New Resolve

I had a really nice ride last night - just zone 1 stuff, cruising on the cross bike, nice. And it was like, 36 degrees out by the time I finished (2.2 degrees celsius for you euro types). Weird, huh? It was cold out, and I actually liked it. What the hell is wrong with me?

Well, whatever it is, if it can stick around for the next 6 months I'll be stoked, 'cause it's only getting colder from here on out. So I'm resolving to spend as few days on the trainer this year as possible. Unless there's like, 4 feet of snow or an ice storm, I'm going to stick it out. I need some heated insoles . . .

This weekend we're heading down to Santa Cruz for some Halloween cyclocross, beach camping, mountain biking, and relaxin'. My boyfriend is apparently the only person in the world who doesn't thing that Santa Cruz is like, Camelot, so try as I might to get him pumped on going on a mini vacation with me he's just not giving me that stoked-to-be-pumped response I've been looking for. Well pfffft! Fine, I'll DRAG him down to horrible, miserable, sunny Santa Cruz and FORCE him to camp at the beach, an BELITTLE him into riding his bike on totally wonderful UCSC singletrack - poor guy's got a rough life.

But now I'm getting ready to go ride my MTB with Miss 2nd in the Nation, Carla-Swart-beating Lizzy f'in English. I don't think she'll hurt me to bad . . . but part of me hopes she does.

Turns out . . .

. . . it's an infected blister. The heel, I mean. The spider bite's still a spider bite. So even though it hurts like a sonofabitch (kept me awake for most of the night, whimpering like a total nancy and feeling sorry for myself) I can do whatever I want and not worry about furthering an injury. And I got some antibiotics. Oh yeah, did I mention I went to the doctor? Good thing they didn't have to lance it or I'd be eating plain rice for the next 2 weeks. Yeah public option!

Dr. Marian

Been getting heavily involved in self-diagnosis these last couple days. First of all, there's something wrong with my left heel. After much Googling of symptoms I've decided that I have calcaneal bursitis - inflammation of the bursa that covers the area where the achilles tendon attaches to the calcaneous. It fits - redness, swelling, PAIN. I wore these old running shoes last week when I was up at Northstar marking the XC course for nationals, and they caused a pretty mean blister. Changed shoes for the next couple days - lots of running around, followed by going for a run on Tuesday. Woke up in the middle of the night last Thursday feeling sort of . . . ouchie. WTF? Thought maybe there was an infection or something with the blister, but it's not ooozie or anything, just painful. Like, when I accidentally kick it with my other foot I want to sit down and cry. Ice and Ibuprophen, don't let me down! It doesn't hurt when I ride, thank goodness, but running and, erm, walking (with shoes that cover my heel) hurts. I may be racing 'cross in my birkenstocks at this rate. Grrreat.

Next - the mean-ass spider bite I got on my . . . ass. Okay, no, it's on my upper, outer, right thigh. But it sucks. Also decended on my on Thursday night. Have determined that it is not from a Brown Recluse, or any other spider that delivers necrotizing venom, thank you jeee-sus! I've come to this rather relieving determination because of the lack of "pus", and "white ring, surrounded by red, around the bite zone, giving it a characteristic bulls-eye target appearance." Okay, that's not actually the quote, I'm paraphrasing. But no pus and no white ring. But I have a big swollen painful-itchy red area on my leg, and you can see it bulging out in my spandex. Grrrrrreat. And this one hurts too! I grabbed my hoodie this morning and the zipper whacked my leg right on my big puffy-ass bump. More sitting, more crying about it. If it doesn't go away in 7-10 days (business?) I'll have to bite the bullet and amputate my own leg. Orrrr . . . go to the doctor. In the meantime, more Ice, more Vitamin I.

Umm . . . what have I done to deserve two gimpy legs in one week? Stupid spiders, that's what I get for not killing them. Stupid nationals, that's what I get for volunteering and running my freakin' tail off for 5 days getting shit done.

So, I know Googling symptoms is a Bad Idea, but when you've got no health insurance and no credit card your options are seriously limited. Jeez, it's amazing I've survived as long as I have.

Wonderful Weekend

Hooray for a weekend to myself! No racing, no race promotion, no exams to study for, nowhere to travel to . . . bliss.

I'm thinking a fun ride on the cross bike, a walk with the dog, maybe a nap later. Perfect.

Saw the new team roster for the 2010 Touchstone team. And, while there's still some serious talent, a lot of the girls on the 1/2 team were cat 3's this last year who I raced with, but had somewhat better results (obviously, or they'd still be cat 3's like me). So that's cause for a little more confidence.

Okay, I've gotta go . . . lay in bed some more.

Big News

I am on a new road team for the 2010 season! Don't get me wrong - I freakin' love racing for Velo Bella, and will continue to do so for cyclocross. But on the road . . . I want to get my upgrade and race with a big fast team.



And the winner is . . . Touchstone Climbing! My coach suggested I talk to them, which is good because I would have been way too intimidated to do it myself. So . . . yay!

These ladies are fast, so I'm gonna have to step it up!

Podium Dog

What the hell am I doing? Is someone throwing something at me? Ummm . . . ???
Yay for my first podium of the CX season! From Sunday's Sacramento CX race.