Ignoring Speedbumps

    Life has thrown a few speedbumps in my path the last two weeks, making it hard to stay focused and true to myself and my training. But as always, I have managed to soldier on. Last weekend was rather epic, in the overall scheme of things. Saturday, a dear friend invited me to run a 5K obstacle course with her, I hesitated for a brief moment, knowing I had a five mile trail run the following day. But what the hell? I decided to think of it as a big training block for the weekend. It was hilarious good times. No, it wasn't one of the brutal, kill 'em if you can, over the top, sado-masochistic obstacle course races that have been surging to the fore. This was more along the lines of a military training course. Walls to jump, hills to climb, mud pits to crawl through, traverse walls, and the frigid, ice-filled water obstacle to crawl through near the end. Yeah, that one was a motherfucker, and just plain mean. I finished second in my age group out of 27 women, not too shabby for OCRs not being my usual venue.
    Sunday was my first trail run of the season, Havoc at The Hideout. Five miles, all hills. I swear, this course had no flats. None. There were some rolling hills, but no flats. There were hills so steep that no one was running up, and some downhills so steep and muddy we had to slide down on our butts. There was not a single clean butt at the finish line. I passed runners, and was not passed, not once. It was a great feeling. What glorious good fun, and a great way to spend a sunday morning!
    I have decided that entering races is the best way for me to keep my running mileage up. I am not a motivated runner, sad to say. Swimming and cycling, hell yes, I can put in the time and tedium. But running? Not so much, unless I am goaded on by competition and interesting venues. Unfortunately my saturdays in June are consumed by my First Responders course, so it limits available races to just a few.
    The last few weeks I have focused hard on swimming and cycling, since my new job has me on my feet all day. Several days a week I am getting up early to spend an hour indoors on the bike. The weather has been so nasty lately that I haven't had Joshua out on the road yet. But that is changing. I have the clip in shoes I have been needing, and the weather should be easing up a bit. I have decided to try to cycle to and from my classes in June, and do stairclimbing during lunch since I will have the training tower at my disposal.
    So much to do, and the clock is ticking. I feel good about where I am and where I am going. Now, enough putzing about on the computer, I am heading to the pool for a massive swim to start my day.