Getting back to business.

Two weeks into my first three week build of the training season, and my muscles are screaming. And with all the training, racing, working, and socializing plans swimming around in my brain, there hasn't been much room for thoughts of single-dom. Almost. But, on to cheerier topics. Training. Triathlon. Treats.

The week-end was good... not exactly epic. But, I can't complain about an entire road bike ride in semi-dry, sunshine, and 50s... in January. Followed by a Sunday run that was entirely off-road!

Though, it all had the potential for disaster. The weather powers-that-be never want to get Oregonian's hopes up by suggesting that there might actually be sunshine on a week-end. So, the forecast remained mostly cloudy with a 40 % chance of rain. I was meant to drive up to Portland with a friend, but he sent me a very sad email, mid-afternoon saying he was out, down for the count, sick as a dog. Not going. A quick texting, emailing, and facebooking frenzy ensued as I and the two other people in his car reworked our plans. It was decided that I would sweep through the Willamette Valley, picking up people and bikes on my way to Sauvie Island. The only condition of riding in my car.... stopping at Trader Joe's. The Corvallis location opens in two weeks, but I can't wait that long for my Joe's Coffee Beans.

Ride destination: Hills. The hardest thing to simulate on a trainer is riding up a hill. Sure you can get out of the saddle, put your bike in the hardest gear, but you miss the handling of the bike, the momentum of the climb, not to mention the scenery! So, when Matt asked me and the boys where we wanted to ride, we all pointed up. Up to Skyline Rd. This was a real treat for me. I had never ridden (as a cyclist... done four triathlons there) in Portland. And we were riding the cream of the crop. So many cyclists. And up and down and up and down, until my quads would no longer fire, and we blessedly descended back to the cars.

Day two: the off-road run that would never end. I got an FB bulletin around 11:00pm from a fellow Brooks IDer. Meet at the Saddle at 8am for 14 miles. Doable.... if I fell asleep at that exact moment. I set the alarm anyway, packed my bag, laid out my running clothes and nutrition and read myself to sleep.

At the trail, I was on-time to meet the Corvallis Ultrarunners Group. Slightly under-caffienated, under-nutritied and over-sore. We started off running the 1-mile uphill side of the loop, which was okay because I'm pretty speedy uphill. But at the "top", we swung around on Powderhouse Trail and went all the way down to Peavy. At the bottom, I was introduced to "Sondra-Creep" a phenomenon encountered when Sondra comes on a run and starts to suggest modifications to our route involving trails that add a mile here, two miles there, and before you know it, your 14 mile run has become a 21 mile run. We wound around the Discovery trail, the Calloway Creek Trail, and the bottom of 305 before I glanced at my watch.... 1:25 and we were still at least a 30-minute run from the cars by the shortest route! And the shortest route, what we ended up taking, is almost straight up. It encompasses some of the grade from the Mac Forest 15K, so you know it's steep. At the top, FB-friend Erica and I pealed off to bee-line back to the cars, even picking up the pace a bit to avoid getting too cold in the rain that had started up.

Fantastic run, fantastic ride, fantastically sore quads from all the climbing. Two-days of foam roller still haven't been able to sort out the carnage!