Today is Technically My Friday, so TGIF

With the Easter holiday approaching, the thought occurred to me on Monday that maybe, just maybe, I might have a half day on Friday.  You'd think that I'd know this since I've been here 5 years, but hey, it's been a year since last Easter so give a girl a break !  Anyway, I delicately posed the question to HR - I'm sure she's been getting these questions for days so I wanted to tread lightly.  She said no, we don't get a half day.  Pause while I lament my luck.  We get a full day off on Friday.  I coulda kissed her, and I told her as much.  She suggested that I should keep that to myself.  So, today is my Friday.  I've been talking myself through this week "hold out, you have a gorgeous, sunny, warm 3 day weekend coming up".  I dont know if it's the weather or I'm just completely worn out, but knowing I have a long weekend coming up was the only thing getting me through. 

So, for this weekend I predict some lobster-tans for my pigment-challenged cycling contingent.  I plan on getting a big start on my panda-tan for the season ... it's a hot look when we go to the beach or wear a sleeveless top.  Three full days of riding will definitely give me a little restart for the soul. 

The good news is that I had my very first after-work, outdoor training ride of the season this week !!  This is a sign of good things to come, as I got out of work at a decent hour and managed to get in almost 1.5 hrs, doing hill intervals up Lawyer's Hill and finishing up with some threshold running through the park to beat daylight.  It was liberating and exhilerating - talk about good for the soul.  I know many of you can't appreciate the big deal since you do this all the time but it was a special day for me. 

It really doesn't take much these days to make me happy.

Wednesday Rambling

I have come to the conclusion that every person has a finite amount of brain-power per day or per situation.  I seem to be hitting this limiter on a regular basis these days at work - around 5 or so, I start getting "stupid" ... forgetting where I was going, what I was doing or simply staring blankly at a computer screen.  I think I've used up my excess brain-power over the past few months and when 5pm rolls around, I shut down.  That doesn't mean I get to leave at "quitting time", it just means I am less productive. 

I'm thrilled to report that I managed to sneak out to a "meeting" last Friday afternoon - ie I played hooky and went for a bike ride on a gorgeous March afternoon. I dont worry about posting that online because it was clearly understood that when I asked for the time off for a "meeting" that I was going to ride my bike.  I'm fairly certain my higher-ups are getting a little worried about me spending so much time at work ... not that they can do much about it, but they seemed more than agreeable to let me escape to play on my bike.

So, with a nice 2.5hr jaunt on Friday through Ellicott City, I felt like I was prepared for a weekend of decent riding. Lets just say that Saturday's 7am dropped me about halfway up Mass Ave, and Sunday's team ride found me sucking it up on the hills.  Frustrating to say the least, as I HAVE been training - essentially working and training is all I've been doing.  I know that stress has something to do with fitness/fatigue etc, but dammit ... it's just too much time and effort to not see some progress.  

Anyway, I approach this weekend's event as a training race and will try to keep that in mind if things don't go well ... ya'll better watch out if my new assistant works out and I get more time on the bike, 'cause I've got something to prove... if I ever get there.  

Is that light at the end of the tunnel ....

... or is it an oncoming train ?  That phrase about sums up my life right now - at work, I've finally hired some help and am holding my breath to hope it's a good fit and that I can stop the madness of 12hr workdays sometime in the near future.  Of course, if it's not a good fit, all I've done is create a train-wreck for myself.  See how well the analogy works ?

As far as the bike, I'm finally seeing some progress - movement in the right direction despite long workdays and few training days.  Again, holding my breath and hoping it's a trend, not a blip in the otherwise dim radar.

And weather-wise - yay !  We are in the 50s most days right now, which is a welcome change.  We'd be all good if the damn rain would stop - or at least stop falling on the weekends.  My new hire says it's supposed to be a nice weekend so, once again, I'm crossing my fingers to believe that she's right and that I'm not being blinded by the light.

Enough of train analogies ... it was an amusing aside but I've exhausted the funny out of it.  Sigh.