Today's Workout: A Few of My Favorite Things

I slept well enough last night, but after being awake for awhile, I just didn't feel like doing anything. All I wanted was to stay in bed in my pajamas. It's pretty cold here in Chicago, so that sort of makes sense, and it's close to Christmas, and gosh it would be nice to have an entire weekend to just be lazy. About 8:00 I did get back in bed and lay there relaxing and doing a little thinking. I just let my mind go wherever it wanted to. I really couldn't latch onto anything particularly bad or wrong; it just seemed like I was experiencing a sort of malaise. Eventually, though, I did get out of bed, suit up, stretch and get to working out.

11:17AM Brick as 2:02 bike, :30 run. This is the same workout as last week, but I had a little more oomph in terms of watts on the bike, yet at a lower heart rate! I must be getting fitter. I watched the last 2 hours of Stage 15 of the TDF (the one where George Hincapie won), and for once, I was actually watching it. That helped pass a lot of time. It was funny, though, when I first started riding, I had a shirt and sweatshirt on, since it's so cold in my basement; but after 10' I removed them and proceeded to sweat like a pig. My SRM was acting a little goofy--I think the Power Meter needs a charge, and I have to let it discharge before it will take it--but mostly I had good readings throughout the session.

When I got on the treadmill to begin my run, whoa, it did not feel good. My legs were fine, my HR was nice and low, but as for many bricks, it just didn't feel right. But it only took about 10' before I started to feel "normal" again. Laying off any fluid intake was very useful. About 15' in, I thought to myself, "has it only been 4 weeks since I did that 1/2 Ironman here?" I counted backwards, and yep, it was only 4 weeks ago, and in 3 weeks I'm doing the Goofy Challenge! For some reason it struck me as a little bit hardcore, but then again, I've done 1/2 Ironman races 8 weeks or less before a full Ironman. Just never at the beginning of a training season!

I already knew from an ad that The Wizard of Oz is on TV tomorrow night. That's one of my favorite movies. I don't have cable TV and don't want it. I watch plenty of TV as it is; if I had cable I would be plastered to Animal Planet and Discovery Channel (years ago when I did have cable that's basically what happened). I don't really make a point to go to the movies (maybe once or twice a year)--I would rather read. But there are certain movies that I will watch that I've already seen, and The Wizard of Oz is one of them. After I got back from the gym, I was looking at what's on tonight, and I am so happy--The Sound of Music!

I was 9 years old when the movie first came out, and my mom and one of her sisters took me and my cousin, Lou Ann, who's the same age as me, into downtown Chicago to see the movie. It was a big deal and we all really enjoyed the movie. I liked it so much that the following weekend, my dad drove me back downtown to a special sheet music store and he bought me the entire score for piano! I learned to play most of the songs, and kept doing so for years. I also remember that I wanted to be a nun right after the movie came out--I would put a towel on my head like the nun's habit, and twirl around in my bedroom in front of the mirror like Julie Andrews while singing songs from the movie, or songs from The Singing Nun record album. I'm sure my mom was pleased, as I really had no interest whatsoever in boys until I was 15.

I need to go tiara shopping (for Disney) and then make my tutu, after which I will settle in for a little musical happiness with the Von Trapp Family Singers!