Critique My Bike Position

This is a picture that Rich took of me today while out riding the Ironman Wisconsin course. It was on Birch road just before the Old Sauk Pass climb. Initially he told me he thought my stem should be shortened slightly, but I don't at all feel stretched out on this bike. I think this is probably the best picture of me on the Bitch ever.

When the entire camp began riding today, I led everyone away from John Nolen Drive. I was a bit surprised that I was the chosen leader, but I was told later by a woman that since I was wearing "almost a thong" that it was only natural that I should be the leader, and so I was. It was fun knowing that I was leading a number of not-yet-Ironmen out on their very first ride of the Wisconsin course, that I know like the back of my hand. It's been a bit odd for me to be with these folks since I try and not think about my own race until I really have to, which should start to happen sometime next week, as I begin to organize all my crap. But it's also good to sense the excitement these people have, and it rekindles my love of the sport and the people in it.

I only rode 68 miles today, as now my taper for Ironman Lake Placid begins. I was a little sad doing the ride today, since it means I have to begin resting, but that's what's needed now. I ran :40 off the bike and ran pretty well considering it was about 90 degrees out.

During the last 15 or so miles of the ride, I rode with Eric, who is attending the camp here, and he and I are both light and we both run power meters, so we were comparing watts and talking about how we ride the bike. We had a good run back into Madison, getting a tailwind on Whalen Road which totally rocked! Eric ended up calling me "Turbo," I suppose because I can really pour it on when I decide to. Today was just about having fun riding the bike.

Tomorrow is a running clinic (been there, done that, learned a lot), and then I get to run 1:30. It's supposed to be extremely hot, but I feel like I'm pretty acclimated to it. I'm going to talk about something or other for about :15 before we begin running, and I'm sure I'll come up with something to keep people interested, and then it's onto the run, a few more hours of Rich talking, and then he and I drive back to my house.

Rumor has it that Rich is going to actually go SWIMMING with me on Monday morning. OH THE HORROR! He's swam all of maybe 200 yards in the last year. When I suggested we go at 6:30AM to the outdoor pool he looked at me like I was crazy due to the early hour. Hey--us poor schmoes have to swim early since we are usually doing a second workout later in the day. But I guess we can wait until 8:00AM to be in the water, and then we'll just go for an hour.

Camp is fun, I had a great day, and I hope everyone else did, but now it's time to get some rest for my really not-so-big day tomorrow.

Off to Camp

Rich is here (arrived yesterday around 3PM), and we are about to go for a short run.

It's a tradition with me that whenever I attend his camps that I get no sleep and have a hangover, and today is no exception. We had some sushi and plenty of beers and then watched Casino Royale (after me the dufus figured out there were 2 DVD's and inserted the one with the movie on it), and I don't know what time we went to sleep, but I woke up at 4:30AM as it was getting light out and I was HUNGRY. My metabolism continues to race, so tonight I'm going to need to eat a bunch more, especially since *I* have to ride and run tomorrow.

I think there are going to be several cans of Ultra Violence consumed during the drive to Madison...

Will report in later.

4th of July Ride

Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8737154@N04/sets/72157600646386327/

Every year, the Joliet Bicycle Club hosts the 4th of July Ride. The longest route billed is 62 miles, but I think whenever I've done it I ride more than that, by adding on. It starts from Plainfield South High School. I used to ride from Plainfield frequently, since I have a friend, Matt, who lives in Plainfield, but he got shipped out to Afghanistan a year ago (he's coming back to town permanently, though--YEAH!), and it's just as easy for me to ride to Fermilab and circle around.

Jamey, who I met at the Y swimming, asked to do the ride with me, and he needed to start fucking early (6AM) because of family obligations for the 4th. Turns out he'd be in Plainfield to ride, go back home to Antioch for some do, and then come back out even further west than Plainfield for another do.

(Side Note: Beer tastes pretty good right about now. Disco Inferno sounds pretty good on the CD player right about now.)

I had set my alarm clock for 4AM so I could be out the door about 4:45. I managed to fall asleep a little after 8PM last night, which was great, so I'd get almost 8 hours if I made it to 4AM. I was awakened a bit after midnight by thunder, which was right on the predicted schedule. I got up and looked at the radar, and knew the storms weren't severe, so I just got back in bed, hoping the storms would pass by morning, and I fell back asleep pretty easily.

