But first, some pictures (click on them for full size!). The first one is from the 1/2 marathon at Goofy Challenge from this past January, and the second is from the Miami Man 1/2 Ironman last November (where I won my age group).
Since I do a fair amount of racing, it can be expensive to purchase race-produced photos, but some are just worth it to me. I hope that when I am 70 I will look back on these photos of me at the age of 50 fondly. Plus, for some reason, my sisters and dad wanted copies of these, and it would be rude to make them pay for them, and one extra copy doesn't cost too much, so I got me some, too.
Last week was amazing in many ways--my first totally Gonzo weekend, including a race followed by a 1:40 run (more on that later), I figured out how to program this database stuff at work for this big project I'm working on (finally!), and I had some car problems.
Yes, on Saturday, after spending 2 brutal hours on the trainer, I was on my way to the Y to do a short brick run, and I was maybe 2 doors from home, and I could tell something didn't feel right, and I suspected a flat tire, and I was right. So I backed up and drove into my garage and fixed it. I have these rims on my car that I've been told are susceptible to the tire coming off, especially during the cold because of all the chemicals on the roads for snow and ice control. So I decided to bag the run and change the flat. No big deal. I've done this before, and at least it wasn't -10 like it had been earlier in the week!
After changing the flat, I went back inside to eat lunch and relax a bit before heading out to the grocery store and fill up my car with gas. I get in the car, hit the ignition and hear, "CLICK CLICK CLICK." Fuck. I was pretty sure it wasn't the battery, but I did 2 things: went to my neighbor's house and asked him if he'd give me a jump and called my Dad. The "kid" (I think he's late 20's maybe early 30's) next door was probably stoned when he answered the door. He said he didn't have jumper cables, but I said I did. Meanwhile, I was on the phone with my Dad, waiting for this idiot next door to show up. It was over 10 minutes before the kid showed, so clearly he wasn't moving very fast. At any rate, Dad and the kid all agreed it wasn't a battery problem since the headlights illuminated fully as did the accessories. It's probably the starter motor, and I'm getting it towed in today to fix that, the flat tire, and gee, it's time for an oil change! So I guess I'm lucky all this happened from home, right?
Next issue: How do I get to my race (yesterday)? After laughing off the car troubles, I called my friend (and massage therapist) to ask if he could drive me to and pick me up from my race/workout the next day. Luckily, my race wave didn't go off until 1:00PM, and Harlan usually meditates for about 3 hours on Sunday mornings, so I didn't think this would mess up his schedule. He said he would chauffeur me. In exchange, well this is really comical and will show you what a nerd I am (and Harlan, too, which is one of the reasons I like him so much).
Friday evening when I was getting a massage, Harlan and I were talking about all sorts of stuff, and I told him about the project I'm working on at work, and how I enjoy doing that sort of thing, but that I always have this sense of repetition about the process. I am one of those people who sees things as more alike than different, when it comes to qualitative analysis. Included in my mathematics studies in college was topology, which was a class I just HAD to take because when I was a kid, we had this set of Time-Life books on various subjects, one of which was mathematics, and the stuff about topology fascinated me. Anyway, when you talk about things being the same, that has an analogy to the topological term "genus." So I thought about that and then Harlan and I talked about Mobius (sorry no umlaut) strips. I told him that sometimes I felt one-dimensional like that but that at other times it feels as if my mind is all around me in space like scattered molecules. Turns out I was experiencing a moment of what I would say is close to Nirvana--my body was feeling most excellent being worked on and I was describing my thought processes and my sense of sometimes feeling one-dimensional yet at the same time feeling way more than 3-dimension from a mental perspective. It's tough to put it into words here, but it was truly a special moment.
Anyway, I told Harlan that occasionally I would make a huge Mobius strip out of newspaper so that I could cut in half, and again in half, just to see what the thing turned into. Harlan had never done that, so I made him a 6-foot circumference (although technically, the circumference of a Mobius strip is infinite) Mobius strip, and gave it to him when he picked me up yesterday around 11:45.
I went to my race, and truthfully, I had no idea how I would do. I got there in time to see a friend, Mary Jo (new blog link to be attached once I get her URL), on the bike, and so I cheered her on for a few minutes. I then went and got a 15-minute massage (I AM a massage whore), which felt awesome. As I was about to start my swim, MJ and her husband came on deck to be my personal cheering section! They really didn't need to stay, but it was so nice of them. I complimented MJ on her newly buffed out physique, and she told me I was her inspiration (aw, shucks).
