Ouchie! My Bum!

Yes, as the title of this little rambling lets on, I will be talking about my bum. Alright, alright, before you get too grossed out, I'm not going to go on about the workings of my fine little tushy, but rather my fantastic gluteus maximus. I heart my gluteus maximus, a lot. That puppy helps me grind up hills, power through snow drifts in the morning, and provides a nice amount of cushion to sit on all day long at work ( and in the off-season, maybe a little too much). Thank you gluteus maximus. I don't know where I would be without you, other than not fitting into my pants.

Ok, you may ask where the h3ll I'm going with this business, but I assure you I do have a point here people. On Saturday I paid (and yes I did pay a pretty penny) a visit to my massage therapist. I heart her a lot. As you have probably read before, she has the hands of the Incredible Hulk. Instead of turning green when she is angry, she takes it out on your body during a massage... Ouchie! So, back to Saturday. I had the impression that Terri would be working mostly on my lower back and pelvic area because I had once again successfully thrown my hips and lower back out of whack shoveling the weekend prior. Yeah, I know, I'm that good. So Terri went through her normal routine and it was time for me to flip so she could work on my backside.

::flip::

My back had the usual knots that Terri dug her elbow into, and then she got down to my aforementioned bum. Holy Jesus, Mary and Joseph did that woman find treasure (please people, get your heads out of the gutter!!). I have never been dealt such pain from that woman in all my visits! It felt worse than the time she worked on me after I crashed my bike into a fence (yeah, we'll save THAT story for another time...). I was whimpering, SHE MADE ME WHIMPER! It was a good thing it was a Saturday and no one else was in the clinic to hear how pathetic I sounded, it may have been embarrassing. Trudging through the snow to the bus stop has done a number on my fantastic gluteus maximus. My apologies to my bum for the abuse the past few weeks! I hope you can forgive me, but mostly I hope you can forgive Terri. She means well...

On the Verge...

...of another season. Last night was the mentor workshop for Team in Training. It was really great to see everyone again. Well, by saying that, it sounds like I haven't seen most of my teammates since last season which is not true. I have actually seen most of them over the course of the short off-season that we have had thus far. I guess that is a testament to how good a group of friends we have all become. I am excited for the season to begin, although I really am enjoying the unstructured time off that is the off-season.

I think we have a really great group of mentors this year that is anchored by a crazy and fun coaching staff (a little bias there, I know!) and such a fantastic and supportive staff at the LLS offices. I know I am extremely thankful for how supportive the staff were to me last year and I can expect the same stellar performance this year. Recruitment starts soon and I am especially psyched for that. (AHEM! Yes lady friends of mine that complain about not seeing me once the season starts, I'm talking to you!! Want to spend time with me? SIGN UP! hehehe) There is no better feeling than knowing that you helped someone make the commitment to join the team and accomplish something bigger than themselves. Awesome.

There are always the downfalls of the season... Raging hunger (ugh, I get tired of eating and bored of the food I cook), no time to do anything but eat, train, work and sleep (and eat and eat and eat and eat), missing all my favorite tv shows (good thing the writers are on strike!) and just generally feeling like I'm missing out on all the good weather up at the cabin (yes my family feels left out too). Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm not ready to hear from everyone again, "must be hard to eat whatever you want." and "I don't know how you do that. I can hardly drive that far!" I think that is by far the worst part of training and/or being and endurance athlete, having to constantly explain yourself to people that just don't get it and probably never will. Their loss right?

Now that the season is upon us, I really need to kick my fund-raising into high gear. I feel like I have been slacking, but I suppose that is because I have been. At the meeting last night, I picked up some TNT stationary so that is added motivation to get my letter written and send it out. For some reason, not many people have been responding to my emails. Hm...harass them at home it is! hehehe

Alright, I am going to go and not do core work with Mr. Fury...something about coaching and needing to be in shape. Yeah, I know right? Blah, blah, blah...