is a possibility but then I think about the brick and how much I love it and I think, for me, there is no life beyond the brick.  I think that workout will be with me forever.

Not a problem though,  I’ll just have to run to the Tuscany winery after long ride through the vineyards.

Recovery from Sunday’s race is moving right along.  My quads/hams were about an 8 on the soreness scale yesterday morning, 90-minute massage in the afternoon led to a soreness factor of 2 this morning.  After a fabulous swim and pool jog - I’m down to a 1.  Thinking I’ll hit the bike tomorrow and start riding the courses I’ll be racing this summer then back to running on Thursday.

Still riding high on Sunday’s victory and so eager to do more….but right now, my focus is study, study, study.  My Orthopedic and Sports certification is a mere 3 weeks away, I’m off the grid until then.

Yes, I made my goal yesterday at the Fort Collins half marathon and broke 2 hours with a 1:59:56 finish!  I worked hard for this time, raced it well, felt strong and did not have one ache or pain throughout the race.  My body felt so complete and as I popped into another gear at mile 7 then another gear at mile 10 for the last 5K I thought to myself, ‘there is absolutely no way I could do this without receiving regular massage, no way, no how’.  Then I thought about those people who are non-believers or say that its too expensive (yet they spend their money on other items that have much less value and equal price tags) or the worst excuse ever, not enough time….for those people I feel sad that they do not understand or trust the true power of massage.   Enough said…I could go on forever with this subject.

So here are my miles from 1 to 13.1 and my average then max heart rate:
Average HR – 179
Max HR – 191 (this is the hurt portion)
Miles:
1 – 9:22
2 – 9:13
3 – 9:01
4 – 9:07
5 – 8:59
6 – 9:29 (big hill)
7 – 8:57
8 – 9:11
9 – 9:15
10 – 9:14
11 – 9:11
12 – 8:57
13 – 9:58 (the 1.1 mile)

What do I say to all of this data - you kicked ass Jessica, nice job self, I’m proud of me!