Finally, A Good Monday Swim

Masters this morning was pretty good. I have been struggling with the Monday workouts lately. (If you recall, last Monday there was a lot of pouting by me and I cut out really early.) This morning's workout went really well. I wasn't "chicked," made all the intervals and and swam every meter. Hopefully, this is a good sign for Saturday. 

I was hoping to get a ride in this afternoon, but it looks like it might rain so that plan might be changed to riding on the trainer in the garage. whoopee!

I Love to Be Wet

It's either sweat or the pool, but apparently I like to be wet. Like all the time. The weather this morning was not as bad as Monday so Masters went better. I was not "chicked" today, but then the "chicks" who "chicked" me were not present. Wednesday is IM day so there is a different mix of people. I am proficient in many strokes so I tend to hang at the front. The water in our pool is H-O-T - HOT! I sweat in the pool. (I see tweets with the same complaint across the country.) I was smart and brought a water bottle (I don't usually) but I want to make sure I am hydrating after my adventure in weight loss yesterday. (I am back up to 195 much to my disappointment, but at least I am not virtually sweating blood anymore.) About 50 minutes and 3,100 meters after starting we were done. Capped off with a "brilliant" 400 IM. ("Brilliant" only in the fact that coach put it at the end after a brutal combination of stroke work and 200 IMs. And I still thanked her on the way out.)

I have a few things on the docket in the middle of the day, but I hope I can get on my bike for awhile this afternoon. I should probably do a short run again after my bike ride, but I think I will take it a little easier. 

17 days until Lifetime Fitness Olympic Tri. It doesn't seem like a lot of time, but if I can keep up the training schedule I have been on I will be the best prepared I have been. Onward!

Pedicures, Training and Racing

Last weekend was a fairly big training weekend for me. With no marathon training necessary, I changed my Saturday run to a Saturday brick - the first one of the season and long overdue. I rode the only route I am comfortable with these days (I am such a wuss) but it incorporates a loop of nice hills - so I did the loop five times. Total mileage was only about 34 miles, but with the hills it counts for more. (Right? That and dragging my lard-ass around, that counts for more, too. Right? You people need to cut a guy a break.)  Below are the profiles from my bike. You can really see the profile of the hills - both by elevation and heart rate. Kind of crazy.

I rode home and had all my running stuff laid out and quickly got off the bike and into running attire. I decided to run sans socks knowing I would more than likely get some rubbing somewhere from my fairly new shoes. It started almost immediately, but it never got very bad. It was rubbing right under my ankle bone on both feet. Better to find out now and be able to lube it up than to find out during a race. My legs felt crazy-weird. I don't remember them feeling quite so weird last year, but I also don't think I hammered a bunch of hills and then decided to run. 

The run really went pretty well. I was clicking along pretty comfortably at a 7:30 pace (yes, I know I am not setting the world ablaze with my speed.) Four miles in just over 30 minutes. Now, I have been working on my running economy lately. I am a natural forefoot striker/very mild supinator so I have been working to take advantage of my natural gait and trying to become more efficient. I concentrate on not over-striding (which I used to do last year) and keeping my feet underneath me, staying light on my feet with a quick consistent turnover. It seems to really be helping as evidenced by my fast half-marathon and my consistent marathon recently. It really made a big difference on the brick as I don't know if I could have run that pace at that effort last year. I am probably doing way better than I figure I am.

The rest of Saturday was super lazy. We had no plans. We got outside and did a bunch of work in the yard and played with the dog and the kids. A decided that she needed a pedicure so she went up to the little Vietnamese nail place in the neighborhood. E decided she wanted to go with. I thought E was just going to hang out and talk while A got her toes painted. E came home with this.

This is cute on so many levels. First, the color she chose is the most attention-getting green. Second, she got a flower added to her big toes and third, she has the cutest little sausage toes ever. (The pictures are slightly out of focus because E took them herself and couldn't stop laughing.) She has been wearing flip flops everywhere to show them off.

