It's Monday

I just had 3 Oreos and I feel like crap. They tasted good though. It is possible that I feel like crap from the 10 (big) swedish fish I ate prior. Who knows.
I still haven't been to Palos. I'm slowly going insane.
To ward off the insanity awhile longer I made sure John was up for alone time with the girls and I headed to the Mad FORCs dirt retreat.
I had no idea what to expect. I honestly didn't care. I just wanted to hang out with people with my mountain bike.
I left a bit after 5:30am. I pulled into the Blackhawk Ski Area at about 8:50am. There were some women I've met before and some I've seen before and well, some I've never seen before.
For most of the day we rode and worked on skills. In the last group I was in we were with Alison Dunlap. I love her. I've met her a couple times and I am just so impressed by her every day down-to-earth-ness. Anyway, it was pretty cool.
Saturday night I wasn't sure what my plan was. Camp? Go to Amelia's and risk full blown allergy asthma attack (she has 2 very long haired cats)? or go to Holly's?
When Amelia left earlier than I wanted to I knew that option was out (or maybe not, she was just a phone call away). Then it didn't seem like anyone was camping so I took Holly up on her offer to crash there. Which in turn made a lot of sense and worked out well as we decided instead of heading back to the ski area we were hitting Kettle.
The hour drive to Holly's house after a long day of being on the bike seemed like it took FOREVER! I was relieved when my clock in the car was close to the time on my gps. I was even more relieved when I turned the key off. I was so done driving.
Headed inside and got a quick shower in. Holly and I chatted for what was probably over an hour about the day.
Next thing I know I hear Holly's dog freaking out, fell asleep again and woke up about 2 hours later. Grabbed some pancakes and coffee and got ready for Kettle.
I didn't realize how worked I was from the day before until I started moving around. My arms were sore, my lower back and my thighs were aching.
At Kettle we all headed out to ride everything but Emma. Which ordinarily I might've whined about not doing Emma, but my legs were screaming. I knew it'd be rough making it back after doing the Emma climbs with my legs as tired as they were. Not to mention I wasn't prepared food-wise.
The ride was pretty uneventful but fun. I started hungry which never works out for me. We stopped after the climbing on the blue loop to have a bite and then headed out again.
I was seriously hungry the whole day. I just felt like I was on empty. Still though, I had a really good time. I'm happy to be bruised and scratched. Although I could really do without the bruise on my knee from endo-ing in that deep sand section after the pines. My glasses were too dark for that section and I didn't see where it went. By the time I realized it the sand had taken me too far left... I tried to correct (turning your wheel in sand to correct your position is a bad move, and I know this, but still.). Instead of correcting, my bike came to a dead stop and flipped me over into the woods. But not before I hit my knee on something. Good to get the crashes out of the way early in the season (Yes, this is early for me this year. Fucking rain.).
Eau Claire is this weekend. I don't even want to think about the drive.

*pic stolen from britt