4AM WAKE THE FUCK UP, said my alarm clock. Oh boy, did NOT want to get out of bed, but hey, I have a job to do. Turned on the coffee pot, took my Gag Juice out of the fridge (I can't drink it ice cold), and got organized. I had Bitchie all set up to go, and all I had to do was pick an outfit. Socks--no brainer--my lucky socks (that I got from Lori's SO, Marc). Panties? No brainer--black. Now what to wear on top? First I put on a zebra-striped Shebeest tank, but it's a bit too tight under the arms for my liking. Next, the black Zoot tank, and I just couldn't see wearing a black top all day, so I resorted to a tiny white bra top and one of my Zoot white tanks, which is usually a cool (well, as cool as you can be in the mid-80's) combination, and I could even remove the tank at some point if I wanted to.

Radar check--the blob of the storm system was just barely over my house and going south, so it looked good for riding. Drank 2 cups of coffee, ate my Power Bar Triple Threat, downed the Gag Juice, had a little quality time in the bathroom, and I was ready to go. I had fixed my bottles last night. Somehow I ended up leaving at 5:00AM instead of 4:45, but I figured there would be ZERO traffic this time of the morning and that I'd still make it by 5:30AM, our agreed upon meet-up time (clipping in at 5:45).

For about the first 4 miles of driving, it was raining, but I could see the clouds were breaking up and knew we'd be fine today. I was almost there when Jamey called and asked if the high school was east or west of Route 59. I said west, and hoped I was right (I was). We met up about 5:35AM, parked and began getting ready. Jamey had a bit more to do than me, it being the virgin voyage and all of the Skank. I picked that name right away. After a bathroom stop and me paying the money for the ride (because I want to support these people volunteering), we were off at 6:08AM.

I had a workout plan that I wanted to execute, but I was also flexible. I always worry when I ride with guys that I am holding them back, and know that because of this, I had be prepared to just ride hard for a long time if that's what I need to do to stay with them. We took off, and about :45 in Jamey got a flat. He began messing with a brand new pump, and I just grabbed the wheel and stripped off the tire and tube, and I found that a rather sharp rock or piece of glass had lodged into the tire and had almost punctured clear through, which is what I believed caused the flat. So I sacrificed and ate a gel so I'd have some semblance of a tire boot to ensure the new tube wouldn't flat. As I'm doing this, I'm explaining to Jamey what I'm doing and how you can actually buy tire boots (I didn't have any with me since I was running tubulars today, but I usually have some with my clincher tube crap), but you can also use parts of gel wrappers or even money in a pinch.

The classic line from the tube changing was, "Where's the hole?" Which I said a few times as I wanted to line up the almost hole in the tire with the hole in the rim so I knew where it was when I put the piece of gel wrapper in there and then the tube. Jamey took over after I blew some air into the tube and he got the pump working and then he seated the tube and the tire, pumped, and we were good to go. I told him we'd get some more air in there when we got to the rest station, just to be safe.

After the flat, there were no more mechanicals, and we just rode. Since we were the first people to begin riding (technically, the ride began at 7AM), we hit the rest stations first and got the royal treatment. Lots of peeps looking at the Bitch and Skank and asking us what we were training for. Jamey was the one who said, "An Ironman." I don't do that--I just say, "A triathlon." And if they keep asking questions, I get to the Ironman shit eventually.

(Side Note: Beer tastes REALLY good, and I feel a nap coming on.)

I eventually did some of my workout crap, some of which sort of sucked (thanks, Rich, or as I took to calling him today, "Strauss"), but Jamey was a willing participant in all the shit, although I told him he could take off ahead of me any time he wanted. We were about to head into a tailwind at one point, and we passed a group of 3 guys. Of course, said guys could not take being passed by a girl, so they began to take chase, but only one of them could keep with me with the tailwind going. He gets in front of me, and I'm like, fine, dude, I will just suck your wheel and catch a break while you work your ass off. His buddies couldn't keep up, so bearded guy peels left to look back for them and goes, "You are right behind me." I said, "Yeah, dude, where the hell did you think I was?" I think he thought he was going to be able to drop me, but NOT FUCKING TODAY! Meanwhile, I am sure Jamey was right behind laughing his ass off at all this. So I dial it down a notch, and we let the other 2 guys catch up, and one of them (who I think was enjoying the, ahem, view), tells me to tuck in behind the really big guy (and he was HUGE) and draft. So I did, and we had a nice train going, but the gang of 3 peeled off because they were just riding in the area. Jamey and I had a good laugh about this when I told him that many guys get pissed off when I pass them and pull that shit. Oh well!

