KNEEd I Say More?

Cockadoodledoo!

Yup, we're back here again.

Trail run, but this time it's later in the day. Bigger group of people today. Katrina, Anne, Susan, Noah, Josh, Jameisha and a couple of others I've never met.

We had an e-mail list going of who was coming.

"I'll be there." -Katrina

"I'll be there, if, and only if we can race (Katrina, that means you)... but I get a head start." -Noah

"I'm in." -Me

"Is that 'laugh at Noah as I pass him' Ashlee?" -Noah

"Yep, that's the Ashlee. Ashlee, 7 start time for us, but you might want to come at 7:30 to give Noah a little hope." -Katrina

Hahahaha. Oh Noah. "Noah, race you to the top for 200 burpees." -Me

Noah is a stud. He's one of the guys Josh does all his Tough Mudder stuff with. This guy is insane. They both are. And I'm going to run with them? I've done it before, but this close to Wildflower. Oh, it's on.

Okay, bad mentality. I got up to the trail ready and rearin' to go. We hit the path and Josh took off like a cheetah. Oh shoot. So, what did I do? Don't pace yourself, Ashlee. Go all out. Try to keep up with the beast. Show him how much you've improved. Bad, bad, HORRIBLE idea. I'm running hard and I make it about a quarter of the way before my knee completely gives out.

Listen to your body whisper and you'll never hear it scream.

You know when you're in a tight, enclosed space, like an elevator and you don't really want to talk to your friend because you know everyone will hear you, even if you whisper? Well, my knee was doing one of those awkward whispers, the type of whisper that everyone can hear in detail because, by golly, it is not a whisper.

"Shhh, knee. Shush. Just keep on keeping on."

"But Ashlee, it hurts. See? Twinge, tweak, kah-reen, cramp."

"Yeah, I feel it, but I can't let Josh think I'm a whimp."

"Okay, I'll try. Fooled you! I'm not going to try! I'm going to twist and blow out on you and cause you severe pain starting in your mid-back, running across your gluteus maximus, into the gluteus medius, down the IT band, along the quad, all up in that knee, down the gastrocnemius and ending in your pinky toe."

"My pinky toe? Really."

"Your pinky toe."

"But why?"

"Maybe you should stretch more. Put that foam roller to use."

"But knee..."

"No buts... only butts... feel that left glute? Mmmmm hurts so good... fooled you again! Hurts so effin bad!"

"I'm going to keep going."

"No, you're not."

"But I want to reach the top in 40 minutes flat."

"You didn't pace yourself earlier and you lost your energy stores. And remember that hike with Sophia yesterday? Well, you didn't stretch afterwards."

"You're right, I didn't."

"You got in a car and drove to Solvang."

"Yeah, I know, but I really want to make it to the top in under 40 minutes before I move to Wyoming."

"Tough."

"Darn you, knee!"

Hillbillies, Horseshoes and ADHD

Over a year ago, I was training for my first half marathon. This required me to put in a lot of mileage exploring my neighborhood and the surrounding area. Behind my house, I found a pathway in the dirt that looked like it led to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. I was tempted to pull an Indiana Jones on the trail, but I was running alone and didn't have my phone. My parents have taught me the importance of safety, so I turned around and decided to take a different route until I had a partner in crime to attempt the path.
For fifteen months, I have thought about that path... where did it lead? What adventures awaited me on the dusty trail? It haunted my thoughts, but I was just too scared of discovering the unknown alone.

Last night, work was cancelled, so Mavel and I made plans to meet up after my swim. I convinced her to run with me and I knew exactly where I would take her! You guessed it: The abandoned path.

I've lived in my house for two years now and had no idea that I literally lived within a five minute walk to the prettiest beach in town. The path unknown leads to several running trails overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a rope swing and a quiet, peaceful beach. Fear alone had kept me from this paradise!

My first instinct was: "Well, this must be a sign that I'm not supposed to move. I had no idea this was here! Think of all the other places I have yet to discover!" I was excited, but something pulled my heart in another direction and placed a counter thought in my head as I collected sea glass off the shore. I had just found my favorite spot in town, but it had been there all along... it was fear that kept me from this adventure, from the excitement, from the joy and from the discovery. What if fear of the unknown was keeping me from moving to Wyoming and some great adventure was awaiting me there?

I went home and prayed about it, drank on it, cried on it, texted about it, talked about it then prayed over it some more. My prayers were for God to shut the doors if it wasn't meant to be. I fell asleep texting my best friend Dana and praying about it. Today, I was ready to decide to stay in my town, but God surprised me by opening more doors instead of closing them.

Long story short, I'm putting all faith in God and moving to Wyoming in three weeks. Do I feel 100% at peace with my decision? No, not at all. But when I trust God, I feel at rest. Only when I think of everything I'm giving up do I begin to choke up and stress out and sob uncontrollably. Did it help that the boys at the gym gave me crap about it all through class? No, because I want to stay. I don't want to say goodbye to good coffee, warm beaches and my friends and clients. When I think about my 12:15 cycle class, I fall apart at the seems. I don't want to leave them. But I know God has big plans for me. For now, please be excited for me. In three months, please ask me to return to my home here.

Guys... I'm moving to Wyoming.

Forever a Twelve-Year-Old Boy

Last night at 11PM, as I lay in bed trying to calm my body down after teaching Pure Awesomeness, I decided to watch an episode of Scrubs. It was season 5, episode 3: My Day at the Races. As the main character nears his thirtieth birthday, he looks back over a list of things he had wanted to accomplish by the time he hit the big 3-OHHHH. He realizes he has yet to check any of these things off of the list. Lucky for him, there is a triathlon in town the day before his birthday. Determined to successfully complete one thing, he signs up for the triathlon.

Boy, oh, boy is he in for a shock. For the swim, he shows up wearing only a tiny red speedo for 42-degree water. He side strokes his way out to the buoy and back then hops on the bike and keeps a very light gear for the entire ride. Lastly, he wears his cycle shoes for the run and hits the wall/ bonks before the finish line. Fortunately, he has a wonderful gal pal who comes along to check in on him. With only 8 minutes remaining until the man turns 30, his girl friend picks him up piggy-back style and runs him to the finish line with her strong hamstrings.

This television show made me think of a couple of things:

1. Have I been checking things off of my list?

2. Do I surround myself with people who encourage me to accomplish my goals and who would give me a piggy-back ride to the finish line if I needed it?

Answers:

1. Yes, I have a bucket list, but I can only say that I've done one-fifth of the goals I had set out to accomplish. There are things on there that require traveling (i.e. ride the perfect wave in Australia and perform a 360 snowboarding in the Swiss Alps), but I can honestly say I have done what I can so far (i.e. eat organically for one month and complete a half marathon). I need to refine my bucket list and add some more things, but I am glad I have succeeded on some of my goals.

2. For the most part, I would have to say I do have an extraordinary support system.

Let's start with the most recent thing: RENEE AND I ARE DOING THE NIKE WOMEN'S MARATHON IN SAN FRANCISCO TOGETHER FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Yes, it's true! We both received our congratulatory e-mails this morning. We are the chosen ones! I cannot wait to run with my dear friend again! Just to see her will be a treasure, but to compete along side her and do something we both love together... oh, the joy that fills my heart!!! Renee has always been a huge support in my life. She constantly makes herself available to listen to my life stories and to share her life with me. Her bubbly personality always energizes me. I just adore this girl!!! I cannot wait until October!

