Jenn: Valentine's Day for J&J

We had a lovely Valentine's Day yesterday - complete with heart-shaped red velvet chocolate cake whoopie pie and chocolate banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery (don't try it - it's crack for desert lovers). I wanted to do something special for John since he has really been struggling in the past few weeks with Bikingman looming closer. ​

It must be so hard for him to watch me get ready for the race he picked out and did so much work for. It was his idea to begin with and he registered first. It was only then that I really started to entertain trying it myself. After registering, he set to work on all the research for our new bikes, deciding on our Mason Bokeh's after painstaking reading, researching, poring over chat rooms and websites, watching videos on YouTube, reading reviews, etc. 

He has been super supportive, but in recent days and weeks, the tension is mounting in our home and we have been bickering about stupid things more and more. So, while we normally don't do anything too out-of-the-way for Valentine's Day, I felt like yesterday was important and a good chance to reset. I made him a card with a list of all the things I appreciate about him and braved the traffic to secure some special treats from the bakery. And some other things I'm not willing to share here ;)

​We spent some time just chatting while I prepared dinner - leftover Arabic from the night before (hey, I did work all day, fit in a short session on the trainer, and drive around looking for Valentine's Day accoutrements). That was probably my favourite part - not the leftovers, but the chatting. We have been discussing our future plans a lot lately, and it was just a great opportunity for us to talk about something other than the race or anything cycling-related (I'm sure cycling was mentioned in there a few times, but it wasn't the centre of the discussion).

And the best news yesterday was from John's physio appointment where he was able to push 124 watts on the bike, and rode 2.2km. It's a very positive development, and we are stoked to see these improvements.

Happy days!

xo
​Jenn