Thirty in the mist

Thirty mile bike ride this morning in the rain...er, mist. It was COLD! I wasn't expecting that...before we left I put arm warmers under my windbreaker, and thank goodness I did. There were six of us riding this route, including my friend Amanda from swimming, who finally got herself a road bike after trying to do some tris last year with a hybrid (in her words, "That was such a stupid purchase.). I was expecting to be DONE at the end, but our pace was leisurely (I think we averaged 14.5mph), and the cold weather meant the effort felt a lot less than if it had been hot. So, I felt great afterwards...for about an hour. By 11:30, I was EXHAUSTED. I got Andra down for a nap in the stroller (she actually loves stroller naps and asks for them...great except it meant I had to go walk), and fell asleep on the couch myself. She woke up after about an hour or so, but when I just went to unbuckle her, she said, "No out!" and went back to sleep. My inlaws are supposed to be here soon to babysit and I get to go out...of course, I really just want to go back to sleep too...

Ring the bells that can still ring...

Wow. Nearly a month has gone by. I admit to not having much to blog about, but at the same time, I want to keep up a little bit, as I often go back and read old posts wanting to remember something. So...Achilles is improving. What seems to be helping the most is the electrical stimulation. It hurts A LOT when those 430 volts go into my heel bone...5 seconds on, 5 off, for 20 minutes. But for the last week I've done more normal walking, less limping. I can do more heel raises, and yesterday he showed me a new exercise to do that actually made my calves sore. Which means they are WORKING. Which is progress. We move onto jumping in another week or two, which he says is precursor to running again. I've been patient...why the hell not, you know? I might as well do what I'm told to heal this. I've been lifting twice a week and doing cardio once...bike mostly. Whatever...I'm accepting the seasonality of life, of MY life, and this is just a down time. Trying to control it would be torture. Accepting it feels right. When I can do more, I will do more. A friend of mine who has stage 4 breast cancer posted this quote:

“ Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. ”– Leonard Cohen (apparently a song, not surprisingly one I've never heard of)

I like it. At the moment it feels like none of the bells can still ring...but that's not true. Just accept.

I admit to being jealous of those who seem able to handle everything...jobs, families, stresses...and still manage to train, get faster, etc. That does me no good, but it's how I feel.

Trying to get the guts to sign up for a (flat) century ride out to Montauk in June. I have nothing else to look forward to athletically this year.

I volunteered at the Mother's Day 10k, and had blast. It was definitely more fun than running. Still, I wish I could have run it. I hope I am just building good karma.......