The Little Things

Last week did not start out on the right foot.  And by wrong foot, I mean I left my work shoes at home and had to go to Target at 8 am on Monday for work appropriate footwear after swimming.  Thank goodness Target opens at 8 and now I know that I should NEVER leave packing my clothes until the morning.  I got to work later than I would like, completely flustered and not 100% sold on the shoes.  Until not one, but four people complimented the shoes and many more asked how my birthday weekend was.  That got me thinking how little things can be quite powerful.

Thank you, Target

Tuesday was a perfectly ordinarily day.  Between work and rotary, Tuesday is always a LONG day, but I had an awesome surprise when I got home.  I signed up for the Kinetic half a few weeks back and tweeted that I had to solve my wetsuit problem.  Mine is awful and needs replaced.  Instead, my awesome coach came to the rescue and said I could borrow her suit.  SWEET.  Package showed up on Tuesday night and included a brand new CTS bike kit with socks! I have one matching bike kit (minus socks) and all of my jerseys are way too big. I feel like a total bad ass in this kit and was so appreciative of Lindsay's gesture to include this. Lindsay felt bad for not including a note, I was so excited over this little touch of kindness.

First 100 mile ride of the season!

Wednesday morning included a typical work meeting discussing a business proposal for a new program for the hospital. At the end of the meeting, the director gave my counterpart and me a tour of the new Labor and Delivery suite and NICU.  It was 15 minutes of that director's time, but it absolutely made my entire day.  When you stare at numbers all day, it's nice to see the bigger picture and understand the WHY of what you're doing. 

Saturday was definitely the highlight of my week.  I was disturbed by the weather forecast, but I was not riding five hours on the trainer (I have a self imposed maximum of 4), so I layered up and met up with Chris since he had kindly agreed to ride the first two with me even though the route wasn't the best for his workout. Seems minor to most, but over a weekend that I rode 135 of my 175 miles alone, that little thing was a pretty huge deal.

Open roads

I had my day planned to the MAX on Saturday so after the ride, I rested for a bit and then headed off to meet my dear friend Liz who was treating me to a pedicure for my birthday.  Total blast, our toes look great, and that girl time was desperately needed.  Since I rarely get my toes done, this was a nice treat!

But the best little thing of the week was probably my transition run on Sunday.  I was a bit nervous heading into this workout (3 hour ride/1 hour run) after Saturday's five hour ride, but my legs felt surprisingly good while I was riding.  And since I didn't bother to check the mileage before I headed out, I rode for almost an entire extra hour.  D'oh!  I was already making excuses before I started to run on why my pace was pathetic, why I stopped, etc. for my training log, but then the funniest thing happened; my legs felt great when I started to run.  Mile 1 clicks in at 7:20 and I remind myself to slow down.  Mile 2 goes at 7:36 and I remind myself again to slow down, but then I realize my heart rate is still in endurance mile range. . hmm, I'll surely blow up if I keep running at this speed.  I start concentrating on my form and focus on the music and the miles slowly click by at the 7:30-7:40 range. Before I know it, I've run 8 miles in 1:01 (a 7:36 pace!) and the workout was done.  In an 18 hour training week, a 1 hour workout isn't much, but that run was the biggest confidence booster I've had in a LONG time. 

The little things do matter and for those that live / grew up in Winchester, Happy Bloom :)