DO WORK!!

Well someone I know has been a bit delinquent with her blog…..

I’ve spent the last couple months doing work, hopefully putting money in the bank of Jackie Pearce from the engine standpoint.  It is always a challenge taking training to a new level each year.  How do you stay motivated on the days you are so gutted from training that you would do anything to KO on the bed with a warm furry cat and a good book?  This summer’s drought has really cramped my style of taking the odd day like this off with no guilt, dammit!! 

One thing that does help me renew my motivation for more training is changing the environment a bit and making sure I schedule workouts with friends I know will keep me training consistently and put a smile on my face.  And I bribe myself with food.  Not going to lie J

I’ve been lucky to spend some time in Manhattan, KS working at the vet school.  They have a really busy Ophthalmology service and I learn a lot about what is true clinical dogma vs. actual evidence-based medicine when I am there.  I also get to see a lot of horse eyeballs which is awesome!  Manhattan is also a diamond in the rough when it comes to the food department as small towns go, check out Taco Lucha, So-Long Saloon and Radinas Coffee House if you ever pass through!  I did quite a few beautiful solo rides in the flint hills of Kansas, ran some big miles on the linear trail and even did two sadistic 20x800m workouts on the indoor track.  I thought it would be so smart to use the indoor track – in Canada these are temperature controlled but apparently indoor tracks in the USA do not have AC in the summer.  I probably left over a liter of dirty Missouri Tiger sweat on the indoor track at K-state, take that KANSAS J Definitely some extraordinary heat tolerance training logged since it was 110+ degrees most of the time…. I almost killed my iphone leaving it on the beach when I did a 90min open water swim!

In early August I had the opportunity to speak at the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) Conference in San Diego.  Seemed like the perfect time to dovetail a nice week-long training block in cooler weather, I trained in the morning and worked on my talk during the day.  I almost forgot to get stressed out about the 4h of lectures I had to do at the end!!  My friend and vet radiologist extraordinaire Stephanie Essman lives in San Diego and she loves to ride bikes up mountains, game on!  We had such a blast riding all over Southern California, so much fun and wow did I put the hurt on myself!  We did Palomar mountain the first day, which absolutely tore my legs off, might rethink the 53/39 crank next time…..crazy power files on that bugger!!

Two days later we did a breathtaking 80 mile ride in Pine Valley that started out with a HC climb and finished with a Cat 1 climb, ooof!!  The only saving grace was the heavenly slice of apple pie with a slice of sharp cheddar in the middle of the ride.  How do I get that in my special needs bag at an Ironman?

I got to see and smell some beautiful eucalyptus fields and there were oranges and avocados falling off trees onto the roads all over, it was hard to resist putting all the fruit in my pockets….but we did some good damage at the local farmer’s market and at some great restaurants after the rides!  We actually caught a few people staring at us as we hovered down some food at one restaurant, like a couple of locusts, ha!  Nice photo of a eucalyptus plant below, actually I used the photo op as a diversion going up a huge hill as an excuse to stop.  Close to barfing!

My talks at the conference went well and I got 300 miles on the bike with 25000+ feet of climbing plus some good runs and swims too.  It was like being a real professional athlete for a week, amazing!!  Loved the motivation the change of training locations gave me, this was a great solution for the mid-summer blah feeling!!

Next up State TT and Ironman Steelhead 70.3!