Skinny #1 Racing

Had a big day today. This morning we had team time trial practice. This was by far my hardest ride of the year effort wise, 3.5 hours. I was really pushing, and really spinning a lot of times because I only have a 13 tooth in the back. I remedied that by ordering an 11-23 today. The ttt is on Saturday morning, and then Saturday afternoon we have a 45 mile road race on the same course. By then my legs are going to be pretty toast. On Sunday we have the Oval Crit, which I can't wait for. This afternoon I went and played soccer for 1.5 hours, scoring two goals in the process. It was a lot less organized and there were way too many people playing but I still got my fair share of touches. I developed a pretty fierce blister on my right heel though. I think I'll have to go dubs on the socks next time to fix that. I think I'll be playing again on Thursday because I have Wednesday night worlds tomorrow.

I often look to see how people came to my site, and I have encountered the funniest so far today. On google, someobdy searched for "hip hop aerobics classes that make you skinny" and ended up reading my blog...way too funny.

Arizona was a lot of fun. I got in a lot of good riding, and I'm really getting a feel for my new 29er. I rode my campus bike around today (which is a rigid 26 inch bike) and it felt tiny. I rode every day in Arizona from Saturday to the next Sunday, with the exception of Friday. I went and visited my cousin in Prescott, and then we drove through Sedona because I had never been there before. I would have rather ridden my bike but oh well, now I've seen Sedona. I forgot how rocky one of the trails in McDowell was. The time trial course from the 2005 Norba. The first and second thirds of the loop are super fast and smooth, but that middle third is just brutal, I wish I would have had a free ride bike for it. I've got some nasty burn lines and sun burns in general, and my arms are peeling like crazy. I wish I would have worn sun screen the first few days!

I ended up not racing on Sunday. I never got a phone call from anyone wanting to race, and it was a road race so I didn't really care if I went or not. That meant that Saturday I was free to do whatever I wanted, which included me going for a bike ride and messing around in the park for 1.5 hours. After I got back, I hadn't had enough of the park so me and some friends headed back. We swung on the swings for a while, and then had some INTENSE games of tag. Wow...it felt so good to play such a simple game. The only problems were that my shoes were filled with sand by the end, and my shin splints are worsening. I was definitely feeling them Friday night after soccer, and they were even worse Saturday after tag. I played some soccer again today and iced my shins afterward. I guess I just shouldn't run as much.

In a little while we are headed to "hip hop" classes at the student rec center. We've been going to a lot of classes lately, and I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm supposed to get a great aerobic workout while learning some of the newest and hottest dance moves. Maybe this will prepare me to go shred up the club sometime...haha.

I just got done playing soccer for 3.5 hours. I went last Friday and it was a lot of fun, so I decided to go again before I can't because I'll be racing. My team consists of a whole bunch of white guys, and 90% of the people there are Arab or African, so for the first time in my life I am a minority. It's really funny though, because both times I have ended up being on the best team. That's really good, because when you win you get to keep playing, but when you lose you have to sit for a while. I almost scored a few times today, but I guess it just wasn't meant to happen. I won't be able to play next Friday because I'll be chillin in Fountain Hills, but I guess that's a good thing. I may go play Thursday night with a kid I met tonight.

It's been super windy lately, and I've been super tired from riding my bike and hitting up all the aerobics classes. Wednesday night I did a class called STRONG, followed by a core conditioning class with 2 miles of running somewhere in between the classes. Yesterday I rode 2 hours hard in the wind, and then did lower body strength and step interval. Let's just say my body is definitely taking its toll. After lunch today I went and sat in the hot tub for a while to try to feel a little better. Well, I've got that race coming up on Sunday so I better do some stretching and then head to bed.