Love the Life you Live, Live the Life you Love

If you pay $2,500 for a bike wouldn't you think you shouldn't be on the side of the road pulling metal chunks off of it? So did I. Yesterday Chris and I were having an AWESOME ride. It was warm (for Boston standards), minimal wind (for Boston standards) and people on the roads were being polite (again...for Boston standards) it wasn't perfect but for the first long ride out of the year, I was taking it. I even hit 37 mph on a down hill - each time I ride I hit a new record! It all came to a screeching, literally, stop when my chain falls off, gets jammed between my chain stay and sprocket, and won't move. The best part was I was on an uphill going about 5 mph. Hmmm...sounds familiar...like maybe the exact same thing that happened at Buckman, Quakerman, AND Mightyman. So I get off and realize there is literally a CHUNK of metal, aluminum to be exact, that is bent and it's hitting my sprocket, not letting it move without becoming jammed. Ok I didn't realize this, ...

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Raise your hand if anyone has ever come up to you and said any of the following (don't actually raise your hand, no need to look crazy here) "You always look like you're on your way to the gym, just left the gym, or right in the middle of a workout." "Wow you're so dressed up!" ...when you're wearing jeans "I've never seen you in anything other than running shoes." "You don't own real pants." ...in reference to your extensive spandex collection "Your hair is so long!" ...because you always wear it in a ponytail "That's so great you're going out with us tonight! ....you'll probably need to borrow my clothes." I'm talk about my wardrobe - or lack thereof. Do you know I have 3 pairs of heels (one black, one red, one brown), 1 pair of 'going out' boots, 1 pair of snow boots, one pair of casual slipons...but NINE pairs of running shoes? Do you know that's about NINE HUNDRED dollar...

The moment you do your first triathlon and you inevitably become addicted to the endurance lifestyle... -"Working out" is always "training" -Days you can't find time to workout suddenly are labeled "rest days"...and they are the worst days -"Bike riding" is always "cycling" or just simply "riding" - no need to explain what you are riding -"Eating" is almost always " carbo loading" or "refueling"...and it is done in massive amounts with as much PB on everything as possible -You can never go out and just run...everything comes under one of the following categories: brick, track workout, hill repeats, fartleks , tempo run, recovery run, long runs, or short runs -Cotton is the devil...so is anything that is not spandex, nylon, sweat wicking , heatgear , or coldgear -Your drawer is stuffed to the brim with race tech shirts that you can never imagine throwing away because each is like a pet to you ...

Hi-light of my life: Sara Hall wants to meet up at the Boston Marathon. Here is how I expect our conversation will go: Me - Hi Sara it's so nice to finally meet you! I'm a huge fan of you and Ryan! Sara - That's so great! I'm so thankful by what you're doing for our charity. Would you like to join Ryan and I for post-race dinner tonight? Me - That would be lovely! Sara - After that we can bring you to the track for a private training session! Me - Wow thank you so much that'd be great! Sara - How would you like to join us tomorrow for a run around the Charles? Me - I have no plans! Sara - We are going to be best friends! Me - Yay best friends! *Skip off into the sunset* ....Well...you know dream big. But I am REALLY excited to stop by their booth at the marathon and finally meet Sara. She's been incredibly nice in her e-mails - I think we definitely picked the right charity to support. It means a lot to me athletes like her and Ryan are so down to earth and ...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did . So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor . Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore . Dream .”

Well it's blizzarding again - it's Boston, what did I expect? Sunshine? Well, maybe after last thursday when it was almost 70 without a cloud in the sky. Maybe I was expecting it to take a turn for the better. I just keep thinking only one more winter of this before I'm moved away forever - or at least a few years. I really would like to move back some day to New Hampshire...it's so wonderful there. But there's a huge difference between the country in the winter and the city. The city is a danger zone with black snow, impatient cabbies, and wind tunnels strong enough to knock you off your feet, or at least stop you in your tracks. At least I got some sort of a break from the city over spring break..no I didn't go to Barcelona like my roomie Iz or Florida like Nina, but I did get to go to Belchertown, which is home enough for me. The weather was perfect, sunny both days and just warm enough to wear shorts on my runs. I mostly watched the History channel, played w...