rainy weekend and Ballou Skies photo shoot

Last weekend started off on Friday night with Jocelyn and I hosting Kim at our master's practice. We had a longer than usual sprint night and then afterward we went with some teammates and family members to Pizza Roma for some carbs and brews. As usual, the service was insanely slow and we didn't get home terribly early to prep for next morning's workouts. I was holding out hope that maybe the rain wouldn't come in the overwhelming quantities that they were calling for, but after seeing about 10 straight hours forecasted with a 100% chance, I was preparing for another long indoor ride. Saturday morning came and Jocelyn and I took a drive out to Irwin to meet up with Chad, Jen, and Co. Kim and Matt were also in attendance, and a 4-4.25 hr ride was queued up. Matt, Jocelyn, Kim, Jen, and Chad (lt>rt) getting started below.
Kim, Jen, and Chad a couple hours in I think.
After the ride, the girls were the only ones to head out for a transition run as the rest of us grabbed a bite to eat and prepared for the afternoon swim. Emerging from Chad's, it looked as if it hadn't rained at all in Irwin during our whole 4 hour+ ride. Just our luck! We shot on over to the Greensburg Y and did 4000 yds, with a 30 x 100 main set. I felt surprisingly good for this, and came in under 1:20 for almost all of the 100's (only over for a handful that I did I.M.). Lovely ladies and Chad, pre-swim.
After the swim, a relaxing soak in the hot tub. Some would argue that this is not the best post-workout choice (inflammation), but I don't think its too bad after a bike and a swim. You wouldn't catch me in here after a long run though.
The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing at home with some sushi and wine despite some appeals from friends to go out for St Patty's Day. No thanks to lots of standing, smoky bars, and overpriced drinks. Sunday morning started with a long run with Joe, running a bit more than 16 miles as a progression run, building to a pretty solid clip by the end as I tried to crack my cyclist turned runner companion. He hung tough though and we rewarded ourselves with a breakfast buffet at Montecello's. I gorged for about a half hour, and then after a quick turnaround at home, Jocey and I were off to the South Side for a Pittsburgh Tri Club meeting at the Over the Bar Cafe. More Chad, Jen, and Kim, who was presenting on nutrition at the meeting, plus plenty of other friends like Ryan, Lisa, and Garvin, and then some new ones that were made. After a couple Fat Tire Ale's and East End Snow Melt's, it was up the hill for a BallouSkies photo shoot on top of Mt Washington. The whole team was there, and all together for the first time I believe, to take some team photos and promotional shots. We had race bikes, race kits, jerseys, Peanut Butter, everything on hand for a great photo shoot but the weather. The rain held off though and a great time was had by all, until we were too cold to stick around any longer in the sharkskin one pieces in damp, 50 degree conditions! Below, the team, from lt>rt: moi, Kevin, Ty, Kim, Ryan (foreground), Merett, Troy, Jocey, Joe, and Steve.
That pretty much wrapped up the weekend, and then a new week was underway, albeit one that was much darker in the morning and lighter in the evenings thanks to Daylight Savings Time. More typical training ensued, with sights set hopefully on better weather to come this weekend! Thanks for reading my hyperlink heavy post - I hope you enjoyed it, but now get ready for some more! Its time for action, check out BallouSkies online, join the group or cause on Facebook, and get involved in the fight against DMD!