Much like last year, the aftermath of Dirty Kanza has left me kind of aimless and unmotivated. I can’t blame exhaustion or recovery since I felt pretty good within a day or so after the race; it’s more a symptom of summer vacation-itis combined with no big goal. I’m in that “I’m off, so why would I get up early?…maybe I’ll run later” mindset.
On the other hand, I haven’t been quite as sedentary as 2012, when I did three bike races and basically sat around gaining weight hiding from the summer heat. My exercise has just been a) pretty mild and b) just more part of everyday life.
Our second foray into mountain biking wasn’t nearly as fun as the first; I think J had higher expectations for himself and was VERY negative the majority of the time we were out. By that evening, though, he was talking about the next time, so I guess he wasn’t too emotionally scarred. Also, listening to his out-loud version of the kind of self-talk I’m thinking when I get frustrated made me commit to being a little easier on myself.
In addition to the mountain biking, J and I have been using our bikes to get around, riding to the pool and to his cousin’s house to play. “Wow!” he said the first time back on pavement, “This feels so easy!”
We hit Six Flags for the day, and it was actually fun bc J finally got over his fear of roller coasters (well, before he wasn’t afraid; they were “boring”). I love roller coasters, so this was great news after two straight years of either riding solo or skipping them altogether.
After 20 years of successfully avoiding Little League sign-ups, I lost the battle this year. I have memories (well, memory, bc I think I only went to one game) of being bored silly baking I the sun at one of my little brother’s interminably long baseball games and was dreading the season. It’s actually pretty fun, and it’s especially fun to hear the opposing coach warn his fielders, “Big hitter…back up,” when your little boy is batting. (That said, while he’s fairly consistent I wouldn’t consider him a big hitter.)
Otherwise, I’ve been trail running some with Chuck, Robin, and Patrick. Wow am I out of running shape. It hasn’t been pretty. But it’ll only get worse the longer I avoid it, and Luke, Bob, and I have big plans to not suck at this year’s Thunder Rolls 24-hr. Hard to believe August will be my first non-non-race adventure race of the year.
Finally, though my family is ruining my life has plans that prevent me from doing the Indian Camp Creek 9 hr mountain bike race this year, I’ve still gotten a chance to get my bike out on the trails this summer. Cliff Cave with J, Broemmelsiek and Creve Coeur on my own, and Lost Valley with Chuck and his son Jacob. Lost Valley is where I did my first ever mountain bike ride, so it’s always been a place for me to measure my progress. While there was still lots of wimpiness and chickening out, I felt more comfortable and, if not actually confident, at least less un-confident, than in the past.
The rest of the summer is probably going to look a lot like the way it started. Sleeping in, reading, walks and hikes, trips to the pool, putting a little more wear on my running shoes, and lots of time on the bikes both with and without J. Can’t complain about any of that.
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See you at Thunder Rolls!