After my trail run last Friday morning, I taught cycle. It was awesome because two girls from my college were there. One of these girls was Lauren. Little Miss Lauren used to be a student at the church where I was a high school youth leader. She was in my devotional group and we've always had a strong bond, even when we are far from each other. Lately, she has been taking some of my cycle classes at Fit Buddha. I love when she comes to my classes because she gets so excited to be there and I truly feel like an excellent instructor by the way she devours every word I say. It was cute, because at the end of one class, Lauren was stoked because her sweat marks made her look like she had a six-pack.

The rest of Friday was filled with coffee with friends, training and work. I remember being tired and not really wanting to go to work that day, but I thought about one of the members at my gym who I really wanted to see and that got me excited to go to work. It's amazing how much the members of the gyms that I work at motivate me. I love that they all believe in me and make me excited to teach. I am so grateful for people like Sharon, who tells me something she admires about me every time she sees me. Then there are people like Denise, who is a phenomenal athlete and actually invites me to go on bike rides with her. Does that mean she actually thinks I'm on the same level as she is? Wow! Honestly, I love the people I work around.

That evening after work, I swam. I'm getting much, much quicker at swimming. I swam 50m in 27 seconds, which may be slow for some, but for me, that was really quick. I worked on force, muscular endurance and aerobic endurance.
Saturday, I taught classes all morning. After work, I met up with Ben to go to the Earth Day Festival. It was actually really sad because I used to train Selma Rubin, one of the women who founded Earth Day. There was a memorial for her at the park this year and I was disappointed to know she had passed away and I did not get to say my goodbyes. She was a good woman and will be missed.

Ben and I could not find the Fit Buddha tent, so we walked to the running store to pick up my new shoes. After Ben took off, Sophia joined me and we walked around town all day, enjoying the sunshine. My new Pure Cadences are so pretty and white! I hope they stay clean... yeah right. It's been less than a week and they already have grass stains (told you, Ben!).

Maybe I have an addiction to running shoes.

Sophia has been a big motivator in my life as of late. She constantly encourages me and sends me links on upcoming races and health issues. I really enjoy having someone to talk about my training with who actually enjoys listening to me go on and on. I don't talk about much else, mostly because I don't know anything else and all of my memories are beginning to be centered on athletic things. She also is up for anything... 5AM trail run? Check. Pilates class? Check. Swim in the ocean... okay, maybe not EVERYTHING, but she's getting there.

Sophia and I after our first trail run in our new trail shoes

Saturday night, Sophia and I decided to go for a night hike. We invited Ben, Oliver and a couple of people from church. When I hike, my pride totally gets in the way of my kindness. I have to lead. If I'm not leading, I get antsy and irritated with the pace. I like to move quickly and, even if the person I'm with is moving quickly, the times when they slow down, I feel like stepping on their heels and making their shoes come off... it's the twelve-year-old boy in me coming alive.  Within the first two minutes, I had split the group. Oliver, Sophia and Ben held on for awhile longer, but Ben was challenging me. We came to the first stream and he went up onto the high rocks, leaving me in the dust. I didn't like the fact that he thought I was slow, so I pressed on as he allowed me to pass him, regaining my lead. I allowed myself to leave Sophia and Oliver behind and took a nice stroll to the top. Ben and I didn't speak much, we just hiked. It felt good to have someone go my pace.

On Sunday, I spent the day drinking coffee and walking the beach with Ben after work and before church. We found a baby sea lion chillaxing in a wrecked boat. He was adorable!

Gosh, this week has flown by. I can't believe it is already Thursday! What else happened? I've been training a lot, eating too much goodness and getting a cold. It's true. My muscles are super tense, my body is exhausted (I feel like I can barely stand), I'm tired and my throat is sore. I really can't afford to get sick right before Wildflower. If I must get sick, I pray it is right now instead of next week. Please, Ashlee, don't get sick. Maybe it will give me time to paint more though. Two of my latest paintings:

People know me now. It's awesome. Not just people people, but athletes. Famous cyclists know my name and coffee order. Trainers at other gyms contact me to ask if they can shadow my classes. Runners talk about me with their training buddies. I'm becoming a celebrity. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying not to let it go to my head, but seriously, this is so cool! I'm somewhat famous in these parts. I feel like them knowing me helps encourage me in my training as well. I have set the bar high and I have to keep it up there for the rest of my training days.

Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to my lovely friend Weston. Weston has been an inspiration to me since we travelled to Europe together in 2009 (is that right? Wow.... so long ago). The entire trip, I admired the way he stuck to his diet. He would always be very specific about how he wanted his food cooked and he only cheated a couple of times (who can say no to gelato?). The thing I respect most about Weston is when he is interested in something, he becomes zealous for that thing. I noticed it first with his studies. He was the only student in class who would constantly ask questions; it showed that he genuinely wanted to learn. I went to school to learn in order to pass the test. Weston went to school to expand his knowledge base. If I ever had a question related to health or exercise science, I would either ask my dad, Weston or Steven because these men (three of the men I respect the most on this planet) know their stuff. They won't give an uneducated answer and if they don't know something, they will take their time to learn. They amaze me. I wish I had the zeal they show.

Last November, I convinced Weston to run the Santa Barbara International Half-Marathon with me. It was such a great experience! Ever since, Weston has been totally committed to running. Last weekend, he competed in the Salt Creek 10K. This boy is an animal! He got fourth overall and first in his age group! Ahhhh! Weston, I am so proud of you! And the thing is, he looked like a winner while doing it? You know the photo of the most photogenic man running? That guy has nothing on Weston. I cannot put into words how much Weston has blessed my life even just in the past 6 months. I could not be more grateful to have a man like him as my friend.

My Country Song

*Please sing the following words to the tune of "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" by Luke Brian. If you know me, you will know exactly how the tune goes. This is a dedication to all the people who have motivated me lately due to the fact that my life has supposedly inspired them to get active.

Hey girl. Go on now.

You know you've got everybody moving.

Got a little thing I like to do

Where I go out and put on my running shoes

Grab my bike and ride the town

Jump into the ocean and swim for meters

Lift some weights and get much stronger

Do Pilates, hike a hard trail

Just watch me do my thing

Biking with the cyclists drinking their morning coffee

Race the runners sprintin' 'til the break of dawn
Thank the DJ for spinnin' that country song

Swim on, Bike on, Run on
Lift it for the boys, stretch it for the girls

In the ocean swimming away from the sharks

For my sister and the old men at the gym

Shake it to the moon, shake it for me girl, aww

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

The man on the bike outside my class

Put my picture on his bike to push him harder

My sister bought new running shoes

Weston won his marathon

Sophia got up early to trail run with me

Jameisha started biking because she saw it's glory

Ben ran six miles with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Biking with the cyclists drinking their morning coffee

Race the runners sprintin' 'til the break of dawn
Thank the DJ for spinnin' that country song

Swim on, Bike on, Run on
Lift it for the boys, stretch it for the girls

In the ocean swimming away from the sharks

For my sister and the old men at the gym

Shake it to the moon, shake it for me girl, aww

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

Tri on!