My first race of the year is on Saturday and now I am having all sorts of anxiety. I am a middle of the pack age group type guy (OK, maybe more first quarter of the pack, but still) so it's not like I have a whole lot of pressure to "win." I do want to go faster and by "faster" I mean "fas-ter". I just hope I have enough bike legs and run legs - I should have more than last year just by virtue of experience and additional training. We have yet to get out for an open water swim this year and I am somewhat concerned about that, but not too much. It will be a wetsuit legal swim, I should be able to go sleeveless and the swim course is a point-to-point with the beach to the right the whole way. Since this is a sprint I have been paring down the crap on my bike. I switched to the small Fizik bag that clips to my Fizik saddle. Lost the seat mounted water bottle holders and will probably ditch the bento box in favor of tape or carrying gels in a pocket. I want transition to be simple and fast, but I have yet to practice a bike mount. Maybe Wednesday. Anything will be better than last year when I put on socks because I hadn't run without them at all and I had just put my aero bars on an wasn't comfortable with them so I was only in the drops. I also ran in my bike shoes in transition instead of leaving them on the pedals. Novice!

Today was the third day of Masters at the outdoor LCM pool. Monday is distance day so we had a bunch of 200's. I am feeling better, although I was just hanging on at the end. I have put myself in the fast guy lane and have been brining up the rear, but not out of touch with the super-fast leaders. These guys are younger and they are "swimmers". I don't hear much talk about marathons or tris from these guys, so I guess I should feel good about my situation. I hope each session gets better - I'll keep working at it. 

This week looks a little rainy, but I will need to get on the bike - I can run and swim in rain, no problem. Saturday is supposed to be sunny and clear if not a little warm. It should be a beautiful day to race - I hope the weather man gets the forecast right. Off to bed - run tomorrow.

Stuff I Swim With

If you don't know, I grew up here in Minnesota - "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" - so I am used to swimming in lakes. I don't necessarily like it. I would prefer to look at coral heads and pretty parrot fish and other oceany stuff. One problem with the metro area lakes around Minneapolis is that the visibility is terrible. "Murky" would be a good description. Again, this is nothing new to me. Many of the lakes I grew up around (unless they are the Great Lakes or spring fed) are murky and have weeds. That murk hides stuff though. To keep from having a heart attack at every shadow that moves underneath me, I swim with my eyes closed underwater. I really hate getting startled, which is why I hate balloons as well. Aside from weeds, which gross me out, but I take like a "man," there are fish. Big fish, fast fish, bitey fish.  Like these:

The Muskie

The Northern Pike

The Crappie (pronounced: crop-ee)

The last one is considerably smaller than the others, but is the most bitey. It's not uncommon to have the baby crappies, sunfish or perch nibble not so gently on your toes, fingers or any other pink bits that might be underwater when you are standing around. (Nipples you dirty-birds - not that I have personally experienced that indignity, thank god!) Other people have been bitten by muskies and northerns as they swim. They have a lot of tiny, sharp teeth. It leaves a mark. A painful, bloody mark. But at least they aren't like sharks that will tear your arm off and then invite their friends to join the blood feast. So I have that going for me.

Sprint Countdown

My first tri of the season is June 20th. It's a nice little sprint warm up - half-mile swim (point to point), 15 mile bike and 3 mile run. I am a little panicked about my training. Run - no problem. Swim - if I can get in the pool a couple times a week over the next week and a half, I should be OK and I am pretty sure it will be wetsuit legal which makes me fly. The bike is the big question mark/concern. The weather hasn't been cooperating - it is raining again right now, so I have been unable to get a brick in, much less get on the bike at all. I think I am going to have to throw the ride on the trainer and hammer for an hour sometime tonight. I guess I can only do what I can do. My initial race plan is to go anaerobic from the gun - kill the swim, hammer the bike and run until I feel like I might puke - I would love for it to last an hour or less. It's still ten days away - plenty of time right?