I swam evenly, but I guess not too fast--only 500 yards in 10 minutes? I am slow, but not THAT slow (I will check the results when they are posted online later today). I think they stiffed us on time or else I was just tired. Whatever. Next we head to the bikes, and MJ and hubby are there. Oh, by the way, I have this total hottie volunteer guy, Joe, as my scorekeeper. He asked me when I wanted to be fanned on the bike, and I told him I would just point. I had brought my Motley Crue (again, missing the umlaut, what's up with umlauts in this post?) CD to listen to, which was good considering the music they were playing sucked. I'm jamming, I'm getting fanned, I'm hurting, but I banged out 6 miles on that fucking Precor bike (I HATE those things). When I got off the bike, I just about puked, but I was actually looking forward to the run. Oh--I was the best biker in my wave, beating all the men. MJ told me that very few people were getting 6 miles on those things. By the way, she's an AWESOME athlete--freaking great swimmer who has turned into a great runner (she qualified for Boston a couple of months ago) and triathlete.
Upstairs to the track, and here we go. I left the headphones off, as I just wanted to run. My hottie, Joe, is yelling "Go Sheila" after every lap, and then I can hear MJ yelling, and then I hear someone calling my name on the megaphone. Turns out that the head dude decided I was the one in the wave to be cheered on. It was so much fun. I had my own personal cheering section! But I encouraged other, slower athletes, while I was out there, after all, we are all doing the best we can. Every so often I would try and crack a smile just to let my "fans" know I was doing OK. Good thing Joe was counting my laps, because after 1 mile (the track is 12 laps to the mile), I just lost count and was just trying to maintain pace. I went out a bit too fast (someone called out my first lap split to which I replied, "TOO FAST"), but then settled in. Turns out I ran dead-on 8:00/mile. Good thing on Wednesday I did a track workout where I decided that my 5K track pace repeats should be at 7:55. I guess I should go lower this Wednesday!
So after all that, I had a great race and figured I HAD to have won my age group. Nope. I SUCK. Some woman that I don't know beat me by probably 1 swim length or something. I need to look at the final results to see what I need to do next time to beat her (which I fully intend to do if she shows up).
I said farewell to MJ and hubby, and then got another massage. THANK GOD! Actually, I didn't feel that bad right away, after all that was a short workout. But then I headed to the treadmill to bang out a 1:40 run.
The first :30 didn't feel too bad, as it was Zone 1 pace. As I began to go into Zone 2, though, not so much. But, hey, I asked for this, so I'm going to do it. I have to say, though, that getting some "strange" (running in a gym that I don't belong to) made it a little more bearable. Plus, I got to watch the volunteers take down banners, move the Precor bikes back to their homes and lower the basketball hoops (the bikes were put onto the basketball court for the race). I decided to extend my :30 of Zone 1 to :40, which was a good idea, as when I went into Zone 2 it didn't feel too bad. I decided that my last :20 of the run would be back on the track, just to see what I could muster at that point.
Believe it or not, it was cooler on the track, even though it is upstairs from the treadmill at this club. Their track is nice and cushy, so it felt nice to be on it again. I managed a decent Zone 3 pace, but it felt like a lot more work than it usually does during a long run (gee, I wonder why?).
I was so happy to be done with all of that, and bonus, I scored some Accelerade (they had reps there, but I didn't touch the stuff while racing because it will make me puke, but I can use it at other times) and fruit. Since I will be without car for 2 days, I won't be able to go buy fresh fruit, so again, the universe shined on me by providing me with some fruit for the next few days.
Oh, and I did do "work" work on the weekend, too. So it made for some pretty Gonzo stuff, is all I can say. My workout totals don't look all that great, but trust me, it was hard stuff! Now the trick is to see how I recover from this. I stretched out well last night, and slept well, but I am sure I'm behind on some calories (I didn't eat any "real" food between 7:00AM and 6:00PM). I have an easy run scheduled, and I think I'll be fine there, and also I will lift weights today. I may ask my mechanic to at least drive me to the Y (I can walk home) after they pick up my car with the tow truck.
My last thought to pass along--the neighbor kid told me I must be really bummed about my car. Truthfully, I wasn't. I told him that a lot worse things could happen. See, this is one of the things triathlon (especially the long-distance variety) gives you. A perspective on things that the little things really don't matter much. I had no car, I still raced, I did well, I lived to tell the tale. It's all good!
Weekly Totals 02/05/2007-02/11/2007
Swim: 5000 yards (2.84 miles) in 1.65 hours; 14% of weekly workout time; approx. 578 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 87.21 miles in 4.98 hours; 42% of weekly workout time; approx. 2389 calories burned
Run: Approx. 24.61 miles in 3.75 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 1706 calories burned
Strength: 1.5 hours; 13% of weekly workout time; approx. 375 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 114.66 miles in 11.88 hours; approx. 5048 calories burned
Sleep: 7 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.22 hours. Massage: 2 hours