Now pace yourself on that run

As you gallop over rocks and across streams, yeah

Move like the river flows

Pull the water down your tight wetsuit

All I wanna do is put on my cleats and strap up my helmet

And get on my bike and ride fifty miles before the sun has set

You know what I do

Biking with the cyclists drinking their morning coffee

Race the runners sprintin' 'til the break of dawn
Thank the DJ for spinnin' that country song

Swim on, Bike on, Run on
Lift it for the boys, stretch it for the girls

In the ocean swimming away from the sharks

For my sister and the old men at the gym

Shake it to the moon, shake it for me girl, aww

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

Triathlete, swim hard for me, girl.

Bike fast for me, girl. Run quick for me.

The Plan

Wildflower 2012 is a week and a half away.

Race goal: to complete the course with strength, focus and stamina. 

Bike time goal: 115 minutes

Run time goal: 52 minutes

Swim time goal: 33 minutes

Total time, including transitions: 220 minutes

I have been wishy-washy with my training. My plan was set out, but I did not take the time to follow it step-by-step. Several variations were made. When I started, I overtrained and wrecked my body. Towards the end, in the building and peak blocks, I skipped several workouts, when it was crucial that I did not. My nutrition was very poor. I want to do Wildflower again next year just so I can redo everything, start from scratch and see the difference. I really think I could have approached my training more intelligently.

Plan B: If anything goes wrong, here are some adjustments I will need to make during the race to help me finish:

     If my knee bothers me... I will have to slow down on the bike and the run. Biking the hills will most likely aggravate it, but I had Dave Lettieri raise the seat slightly. I will need to practice riding a little to see if it is too high. I've noticed that since he raised it, I have not been able to produce much power and have to stay in the lowest two gears. This worries me because obviously I cannot race Wildflower in the lowest two gears. On the run, if my knee acts up, I will have to be okay with walking the course. Even typing those words hurts my heart, but I would rather finish slow then to damage my knee permanently. Ahhhh now I'm super stressed. Dang you, plan B.

     If I get a flat tire... supposedly they have people on the course to assist you if you have any bike problems. Before leaving to go up to the lake, I should watch some videos on how to change a tire and familiarize myself with the process.

     If I lose energy... have an extra bottle of water with Cytomax at the transition station. I will also leave a couple of Hammer Gels and a protein bar just in case. I will have some gel before the swim, bike and run portions, so I need at least 5 at my station. I may even eat a quarter of a protein bar before embarking on the run. I am bad about hydrating, so I will try to stay on top of my thirst. Note to self: attach extra water bottle cage before May 1st.

     If it rains... I will lower my tire pressure and keep my Hammer windbreaker in my car. I will bring an extra towel to cover my transition area... maybe even a small towel to leave on my bike. Otherwise, I will enjoy the rain and slow down on the bike turns.

     If my goggles leak or fog up... bring an extra pair. Last year, they broke right before the race, so it's good to have an extra pair. Buy some defogger and carry a bottle of Dawn detergent to rinse them with. I'll have Josh spit in them beforehand because his spit is the only thing that seems to work. If they start to leak, I will have to stop swimming and dump them. Grrrr.

Travel: I will drive up on my own Friday night because I will need my car to drive up to Fresno afterwards. I have not decided if I will work or not that evening. I will set up my tent that evening and wander around the next morning to see the set-up. It is crucial that I get the most sleep this night because 1. your body runs off of the night prior's sleep and 2. Saturday night is the night when everyone starts partying and being noisy, so I may not get a lot of sleep on Saturday.
    
     Food: Bring enough oatmeal for both mornings. 4 bananas. Ezekiel bread. Turkey. Tomato. Avocado. Lettuce. Cheese. Strawberries. Coconut. Walnuts. Baby food. Protein powder. Spinach. Peanut butter. Jelly. Dried fruit. Sweet potatoes. Tortillas. Shredded carrots.

     Tent: Borrow one from someone.

     Gear: Transition bag, bike, helmet, wetsuits (long and short), swim cap, two pairs of goggles, Dawn, anti-fog wipes, 3 towels, bathroom bag, training shoes, racing shoes, 5 water bottles, 10 Hammer gels, 4 protein bars, Cytomax, Recoverite, Zoot Suit, Hammer kit, hair ties, bobby pins, heart rate monitor, cycle cleats, 3 socks, warm pajamas, sweatshirt, post-race outfit, sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, food, stove, hairbrush, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, tent, phone, charger, music, headlamp, flashlight, book, toilet paper.

Day before the race:
 
     Workout: Swim: 15-20 minutes.
                        Warm-up: 3-5 minutes of gradually increasing effort, focusing on technique
                        Main set: 4-5x 10-20 second accelerations to race pace
                                       2-3 minute easy swim recoveries
                        Cooldown: 2-3 minutes easy swim focusing on technique
                   Bike: 40-55 minutes
                         Warm-up: 10-15 minutes, gradually increasing effort or power and cadence
                         Main set: 30 minutes with a few 10-20 second accelerations to race intensity in aero position. 2-3 minute recoveries.
                         Transition just as I would on race day.
                    Run: 15 minutes
                         Main set: 15 minutes with a few 10-20 second accelerations to race pace or effort, 2-3 minute jogging recoveries
                         Cooldown: 2-3 minutes of walking.

     Food: Dried fruit, fresh fruit, tortillas, sweet potatoes. Continue to drink when thirsty, don't overload.

     Race meeting: find out if there is one.

     Bedtime: Be in bed by 10, even if I am not tired and am just reading.

Race morning plan: Wake up 2-2.5 hours before the race and eat immediately. While listening to music, stretch a bit and get ready for the race. Set up my transition area. Go watch Josh start his race. Begin my warm-up with a light jog, a quick bike ride (if that is an option) and some swimming to get adjusted to the water. Grab a gel, sip some water, and line up on the middle outside for the swim.

Transitions: On T1, I will attempt to start peeling off my wetsuit once I hit the bikes. I don't want to start too early. When I get to my bike, I'll splash my feet with water, slide them into my already open and ready cleats put my race number on, buckle my helmet, slide on my sunglasses, squeeze a gel in my mouth and follow it with some water and run my bike out to the start.
     On T2, I will park my bike quickly, place my helmet on the ground, keep my sunglasses, put socks on, slip on my shoes, grab some water and eat a little bit of a protein bar then start jogging to the run start.

Pacing/Position:  Line up outside middle on the swim to avoid the kicking and pulling as much as possible. Start slow!!! Pace myself. Don't lose energy due to the excitement of the take off. Use mostly arms to swim, legs help only slightly; save the leg strength for the bike and run. While swimming, think of praise music and Brittany Spear's "Give Me More" to help pace myself, remind myself of why I am here and calm my nerves. Focus on technique, be careful of my shoulder and push all the way through. Don't panic with face under the water. Don't worry about trying to finish quickly. Find someone who is going about my pace and stay with them.

On the bike, we start by going uphill. During the hill, think of an upbeat song, maybe "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO. Small chainring, count to eights. Push AND pull. Breath. Stay calm. Remember how hard you have trained. Think of all the people expecting you to do well. Charge. Stay to the right so people can pass. Pass on the left and show them what you're made of.

