Next month, I’m racing races in consecutive weekends. On May 24, I’ll be running a (hopefully) PR race, Mountains 2 Beach, a net downhill course from Ojai to Ventura in Southern California. Depending on Jesse’s prognosis next week, he may be pacing me. This is the first time in a long time that my body hasn’t hurt from running, and I’ll be gunning for a 1:55.

The next weekend, on May 31, I’ll be participating in an Olympic Triathlon, Vineman Monte Rio. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this race: a 1500m swim in the Russian River, followed by a shaded 25-mile bike ride with rolling hills and a flat 10K run. I’m stoked that both the bike and run are shaded – I’m pretty much scarred (literally and figuratively) from my second degree burn at Wildflower Olympic last year. I’m a little skeptical of performing well at this race given that I’ll be running hard the weekend prior, but I plan on enjoying the experience and further familiarizing myself with triathlon racing.

I biked outside a whopping one time before Jesse broke his foot. I had been planning to rely on him, admittedly, for guidance to help me get over my aversion to biking. Although that 35-mile ride was surprisingly enjoyable, I feel like I haven’t practiced enough to feel fully confident going into the bike leg. Hopefully, Jesse and I will be able to go out for a few more rides before race day.

I’ve been structuring my weekly workouts with about three runs (including one double digit run), one spin class, one swim, and one BodyPump class (and maybe one yoga class if it works out with my schedule). I’m very happy with the way my body’s been responding to my return to regular running after my problems with my IT band earlier this year. I’m trying to lay down a solid running base of about 20 miles/week before Jesse and I officially start training for the Berlin Marathon in June. I feel quite comfortable with the 1500m swim at Monte Rio (it’s so shallow, you can stand if you want to), and although spinning is no substitute for outdoor riding, I’m happy I can mimic at least some of outdoor riding’s components during the work week.

Jesse and I are hoping for a positive prognosis on Monday. He’s been seriously impressive with all of his Alter-G runs, and he even participated in spin classes this week. I can’t wait until he feels 100% better and can participate in all of the activities that make him happy, particularly long trail runs (followed by sushi and beer).