This morning was my first time back in the pool in about two weeks. I didn't swim the week before the marathon and then took the week off after because the alternate pool was inconvenient. We are at the 50 meter long course outdoor pool now. I love it, but it kicks my ass the first few times. I hung in there pretty well. IM's today with a ton of kicking - I still have tired legs apparently. Hopefully, I will be able to get back in on Friday. I also need to figure out when I can get an open water swim in, although I am not overly concerned. 

Now, on to the rest of my day.

Legs of Lead

At least that is what they felt like at Masters this morning. Long set with many 400's and not much zip in the kick, but who really kicks anyway, right? I am feeling both the 16 miles I ran on Friday and the effects of the taper. Tomorrow should feel particularly horrendous at this time in our taper. I can't wait. I am really looking forward to this marathon being over so I can concentrate on biking more. Again, good sign, getting a little antsy about the reduction in training volume. We are planning on biking on Wednesday again and then no biking for me until after the race. So close, yet so far.

On a more embarrassing note - I went out to lunch with my old boss and we decided we were going to sit outside because it is absolutely beautiful. As I was driving downtown to m

eet him I realized I had not put any sunscreen on my lily-ass-white arms so I popped into Walgreen's and picked up some Bullfrog and Neutrogena sunscreen. I opted for the Bullfrog and proceeded to slather it on my arms, neck, nose and cheeks - I had a hat on - no need for the forehead (And "Yes" I got my ears as well, I always get my ears.) I had a short-sleeved black shirt on and noticed that I had gotten a little dab on my sleeve - it kind of looked like bird-poop, but I am in a non-caring mood right now so I just went with it.  I noticed that the stuff didn't soak in very well on my arms, but again, who cares. Ate lunch, walked down the street, drove home. 

When I got home I looked at my arms again. Still no soaking in. (I know that Bullfrog has titanium dioxide in it - but obviously didn't think about what that might mean.) The collar of my shirt was white, my face was white, my shirt sleeves were white. I kind of looked like an ashy, flaking albino. From now on - Bullfrog only goes on when I am swimming, biking or running and the good Neutrogena stuff goes on every other time. I am dumb.

OK - Maybe Every OTHER Day

Yesterday I had another double workout day. I had Masters in the morning as usual for a Friday, but because my wife was going to be out both Saturday and Sunday I had to get my long run in on Friday. We are in taper mode as you know so this long run wasn't quite as long. (16 miles is still long.) I decided to get it out of the way and so as soon as I got home from dropping the dog at his school and the boy at his (the tummy ache ploy doesn't work on me anymore) I got after it. 

The weather was beautiful. It was unseasonably cool, sunny and very windy, but a great day to run. Thursday we did a threshold run - which was fun and fast by the way - but my legs were still feeling it. The first eight miles were achey and kind of a struggle. I took a quick water and gel break and things seemed to go much better. My pace was a little all over the place for those first eight miles and I am tempted to blame it on the wind, but more likely it was the running the day before and swimming. The next six miles were much better - a little faster and more consistent. I take that back - they were awesome! I totally overtook a person on roller skates and I almost caught a person on a bike until they went down a hill. Damn, I am super fast. (Honestly, I knew my pace in both instances and it was not "other worldy"-  those people were just extremely slow.) I totally loafed the last two miles back home as a warm-down - I figured I deserved it.

Now I have about three days off from running. I might be able to swim and bike on Monday, but the weekend is free of activity. For now my tired and sore legs get a well deserved break. Maybe two a days are too much or my old bod - at least without a rest day in between.

I Think I Could Do That Every Day

I swam AND biked today. It wasn't technically a "brick" because in between the two I got the kids off to school and took the dog to Boot Camp. 

Masters was great. Wednesday is always IM day and it seems to keep attendance down. Our main set today was:

2 x 75 fly

3 x 100 IM

2 x 75 back

3 x 100 IM

2 x 75 breast

3 x 100 IM

I drilled the 75s fly but was able to do the full 100 IMs. I have been thinking that my backstroke has been clunky and my breaststroke just plain awful, but coach asked if I swam IM in college. I told him he should know the answer to that by the look of my breaststroke. (I would swim it occasionally.) He said he was surprised because my fly and back looked good. Then he asked if I swam 200 fly. My response was a flat, "No." (I could never finish it when we time-trialed it in college.) He was kind of surprised. My fly and back did feel particularly good today and when those feel good my free feels particularly strong. All in all a good session. LCM outside starts June 8th - can't wait (really, I can't.)

