"It's a Long Way To The Top..."

In the wise words of ACDC, "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll". I want to rock and I want to roll and I'm going to succeed. I can feel the determination; it's the aching in my quads, the tightness in my hips, the twinge in my shoulder... And I love it!

Yesterday was epic. I don't know if epic is the best way to describe my day yesterday, but I'm using it anyway. My cycle class was full. Full. Ah! Stoked! I've never had a full cycle class. And this class was GOOD! We did hill work- lots of it. My lunch time cycle class is probably my favorite group of cyclists. They are all in phenomenal shape, they push themselves to their limits and they talk to me. They yell, they grunt, they groan, they cheer. Now THAT is my definition of epic. The guys tease me about being too hard. I love it. I feel so motivated by that class. About a month back, this woman decided to try my class for the first time.

"Now don't make me sweat too much," she commented. "I have to go back to work after this."

The gnarliest guy in the room turned to her and said, "You cannot take an Ashlee class without sweating. You will leave here dripping."

And that she did.

I love when people comment on how hard my classes are. My Wednesday class (Pure Awesomeness) is the class that all the young, tough guys go to. This last Wednesday (the one where I didn't want to run afterwards), I overheard two of the buff surfer boys in the back row. I had them doing these drop down football drills and one of them turned to the other and said, "Dude, she's insane." The other responded, "Yeah, and after this I bet she's going to go swim or run 500 miles." Hearing that and having Jameisha say she would stay is what inspired me to keep going even when I wanted to quit. Then I got a text from the boyfriend saying that his best friend's fiance, who had come to my class for the first time, had said I was an animal. Stoked. I mean, that's why I do this. I don't want to feel like less than the best.

Anyway, back to yesterday. My tri group met for a swim session. We did 1500 meters, focusing on seeing where they were fitness ability wise. Three people showed up, including my supportive boyfriend. It was fun though. I started my swim before the group met, but had to cut off halfway through and finish after. Josh and Armando are strong swimmers. It was fun seeing them compete against each other and watching their form to see what I could do to improve mine. Dani was there again, too. I really like her and I'm stoked Nash recommended she look into me for a tri coach!

After our swim, Josh and I did a speed and muscular endurance run at the track. I've decided I want to name the track; maybe that will give me motivation when I'm running it. Running the track is one of the most boring things you can do. Sure, it's great when you're working distance drills, but for muscular or anaerobic endurance workouts, I'd much rather have a change of scenery. Trouble is, I can't decide if I want to name it something cheerful to motivate myself to go ("Yeah, Dude, I was on Maui for two hours tonight") or something horrible because it suits it better ("Aw man, I have to run sprints on El Diablo this evening". Any suggestions?

This morning's cycle class was pretty brutal: Force work for one hour. Five five-minute seated hills at zone 5. I told you it was a long way to the top, but we got there!

Josh is on his way here now to give me a good morning kiss (stoked!), then I haven't decided whether I'll swim or lift before teaching aerobics. I'm doing both today (plus Pilates), but I want to check in on the pool before I make my final verdict.

Tomorrow our tri club meets at noon! Feel free to join us! Come prepared for anything! Meaning, bring your swimsuit and clothes you can run in!