On the run, start with a 9:00 pace and take it down to 8:30 within the first 10 minutes of the run. Hips forward, hands relaxed, shoulders down and back, abs in. Think of "Sun Hands" by Local Natives.

Course Management:
Swim 0-400 yards: slow, steady pace. Find your rhythm. Sing worship music in your head. Hand close to body, straighten arm at back, bent elbow mid-stroke.
Swim 400-800 yards: Slightly pick up the pace. Should be warmed up right now. Swim in zone 3.
Swim 800-1200 yards: This is the half-way point. Start thinking of a more upbeat song. Really dig into that water. Swim between zone 3-4. Try to find someone to drift off of to save some energy.
Swim 1200-1691 yards: You can see the finish line. Find someone to swim behind and when you're ready, finish the last 100 yards in zone 4-5a.
T1: Peel off wetsuit, transition quickly and efficiently. Hydrate! Know where your bike is.
Bike miles 0-6: Steep climb up Lynch. Count to eights. Think of "Sexy and I Know It". Pull up on the pedal. Stay in small chainring. Stand towards the end. Keep your stamina. Once you're to the top, big chain ring, heavy gear, 360 degrees with the legs. Stay low. When climbing, stay in big chainring until that last hill before the turnaround.
Bike miles 7-13: Rolling hills. Not much to look at. Remember where you hit the squirrel and think of how funny that was. Remain focused. Heart rate zone 3.
Bike miles 14-20: This is the turn around. It's a false flat. It gets boring. Think of staying low and pushing hard. Hydrate with Cytomax and maybe have a bit of some energy bar, even if it means slowing down.
Bike miles 21-25: The hills get hard here. Push through them. Keep climbing. Remember how hard you've worked. Keep singing upbeat songs. "Girl, look at that body, girl, look at that body..." "California girls, they're unforgettable, daisy dukes, bikinis on top..." At the transition, be ready to unclip before you hit the switch. Heart rate zone 4.
Run miles 0-1.5: 8:30-9:00 pace. Sun hands playing in your head. Think of how great it is to be outdoors. Enjoy the climb. Grab water at the aid station.
Run miles 1.5-3.0: 8:20-8:40 pace. Heart rate zone 3. If your knee hurts, don't be afraid to slow down. Better to jog than to walk. Better to walk than to DNF.
Run miles 3.0-4.5: 8:10-8:30 pace. Start picking it up. Hips forward.
Run miles 4.5-6.2: 7:40-8:00 pace. This is my typical pace. I should be able to maintain for the last two miles easily. Heart rate zone 4. The last half mile, pick it up and sprint to the end. 7:15 pace. You can do it. Turn up the music to a sprint, Muse playing in the background.

Doughnut-Flavored Bananas

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Crazy kids that we are, Sophia and I were awake before the rooster crowed this morning. We both had our new trail running shoes on. We met up before the sun had risen and shone its glorious light across the land. Clad in running tights, new shoes, cozy tops and headlamps, my adventurous friend and I made our venture up the trail. The light from my headlamp lit up the rocks, but every once in awhile I would hear Sophia let out a "ooo!" or an "eek!" as we scrambled over river beds and dodged tree branches. We made it to the top of the trail just as the sun was peaking over the ocean waves. Ahhhh, glorious. God is so good.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Rooster, you can stop now. We were up long before you were. Oh, that's kind of sad.

Down the trail we ran. Like gazelles, but not so much because it wasn't very graceful. My blueberry-colored Brooks Cascadias may have gotten a bit muddy. I don't know how Sophia held up in her New Balance, but I don't think the minimalist shoe would have been the best for me on that trail. That girl has the feet of a cat. I'm sure we looked like elephants cuh-clunking down the rock-splattered dirt trail.

We arrived back at the cars to discover that hers would not start. Hmmm lesson of the day: when your gas tank is almost empty, don't park on a hill...

As I drove my little girl to work with the other kids (such a good mom I am), I took a bite of my banana. EWWWW! The last bite tasted like doughnut. It was horrible! I hate, hate, hate the taste of doughnuts. Most people would be stoked to eat bananas and have it taste like a sugary treat, but not I! I needed to get the taste out of my mouth, so, like the other moms, I had to get my morning coffee after dropping the kids off, so I swung by Starbucks for a cheap cup of tea and caught up on my e-mails before work.

Waiting for me was an e-mail from mi padre. MMMMMMMmmmmm backstory time! Whoot!

So, I have this friend named Benny Ben Ben. He is awesome-possum. Anyway, he has this sister who works for this program and well, long story short, I was totally inspired by what she does for a living. I decided to look into it. Last Wednesday on my lunch break, I filled out an application online for this program, which is based in Wyoming. I texted Ben to tell him I was filling it out and I guess he told his sister because his sister called the corporate office to tell them about me. I hit "complete application" button and, literally, packed up my computer, got in my car, started driving to Trader Joe's and my phone started ringing. The call was from a number in Wyoming. I pulled over.

"Hello, this is Ashee speaking," I answered.

The man on the other line told me all about the position and offered me the job. Alright, awesome. Well, now I guess I should think about what this would mean for me...

Anyway, we will skip to what my dad said. Pretty much, he doesn't want me to go backward in life. But he sent me this link, which I hope was a joke and not his way of saying, this is what I see in your future (though I do now have a blog and teach yoga classes... ah! I am old! Eff!):


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SNOT What You Think

"Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth."

Recognize those words? If you've ever taken a class with me, you should. How often do I say this phrase, along with "hydrate"?

It was not until I did the Wildflower course that I discovered another reason to breathe this way.

When I work hard, my nose tends to get a little... runny. This happens a lot on the bike, partially because of the wind, partially because I'm cold and mostly because I'm giving it all I have. So my nose was a bit runny up at Lake San Antonio last week.

I began focusing on my breathing and decided to try only breathing through the nose. BAD IDEA! Snot everywhere. All over my face, all over. Ewwwww! So much snot.

Don't you think I am just flat-out gorgeous now? Yeah... maybe snot so much anymore.

