What a week! There were a lot of changes for me this week, but I made it! The crazy work week ended last night with a company happy hour. The happy hour turned into a come to Jesus meeting... everyone became very open about their frustrations after round 5 of cocktails. I was the only one not drinking, so unfortunately, I will probably be the only one that remembers it! Oh well, it was long overdue... I just hope some things change for the better as a result.

Wednesday night I took much of the week's frustration out on the bike. I rode the Irving Criterium. Since I turned my Cervelo into a fulltime tri bike, I have been riding my Steel (853) Lemond. I love that bike but was intimidated at first glance around the pack... my Lemond was the cheapest bike in the bunch by about $1,000. Everyone there was on Colnago, Kelley, Orbea, Seven, or something really high end... I could tell right away that I was in elite company. The ride itself reminded me of racing as a kid. It was such a blast to jockey for position in the line, play cat and mouse, chase attackers... the whole bit. I felt great! The speeds were high, around 27 to 29 on the straights. My ego had a huge boost when I found myself in the lead group or chase group with plenty of gas to spare. I countered one attack and overtook the attacker on one lap and stayed off for a lap and a half. It was awesome. When I attacked, my speed was 32 and nobody was on my wheel. I LOVE that stuff! Especially being as fat as I am on a cruddy bike! It made me want to start road racing again... but I will forget about all of that and stick to the plan. My performance that night made me feel good about my fitness, although it was a short hour and a half crit. We will see how I do at distance this weekend!

The rest of the week was pretty good. I managed to fit in all my workouts except one swim yesterday. I ran 4 miles last night and felt pretty good. I am going Monday to have a second opinion on my orthotics. I am having some right knee pain and some pain on the inside of my left ankle. I never had these before getting orthotics, so I am not sure what is up. The shinns are not as sore. I could feel my right one every now and again flare up in the run, but not too bad. I hope it is just my body adapting.

I am feeling a little better today: Sleep 8hrs, Stress 5, Fatigue 3, Soreness 5.

I have also begun to realize some of my hard work in the weight department. It seems that overnight I have dropped from 230 to 226. I weighed in at 226 the last two mornings. This really motivates me!