Mouthpiece + Recovery Sunday

I forgot to mention that on Saturday for the Pseudo I wore my new custom-made Agility Guard (aka athletic "dental appliance" to enhance performance) for the entire bike and run. I will write about the whole concept in my next post, as well as give you guys a first account from the dentists who are developing these things. My initial impression: It was quite comfortable to wear, and I liked having something to bite down on besides my own teeth. Plus, I had a great day Saturday. But the jury is still out; I need to do some well-thought-out specific testing to see its real impact. A couple things I didn't like: I couldn't chew gum, which I really like doing while working out because it gives me a sense of moisture in my mouth... and I'm addicted to gum :) I also couldn't open GUs with my front teeth because they don't touch when the guard is in. The only other thing, you talk with a lisp, but that's more funny than it is annoying.

Click here for some videos on the Agility Guard, featuring a couple videos with my good bud Dr. Lim and the dentists I worked with.

Anyways, Sunday was again a perfect SoCal day, so recovery ride it was! [Insert picture of cyclists' butts and blue sky here.]

Thankfully another one of my clients joined me and we tooled around Irvine aka flat land -- I wanted no hill action! However, my recovery ride got somewhat hijacked thanks to some gnarly Santa Ana winds that forced me to pick it up or go like 5 mph. The tailwind was nice, though.

I eventually let my client go on his way, as he had hills and race-pace efforts to do. I was tempted to join him, but played it smart and bowed out. On my way home I dodged death.... The strawberries are starting to grow like crazy around here, which means one thing: BEES! I went through two swarms and I have never been so scared in my life!! I wasn't wearing a HR monitor, but I bet I went up to 200 bpms for a bit. All the while I was praying, "Please God don't let them sting me!!" I probably looked schizo and frantic the way I was riding and moaning. They were just whizzing by my one after the other like bullets-- literally a "worst nightmare" situation for me lol. Didn't help that my bike outfit was summer-ish, aka minimal coverage.

Thankfully I survived the bee storm and made it home, 21 miles later. I had an optional EZ/slow 2-mile run to do, and I debated. Within a couple minutes I was out running. It was perfect. I'm a happy camper anytime I can wear just a sports bra and shorts outdoors.

And now the week begins.... school starts; my last semester before it's Tawnee Prazak, MS. Saaaweet.