It's a ______ Life

Five alarms. That is how many I set this morning. No matter how many alarms I set, I always seem to sleep through them. One day I am going to pay someone to come to my house and wake me up every morning. Seriously, how does someone sleep through five alarms?! Especially since I took the weekend off of work and had the opportunity to sleep in, yet still woke up naturally at 5AM both Saturday and Sunday. One day, my body will learn to not sleep... ever. I will run off of caffeine and avocados. It's a delicious life.
Last night, I sat browsing through all of the beautiful things in the Pottery Barn catalog. Oh, to be wealthy and be able to decorate my home beautifully. If only, if only, the woodpecker sighed. Is it the woodpecker who sighs? I can't remember, but that sounds about right. I love my home, I really do. My paintings and photographs of my friends and family grace the walls. There is a couch against the wall that brings back the memories of driving to a gorgeous home in the foothills with Jonah. We shimmied the couch into the back of my Subaru and held onto the wooden armrest as we drove it down the back roads to my home. Once we got it home, we realized maneuvering it through my tight entryway and up the stairs was not going to be an easy task. The second Dana and I sat on it to watch an episode of Greek or Prison Break or whatever show we were watching at the time, we knew we had chosen a good couch. These are things that can stay in my home, but how nice would it be to get a sturdy coffee table, a stunning lamp and a mahogany entertainment center? It's a penniless life.
So, if I am so poor, should I be looking for a steady job? One where I don't have to spend half of my day commuting from one place to the next? Yeah, probably. But I love what I do. I don't want to get stuck in a job where I don't look forward to going into work every day. This has been a cause of stress in my life since my dad came to visit. I was perfectly happy living in the moment, then Daddy reminded me that I'm turning 25 soon and I need to think about health insurance, benefits, a husband, children... all of these things that no one seems to worry about anymore, yet we know that it's on everyone's mind at one point or another. Shomari took me into his office and forced me to sit down and decide what I want to do with my future. It was good. These conversations help me realize I can't stay stagnant, I must continue to grow. But who do I want to be? The human race is constantly developing and so is each individual. I used to want to be a professional singer, then a fashion designer, next a dentist, then start my own surf magazine, maybe look into physical therapy, teach high school health... now look at me. I have evolved into an athletic trainer, instructor and triathlon coach. It is an evolving life.
Who do I want to be? I want to learn how to rock climb. Indie rock will be theme music: Miike Snow, The Strokes and Muse will be the playlist to my life. I will wear Lulu Lemon only when I'm trying to impress; all other times, my body will be clad in Brooks, North Face and Patagonia gear. Somehow, I will make  I will make a ton of money, or maybe my husband will just be loaded and pay for all of my races. For some reason, I don't think that will happen, so I will get sponsored instead. Okay, let's be realistic: I am going to get a job as a sonogram technician, have kids and get fat and out of shape. It's a wishful life.
Last Thursday, rain covered the ground. It was a beautiful thing. After blogging, I met up with Richard and had him do some hill sprints in the rain; hey, gotta be prepared for any type of weather up on Denali! He was doing really well! I'm excited for him to climb. It's pretty motivating to see a sixty-six-year-old man love working out the way he does. After leaving Richard, I sat in traffic to get to the pool, where I tested for my triathlon swim. It was a beautiful thing. I was holding my goal pace very well. Best part of the swim was I swam a 50m in :39, which is huge for me, a non-swimmer. It's an accomplished life.

Friday was a crazy day. It started with a challenge. I arrived at work and my boss and I completed this month's partner challenge. I didn't warn him that I was wanting to participate, so he didn't have time to warm-up. We shared a machine, so we had to add on transition time plus he had new members to help, so he wasn't always ready to hop on it time. Still, we placed fourth. He believes we could have placed first and I think he may be right. Something to look forward to, right? We will do it again this week. It's an exciting life.

After the workout, I grabbed breakfast with Jason then cleaned my house and took a long walk in the rain. When work ended, I got in my car and drove to Malibu with Sophia. We arrived late, fortunately, our cabin mates were all still awake. Ahhh! Such a great weekend! My church was having a retreat in Malibu and the speaker was phenomenal! I met so many people from my church and learned so much. It was funny to see members from my classes walk up to me in street clothes to say, "Hey! You're my cycle instructor!" On Saturday, after lunch, Sophia joined me for a 2 hour trail run and a 45-minute hike. For the first time in my life, I realized that I am indeed a runner. I think the problem was that I was not a road runner, but I am a trail runner. I love being with God in his natural creation. No music, just the sound of the babbling brook and the birds chirping in the trees. I love speeding up hills and skipping down rocks. It's a thrill! Sophia and I ran fast, we ran slow, we turned, we climbed... I have never felt so alive. At the end of the two hour run, I wasn't even tired in the slightest. I felt like I was in Oregon. Before the run, I had no idea how much I missed Oregon. It's an adventurous life.
 

On Sunday, I met more amazing people, listened to a great sermon then Sophia and I grabbed lunch at Dana's favorite restaurant. The fish was delicious and so filling! We shopped in Santa Monica for a bit then drove to Thousand Oaks to see my dear friend Kristina. Oh, how I have missed that gorgeous girl! It was so fun to catch up and hear about her life. Overall, this weekend reminded me of the importance of community: Community with my church family, with my friends and with others. I have spent so much of the past two months alone. It is hard living and training alone. To be honest, I've been incredibly lonely. I kept thinking it was a good thing because I was spending more time with God, but this weekend I was reminded of God's command and desire for us to be in community with one another. It is so crucial to love thy neighbor and to find support from the people around you and be their for them in their time of need. It's a friendly life.

Suicide

"Joe, there hasn't been a car in sight for the past four hours; can we just go back to the weeds up on the north end of the lake?"

"Randall, be patient. I can sense something coming. Plus, you chickened out on the last car. You have to prove that you can make it across before the car comes without getting run over."

"But I'm bored."

"I think you're chicken. You just don't want to play chicken because you're scared to run across the street."

"No, I'm not! I'm just bored!"

"Chicken! Bak, bak, bak, bak, BAK!"

"No, I'm not! I'm not a chicken! Stop it, Joe!"

"Wait! What's that?"

"It's too small to be a car."

"There's two of them... it's two cyclists! They must be training for Wildflower!"

"Come on, Joe. Let's get out of here."

"No, here's your chance. We'll play chicken with the bikes. The last person to go and make it across the street without getting hit wins."

"No, Joe. Let's just go to the lake."

"Come on, you can do it. You don't want all the other squirrels to make fun of you for being a scaredy-cat, do you?"

"Joe!"

"Here they come!"

"Joe!"

"Get ready!"

"Joe!"

"Go!"

"Joe! Oh shoot!" That split second cost Randall his tail. As the two squirrels darted across the rode, they both slid in front of Sloan's tire with finesse; unfortunately, I did not see them coming. Cah-clunk!

"Squirrel!" Sloan yelled.

Before I had time to question, my front tire maimed the tail and I jumped in the air, my heart pounding madly. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" I screamed. How did I stay on my bike? I looked at Sloan, my eyes filled with confusion, fear and desperation. "What just happened," I asked, bewildered.

"Did you hit it?!" He asked.

I turned around, but didn't see anything in the road.

"Hit what," I asked.

"The squirrel," was his response. "It darted out right in front of us!"

(Back in the brush on the side of the road, Randall sits licking his wounds.)

"Oh, my tail! Oh, the agony," he wails.

Poor squirrel.

Moral of the story: If you are a squirrel, stay away from my bike. If you are a bird, stay away from Sloan's car hood (we won't even get into that). It is suicide.

Speaking of suicide, Sloan and I practiced the Wildflower bike course last Tuesday morning. I took the first part of the day off of work, stayed the night with my cousin, Torrey, and met up with Sloan to go hit Hertz hill. If you are an avid reader of my blog, you know that this hill was plaguing my nightmares. I figured it was time to climb my Everest. We got to the lake around 10AM and suited up.

The first hill was indeed brutal; however, the last hill before the turnaround was a beast. I was already tired, I mean, we had been biking for 12 miles! Thank goodness for Sloan! I found out I have been climbing incorrectly for the past year! I always stay in the big chain ring for hills. Sloan looked over at me on Hertz Hill. "What are you doing? Get out of your big chain ring!" That helped a lot!

The lake is beautiful. They already are decorating for Wildflower (if you want to call it "decorating").

