I'm going to be honest when I say this. If I didn't have to work and all I had to do was train, rest, and race, I would be completely satisfied. This last week hanging out on the East Coast in Rye, NH has reminded me why professional racers go fast. Honestly, I think those of us who work should be given a lot more props then those who don't work, and for those who don't work...you should go fast...all the freakin' time..all you have to do is train, rest, and race (Okay I know it's not THAT easy)!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I wont quit my job, but certainly would love to cut back my hours, but I can't because I need money to pay for this damn sport I'm in. It makes me wonder if those I'm racing against realize how much I spend (and you my readers have donated) out of my/our pocket book. For those who are on teams and have never done this on their own, they don't know what it's like and how difficult it is! You know what else is hard? Not knowing many of the competitors I'm racing against, not knowing the media, or anyone around for that matter. I feel like I'm this little star working for brightness trying to find her place. While I am so perfectly content being a lone, sometimes I want a friend with me. I want someone to walk around with and talk about the race, the best part of the course, how much fun we had, or didn't have, where we could have worked harder, or why for some reason after 5 laps I just couldn't manage to perfect that one corner. It's not too much to ask for is it? Okay, enough with the sad talk, let me tell you how awesome it was to forget about work, train on the seacoast, and live with some awesome hosts (by far the best I have had).
Basically, Thursday and Friday I was in a coma from the red eye flight and time change, Saturday and Sunday I raced, so Monday I relaxed. I was left a vehicle in the event I wanted to go anywhere, so I decided to check out Portsmouth, which was about 9 miles away from where I was staying. This little seacoast town was SO cute! It reminded me a lot of Fairhaven back home. Brick buildings, cute shops, everything adorable. I did some shopping and found myself a new pair of Seven Jeans (as if I needed a new pair). My justification for my jean shopping was:
- No tax in New Hampshire
- I raced really hard over the weekend and earned $200 in prize money, so I really deserved the new jeans.
- I hadn't bought new jeans in a year
- My jeans last me a long time since I hardly wear them because I'm in spandex 90% of my life.
Later that morning I received a text and my awesome hosts asked if I wanted to go for an easy spin down their RailTrail (I would compare it to the Interurban in Bellingham, only pancake flat). It was a beautiful day, and I couldn't say no to that, so all three of us rolled out to the trail in the late afternoon, spun down the trail, visited and enjoyed the beauty of the color changing trees. Spin out day done and it felt SO good!
Tuesday, Jeff (the husband host who owns the shop) has the day off, so I took my time getting out of bed (completely slept in until 9am), ate a little breakfast and then we rode into Portsmouth (SO CUTE) and sipped on coffee and ate delicious baked goods and rode home, where I completed training day #1 of the week. It felt soo good to ride down the seacoast and the scenery is just fantastic, and did I menage how pancake flat it was? The best part after being done with training? I get to rest! I didn't have to rush off to work or stress about being somewhere, I literally got to sit on my ass. Wednesday was kind of like Tuesday, slept in, trained and had a generally awesome time, and then rested some more! Man, this no working thing is amazing. Training day #2 completed!
Guess what I did Thursday? I slept in till 9. I had a very relaxing morning and then decided an awesome spin to the beach to hang out would be the perfect way to spend my day. And that's just what I did, cruised around the neighborhoods, sat at the beach and drank coffee. My perfect day. Friday was the usual "open the legs up" day and pack up for the weekend because Providence, RI isn't close to Rye, NH and I was leaving bright and early for the races on Saturday morning and staying the night there on Saturday night.
Here is what I learned after a week of training, resting, and NO work! IT'S THE LIFE! I seriously feel like my training is such a higher quality when I was able to get the proper amount of sleep and rest needed to allow my body to re-cooperate after training. Every day was a solid day of riding that I know in a couple of weeks will really pay off. I never thought my work was that exhausting until my chiropractor pointed it out to me. He pointed out to me how active I am throughout the day and how the line of work I am in can be very tiring and it's important that I get the proper amount of rest and sleep every day so my body can rebuild. He's so smart. Now, about that sponsorship, who wants to sponsor me? :-)
Providence race recap next up!
