Tuesday, November 23, 2010

New Hobby

5 weeks and still no bike ride.  Not even close, actually.  So, without riding, I have a lot of free time on my hands.  Also without riding, it seems my body is not as intolerant to wheat as it once was.

Free time + not riding + not gluten free anymore = beer.

I have never liked beer.  Gluten free or not, I didn't like the taste of it.  Then something happened.  A couple months ago, we went on a cross bike ride and everyone had to drink beer at the top of each mountain.  By mountain 3, I was actually looking forward to the beer stop. 2 weeks later, post cross bike ride, I tasted the most wonderful thing ever (second only to espresso); Older Viscosity from Port Brewing Company.  I was hooked.  I couldn't believe there was actually beer that tasted like chocolate AND whiskey.  Problem was, Older Viscosity is quite expensive.  So, I had to find a beer I could drink and that wouldn't break the bank.  This quest, has turned into a new hobby.

What's the difference between a Stout and a Porter?
How many calories are in each kind of beer? (that matters as I am not riding right now and do not wish to weight 200 lbs)
How does tap differ from bottle or can?
What other beers taste good?

Though beer is not quite filling the void left by my bike, it is keeping me busy. This new hobby is time, money, and taste bud consuming, and though I don't drink beer everyday, it has me looking forward to happy hour.

Monday, November 15, 2010

New Experiences

Sometimes, when you least expect it, new experiences and new people come your way.  In these situations, people can do one of two things.
1- get nervous, and quickly try to make the situation more comfortable by doing "normal" things.
2- embrace the situation and be excited at the chance to try something new.

Such was the case for me on Friday and Saturday.
I got a call Friday evening from a man who had supposedly found my credit card.  I didn't even know it was missing and how did he get my phone number?
I looked around and sure enough, my card was gone. Weird.
So, I could do one of two things-
1- call my credit card company, cancel my card, hope the guy never calls me again, and call it good.
2- call the man back, meet him, get my card back, and hope he has not bought anything with it.

I chose #2...the more uncomfortable (for me) choice.
Turns out, I made the right choice.

We met at a coffee/tea place I NEVER go in Boulder, The Tea House.  I ordered something I had never tried (also uncomfortable for me), and I met a really nice man who had great stories to tell and made for nice conversation.  I got my card back, and made a new friend.  It was a great, though somewhat uncomfortable at times, experience.

The tea I ordered (a "display" tea), some kind of white jasmine tea, opened up and looked like a flower at the end.
Though interesting, it was quite good.

Because I've done it in my past two posts, here's a dang cute picture of The "Moe" Dog, Jackson.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Stalking

Here's a recent conversation I had-
"You've got to update your blog more often".
"Why?"
"Because I like to stalk you and know what you're doing".
"Oh. That's a little weird.  Plus, you know what I'm doing.  Nothing.  Healing."

Then I got to thinking about it.  I do it too.  I stalk a few people on their blogs.  I want to know what they're doing, what's going on in their life.  Weird. But true.

So, here's what I'm doing. 
I'm sitting at FasCat (where I work) drinking tea and hang'in out.  An hour ago, I ate lunch and watched a tri guy do a workout with O2.  Everyone needs supervision...
In 45min, I will go to Salon Salon for a hair cut with Renee.  That's followed by a few errands then home to hang with the doggies, make a fire, and chill some more.

Are you still interested?

So, stalk all you want.  I'm not doing much these days.  Coaching, chilling, healing, stuff.  I'm pretty happy and that's all that matters.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Everything Happens for a Reason

My Dad once told me, "everything happens for a reason".  At the time, I thought that was the stupidest advice ever.  Why in the world would God or "whoever" break my ankle and not let me to go Nationals?  That's totally dumb...  But I never forgot that advice, and over the years, I also have come to believe 100% that everything does happen for a reason.

I look back on things that have happened in my life and almost always the good things happen after a bad thing.  No matter how bad the bad thing was (broken ankle, surgery, no Nationals) something good came from it (more motivation for the next season, kick ass, make the US Ski Team).

Being a believer of the "everything happens for a reason" philosophy, makes the bad things much more tolerable, because sometime in the future, either near or far, something good will come of it.

Such is the case with my current situation.  Status- still injured with pain in my Achilles.  It all started with a small tear in the tendon and I made it worse by continuing to ride and walk around.

I gave myself a week of rest to heal, then tried to ride again.  I couldn't even make it 10 minutes without pain. Shit.  The CX season was finally beginning to ramp up and I really wanted to race. I had told all my sponsors I was going to race and there was no way I'd be able to race.  My body was simply saying "NO".  So, after a few days of thinking about it and talking to others, I decided to "pull the plug" on the CX season and focus on getting better.  Right away a big weight lifted from my shoulders and I instantly felt better.  I was tired, I was tired of traveling and I was tired of riding hard.  I needed a break and injuring my Achilles was my body's way of giving me a break.

Now, I can rest, heal, and enjoy being at home.  I used to take 4 weeks off every October.  I wouldn't ride my bike and I'd eat and drink whatever I wanted to, guilt free.  It felt good to have a "free" month to do or not do whatever I wanted.  For the past two years, I have not had that break. Between racing CX, coaching, and general enjoyment of my bike, I have not taken the time off that I have needed.

Everything happens for a reason.  It took injuring my Achilles to realize that I'm tired, I'm unmotivated for racing and I need a break.  I have to admit, I'm extremely relieved to have guilt free time off. Yes, I'd like to ride or hike or take the dogs for a walk, but mostly because I feel like I'm getting fat after two weeks of doing nothing, not because I am ready to "train".

Everything happens for a reason.  I've gotten to know our FasCat PT, Ann Trombley, and I really think of her as a friend now. I've gotten to experience Acupuncture, which is a blog post all in it's own, and I'm actually looking forward to Nordic skiing.

I really hope my Ahcilles heals soon, but I'm not stressing about it.  When my body is ready, it'll come.
For now, I'll enjoy Jackson the Moe Dog's company as he keeps my knee warmer, that I use for icing, safe.