On every hill, I just kept counting to myself: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight" all the way to the top. True story, not gonna lie to you, there were some gnarly hills. There were a couple of hills in which I thought to myself, "I am done with triathlons after this year. I hate swimming and now I hate biking. It is time to commit to running events," but I can't give up on my Giant.

Me looking like a twelve-year-old after the ride beat me up

By the way, I need to think of a name for my bike. What are some giant names? Like from Jack and the Beanstalk... what was his name? I can't believe it's almost been a year and I haven't named my bike!

Back to the hills... they hurt! But I know I can do them now. That gives me some hope. I'm glad I went out to practice the course. This morning, Jennifer and Pat were trying to convince me to do a Century ride with them next weekend. As they spoke, I smiled and nodded, but deep down I was thinking, "You crazy lunatics, there is no way I am riding 100 miles two weeks before my race! Are you insane?!"

The hills really got to me, so I thought, what better way to challenge my cycle class than to simulate the Wildflower course on the stationary bike. Most of the class was spent climbing in zone 4. By the end, they were all drenched in sweat. "Hey, think of it this way, guys," I noted during the cool-down phase of the workout. "The rest of your day will be nice and flat. No more hills. In fact, you could say it's 'all downhill from here'." As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could reach out and put them back in. People were shaking their heads. Soft chuckles of pity fluttered through the room. "Wow," I commented. "I'm a loser." There may have been a couple of heads nodding in agreement.

After class, I drove in the rain to my new favorite coffee place. One of my boss' friend started a cafe that has the best cappuccino I've tasted in my town. It is smooth and delicious. All the cyclists in town go to this shop. Actually, I've seen a lot of runners there, too. It's my new home. Plus, it's super cheap compared to Starbucks and Peet's. I grabbed my new book and my wet, soy cappuccino and waited for Ben. Ben and I spent an hour and forty-five minutes talking about all the important things in life, aka coffee, that guy who is running for president and home group... oh! And how awesome Oregon is!

My  new book and my soy cap

The retirement home I teach at is still under quarantine, so I decided to run. During my cycle class, one of the triathletes informed me that the hill we run at Wildflower is worse than the biking hills. Uhmmm what?! "Yeah," she began. "You should definitely go out and practice that one before the event."

"But I don't have time! I had to take work off and I can't do that again!!!"

"Oh... You may want to start running some big hills," was her response.

View from my run

To conquer these hill drills, I decided to run this canyon yesterday. It was a decent climb. Not too bad. Unfortunately, my knee was giving me issues on the bike while climbing at Lake San Antonio and it acted up again on this run. I had planned to run out the canyon and back, but once I did the canyon and went out a little ways more, I decided I would just circle around and finish on a flat, grass course instead. As a reward, I went out to my favorite beach and read more of my book before work.

I taught some classes that night, then ended with Pure Awesomeness. So, my amazing personal trainer from back in my volleyball days (shout out to Rich Hummel!) created this cycle playlist in which there are several spots where dogs bark. He uses this for sprints during a spin class, I used it in Pure Awesomeness though. During our regular weight lifting workout, every time the dogs barked, we would drop down and do 10 push-ups. During the second round of weights, we would drop the weights and do 10 jumping jacks. It was hard, but really fun. Something new and exciting.

I used the dogs again in my cycle class today. Every other song, we would stand in zone 4, next song, we were seated zone 2. When the dogs barked, we would sprint up to 110+ cadence. It was one of the most difficult classes I've ever taken and I was soaked when class finished. "You're an animal," Dave stated. "Ashlee, you are insane."

I went to talk to Denise after class. She asked why she never sees me anymore. I told her all about my eight jobs, which are all fitness related, and the workouts I do on top of them. Next, I told her about the events I am training for. With every word that left my mouth, I realized more and more just how intense I am. No wonder I don't have a social life. No wonder I sit in front of the computer and make up stories about what squirrels are thinking before they decide to run out in front of my bike. Cough, cough. Loser! Cough, cough. Sarah and Sophia both sent me a photo of a Dove wrapper that reads, "It's okay to slow down." Is it? Or, like the squirrels, am I testing the limits? Cheating suicide? I wonder...

Planning in Threes

Do you ever try to figure out what life will be like three years from now? I used to do that all of the time. I had plans for my life... big plans.

When I was 15, I was planning on what college to attend when I turned 18. I assumed I would go to Point Loma Nazarene University because that is where I attended surf camp with my best friend. We were going to surf every day. I was going to start my own surfing magazine. She was going to start an orphanage. We were going to marry cute surfer boys and live side-by-side on the beach. We were going to "save" each other on our wedding nights by kidnapping the other one before she got to the hotel. It was going to be a good life. A perfect life.

Well, I turned 18. My best friend got married. In fact, four out of five of my closest friends got married that summer. I was dating a guy my parents didn't approve of, so when marriage came into the plan, they sent me away to Bible school in Colorado. Life was not as I had planned. So I made a new plan: By the time I turned 21, I was going to be married to a handsome, strong, Christian man. I was going to attend a private Christian university in Southern California and aim toward teaching high school health.

My twenty-first birthday rolled around. I was out of shape, didn't have a boyfriend and wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with my Kinesiology degree. So, I made a new plan: At the age of 24, I hoped to have a husband, a house on the beach and two kids. My suitemates from college would all live in my neighborhood and our kids would play together every day. I would be teaching high school health or something along those lines. Life would be good.

Now I'm 24. As you can probably tell, my husband and kids got a little lost along the way. For the first time in my life, I am satisfied with where I am now. I love my jobS (yes, the S is capitalized because I  have so many darn jobs, as the man who flirts with me every day after my cycle class likes to remind me), my house is conveniently located, I do live on the beach (or close to it) and I have great friends. Life is good. What will I be doing three years from now? Uhmm... probably writing a blog that says, "At the age of 27, I hoped to be married with two kids and a dog, living close to my best friend, working as a sonogram technician. Now I'm 27 and I do triathlons for fun, teach cycle classes and go home to my cat every night." Uhmmmm I need to start taking a different direction with my life.

Thursday evening, it was time to swim. My friend Matt joined me at the pool and we did our drills.

Friday morning, I was blessed with Drea's class. Oh, my entire body ached going into it. Was it the Pure Awesomeness class? Maybe it was the epic cycle classes I've been using to overtrain myself. Possibly, it is a combination of all of these things. But... ow! Drea, stop kicking my butt! My glutes are on fire! Oh wait, don't stop! Make it hurt more! Try to make me sore! I can't even explain how awesome Drea is! And now we are friends; we have conversations about work and cycling and husbands and flat tires...she is pretty much amazing.

After Drea's class, I got to meet up with Lauren because she came to my class at Fit Buddha! It was so fun! She was the only one there, so she got her own private class. We followed the cycle class with breakfast at Jeannine's, which is always delicious.

