Cindy Present | Get Out Girl

The 70.3 Ironman in Galveston was hot and humid...very hot and humid. And monotonous. Four laps on the run course through Moody Gardens (and for those of you that remember, no sign of Emily for the entire run!) Anyway, it was tough..to keep moving through the hot, thick air and keep spinning those laps thru Moody and Schlitterbahn. It was somewhere during the third lap that this fiesty, cute little blonde gal zipped up beside me through the crowded sidewalk course and said "Come on. Let's do this thing together." My immediate thought was that it sounded like a definite way to bonk. I didn't want any part of it. "Go ahead, girl," I said. You're killin it!" Well, wasn't too long before I had slipped back up to her, then her behind me then we swapped again and again...throughout the last 6 miles or so..till I lead her in. She killed it, all right. And just about killed me. But it took me to a PR half ironman course time. Well, fast forward about...

Lazy River, Splash Zone, Water Volleyball and Basketball, Waterslides, Rafts and Tubes, Bar and Grill, Mega-Jacuzzi...perfect for recovery from Dam That Cancer. Oh, but wait...I am here for the Lap Pool! I was given the opportunity to swim at Tech today while in Lubbock. Although totally inspired by this top notch aquatics facility, I feel like I am at a spa resort instead! It is 108 degrees here today but this place will keep ya cool and happy! The lap pool was awesome but after the jacuzzi and lazy river I am thinking that "recovery" mode is a lot more enticing than "training" mode. But that's why I am in Lubbock...to shift gears and get back to training for Vegas and Kona. Good thing this facility isn't in Austin!

Well, kind of thought I'd be focusing more on lake and family time for Summer 2011 - at least until I got closer to the September World 70.3 Championships in Vegas. However, ending up on the podium at IMTx kind of changed all of that. God's plans continue to surprise me - and keep my life quite full - but I wouldn't have it any other way than His!! I've had 2 weeks of minimal workouts, sleeping in and basically "no schedule" other than coaching and family commitments. I think that's been the nicest thing - none of that looming "head chatter" of what training needs to be done, how many workouts for that day and how to juggle them between other commitments. There are only so many hours in the day and many days leading up to IMTx, between kids, school, coaching and family commitments, I literally could have used a few more hours on several days. But summer is here and with that a "lighter" family schedule. I have discovered that the "...