Who is calling who crazy?

I headed north for the holidays to two different locations in upstate NY. First, Syracuse, where I usually welcome a white Christmas. Second stop, in the Catskill Mountains--also traditionally white on Christmas. There is no snow, of course, except for those lucky folks in Denver CO. I put a lot of miles on the car this week and saw only a few flakes of snow-disappointing to be sure.

I am in pre-season training so during the course of my journey, my bike was strapped to the rooftop and my trainer and spinerval DVDs were in the back of the car. For good measure, I threw in my helmet in case I felt like riding outside. I passed many cars with skis or snowmobiles in tow and even though it is almost January let's all admit that I looked the least craziest of these sports enthusiasts.

Ride your bike to work and cutdown on harmful emissions in your life if you want snow in the winter and something other than scorching temperatures in the summer. That's crazy talk for "do something in your life about global warming."

Where is she?

Hunting season started at the end of September...that is hunting for a new bike. I love my current bike but my high mileage has turned it into a "Dunlap", done all she could and lapped to the side. My bike is probably a hair too big for my upper body to comfortably come over the top tube. The more I learn about new bikes, the more I am certain that my current bike's misfit was largely responsible for my hip problems.

Bikes come in all shapes and sizes and my knowledge about components and mechanics definitely makes me a nerd. I embrace that. I have been on many a test ride waiting for a bike to scream out "You found me". What do I need? It has to be incredibly stable up front--my current bike and I have had some very unstable moments. It must be so comfortable after 6 hours of riding that it makes me feel like running 26 miles. Lastly, as I'm running it would be great if I didn't feel like my buttocks was still on the seat. I'd be remiss if I didn't say that it also has to fit in my budget.

I think my current bike has caught on to my hunt. It is shifting shamelessly without my touching the gear shift and my hip is hurting more. I hope she holds out and, more importantly, I hope my new bike reveals herself to me soon.

The Secret

For the last week I've been sick as a dog, out of the office three days--a personal record. With OTC drugs having little impact on my symptoms I drove myself to Urgent Care Thursday morning. Diagnosis: bronchitis, sinus infection. Armed with antibiotics, probiotics, and decongestants I waited for my symptoms to abate. They improved some but too slow in recovery for my pleasure.

How did I finally make the turn toward health? My secret weapon--massage therapy and moderate exercise. Earlier this year I had a similar health setback. I called my massage therapist and told her that perhaps I should cancel my appointment due to my germs. She recommended that the massage may in fact help move the cold through my system. How right she was. I'm a believer. If you have a bad cold and have turned the corner slightly toward health, get a massage to speed up the process. I admit, everything hurt during the massage but the day after my lungs were good enough to run 3 miles.

Pushing through

I think the sport of triathlon is all about pushing through. It takes a lot to put in all of the prepartation time, enduring long workouts when your hot or tired, working around injuries, working through pain or nausea during a race, and oh yes, quieting those mental voices that want you to quit.

Today I'm suffering through a cold which I know will get worse before it gets better. With that in mind, I pushed through my workout--2 hours on the bike and an hour run. Now I just want to lay in bed the remainder of the day.

I'm hoping my body will let me know when pushing through is not a great idea. I try to listen to the messages it sends me but I also hate failure. I've yet to post a DNF but I know there is one out there for everyone, I hate missing workouts so I rarely do no matter how sick or sore I am. The thought of failure motivates me.

The voices in my head are loud today, "REST, REST" but I just thought of small benchmarks in my workout to quiet them and push through.