Saturday was filled with cardio burn classes and Pilates. Despite the fact that the weather was incredible, I still went into the indoor pool to swim for an hour. After my swim, I stopped by the front desk and Jameisha and I made plans to go on a trail run. Then, I made some very poor decisions. I had not eaten since 6am. A friend had said he was going to buy me lunch, so I picked him up from the airport instead of stopping by my house and grabbing a snack. I was starved. I decided I could either go home and get food or I could grab some veggies at Whole Foods. Well, I got to Whole Foods and, being the day before Easter, it was crazy in there! I grabbed some protein bars and a pear, paid and walked out to my car. Well, so much for lunch. I decided since I planned on running, I would treat myself to my favorite meal: A portabello mushroom sandwich. I walked to the restaurant, waited for my sandwich and took it home to eat. I knew I should stop when I was halfway through, but it was sooooo good. So I finished the entire thing. Then I received my Easter package from my mom, which was filled with coconut and almond filled Hershey's kisses. I sat down, turned on Scrubs and ate almost all of the kisses. I have this problem where I eat way too much food. When it was time to meet up with Jameisha, I could barely move because I was so full. The entire run, I could feel my stomach bobbing up and down. Blech.

We tried a new trail today. It was pure hill. But it was the best view I have ever seen. Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here.

Sunday was Easter, so I met up with Katrina and Anne for a trail run before work (yes, I worked on Easter). It was a fantastic run! I stayed with them for the first half, then took off on the second because I wanted to make it to the top before work. I love the fact that most of the women I spend time with are older. They are settled, have husbands, real jobs and kids. These types of relationships are so meaningful to me because through our conversations, I learn so much about life and love and spirituality. I discover the traits that I want in my life. I am so grateful for these women.

Anyway, I made it to the top of the trail in 45:57.0 then ran back down on my own. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the sun was beginning to send its warmth through the forest trees. I may have turned into a five-year-old and started imagining that I was a contestant in the Hunger Games. I ran faster than I've ever run before. I skipped over the babbling streams, leaped off of rocks and dodged fallen trees. I imagined that those big dogs were on my trail. It was exhilarating and I loved it! Playing make believe is not such a bad thing. It totally helped my training. Plus, I prefer trail running to road running. WAYYYY more exciting!

This is where I want to run one day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sipCFJMe-Bc

Putting the "Extra" in Extraordinary

A deep feeling of accomplishment and pride overflowed from my Lulu-clad body last Monday. For the first time in my life, I was experiencing acknowledgement of my success as an instructor from one of my bosses. Sure, I've had several bosses tell me, "People seem to really enjoy your classes" or "You're doing a great job. I hear you've added some core work into the class", etc., etc.; however, last Monday, Marcus made me feel like a shining star.

"Ashlee," his voicemail began. "It's Marcus. I am going to have our new instructors come take your class because I want them to see how a cycle class should be taught. I think you are invaluable as an instructor and I think they can learn a lot from you. I will be there as well. Great! See you Monday!"

Monday is supposed to be my recovery day, but I still have to teach my two morning cycle classes. In my first class, we have monitors that tell us our power output (measured in Watts), so we did an hour of aerobic endurance work. For my Fit Buddha class, we are on Schwinn bikes with no monitors, so everything is measured by perceived exertion. I never like to plan those types of classes; I would rather see who comes to the class and base the workouts on what I think they can handle that day. Without a plan in mind, I walked into the cycle studio. Aaron, Chelsea and Marcus were setting up their bikes. I had met Chelsea and Marcus before, but I introduced myself to Aaron and we chatted about bike set-up and the basics.

Marcus made an announcement: "I have asked Ashlee to lead a class for us today in order to teach us how to be a better instructor. She has a world of knowledge and can help us learn how to set-up and conduct a class. She will be watching your form and being brutally honest with you. Please feel free to make comments, Ashlee. Ask her questions at the end of class." He continued to make remarks about my abilities and my experience and I felt like I had been teaching my entire life, like I was one of the greatest instructors of all times and he was stoked to have me in there. I know I have a lot to learn and I've only been teaching for a little over a year, but to finally be recognized by an employer for my accomplishments made me want to be a better instructor! He has now participated in two of my classes, so I know he is speaking from his heart, not just based on what others tell him. Thank you, Marcus, for believing in me.

Halfway through the class, I decide to whip out a joke (as usual). "What type of room has no walls and no ceiling?" The room is silent except for the sound of my music through my headphones. "A mushroom!"

Marcus shakes his head. "Did you ever work at Disneyland," he asks.

I should work at Disneyland! I don't know why this thought has not occurred to me! I would be the perfect little corny joke teller! Send me an application, Disney! I'm your girl!

On Tuesday, I ate lots of yummy food: Crepes and coffee with Matt and Panino with Connor. It was fun to get to know a new friend and catch up with an old friend. Both restaurants were in the same area of town, which is a beautiful, Parisian looking corner with bakeries and blossoming trees. It helped me realize how much I love the town I live in. It is always warm and serene. I can run almost every day of the year without worrying about rain or sleet or snow. For the past five years, I have been so anxious to move on to the next great adventure, but I have finally reached a place in my life where I am completely happy. I live in a beautiful city, my jobs allow me to be active and involved with helping other people live a healthy lifestyle, rarely do I have to struggle to pay for food or necessities, I live within walking/biking distances of all of my jobs, etc. There really is no reason for me to be unhappy. I am so grateful for what I have and who I have become.

After lunch, I swam and ran. No biggie. I won't even bore you with the details.

On Tuesday evening at the track, Richard and I worked on sprints and muscular endurance. We did 10 twenty second sprints with 2:00 walking recoveries. During our 9th recovery, a woman sprinted past us; "You have inspired me," she yelled, pumping her fists into the air. It was funny at the time, but it's actually really cool to see how one person's desire to be active and challenge themselves can set off a domino effect, inspiring other people to push their limits. I hope she keeps it up!

My Wednesday morning cycle class was rough. We did twenty minutes of speed skills to warm up, but after warming up, we got into force drills, which are never that fun. We did three minutes of zone 5 climbs. That is 110% effort. Yuck. Then we did a 2:00 recovery and repeated five times before finishing off with ten minutes in zone 2. I didn't even have any jokes to tell the class to lighten the mood; it was all work, no play.

The retirement home I work at has been attacked by a virus, so my class was cancelled, which allowed me to go on a run with Renee. She was in town visiting, so I took her up to the bluffs overlooking the ocean and we ran five miles, enjoying the sunshine and the warmth of the morning.

I got stuck in traffic on my way to meet Sophia for lunch. They decided to do construction next to my house and once I got into the thick of it, there was no way out. Okay, put me in a car, forcing me to face my biggest fear (driving) then shoving me in stop-and-wait traffic while my stomach is empty right after a run?!? Universe, what were you thinking?! I'm just glad I didn't leave my car on the side of the road and run the rest of the way... oh... I should have done that. Goodnight nurse.

That evening, I taught my cardio core classes, then headed in to teach Pure Awesomeness. Twenty-two people were sitting eagerly waiting for me to push their limits. "Uhmmm... Uhh... I guess I should have prepared for this... Grab a partner! Wheelbarrow races!" So it wasn't the Hunger Games boot camp I had anticipated, but it still kicked butt. I think I will save my Hunger Games awesomeness for when Weston comes to visit. I want to make my class remember my name. Okay, so they already do, but still, I want them to leave the room crawling. Oh no... am I mean? I have already had three people tell me how sore their shoulders are from that class. Suckers! I should be grateful that I don't get sore.

