All Smiles!

Posted on by lindsay
Reasons I Am Delighted By Life: 1. Colavita. For the win! Like a boss! 2. M Coupe. This car is the shit. I've never really understood that expression, but that doesn't stop me from using it. I recently learned a new term: contronym. This term is used to refer to "words that, by some freak of language evolution, are their own antonyms." I think 'the shit' qualifies and thus that elevates it from common slang to linguistic art. 3. Sausage. One of my new team sponsors happens to be the maker of the chicken apple sausage I have eaten every day for the past eight months. I don't know about fate, but I do know about sausage. Reasons I Just Poured A Very Reasonable Serving Of 12-Year Old Irish Whiskey: 1. Work. I love my job and my company, but I have a lot of concurrent projects at the moment and ...continue reading.

Silver Lining

Posted on by lindsay
I've sat down to write this update post several times over the last two weeks. At first, it started as a positive, Christmas-themed piece. That didn't work out so well, because even Santa Claus would have barfed at my overly enthusiastic attempt to find good in this situation. Then I tried to own the fact that I'm constantly sour, short-tempered, and wincing in pain, and that piece should have been titled "STFU and HTFU." I am all over the place here. It has been almost three weeks since this injury, and I have spent that time vacillating wildly between optimistic! and IHATEEVERYTHING. When I got home from the hospital, I got on the trainer that night and spun at 35 watts for an hour. It was feeble and awkward, but I did it and was happy to have only missed one day of riding. It didn't seem to make my ...continue reading.

This light at the end of the tunnel may or may not be an oncoming train

Posted on by lindsay
I'm afraid of roaches. Terrified, actually. Occasionally I see tiny ones in my condo and that, more than the shoddy construction work or my criminally-active neighbors, is what I dislike most about my home. My nightmares feature roaches at least every other week. I'm afraid of gaining weight. When I eat a cupcake, I hate myself for it and vow to work out extra hard the next day as penance. I do, but then I also eat another cupcake, and that is why I am great at training. I'm afraid of small spaces. The idea of being buried alive is crippling. When I went to get my MRI yesterday, the technician asked if I was claustrophobic. The answer is yes, but I was too high, cranky, and impatient to get it done, so I lied. When she slid me all the way into the narrow tube, I panicked silently under ...continue reading.

Ten thoughts on life in the hospital:

Posted on by lindsay
1. Still high. At one point in the middle of the night, I thought the miniature Christmas tree my mom brought was rustling aggressively towards me. Turns out it was the sound of my IV drip, but I'm still keeping a close eye on that sneaky shrub. 2. The one thing I did not do in the middle of the night was sleep. I blogged, listened to a soundtrack of rain, listened to droopy music on Pandora, ate a Clif bar, counted the minutes until I could order breakfast and carefully typed a list of all the food I wanted, grimaced and winced every third minute, requested more Dilaudid, and got up to pee once. Sleep, however, was apparently not on the agenda, despite all of the painkillers and the extra dose of sedative. 3. Rufus Wainwright just dramatically and operatically sang: "Your nose was always too big for your ...continue reading.

Will Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Posted on by lindsay
I am in the hospital. When they pumped in more Dilaudid a few minutes ago, I instantly rocketed back into the upper stratosphere I often visit while dallying with narcotics. My first thought (after GAAAHHHH MY FACE IS MELTING) was that I should ride the Highmobile to Sleepytown, but when closing my eyes resulted in some wicked swoopy feelings and opening them made me think my bed was a jack o' lantern leering in the darkness, I decided it would be a better plan to take to the Internet. So, hi! Also, SO HIGH. Winter training has been going very well. I'm feeling strong on the bike, visiting the gym religiously, eating well, stretching, and doing everything I can to baby my problematic back. Other than some occasional pain, nothing has seemed out of the ordinary or particularly concerning. I wrapped up a rest week on Sunday and started the ...continue reading.

“if you lift 100 kilos today, you lift 100 kilos tomorrow…”

Posted on by lindsay
December is just beginning and winter training is well underway. I ride six days a week (one recovery ride, two days of intervals, two days of unstructured rides, and one big ride), lift weights three days a week, and do core work three days a week. I also work full time, try to sleep for eight or more hours a night, eat something like eight meals a day, and occasionally remember to call my parents and email my best friend. Thus, things like blog updates and keeping current on episodes of Gossip Girl fall by the wayside. The latter is a tragedy. If you catch me in a bad moment, I will complain about this schedule and bitch about how I'm constantly tired, always getting ready for another workout, and so sick of taking showers twice a day. Hell, I'm a whiner in the best of moments, so I will ...continue reading.