RAAM vs. MOPO

Today in the locker room I posed a challenge to my dear friend Maggie - come up with a theme for today's blog.  She did not disappoint (when does she ever disappoint?). But you might be asking yourself - what is RAAM  and what is MOPO? The first the Race Across America, and some friends of ours are riding and crewing this event that starts on Saturday.  It is a grueling bike race across - you guessed it! - America. It starts in San Diego and ends in Annapolis. These cyclists race either as singles or teams and it's pretty intense. Juxtapose that with MOPO, an event that many of us are participating in this weekend.  Notice I said "event". You see, the Morses Pond Swim is just a swim. There are no prizes, no posting to coolrunning.  Maggie was a bit shocked to find out this morning that MOPO was not a race (I mean, why even do it if I can't get a prize? thought she). But it begs the question: is something somehow less appealing because the competition factor is taken out? Do we need to push ourselves or others toward something to make it meaningful?  I'll let all of you ponder that on this rainy Wednesday. We got our butts kicked today at distance day.

100 warmup (lame)
Four times through:
50 drill/50 stroke on :25r
50 build up/50 build down on :25r
300 fast on 4:30
200 easy on 3:30
500 keep pace on 8:15
300 fast on 4:30
200 easy on 3:30
500 keep pace
8 x 100
2 on 1:35
2 on 1:45
2 on 1:55
2 on 2:05

While we are leisurely frolicking in Morses Pond this weekend (shown above, very serene), you can follow team Live4Life on twitter, @RAAMLive4Life.