Cranky Clancy Tackles Another Week

Do you ever just have those days where everything makes you cranky?  That was like the story of my life this week.  Between work and training and mentoring and trying to have a social life I came to the conclusion this week that I am WAY over-extending myself right now.  And that made me cranky.

I still managed to get a little bit of everything in this week, and eventually sweated out all of my cranky-ness as the week progressed.  You know how it goes.

Monday
I was feeling pretty good after Sunday's 50-miler, thanks in part to the tennis ball I keep in my desk at work to secretly roll out my muscles during conference calls.  Recovery at it's finest in corporate America.

I wasn't feeling a big run or ride but wanted to get my muscles moving so Brie and I decided to ride down to the canal to get frozen yogurt.  Burn 100 calories and then consume 500?  Fair trade to me.

worth it.

We rode leisurely there and back and ended up getting in just about 9 miles.  A decent recovery ride.

Tuesday

On Monday night, Becca and I had made plans to ride together after work on Tuesday.  I woke up super excited.  And then my day got worse and worse as it went on and I got crankier and crankier.  To say I was in a miserable mood by 5pm would be an understatement.

I literally had to drag myself to Becca's because I was mad at the world and didn't want to move from my couch.  Becca turned out to be in a similar mood -- this was going to be an interesting ride.

Three minutes into the ride as we were going up our first hill my chain fell off.  Yes, AGAIN.  Wtf is right.  Not only did that make me cranky, but the fact that I had to continue climbing the hill with zero momentum was a fantastic way to start the ride.

I was so NOT feeling the ride at all and put more energy into being miserable than actually riding.  Becca and I were silent for the first 10 miles because neither of us had anything positive to say.  We were both real gems to be around.

When we finally spoke, it was to complain and to decide to cut our anticipated 30 mile ride short.  Not worth forcing it when we both weren't feeling it.  We made an early turn into the park and calculated we'd get about 20-22 miles in.  

Guess what happened at mile 18, right as we were finishing the loop in the park, so close to the end of our ride?  I GOT A FLAT.  Yup.  ANOTHER EFFING FLAT.  Normally this wouldn't bother me (case in point- Sunday's ride), but I was having that kind of shitty day that of course I got a flat on my ride.  When we pulled over it took a lot of will power not to throw my bike at a tree.

Of course it was an ordeal changing the flat and what do you know there was a stupid little stone lodged in my tire that I probably didn't clear out when I got my flat on Sunday.  Someone teach me bike maintenance, please.

We finally finished our stupid ride and thankfully Becca's husband was waiting for us at the canal to pick us up.  No way were we going to ride the extra 3 miles home.  Heck no.

finally done

so happy to be off our bikes
[helmets in the car - you never know with our luck.]

Usually I'm all OMG I FEEL AWESOME after a ride, but I was so cranky that day that I was just happy to be done with our ride afterwards.  Get me to bed, please.

Wednesday

I must have been on some little riding high or something, because on Tuesday night I agreed to meet one of my co-workers at the gym for a 5:30am spin class.  When my four alarms went off in the morning, you bet I was regretting that decision.

I slept in my gym clothes so really just had to roll out of bed and brush my teeth before I sprinted out the door.  Got there right on time and quickly realized that my legs were still in bed sleeping and wondering wtf I was doing.  

Our ride on Tuesday was hard and hilly and was less than 12 hours before spin class.  Bad idea.  Even hardcore Becca, who sometimes yells at me for being a baby, agreed:

True, it was a great way to start off my day, but I don't think 5:30am spin class will be happening the morning after Mendon rides anytime soon.  I spent a lot of time with Foamie on Wednesday night.

Thursday

A couple girls from work and I had planned to walk on the canal after work and grab dinner and drinks afterwards.  This was a perfect way to switch up my usual routine.  It was nice to just do some walking and talking.  Although, I really did underestimate the power of walking - man, I worked up a sweat and got more of a workout than I expected!

girls post walk!

We walked for just about an hour and of course I had to wear my Garmin - activities don't exist unless Garmin records them! :)

After our sweaty walk we got dinner and drinks.  We wasted no time chugging our pitcher of water and ordering some refreshing beers.  Yes, even walking requires refueling with liquid carbs!

Friday

My Friday consisted of absolutely nothing active.  My bike was in the shop and I didn't really feel like running.  Lifetime movies and the couch it is.

Saturday

Mentoring day!  I wish I could say that I woke up with exclamation marks exuding from my aura, but it was more like this: !(@&$(!&#)WTF.  I really just wanted to go back to bed and I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I was with the 5k group yesterday and we were running a course preview of the 5k race that they'll be running in two weeks.  For the first mile, I was a terrible mentor.  I just ran silently with the group and didn't talk to anyone.  I was cranky and didn't trust my mouth to say anything positive so I just kept it shut.

Once I heard my watch beep at the first mile, I knew I had to snap out of it.  Just because I was miserable doesn't mean that I can't try to make someone else's run enjoyable.  Trust me, it took a lot of willpower to be able to suck up my crankiness and start chatting with the runners.  And you know what?  Once I did I was in such a better mood.

The girls I was running with were great and I really enjoyed the last couple miles of our run.  It was their first time ever running that distance and seeing their faces when they finished was awesome.  The words on our mentor shirts couldn't be any truer!

Sunday

I had another early wake up call this morning and met coach Rob at 8am for a ride.  Not only did I wake up on time this morning, but I also left the house on time and got to Rob's early.  Yeah, my jaw was on the floor too.  I was so proud of myself for being on time and was patting myself on the back as we geared up for the ride.  Just as I was grabbing my helmet to go, I realized that I forgot my Garmin.  Nooooooo.  As you recall, no activity exists unless Garmin is there to record it.  HOW COULD I FORGET YOU?!?

After I had a little hissy fit and Rob rolled his eyes at me, we were on our merry way.  It was perfect weather out and we headed out to some country roads.  About halfway through, we stopped so Rob could make sure we were on course and it turned into a 7 minute pit stop because neither of us could figure out how to read our iPhone maps.  How are you supposed to know which way the map is oriented?!  Someone please enlighten me.

Anyways, we figured it out and were back on course which included a bunch of hills on the way back. Oddly enough, I actually kind of like climbing on the bike.  I dread hills when I'm running, but it makes things interesting (dare I say fun?) when I'm riding.  As much as I complain, I dig a good challenge.  Sometimes.

We got in 30 miles and considering it was about half of what I did last Sunday, I was pretty tired.  It was a great ride overall but I think the hills did me in at the end.  We averaged 14mph and I can't tell you our exact time or our elevation (ah!) because stupid Garmin didn't show up for the party.  But here's coach Rob's record of our ride to prove that it really did happen:

This is my last week to get in some good activity because on Sunday is the Geneseo half marathon.  I'm hoping that my lack of running won't make this a disaster...I mean riding miles and miles has to count for something for my endurance right?  Guess we'll find out in a week!