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Hey there Newsletter readers,
It’s great to be back in your inbox for another DC Rainmaker newsletter! As always around these parts, we are boasting a very full schedule of life, work, training, and even racing!
If you stick with me here, I’m going to run you through the latest posts on the site, and then you can sneak down to the In-Depth Thoughts of the Girl for a life, training, and racing balance dilemma.
Last week Ray attended the Zwift Community Live event. More accurately, I should say he attended the pre-event where the media were invited in advance for lots of talks and media-esq meetings. Along with all of the talks, Ray was able to get some hands-on time with updated ZWIFT gear, as well as logging many beautiful, Mallorcan rides with employees of Zwift! I suspect these in-person long rides are where the most "interesting" conversations actually took place. For all those details, check out the most recent website post.
Next up, we have the newly announced Garmin Vivoactive 6. Currently, on the site we have a “Hands on: Everything you Need to Know”, so check that out, but also stay tuned as I’m sure with the amount of use that watch is getting, there will be an in-depth review in our near future.
Let’s not forget that Ray likes to break the internet from time to time with drone follow-me-type videos and reviews. The DJI Flip was his latest victim; Ray brought it for a day of cycling through some tree-lined bike paths, or as he likes to call it: "The Gauntlet". Follow along and see how it fared, or find out if Ray, in the end, needs to contact the DJI repair team once again.
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In-Depth Thoughts of The Girl
Well, hello there. You made it down to my little space here on the internet.
A lot of you have been curious as to what is next on the schedule for the Maker household. As some of you already know, my big race in January didn’t go as planned (as life so rarely does with 3 kiddos with a knack for bringing home the most interesting viruses). My hope at Ironman 70.3 Oman this past January, was to grab a slot to this year's 70.3 World Championships in Marbella, Spain. Being a January race, grabbing a slot there would have made for a very convenient 2025 training year.
See, what the website and social media doesn’t always show, is how in the world Ray and I balance it all. The reality is we don’t - not completely anyways. I think that for most people, if something in your world is going exceedingly well, (as my training up to that race was), then chances are, there are likely other aspects of your life that are taking a hit. That doesn’t mean the Maker House was burning down or anything, but perhaps it was a little less tidy, dinners were a little less planned, and life was a little less calm.
Ray was a damn champ during that race build too, picking up all kinds of slack I was letting out. He was happy to do it, but he can’t keep putting out max effort with work while I'm also cranking out max effort with training. I'm also still working, while he's also still training; plus kids activities, kids homework, and in general just quality family time. Plus, he got dragged into many long training rides and bricks that he wasn’t necessarily expecting some days. I'm not sure if I'm painting a clear picture here, but jumping into another race isn't something either of us do on a whim. We both have to be "in on it". It has to work for both of our schedules, plus our girls, before we commit to the next build cycle. And yes, I'm very intentionally using "we" here, because Ray might not be the one out there toeing the line, but this very much only works if we are working as a "we".
So, it was really hard after Oman to wrap my mind around “what’s next”. I went all in on Oman, and did not have a contingency for getting a monster virus the 10 days leading up to race day. Flying grandparents over every time I want to race isn't a great long-term solution, and it does truly take a village to support the level of training that I want to train at.
Having grabbed a slot in January would have taken a lot of stress off of the schedule this spring, allowed for me to just keep building a mega VO2 base, and then later this summer/fall start to really be more race-specific. Instead, I’ve been in a weird holding pattern of training, trying to wade through work schedules with Ray and other key media events, plus the kids school schedule. It hasn't been relaxing, nor has it been super productive. That being said, I think I have worked out a solution with Ray for one last dance, to try for a slot to Marbella 70.3 World Championships.
Keep in mind, the 70.3 series is super competitive. I am so wildly impressed with the women in the 40-44 AG, they are a totally different type of grit to race against. Showing up to a 70.3 these days, trying to be in the mix for a podium spot, is no joke. Sure, some AG women’s field overall times are likely slow compared to the overall average, but without a doubt, those top 8-10 women in the 40’s… I call it the “revenge years”! Those ladies are hard as nails, and they show up to win! There are no guarantees, but if I'm getting back on that start line this summer, then I'm not faffing around either.
I’ll have to crank it up again here soon, bring my A-game, and see where that puts me! Stay tuned, as this might become the series of “Can Bobbie Do It? - 2025 Edtion”
That's it for now folks. As always, thanks for being DC Rainmaker Newsletter Subscribers. Stay tuned! Bobbie |
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