I am so relieved the holidays are over, aren't you?

I have never been so happy for it to be January in all my life.
And I survived, stone fucking cold sober.

The best gift I bought was a bike. Not for me, but for a kid in Arizona. Sunday Cycles, friends of DrunkCyclist.com, had a bicycle drive and over the course of 5 days, Joe raised 5K and purchased 131 kid's bikes to give out to kids whose parents couldn't afford them. Pretty rad.

Dominic and I don't exchange gifts. Not even for birthdays or anniversaries. Since I control all the money, we usually just buy something nice for the house. Or bike parts. Today we bought a ROKU so we can hook up the wireless to the TV - bye bye digital cable. Hello Netflix.

My friend Sandi bought me this:



















Normally the only jewelry I wear is my wedding band and recently, swirly earrings from a tattoo shop. However, I am wearing this necklace. I like it a lot. Cuz I love bikes. And I love Sandi.

The workouts continue. I obtained my goal of 5 rest days in between Thanksgiving and the New Year. From here on out, I will take one rest day a week.




















This last week went like this:

Today - 2K swim
Tuesday - Endurance intervals on the trainer in the morning, and then ran stairs last night.
Monday - 75 minutes on the rollers, keeping my HR at 160.
Sunday - ran intervals on the treadmill and lifted weights in between.
Saturday - Tempo ride on rollers for 90 minutes.
Friday - 2.5 hour ride outside, getting caught in the rain.
Thursday - 90 minutes on the trainer - hard intervals, alternating between 5 minutes at 180 and 5 minutes at 140.

Wednesday we had a bit of a scare. My father-in-law was rushed to the hospital, where we spent 9 hours with most of the family. He is going to be ok, but man, that was scary. Tom is a good man, so loving and thoughtful. Dominic takes after him in so many ways. After 3 days he was released and is now home resting. I am glad we could be there for him.

And so it goes.

The coffee shop job continues to be a good fit. Somehow the bills are getting paid, we have money saved up and I am happy. Plus I only work about 28 hours a week. How rad is that? I have become addicted to fine Viennese espresso, doing as many as 4 shots during my morning shifts. Macchiatos, skinny cappuccinos, ummm, so good. I am so spoiled now, we only make Sidewinder's blend of organic coffee at home now since we get such good deals on it. Yea, I've become a coffee snob. The treats are hard to stay away from, but discipline is key.















A funny comment popped up on this blog the other day:

"Lighten up, get high and ride your bike. Perhaps their is a balance. You are hiding behind your workouts and intensity."

Balance? HA! Never. This person clearly does not understand addiction. Or doesn't read this blog on a regular basis. I really wish I could drink in moderation. Or do a few bong hits every now and then. And take pain pills as prescribed. Never gonna happen. Not me.

With that, I will leave you with this rad video my friend Pippin did for me. It's a compilation of all the video I took of Dominic flatlanding this past year. I've posted it on DC, and it's gotten over 1200 views. I am so proud of my man. It's got him stoked to ride again.

Freestylin' compilation from judi lopresti on Vimeo.