Manic depressive cyclist?

Matt and I were about 30 minutes into our 70 mile ride Saturday when he turned around on the bike and stated, "I feel like I'm manic depressive!!!---one second, I'm feeling good, the next second I'm about to die to get off this BIKE!!!!" It was chilly, windy, and boring. We were alone the whole ride along the Natchez Trace, and neither one of us was quite, uh, feelin' it this morning.

Ohhhh, the joys of long bike rides----------the one reason we said we might never do another Ironman again ;) And, yep, here we are in the middle of another Ironman. Will we ever learn ? :) They say you have to forget the hurt of the race before you are ready to race again. Hmmmmmmmmm. This was our longest training week so far for Ironman Canada. We had two 2hour,5 minute trainer rides on Tuesday and Thursday, two 8 milers on Wednesday and Friday, and I lifted leg weights Thursday. How do ya think the legs felt? I'll give you a hint------------not like a "spring chicken" ;)

So, let's fast forward to Sunday. Hail and snow? Seriously?!! 70+ degrees the day before and then snow? Wow!!! We decided to make Sunday morning our recovery ride on the trainer and swap around our long run until that afternoon. We headed to church, and afterwards while we were eating at Newks, we noticed the 20+mph gusts as we were leaving, all while the snow flurries were picking up in intensity. Seriously? Mid-march and snow?? Did I mention that already?

We debated back and forth for a little while on our long run vs. being lazy bums the rest of the afternoon. The decision?

Long run completion-0
Lazy bums- 1

I have never quite enjoyed laying on the couch so much....mix that with eating brownies (hey--they were "healthy" brownies at least ;) and cinnamon pita chips, while we watched back-to-back episodes of Lost from Netflix, and you have a perfect day. Man, was that a much needed mental and physical relaxation day!! We knew we wouldn't appreciate getting our long run in before work, but that didn't stop us. We only got off the couch to grill dinner, and then get in the bed for more episodes of Lost. Ahhhhhhhhh laziness, how I've missed you ;)

The run this morning was brutally tough with ice/mist and heavy winds, but we perservered through it and the lunch time swim, so now it's all recovery for the week!!!!! YES ;) The little things that make me happy :)

Today's forecast? 32 degrees. Tomorrow? 78 degrees. As they say, if you don't like Mississippi weather, wait a day. It will change ;)

Wetsuits optional but encouraged ;)

---The image that comes to mind when jumping in our gym pool for the last week
Just to prove my point, we wore our wetsuits for our swim this morning. Ugh!!! The pool heater is out and they had to order a new part.........they say it should be in within the next few days. I know I'm sayin' a prayer ;) 70 degrees in a pool first thing in the morning is NOT my idea of fun!!!!

What IS fun, however, is Easely Amused, a painting place where you design your own painting ;) I took my friend, Staci, for her 31st birthday on Monday night and we had a good time!! We made a Family Tree. SO fun!!



Flashback to the past weekend: I had such a good weekend with Matt. We went to Nagoya Friday night, and then did a little SUV browsing. I have the itch to buy an SUV within the next year........maybe my early nesting to prepare for a baby? ;) Anyway, we "slept in" Saturday morning and met friends for a bike ride on the Trace......a lil chilly and a LOT windy, but we ended up helping a friend survive her first 84 mile bike ride that day, so it was motivating seeing her tough it out in not-so-fun conditions. Way to go Mel!!! We were so hungry by the time we finished biking that we decided to bust up in Sweet Pepper's deli at Renaissance. Oh the funny looks you get from random people when you're dressed like a cycling freak ;) I couldn't help but laugh, because the image that came to mind when we were walking around the deli was this:

Heeeheee heeee ;)

On to the rest of the weekend-----We had a good lunch, then came home and relaxed a little more. I was having a craving for Mexican queso dip, so we went out and got some take-out queso at a restaurant, then swung by Penn's and got some boiled shrimp (another craving-------no, I'm not pregnant ;) .........just tri-trained like a mad woman who hasn't seen food in months ;D We rented 2012 and had a little picnic in bed while we ate and watched the movie. Fun!!

Sunday was a long run morning, followed by blueberry muffins (Matt's Sunday morning tradition that has formed over the last year) and church. we took the puppies for a walk around the subdivision after lunch. They LOVED it and it was such a beautiful day!! Even though it was windy again, we decided it was worth it to go on our recovery bike ride outdoors to enjoy the weather a little more!! We biked around the rez area, from our house, came home, and I grilled out that evening to enjoy the daylight savings time. These are my FAVORITE types of weekends!!!!!!! We're such homebodies, and I wouldn't change a thing ;)
Monday morning, we decided to sleep in and Matt got up to leave for work a little bit before me. In the kitchen was the perfect end to such a great weekend ;)