My Week As a Mortal

Over a week has passed since I completed Wildflower. And what a week it has been!

Three days passed before I even thought about working out again.

Recovery Day 1:

Take an early train down to San Diego to meet my parents. Eat a huge Mexican feast with my parents and Jack Coleman. Hang out with Annie, Trace Ann, Cole and Jack. Coffee at BirdRock. Hair cut with Ronnie. Fish tacos at Rubios and frozen yogurt at Froglanders. Reading until 2:20AM.

Roses from my parents for Wildflower

Froglanders

Recovery Day 2:

Breakfast at the Cottage. Hair appointment at Dearinger. Coffee at BirdRock. Lunch with Annie. Shopping with Mom. Dinner at the Shores with Mer and Poppa. Dana time!

Oh man, Dana and I went out to Ocean Beach because Ronnie insisted that we celebrate Taco Tuesday at his favorite bar. We got there at 9:36PM, 24 minutes before reverse happy hour. Instead of going straight into the restaurant, we walked next door and ate waffle ice cream sandwiches... uhm wow. So good. After polishing off the sugar, we walked over to the restaurant and ordered a couple of beers. Of course, it wasn't long before some guys came over and took over our table with their oysters. "I'm allergic," Dana told them. One guy tried to spoon feed me an oyster. "I'm full," I told him. Dumb boys. They referred to each other by their last names. And tried to get us to dance with them. Dumb, dUmB boys. They talked while I texted and Dana looked bored. Dana and I talked and tried to ignore them. They just did not get the picture. An hour into the night, they finally asked our names. "I'm Natalie," I told the dumb boys. Dana's turn to come up with a clever name came. "I'm Ashlee," she said. Yes, Dana, that was so very clever.

Recovery Day 3:

Coffee at BirdRock. Say goodbye to Annie. Long train ride home. Pure Awesomeness class.

Oh, Pure Awesomeness. That was a no-good, dirty-rotten class. I didn't feel like I was pushing them hard, but it was my first workout in three days and I hadn't had much to drink that day. I got out there to teach and towards the end of class, I just couldn't take it anymore. My head was spinning. I was ready to pass out. In the middle of row presses, I stopped to regain my composure. "You okay," Sarah asked. Let's pray to God it was just the humidity and I'm not a whimp.

Thursday, I got straight back into the normal work and workout routine. Biking, running, swimming. It was all there. Friday, same thing. Saturday? Swim with Christina and her brother. Sunday? Trail run with the ladies, work then running Old San Marcos with Richard.

Awww trail run. My last one for three months. Mother's day. I love that I always run the same trail on holidays. "Happy New Year!" "Happy Easter!" Mother's day is a little different though. I didn't want to say the words to anyone because what if she wasn't a mother? What if she had tried her whole life and never had that child? I couldn't do it. So I just smiled and looked down. Anyway, great run! I learn so much when I run with these women. Anne, Juliana and Katrina. I love them so much. They show me what it means to be a mother and an athlete. Sure, it's maybe not what I had always imagined, but they remind me that it is possible to still be active and have your own workout even when you have to worry about the kids. They are strong, confident women who work hard and play harder. They inspire me.

Cycle class was brutal. I was really mean. I made them do a lot of zone 5. Most of them stopped doing the workout halfway through. Circuit class went well, too. Audrey and Mike were there. They are hysterical!

After class, Richard and I met up at the bottom of Old San Marcos. Eight minutes run, two minutes recovery, all the way to the top. Run all the way to the bottom.

I taught another cycle class later then my parents arrived for Mother's Day Mexican dinner.

Monday was back to hardcore cycling ALL DAY LONG. Love it. Love it so much, in fact, that I went out to see Dave later and get new wheels. Well, I originally went to buy aero bars, but I was convinced to buy new wheels. They are wonderful! Over a pound lighter! But expensive. Aw man... how does my money just fly through my fingers so smoothly? Hello dollar bills. Good buy, hundred dollar bills....

But the day was not all money-spending. I also spent a lot of time with my wonderful parents. We had my favorite coffee from Kim and Aaron at Handlebar then I finished my painting.

This morning, I decided to work out at Killer B. Halfway into the workout, sweat was literally dripping off of my nose. "Wow," Barbara commented. "Ashlee is mortal." As if she didn't know...

Okay, my week and a half of recovery is over. I've been eating horribly and not working out too hard. Time to change things up... After all, Barbara told me: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".