What's in your work bag?

While looking for a pen during a work meeting on Friday I pulled out a pen with a piece of moleskin stuck to it...very nice professional touch.  It got me wondering what else was buried in there.  So today is clean out my work bag day and besides a piece of moleskin I found Airborne, 2 tubes of lotion, toothpaste, Purell, 7 nice pens (I knew they were in there somewhere), last years USAT and ACA licenses, an old Comcast bill stub, 2 baggies, my reading glasses (hmm guess I should try to wear them), a little tag I was going to put on my running shoe with my emergency contact info on it, random scraps of paper reminding me to do something, my Burt Bees lipstick (yes I do put this on sometimes so I'm less likely to be mistaken for a student at the schools I visit), and best of all a gift card to the Boulder Book Store.  I think my shoulder will thank me that my bag is a little lighter and less cluttered now.

After my mid season break I'm back in the swing of training.  Yesterday Doug and I took the bus to Nederland and almost 6 hours later arrived back home.  Doug has explored lots of "secret" trails and after playing on the Nederland trails we are able to ride singletrack almost all the way back to Boulder.  I only had one slight meltdown (aka bonking) but Doug shoved some fruit leather in my mouth and I was ready to go again.  Today I did a long run and it was hot.  We haven't had many hot Summer days this year and I never workout in the middle of the day so I got my butt kicked by the heat.  Sad thing is it isn't even as hot as it will be Worlds.  I'd better start my sauna training soon. 

Time for some rest

Where is the summer going? My caseload at work usually slows down in the Summer with the schools being out but this has not been the case lately. There were few weeks where I could take a moment and breath but now it's chaotic again and the schools don't go back for two more weeks...good timing for a break from training.My nephew turned 1 on July 22nd and we had a fun family party. This picture is right before we realized Sam was breaking out in hives from that yummy frosting. A quick bath and a slathering with cortizone seemed to take care of the problem.

After doing minimal training since Beaver Creek I raced the Eldora Xterra last Saturday mostly because it was in my own backyard. I was mentally not in race mode and was just out cruising around having fun. I ended up in 2nd place behind Jenny Smith. I was sticking my tongue out for pictures, chatting on the run and even did a nice walk across the finish line. It was a fun race...I just wish that I had a little more mental energy. This week I'm not training at all to get my mind and body recharged for the 2nd half of the season. My exercise for the week consists of taming our jungle of a yard and painting some outdoor furniture. I've also been sleeping in until 7am (or even after)...heaven! This weekend might involve my first trip to the farmer's market this year, a hike and maybe even some reading by the creek. Hopefully, after this week I will be ready to "get back at it" in preparation for Nationals and Worlds.