Accountable to...

me alone. 

Or am I?  I'm talking about triathlon specifically of course.  Am I accountable to you guys?  Those that read my random ramblings and musings?  Am I accountable to Coach Liz?  Am I accountable to my friends?  My best friend?  My family?  Really?  The reality is that when it comes to training and competing in triathlon... I'm accountable to no one but myself.  

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, Saturday, while down on the Northern California coast with the family, I had a 3 hour ride to get done followed by a quick 20 min run.  I had to drive into Arcata to start my ride down on the tidal flats... about 20 min away.  Got there.  Suited up. Unloaded the bike.  Grabbed my PowerT.... oh CRAP!  I forgot my PowerTap!!!!!  My heart sank. Ok, what I really did was throw down some f-bombs!  Cathartic really.  Anywho.  So I started thinking, "CRAP!  Now I won't have the data!  I can't send it to Liz and she can't analyze it and get more perspective on where I am in my training!"  The data the data the data the data! Then it occurred to me... Judas PRIEST!  Gimme a break!  What the hell ever happened to perceived effort???  What ever happened to pushing till you feel like you're going to scream, cry, puke, poop, then pass out?  THAT is part of the reason I do all this crapolio!  To get to places physically that open up creaky/cracked/decayed doors in my head, look around, and go, "Sweet!".  Do you NEED a PowerTap to get there?  Sometimes its helpful... but mentally... don't you need to be able to get there without that tool?  Answer?  Yup.  Yup ya do.  Long story short. I had one of the best rides I've ever had in the last couple of years!

OH!  Sidenote!  The second hour of the ride was 8 X 8 minute hill climbs... overgeared.  Yum. So, did I mention that I did these hill-repeats really close to the Humboldt State University Campus?  Did I mention that Humboldt County is basically the pot capital of the nation?  Not to stereotype or anything... but there's a LOT of hippies in Humboldt.  So I'm cranking up this hill and there's this dude sitting on his porch... dreadlocks and all... just smiling at me.  He's like, "Nice riiiiiiide maaaaaaan."  I'm like, "Thaaaaaaanks bro.  You gonna keep me company? I've got 7 more to go."  He's like, "Maaaaaan.  That's hardcore bro."  For the next 7 repeats... he gave me little hippy encouragement every time I passed him... up AND down that hill.  I think we both made each other's day.  Only when you're out training right?  I mean, stuff like that just doesn't happen if you're on the couch.

Anyone wanna play catch?

So... I head into this week pretty spent.  I'll be retesting in all 3 sports throughout the week... to get a grasp on where I am with my training.  Good stuff.

Hope you're all happy and healthy.  Thanks for taking the time to read.

Breathe...