MS and I had scheduled a bike ride for the morning. The weather was sketchy - it had been raining or drizzling and extremely windy for about the last 12 hours so I was worried (hoping) we would get rained out. I had to bust a move over to MS's house after I got home from dropping the dog off so I didn't even get to take a proper shower and smelled kind of "bleachy" from the pool. We rode for an hour and a half and avoided all rain and wet roads and even got a little sun at the end. Two hours later it was pouring rain. Very strange weather. 

I would love to be able to get two workouts a day in everyday. I guess I will have to take them when I can get them. I hope they come more often after the marathon in a few weeks, but then I will be shuttling the kids to all their summer activities. Ah, I'll make it work.

Masters Morning

I am not much for detailing my workouts, especially swim workouts (kind of boring), but this morning we rocked a fun one. Wednesday is IM day. Here is our main set:

8 x 250 on 4:00

1,5 - 150 fly, 100 free

2,6 - 150 back, 100 breast

3,7 - 150 breast, 100 back

4,8 - 150 free, 100 fly

I made every one, but the breast stroke ones were about 2 seconds rest. I am glad I don't have to breast stroke any races (feel free to insert middle school jokes here.) Oh, and to be honest, I drilled half the fly, because I am old and hey, ever do fly in a triathlon? - didn't think so.

Now I have get back on the bike. fun.

At A Loss

I am at a loss as to what to title this post. It has been busy since I posted last. Probably too busy to put in one mammoth and potentially tedious post, so I will break it up. First up, training.

Training has been going pretty well. We did our first track workout last Thursday - 800's. Since this was our first real speed day we played the number of reps by ear. Our first one started out too quick and we all felt like we were going to be in for a brutal morning of trying to not projectile vomit on each other. By the second 400 hundred of number 1 we had settled down a bit and came in only slightly quicker than our goal time. We decided to do four reps and reps 2 - 4 were way better. We were within a few seconds on each rep and once we got into the groove we felt pretty good. I would have liked to go a little faster - because I am dumb, but we agreed to stay together - after all I am "pace-boy" for the marathon. In order to work it a little harder I ran in lane 3. It wouldn't seem like much, but those extra feet or yards make a difference. Overall, we ran all four reps about 10 seconds faster than we originally planned and figured we could hold that in the future. The runs to and from the track were kind of poky, but then all they were supposed to be was warm up and warm down, right?

Friday, I blew off masters swimming. Was that awesome Wednesday workout a fluke? We will never know now, will we? I skipped it for no other reason than, I did not want to drag my butt out of bed - lame, lame, lame. To make up for it I determined I would ride my bike. Yet another trainer ride because I am a lazy wimp. I procrastinated it most of the day until I had about an hour and a half before dinner to do it. Well, it was "now or never" and I didn't want to lose a whole day of training. One problem, A and the kids were home. It was Good Friday so the kids had school off and A took the day off. If you weren't already aware of it, I hate to train when my family is around. I told A earlier in the day I would need the time to ride and in hind-site I should have gone earlier, but here I was. Now, the weather is beautiful here (finally) so the kids had been outside for a lot of the day, but they were starting to get squirrely. A decided to take them to Caribou. I think she needed the coffee and just wanted the kids to settle down some, so she stuck her head down the basement stairs to let me know her plan. 

There I am, about half way through my ride, watching Hogan's Heros, sweating like a whore in church, peddling my little bike to nowhere and she gives me the "eye-roll." Ugh! I just hate that. They leave, I finish. I have been grinding a big gear at a moderate cadence to build some leg strength, especially since I haven't been lifting. It went pretty well, but I really need to hike up my bike skirt and get on the road. There is nothing good on TV anymore. 

