My Milkshake Brings All The... (The best kept secret of training in Frederick)

This past Saturday was my first long bike ride of the season. I had biked through the winter on my trainer, occupying myself with various episodes of 24, the Americans, and anything with crazy action scenes to keep me from being bored to tears. The weekend before I had done 25 miles on a running trail- not the same as 50 miles of rolling hills in Frederick, Maryland.

While I was definitely in fear of failing, a part of me was beyond excited, because rides in Frederick meant...

MILKSHAKES!

 

I know it's a silly reason to write a whole post about milkshakes, but let me tell you how the milkshake phenomena started...

On the drive up to my second half ironman in Geneva, NY, triathlon teammate Glick and I decided that stopping at Sheetz was a must. How did I even know such oversized gas stations even existed? On the drive down to my first half ironman in Wrightsville Beach, NC, teacher friend GRCIII (not to be confused with RGIII) insisted we stop for 2 for 99 cent hot dogs. When we got to a little no man's land town somewhere in Pennsylvania, Glick convinced me to try a milkshake, and the rest was history.

Now the greatest thing about the milkshake isn't the texture or quality (it is a frozen block of ice cream put in a electronic spinner)

 

Or its added health benefits..

 

Its the fact that the milkshake has accompanied almost all of my traveling races and several of my training events.  To me, it's something I look forward to at the end of a tough race and a way to bond with those with me. There's nothing like kicking back at an oversized gas station, talking about the 90-year old man who passed you at the 18th mile marker, and laughing about how you fell over trying to clip-in when leaving the parking lot. After all, the friends you make are the second best thing to racing, right?

Thank you to all those who bask with me in my milkshake happiness. This ones for you.

Oh yeah, how did that training ride go in Frederick? Simple, fast, and fun with a few of my best riding friends around. Thanks Abe, Alec, Beth, Mark, and Matt.