Swim, bike, run - How Bad ASS can I be?

My indoor trainer - Oh how I hate riding on the trainer. I know it is good for technique and you can get a good work out on the trainer while staying warm and dry in doors during the bad winter months.  Your bike stays clean, you can catch up on all your TV shows, watch movies and are safe from erratic drivers.  But I still hate riding on the trainer.  Quite frankly I would rather poke myself in the eye with a pencil.  Thankfully living on the wet coast we have mild winters and generally can ride all year long with the exception of a couple of weeks usually in January.  I honestly would rather ride outside in the cold and rain then on the trainier.  And have done so but as of late the girls have been riding in spin class at Coach B's new spin studio - I did not plan on going but a few weeks ago I took a small tumble down a flight of stairs at work and so part of the rehab was spin class (groan....).  So I signed up for 5 classes figur...

So when I was preparing for Ironman one of the things I did was take an open-water clinic to help me calm down in open water.  The course was with a gentleman named Peter - aka seahiker.com. My riding buddies Judith and Cindy swore by him and I knew I needed help with calming down in open water.  It was kind of ridiculous the panic attacks I would have every single time.  So I signed up. It did work - I calmed down and was able to get through each swim without the usual 3 minute panic attack at the start.  I was still as slow as molasses but at least I was calm.  I have been told a zillion times swimming is all about technique - blah, blah, blah and I have worked and worked on it.  I have done or at least I thought I was doing what everyone was telling me and was just frustrated.  Seriously - super frustrated - so frustrated that I started not wanting to swim because I was so tired of well sucking at it.  It seemed no matter how often I swam...

I always train with a ball cap - always.  People who train with me have a hard time recognizing me when I am in my civvies because I am not wearing a cap. I love ball caps and have worn them religiously since I was 9 and started playing softball.  I have more caps then my husband and I treasure each one.  Some get worn more than others - some are just for running, some are for post running and then there are my dressy ones that I wear when walking the dog or going grocery shopping.  Yep I love ball caps - if I could figure out how to wear one at work I probably would. One of the things I love about riding is feeling the breeze as you ride - remember when you could feel the breeze in your hair as zoomed along the street.  Breeze not some brutal stupid head wind but breeze.  To me that was freedom.  I love jumping on my bike as a kid as soon as I could and riding, feeling the breeze on my skin and through my hair.  No worries, no parents, no rot...