Saturday was our long run day. We did our first 20 miler the Saturday before so we were down to 16 or 18. There were family Easter obligations so we decided to go shorter, but we decided to run the middle 6 miles at marathon pace. MS was not feeling well at the start. There were mentions of contraception and poor food choices, but I tuned out at "contraception" and never made the connection. MS has also been having some anxiety about our race pace. It seems daunting, but I keep trying to assure that by race day it won't be at all. We worked our way through the first five miles at what we thought was our typical LSD pace and made a pit stop before we launched into "race pace." MS used the porta-loo and I stood near by making loud fart sounds with my hands because I am really a 12 year old boy at heart. But everyone else laughed, so. (It may have been embarrassed, uncomfortable laughter, I have a hard time discerning - not that it would necessarily stop me.) The six miles at race pace flew by. We were actually able to talk pretty well through the whole thing and our average pace for each mile was about 10 seconds faster then our goal. We were feeling pretty good about it. The last five miles seemed poky in comparison, but they were actually faster than they felt. Over all our average pace was 30 seconds per mile faster than our goal and our slowest mile (the first mile) was the only one right on pace. It felt great! And MS has much more confidence. (And her stomach actually felt better the longer we went - thank goodness for that.)

Sunday is my rest day and in what has become typical fashion for me on every major holiday, I overindulged, but I love ham. And lamb cake.

Which brings us to today and masters swimming. It was not my best day. I did get in about 2,200 yards in about 45 minutes, but it sucked. Or more accurately, I sucked. We got into the main set and the wheels came completely off the bus causing said bus to sink to the bottom of the pool and grind away on the brake hubs while the water slowly filled the passenger compartment and drowned my will to continue. I didn't realize it, but my legs were very tired from Saturday. I have never felt them when I kick like I did this morning. Flip turns were terrible. I was either jammed in the wall or floating back to get a toe on it. My head was not in the water. The ham and potatoes and lamb cake and ham and potatoes and lamb cake were taking their collective toll. So, I made an excuse and cut it short - and this is really the workout I should have ground out. Distance and more distance. Now I feel shame. 

But what's done is done. I would like to get on the bike to make up for my miserable performance this morning, but I still have a lot of Easter dishes to do. Hmmm, dishes or bike? It's a toss up at this point. 

According to Plan as Planned

My Spring Break Training Plan is going according to plan (how lame of an opening sentence is that?) I did the open ocean swim just as I had planned. (I have now used my limit of the word "plan" and will not use it again in this post, even though I already went over the limit by just writing this sentence - Damn it!) It wasn't as long as I would have liked but the ocean is a bitch. First, there is the salt - it tastes terrible. Then, the waves - they never stop and I even got beyond the break and c) it's kind of chilly. But I did it. It was only about 3/4 of a mile and I was only out for about 15 minutes but, hey, somethings better than nothing, right? I wore my Garmin to keep track of time and distance. The map it generated is really funny - I am all over the damn place - see, waves. Overall, I actually swam pretty straight and parallel to the shore, but I have to say it is a little freaky swimming out there alone, even more so than in a lake. I will try again on Wednesday. Hopefully, it will be a little calmer and I will go longer and farther.

Tomorrow is a ten mile tempo run. I am anticipating quickness as I will be half dressed compared to running in MN and the route is flat as Kiera Knightly. Then we are going out to breakfast so the cleaners can come in. With three cups of coffee it could be the perfect morning.

Working "The Plan"

I have made progress on "the plan" from my previous post. I got the bike off the trainer, put the outside tire on. Filled it with a CO2 cartridge, because I had never done that and wanted to see what to expect when I need to do it in a race or a ride. (Those things fill a tire quick and are seriously only a one shot deal.) This morning I started to shave my legs. The first time takes for-ever. I decided to stage it instead of one marathon session (hey, I have other things to do, too.) Today has been pouring rain all day, so no outside bike for me, but I could always pop my bike back on the trainer. 