This morning, I've been teaching since 5:30AM. Best class of the day? Well, of course it would have to be my 12:15 cycle class! Don't get me wrong, I love teaching the other cycle and cardio burn classes, but being able to do the class with my participants really picks me up. I feel like I am a better instructor when I participate because I can feel their pain. We did a lot of climbing today, mostly because I'm getting really nervous about Wildflower. People keep telling me about how hard the hill is. I already have a really hard time with climbing. I don't think I know how to do it correctly. The bike portion of Wildflower starts on a hill... a big, big hill. I don't think I've ever completed a big hill; I usually turn around halfway. Do you think they will let me walk it up the hill? I want to cry because I'm so nervous that I won't be able to make it up this hill. You have no idea how much this hill is stressing me out. How do I get over this darn hill? What should I do to practice? How do I guarantee that I don't have to forfeit the race? What if I come in last place? What if I don't finish at all? Oh no... I  think I just pulled all of my hair out of my head. Eff. Time for a wig.

Anyway, we did hill work. Lots of zone 4's (95% effort) and zone 5's (110% effort). So fun... not, but my class loves me, so we did it anyway. After class, Mike came up to me. "Ash, I ran three miles this morning. I have to tell you, you are the only instructor who makes me question running. Usually, I can wake up in the morning and go on a 4 or 5 mile run with no problem before a cycle class; however, when I know you are teaching, I question whether it is a good idea to run beforehand."

"Awwww," I made that funny noise that signifies the act of one's heart being melted. "Thank you, Mike." I love getting compliments like that.

So there is this endurance race coming up where they don't tell you what the obstacles are, but it's 100 miles of things such as rock climbing, kayaking, finding your way through the wilderness with a compass, mountain biking, running, etc. Guys, I really want to do this race! How epic would it be? I must learn how to rock climb!... and read a compass. Ready? Time to train!

P.S. I am putting together a team for Tough Mudder this summer. If anyone is interested in competing, please let me know. I would love to have you on my team. OOOOOOOOO! We can even make team shirts! Ahhhhh! Let's do it! Who is in?

Let's Turtalise 'Em (aka Give them Shell)

Riddle me this: What goes up when the rain comes down? Answer: Not my feet!

Something in the air was tempting the rain to pour when I left the house on Saturday morning. I said goodbye to the dogs and wished them luck staying dry. I grabbed some hot chocolate (because chilly mornings like these require a warm liquid to tag along throughout the day). My pink, white and green striped umbrella promised to make me look like a giant watermelon, so I grabbed it for kicks. Hey, when you collect umbrellas, you have to use them at any chance that comes your way.

Classes went smoothly, though spring break had stolen most of my clients. When it came time to teach Pilates, only three people showed up. Three is better than none. One minute sumo squat pulses, two minutes deep lunges with a tricep press on each leg and three minutes in plank position for warm-up. Ouch. The class flew by. I shortened the length of time they usually hold each move, thinking we would have more time to do some new exercises, yet the hour was over sooner than I expected. I apologized that it seemed so short, but Sharon, Kim and Kelly were not complaining. In fact, they were grateful it was over.

The rain decided to take a nap in the clouds for a bit, so I debated what my next move would be for the afternoon. I needed to run two hours and swim one, but which would come first? And I needed to clean the house I was house sitting; you know, get my food out of the fridge, wash the sheets, give the dogs one last walk, etc. I grabbed a coffee and a giant chocolate chip cookie, just because I wanted to.

Matt and I met up a couple of hours later. Many of my friends are not up for a good trail run, but Matt was willing and ready. We got up to the trail and off we went. It was an amazingly gorgeous day and it was fun to get to know Matt a little bit better.We talked about running shoes, 5AM baseball practices and Ninja Turtles. Did you know that they are making a movie where Ninja Turtles are aliens? How dumb is that? I do not support this at all. Ninja Turtles are turtles, not monstrous creatures! That is what is so epicly amazing about them! You know what's funny? I wasn't even allowed to watch Ninja Turtles growing up, along with every other show out there; however, there was a cute boy in my preschool (Zack was his name, turtles were his game) who had a Ninja Turtles pillow case and loved them. Yes, my boy crushes started at a very young age, but Zack was the first, so even though I was forbidden to watch the show and really had no idea what it was all about, I was a hardcore fan. Actually, even though Zack has moved on and has a baby of his own, I still am a Ninja Turtles fan. I am so bizarre.

So where were we? Oh trail run. We got to the top and it started to drizzle. By the time we got to the car, more than just a light rain was coming from the skies. I let the water drench my hair and my running tights. Good thing I wore my muddy old Sauconys. I would hate to get my beautiful Brooks dirty.

We said our goodbyes and I went straight to the pool. Bloggers, guess what?!?! I'm getting so much better! I can now do a 25m sprint in 19 seconds, which is 16 seconds shorter than it used to take me. I can swim over 500 meters without getting exhausted and having to stop. I remember when I used to swim with Josh and going 50 meters straight was a challenge. I am so on it. Dang girl, you swim, girl.

It was pouring when I exited the pool. Though I had planned to go to my college's school-wide musical, I didn't feel like getting soaked, so I called Heather and we went to see Hunger Games. My grandmother bought me the book, so I somewhat knew what to expect, but movies are always a bit different. The beginning totally disappointed me. As I sat their bored, I thought of how dull the colors were and how I had envisioned this story in a much different way. Then something changed. My heart started beating. The characters came alive. I felt the main character's fear, her anxiety, the muscles in my neck got stiff. I jumped out of my seat at parts because I was so into it. Oh man. Good, good movie. I totally want to be as bad A as Katniss is. I'm going to make my own Hunger Games boot camp. Get ready, Pure Awesomeness class. You are about to feel the wrath of my "hunger". Hahahaha. Get it? No. Okay. My bad.

Sunday, I met with a new client and gave her some core exercises to work on before starting class. I taught my classes then locked up the shop so I could walk home and go on a bike ride. Steadily, I walked up to the stop light. There, a woman stood with her baby, feeding it pieces of a banana. She looked over at me. "Don't you work at (insert name of one of the gyms I work at)," she asked.

"Yes," I responded. "I do. Are you a member?" This is so funny. I have cut back my hours at this gym by 3/4ths and people are finally starting to notice me? What is this? I walked Sarah and her baby all the way home, totally passing my house. It was fun to chat with a complete stranger.


I hurried home and threw on my bike gear, grabbing a bite of salmon and some lettuce before hitting the road. Angie and Kent had suggested I bike out to see the goats, which is a 34-mile ride. I wanted a new ride with some adventure on the freeway, so I started my trek. It was awesome! I did a 15 minute warm-up, gradually increasing speed and intensity. Then I started the good stuff. 8:00 in heart rate zone 4, 2:00 easy recovery five times. After that, it was a simple 45 minutes in heart rate zone 2 then a 10 minute cool down. The cool down was the hardest part. My legs were refusing to move. I wondered if I had fueled properly. There were points within the last 4 minutes where I wasn't entirely sure I would make it home, but I kept digging my legs in and home I got.

After grabbing a peanut butter smoothie, I met up with Richard for an hour of hill sprints. I kept thinking to myself, "I shouldn't be doing this. Let him do it by himself." Then I thought, "Well, that's not what a stud would do. The hills only take 2:00 then it's a downhill recovery before starting over. Eh, let's do it! Gotta keep Richard on his game!"

I had just enough time to change for church then see Mat Kearny play an acoustic concert. Great Sunday. I love Sundays.