It's Time to Party, Let's Party!

Today I had the best experience ever. We did a 50 mile ride for base miles, and oh man, did it feel great. About halfway through, I was grinning and thinking, "this is the best way to spend an afternoon." I finally feel like I'm in college- hanging out with friends, on a sports team, et cetera, and for the first time, I'm almost proud to be from Rutgers as we're all riding in our kits. My confidence is back after the ride, and I'm even more excited for the weekend.

It was great experience practicing riding with a group after a couple weeks of primarily trainer-based rides. My legs felt awesome, even on Coppermine, and they stayed feeling strong the entire time. So much, in fact, that when I got home, I actually decided to go for a brick. Ran inside, threw on my running stuff and went out to run for half an hour. Not a super fast run or anything, but decent, and my legs still felt great.

Speaking of bricks, I've decided that I'm going to do the Black Bear half Ironman at Jim Thorpe at the end of May- it's a closer one than the Rev3, so I won't need a hotel. Also, it's a rolling hill bike course, so I figure I'll have the advantage of a really strong bike base. And I think I convinced Don to do the NJ State Tri with me in July!

Got some cranberry juice and Doritos (whatever, after that ride I can eat them) and now I'm eating a pb&j sandwich. God, I'm a 7 year old!

This morning was good too- did my Iron Yoga and got a good stretch in my neck and lower back where I was super tense. Then went to Princeton to meet my internship director to talk about a bunch of stuff- got a lot more work to do, but I'm actually pretty excited about it.

Yesterday at the pool was also great- Cristian joined Don and I for a swim, and it was a lot of fun. We raced the first lap and then he was watching me swimming laps for 45 min straight and he'd stop and be like, "how are you going so fast?" It was a huge confidence boost. I think that my swim times were improved, since I only had a 50 min relaxed trainer ride and a ride to the gym beforehand. So I got a solid swim workout in, had a good time, and got home at a decent hour, got a ton of sleep, and had a generally good day.

I've also realized that toning down the medications that I've been taking for IBS and drinking more tonic water with quinine in it have been cutting down my cramps, making my stomach function better, and I've been feeling a lot better. I've also been making a point of stretching a lot more before and after workouts. I know I should do it all the time, it's just a habit I never got into, and now I'm trying.

Gotta eat and get psyched up for hill repeats tomorrow, assuming my legs still feel good in the morning.