I did get a good swim workout in. We had a set of 200s that left my arms feeling like little noodles (you know, the super thin Chinese rice noodles, not the fatter, but equally delicious, udon noodles), but it was good to really put them to work. Mmmm, noodles. Oh, look! Lunchtime.

Nope

Nope. I didn't make it to Masters this morning. A wanted to walk with her girlfriends. She hadn't walked with them for weeks, so I couldn't argue. It just means that I have to get on the bike, but it's difficult when she is around (Wednesday is her day off.) Which brings me to my current issue - bike training. I just can't seem to get a good handle on it. Motivation is an issue because I am riding the trainer for now. Ignorance is another issue. Swimming I have nailed - I know how to get the most out of any workout, I have been doing it for so long. Running - I have a "coach" with enough experience to give us a good schedule of workouts and I have been able to figure out the pattern and make adjustments as needed after two marathon cycles. The GPS helps too, as I can tailor my pace and distance without guessing. The bike thing befuddles me. 

Let's see if I can break down my hang-ups. (At this point I would like to solicit any advice.) I am the king of excuses for not riding. I could list them here, but I would only be reminding myself of how stupid they make me sound. Let's just say there are many. (Upon further reflection, I realize that all the following "hang-ups" are actually "excuses" - let's call these "The Bigguns.") 

No one to keep me honest. I have a Masters team to meet at a set time and set days. I have a running group to meet at a set time and set days. I don't have that for the bike. 

I have coaches for swimming and running. I am a sheep. Tell me what to do and I will do it. I do a pretty good job of pushing it past the limit, especially if I fool myself into thinking someone is keeping track. I do much better if someone gives me a workout to do - all that thinking makes my little brain hurt.

I don't know where to go. Living in a metro area makes it difficult to find good open roads that stretch for miles and miles. When I was living with the 'rents in Wisconsin in college the rural roads went forever. I just need to find some good routes that allow me to ride for a couple of hours at a stretch. Some with hills. Some for TTs. (See - totally lame excuse. How about I get a map or look at Google Maps or talk to my buddy at the LBS? I am just lazy.)

The conditions aren't any good. I will run in damn near any weather - and have. I have swum in rough oceans, ice cold lakes, weedy lakes, pools, rivers, and would probably swim in a septic tank if I had to. I want perfect conditions to bike. No sandy, pothole strewn roads (like we have right now). Not too cold. Not rainy. Not too dark. Blah, blah, blah. I have so much gear that cold or rain or sun or wind really shouldn't be an issue. Sandy roads - really? Potholes - they are so big you can see them half a mile away and avoid them. Too dark - maybe, but I have all day to ride. 

It's lonely out there. This might be the only issue. I don't have someone to ride with. I could ask about joining in with a bike group, but those guys scare me (Not really. Again, just lazy.)

Why so worried about the bike? Because I could shed a lot of time off the bike leg this year and I want to kick ass! 

So there it is - my bike anxiety. Any help is appreciated. Maybe keeping my little blogosphere updated will help to keep me honest - doubtful, but there is always hope, right?

Sunday Inertia

Sunday's are my training off days. I should just call it that and not fool myself into thinking I am actually going to do ANY training. I stand in the shower and tell myself, "OK, today I will do my lower body weight work and core work." Then the days starts, and although I remind myself continuously, I never get around to doing anything. Unfortunately, this Sunday Inertia sometimes (too often) spills into Monday. I am hoping to avoid that tomorrow as I have already received agreement that I can go to Masters in the morning. (A will workout when I get back.)

This Sunday has been especially difficult. We went to a cocktail party Saturday night and got home probably about midnight, so I was in bed about 12:30 AM. I don't drink, but I felt hungover in the morning. It didn't help at all that the kids get up at 6:30 AM every Saturday and Sunday - drives me crazy. I got up with the kids and got them settled in front of the TV with cartoons, told them no fighting and then went back to bed. (Observant parents will, at this point, realize I didn't mention food or drink, because it was too damn early. They can wait. They won't starve - I am a terrible dad.) 

