I used to be kind of fast...

I'm just back from my first larger race of the year. I had fun simply being on the bike, but my performance was far from satisfying. Ted reminds me that my training is very inferior to what it should be for me to be competitive at a 1/2 level, and I just looked back through my training times (total riding time, including races) in the past few months:

January - 37.5 hours
February - 34 hours
March - 26.5 hours
April - 21 hours
May through the 16th - 21 hours
Sum - NOT MUCH!!!

It's frustrating to be so significantly slower than I was even a few years ago. My back has just been preventing me from training for any significant periods of time. Looking at these hours, I see that I should have no expectations for myself right now. It would just be nice to be able to have some expectations, and to be able to put the time in that I want to. I hope I can someday train and race the way I used to, and that my fastest days are not simply in the past.

Our house could use some whimsy, so I made hound cupcakes today...


...and I've been wearing these slippers, sent to me by Mom and Dad.

Since my last update, Ted had surgery. His mom (Ellie) and I took him to Spokane to have ankle surgery. Once they wheeled him back, I went down to the cafeteria for breakfast, while Ellie stayed in the waiting room. While I was eating, Ellie received word that the doc felt he should also operate on the wrist. Surprise - you get two surgical procedures, not one! Ted was very groggy and they kept him overnight. I headed home to Pullman to work on my final exams and papers for the semester, and Ellie brought Ted home the following day.

I finished up the last of my graduate coursework a week ago, a few days after Ellie left. Before she left, she loaded us up with Chauvin spaghetti sauce, and we have a freezer full - 10 Tupper Ware containers of various sizes plus 4 quart-sized jars!


The weather is getting better here, so I've been doing some riding, and the Palouse is getting greener and more beautiful!

We head back to Spokane Thursday for Ted's follow-up appointment with his surgeon. Hopefully he will get some good news then. And, I may actually do a non-collegiate bike race next weekend in Wenatchee. That's all for now!