My husband and I have been brainstorming about how to celebrate our upcoming first anniversary (8/22).
We were considering either a weekend in NYC to see a show (American Idiot?), or a weekend in Richmond to walk around the cuteness and visit our alma matter (U of R), where we met. This morning he emailed me with a GENIUS idea! The night before our anniversary, there’s a big bike race in Richmond! I was a but hesitant about the idea because:
- I was hoping to dress up and go to a schmancy dinner
- I am a pretty awful bike rider, and
- Richmond is still pretty hot at 8pm in August
But the more I think about it, the more excited I am. Since we won’t be able to go out to a normal anniversary dinner, I was thinking we could do brunch on Sunday (our actual anniversary). Richmond has a beautiful, historic hotel (The Jefferson) which happens to be famous for its brunch. I was always sad that I didn’t get to go to my school’s “ring dance” and stay over for brunch, per my college’s tradition (I was studying abroad at the time). Now I can make it up to celebrate with my wonderful husband.
Also, I love the idea of celebrating our anniversary by doing something active. It would be a great tradition! Hopefully we can find a race, or just something really cool to do, every year 
As I said, I am a pretty weak bike rider, so I already started prepping at lunch today by subbing my usual treadmill run with a spin class . It whopped my butt! My average heart rate was 166, whereas it’s normally around 155 on a run. I’ll be shocked if I can sit or stand tomorrow.
My plan to train for this race is to go for a nice long ride with the husband this weekend to see if I’m up for the longer distance (17 miles vs. the 8 mile option), and then incorporate spin class into my “active rest days” and try to get a long ride in each weekend. I’ve edited my workout plan to reflect that – I hope I can keep with with my running and strength work! I will, however, be replacing my planned yoga sessions with bike rides. I’ll try to squeeze in some yoga when I can, but I’m not superwoman!
I can’t believe I’m really training for a bike race! I flirted with the idea of a tri, but I backed out because I really don’t enjoy swimming (I panic with my face in the water). But now I might be will be a biker! I feel like Caitlin, who’s a huge inspiration to me.
Have a great weekend! I’ll let you know how Sunday’s long ride goes!