At some point, A got up and left me to sleep. The dog jumped up on the bed and slept next to me (which he is not allowed to do, but I let him sometimes and I was too tired to push him off.) I was out for another couple of hours - which has not happened in a LONG time. (Thanks, Honey!) The dog and I have this thing though - when we hear A coming down the hall I say, "Apollo, A's coming. Off! Off!" and give him a little push off the bed and he jumps down and quickly settles onto his bed so when A comes in he is getting out of his bed to greet her - we are soooo sneaky.

We ended up having dinner very late, for us. So I had time to take the dog for a little later walk. I took the route that takes me over a couple of blocks and ran into a textile rep I know. She had heard all about the dog from her daughter because she rides the same bus as my kids and is picked up earlier. I was catching up with her - the company she works for closed their showroom and five or so others across the country. She is still employed, just working from home - I didn't realize this. It's just another illustration of how bad it is right now. As we were talking, her husband, a furniture rep, came out and we were all catching up in their driveway. I asked him how his business was and if he was cutting back on travel at all. He said that actually, he was just looking at booking some upcoming travel and asked if I wanted to join him. This guy reps great lines and is a lot of fun, I said, "Hell, yeah!" When I got home, I told A and she was very receptive. I will provide more details once it gets nailed down - you know how these things can evaporate pretty quickly. It could be a very good opportunity on many levels.

Well, since I am committed to swimming tomorrow, I better wrap up the day. I don't want this sloth-like Sunday to hold me down at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Again.

Busy Friday

I am looking at a busy Friday. I just got home from Master's Swimming. Not many people in the pool today. It was "Sprint Friday" - as it is every Friday - but we had a substitute coach. To make things interesting he threw in eight 50 yard sprints off the blocks. I can not remember the last time I started off blocks. The skills - or lack there of - came back no problem. I didn't lose my goggles or "hurt myself" (some guys might know what I mean) and I did alright. 2,800 mostly sprint yards done. 

Now, I have typical morning stuff to do - shower, pick up the house, walk the dog, return emails, etc. This afternoon is atypical. 

E's birthday is next week - St. Patty's Day - but we are celebrating it today. F's birthday is eight days later, as soon as they were old enough to understand we established a policy of alternating big birthday parties. This year is E's - she chose snow tubing. When she first suggested this, I groaned. The last thing I want to do is freeze my butt off in the middle of March. It is actually turning out to be a good day for it. It will be sunny and "warm" (37 degrees) and outside and not in my house. The snow tubing is at a local ski hill and they have sculpted lanes, big inner tubes with nylon sleeves over them and a tow rope that drags you up the hill. We have been before - it really is a lot of fun. Only problem for me is that it involves 20 third grade girls. Ever been around ten third grade girls? Well, past that number each additional girl is a factor of ten, so we might as well have like 1,000 third grade girls attending. (Somebody can correct my math there. Remember - Interior Designer NOT Architect.) They are all so screechy and loud. 

We are probably the worst birthday party throwers ever. This year - NO GIFTS - the girls are told to bring a new book to donate to the school library. We DO NOT need more crap in our house. We also do not do gift bags. This is just a personal preference and not meant as a knock on other families, but why do I have to give your kid a bunch of crap for attending my kid's birthday party? Your kid just got to have all sorts of fun, eat cake, drink juice and be out of your hair for a couple hours - I think that is enough of a payment. (Really, the reason is because I am lazy and I don't like to do that crafty kind of crap.)

Before we get to the hill I have to pick up the cake (which is actually three GIANT chocolate chip cookies) and all the treats and drinks and beer for A. (It's how she copes - not really, that makes her sound like she has a drinking problem. And let me tell you, she has NO problem drinking.) So the afternoon has me running around. I am hoping for an early night - I have 16 - 18 miles to run tomorrow morning. Ready, set, Go!

