Spring Break: Girls Gone Wild!

Well, not exactly. But for a triathlete girl, “going wild” can be just as fun, if not nearly as scandalous.

This past week I’ve been celebrating Spring Break. My sister Lauren, a 2nd grade teacher on her Spring Break, was in town all week from California.  As the brilliant and bossy older sister, I thought, “She doesn’t need Cancun or Lake Havasu. She needs to come be my bag bi-atch (term of endearment for SHERPA) in New Orleans.”

Apparently Lauren’s been out of college too long to remember what a REAL Spring Break is supposed to look like, and lucky for me.  I have a feeling she won’t be enlisting in my travel planning services again soon. 

The festivities continued after the race back here in The ATL, and we ate great food, went out a few times, and even had a couple adult beverages—-practically a rarity for me these days.

(In Atlanta, you don’t just say in ATL. You say, in THE ATL. Yep.  Usher taught me that.)

For a triathlete (at least this one), Spring Break also means no heart rate monitor, optional Garmin, and workouts all geared towards recovery.  (Why does that sound like an oxymoron?) Coach Matt says that it takes about two weeks to shake out the effects of a half ironman.  You won’t hear me arguing with The Man.  He tells me to rest, I CHILL!

(Conversely, when he tells me to WORK, he sometimes has to give me a kick in the pants, but that’s not the point here.)

And CHILL I have.  I just finished an awesome 8 mile run that reminded me of the days that I ran for pure enjoyment: up and around the trails of South Mountain in Phoenix, through the sea lion colony in Galapagos, and around town in Athens, GA.   I don’t wear an ipod because I would way rather hear the birds as I run through through the trails at the river. The sun always seems to be shining a little brighter on runs like this. It doesn’t hurt. I jump over mud puddles and almost have fun when I miss.  I get the runner’s high instead of the runner’s vomit. I love Spring Break!! 

Going slow makes me appreciate going fast. And last week’s race fired me up to want to get even faster.

But not until Spring Break is over!