AWESOME!

It's Saturday, and I am fucking tired, but happy! I am TRAINING, it is HARD, the weather is BEAUTIFUL and I'm EXHAUSTED!

14 hours through today; tomorrow I'm going to try and pound out 68 miles on LGL.

Today I rode 2:15 on the Bitch, then ran :40, then swam :20. The ride was fairly easy stuff, although I did crank up the watts whenever I could. In retrospect, I am sure it will be a GOOD thing that I rode easy today. When I started running, I felt like crap, like leaden legs, like puking, like I didn't want to keep going. But I forced myself, and went out against the wind, hoping I might gain an advantage on the way home. I felt like I was running in slow motion, but it turns out I ran 8:15/mile??? Where the hell did that come from? Oh, yeah, I guess running 4 days in a row will do that. The swim was just to recover from the shit.

I washed Bitchie, since I hadn't given her a good scrub down since last September--when I returned from Miami last November, it was too cold outside for me to wash her outdoors, so I only gave her a "sponge bath." I know she appreciated the cleaning today, and then I dropped her off at the bike shop for her annual tuneup. I also took a box of cannolis for the guys at the shop, and I know they are totally appreciated! I joked with all of them: "Leave the bike; take the cannoli." Extra points if you know what movie a line like that came from.

I'm a bit pissed that I can't really fit 2 "normal size" bottles in cages on LGL--I am not sure what I'm going to do about that, but I am sure there will be some sort of custom solution. DAMN ITALIAN BIKE WITH SMALL FRAME!

On a good note, I weighed the Bitch and also La Gazza Ladra to compare notes. Bitch weighs 21.6 lbs. (probably 3 less with race wheels on) and LGL weighs in at 17, so noticeably lighter.

At one point today while I was riding, the song, "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family came into my head. What was THAT about? Although I modified the lyrics to "I think I'm Hungry" and proceeded to down a gel.

EVERY cyclist I saw today had this huge grin on their face. It made it almost to 80 degrees today, although I was riding when it was still cool--in the 60's--and I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved jersey and everyone else had tights and long shirts on. I guess I must run hot or something.

I'm getting a suntan, and at least when I look at myself in the mirror I don't think I look quite so disgusting. AGING SUCKS! But then again, I HATE the way I look in the winter, and spring and summer bring higher humidity which my skin absolutely loves and just being outside and riding my bikes and running even when I feel crappy and then the world seems right.

Another thought I had today was that you have to every so often think you are AWESOME. Think about all the awesome-ness you have in whatever areas of your life, and celebrate how AWESOME you are. I had that feeling for awhile today, and it made me think how sad it is for someone to go through life never feeling that way. Even if all it is is that you feel AWESOME right at that moment. That's what living in the moment is all about. Giving yourself unlimited opportunities to feel AWESOME, so that you are able to seize them and feel the AWESOMENESS that is you and your life and everything. Especially when there is so much bad and evil and sadness that also goes on in life (that you need to experience, too), you need to be open to the AWESOMENESS or else you will miss it. Sometimes you have deferred AWESOMENESS, as for me today while I was running I felt like SHIT, but I persevered (which is one of the things that makes me AWESOME), and when all was said and done, I had run much faster than I thought I was, and then I got to feel AWESOME.

Anyone reading this--go out and be, feel and experience AWESOMENESS for a few minutes, or more than that. It truly IS AWESOME!