Payment Deferred

I am totally a glass half empty guy, I guess. This morning wasn't so bad. I was still a little sore, but not to the extent that I was anticipating. (I was afraid I wouldn't be able to walk down stairs.) Swimming really helped. Another IM day (every Wednesday) so that helps get all the muscle groups working. We are in taper mode. Not really, but kind of. The high school state meet is this weekend and we share the pool with one of the teams, but not workouts. Still, coach seems to lengthen intervals and shorten yardage for us as well. It worked for me today.

We are getting a little reprieve from winter. It is sunny and clear and supposed to be 40 degrees today so I broke out the mountain bike instead of driving to the coffee shop. Felt good to bike outside even for a short ride. 

Oh yeah - the GI issues resolved themselves in time for dinner last night - BLTs - I ate two - super delicious.

Wet and Wild Wednesday

I made it to the pool today. A good night's sleep really changes your perspective at 5:30 in the morning when you are supposed to go out and do something physical. Initially, I could tell it had been a few days since I had been in the water, but I got the feel back pretty quickly. Wednesday is always IM day, which is nice since mixing it up makes the session go quicker. Made the intervals, only took one extra bit of rest (15 seconds -like that even counts) and finished strong. I would like to up the yardage a little, but I feel pretty good about 3200 yards in about 50 minutes. I have to remind myself that it's only February and I don't have a race until June. I have plenty of time to up the yardage.

In other news - it's 36 degrees and sunny and we seem to have been spared from one round of wintery weather. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Tomorrow is another day, however.

Bad Sleep, No Swim and Game On

I had a terrible night's sleep last night. It has been happening more often lately, I really don't know why. I wake up about 1 or 2 in the morning and roll around and watch the clock. It's not uncommon for me to wake up at 4 or 4:30 if I have a run or swim, and I can deal with that without being wiped out for the day, but nights like last night kill me - especially if I go out and train. I have a very busy mind right now. No major stuff or worrying, just lots of things to think about. So, I didn't swim - after I told A I was going to and she changed her workout schedule. Hopefully, she won't punish me too bad. I hope to get in the pool Wednesday and Friday this week, so I can redeem myself. Now, I have to try to cram in some bike time somewhere today. (Hey, the sun is coming up - I love daylight. How tangential and ADHD was that?)

CS and I have been making moves to get to IM WI in 2010. We have been scheming to increase our chances of getting a slot - road tripping to the race to cheer and then signing up. We found out that apparently, if you volunteer for the race, you can sign up even earlier. LET'S VOLUNTEER! Even better. We have been trying to convince MS to join us for the volunteer effort and the 2010 race. She was on the fence. This I don't get, because she is extremely good and trains diligently - through kid commitments, dog issues, bunions, event planning, etc. She turns 40 next year and I am pacing her to a Boston qualifier this spring so she can check that off her list. (Notice my confidence and bravado - Mary's comment here explains why.) Well, she just committed to IM volunteer 2009/IM WI 2010. GAME ON, BEYOTCH! You only turn 40 once, might as well try to do every major event in one year just in case you don't make it to 41. (The only thing that could derail these plans is a long shot I've got cooking on side.)

Waiting for the other fin to drop

Swim day number three and feeling unbelievably good. So, I am waiting for something to go bad. It doesn't always, but I usually don't feel this good this early on. It's Wednesday so it's IM day. There were more people in the pool today after the long weekend. I hit the vast majority of the intervals and even shortened some because they just seemed too long. Total yards of about 2,700 in about 50 minutes. I really LOVE being back in the water. For a long time I couldn't even be near a pool, I was so burned out by years of training. I love the meditative quiet time that is only interrupted by my gasping for breath and occasional dry-heaving. I really can't wait for summer when we are in the 50 meter outdoor pool and doing regular open water swims. (Although, right now that seems further away as we just got more snow, ugh.) 

Rubbery Arms

Swimming: day two, was slightly less enjoyable than day one.  3,100 yards and lots of sprinting. I now have rubbery arms and I was going to lift weights today. We will have to see how I feel this afternoon. It does feel good to be back in the water again, although I am not a fan of the chlorine smell, but nothing is perfect.