Race Week...Wait, did I really just say that?

Whoa.

I've got a race this Sunday!

Yahoooooooooooooyippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

(can you tell I'm a little excited?)

Now, let's be honest: this is just a tune-up for Steelhead. My coach wants me to have a race before Steelhead because I haven't had a race since September of 2006.

(Yeah. It was that race.)

So for the first time in over a year and a half, I'm going to suit up here and give it a go. I'm not gonna lie, though....it's going to be hard to NOT drop the hammer (relatively speaking, of course)! But I'm going to try and focus more on smooth transitions, keeping my watts where they need to be, and being smart. It's pretty far away, but my good buddy is having a Murder Mystery Luau Party the night before and she lives about halfway there, so I'm going to crash at her pad and drive up at the crack of dawn in the morning!

I've been having some great training sessions lately--Friday before the festivities began, I rode 2:30 and then ran 15 off the bike. Watts were where they needed to be, pace was spot-on for my goal for Steelhead, and the run was better than I thought it would be. Saturday's run was a little sluggish, but I'm thinking that staying up really late wacked me out a bit.

So I'm feeling pretty good...except for the 48 hour bender of birthday ice cream, cookout food, and Mexican food I've been on (my favorite...every year!). But that's done tomorrow. Hey, you gotta let loose a bit on your birthday, right?

Speaking of which, I had the most fun weekend EVER with my buddies Friday night, family and friends Saturday night, hiking with my boys today (pics to come tomorrow--wait until you see The Bug's sweet backpack) and family this evening. Sharing a birthday weekend with America works out pretty well.

:)

Race day, here I come!