Rest station, about 50 miles and we need to decide what to do. I consult map and volunteers and we are going to do another 42 miles. Jamey is going to be late, but I consider that because of his flat, he owes me penalty miles and will just have to be late for whatever is next on his agenda. I mean, come on, we have priorities!

So we head out again and that's when we encounter Robbie-Ventura-wannabe Vision Quest dude, who gets pissed that we pass (especially by me) and so he has to show us what he's got. The dude zooms by only to have to cycle back to stay with his wife, and then we never saw him again. I'm sure he was torqued he couldn't ride as fast as he wants, but hey, thems the breaks.

Jamey and I are now riding through lots of people who started later and just people out riding, because the area is very popular with cyclists, so they are everywhere. And we are passing them all. There were some decent winds, but no matter, we just kept cranking.

With about 1.5 miles to go, we passed some girls, who asked how fast we had been riding, and I said, "about 18.5 miles per hour." She said something like, "That's pretty good," and then I was thinking to myself, "Wait for it..." when I couldn't resist adding, "for 95 miles." At that point she was probably shaking her head or something like what the fuck, and we marched on. Later, Jamey said he knew I would add that last little bit, but I was proud of myself for inserting the proverbial pregnant pause first.

When all was said and done, we banged out 95.2 miles in 5:15, which was not bad, considering. Jamey looked a bit tired (as was I), and so I think I gave him a good run for his money. We stopped at a Subway just about 1.5 miles from the high school, loaded up, and went our separate ways.

I really had fun riding with Jamey on this flattest of rides, had fun riding the disk for the first time in 2007, and put out some decent watts. I may run into Jamey this Saturday, since we'll both be up in Madison riding around--Jamey just for riding, me for Strauss' camp.

Tomorrow morning I do another 3800 meter TT swim as part of a 3-mile workout at the outdoor 50 meter pool, then I chill for a few hours, pick up the Strauss, we go for a short run, I get a massage, and Strauss buys me sushi (OR ELSE). Then Friday, we head up to Madison to do a training camp for IMWI. I can't believe I'm less than 3 weeks out from an Ironman and there's so much going on (and even more I can't discuss right now). Ah, well, such is the life of a Crackhead.

I hope Jamey had fun today!

Fucking Rabbits and Things I've Learned This Week so Far

You can see my bar/bike shop supplieds above, and I did my toenails yesterday/today. Yes, there are TEN DIFFERENT COLORS. But they are all shiny.

In support and honor of Cindy, here's a list of stuff I learned this week so far (I can't believe it's only Tuesday):

1. Rabbits make me crazy. My back yard is overrun by rabbits. Every size, every color. And they are barely frightened of me!


2. Cupcakes with whipped cream and PAMA (pomegranate liquer) and guava juice cocktails aren't good training nutrition.


3. I can run on no sleep and the after effects of PAMA and guava juice cocktails. Swimming--not so much.


4. I can still think pretty well on no sleep.


5. I am fucking creative--will reveal the fruits within a few weeks.


6. I still love my 80's ska and new-age records (yes, RECORDS! I have a Bang & Olafsen turntable that plays them spectacularly). Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Specials, General Public are still good music.


7. I can only take so much of my attempts at Zen-like peacefulness before they are interrupted by hard training.


8. Free hot dogs after a swim at the YMCA rocks.


9. Regular people think I do nothing but train. Today I was asked if I do "regular" things like go to movies, festivals, etc. Well part of the year I don't do anything but train (like now), but the rest of the year somehow I manage to grow a beautiful garden, sew for myself and others, read a bunch of books, cook and work. I don't "entertain," and there are a lot of typical things others do that I don't, but I still love my life.


10. My blog is very popular. I've installed Blogpatrol, so I know who you are looking for and at me. I suppose it doesn't hurt I am Crackhead, and apparently a lot of people Google that and end up here. Happy to help! I want to thank all my readers who have followed my advice that it's not necessary to leave comments all the time. But sometimes I like to know who you are and that you are here, so shout out once in awhile!


11. I still have not commited to an Ironman for 2008, although there are already pushers trying to rope me into one. Coach thinks I should JUST SAY NO TO IRONMAN IN 2008. We shall see. Ask me in 3 weeks.


12. It's eerie getting a postcard in the mail about my next dentist appointment which is July 31, which is AFTER IMLP. Just looking at the date makes me think about how will it have gone? I don't like thinking about "after the race" until it's actually happened.

Twenty-Two

As I close in on IMLP, I need to go inside myself and get my game on. I am drawn to the Tao Te Ching as a source of meditation and inspiration, and so I will be posting pieces of it here. Twenty-Two reminds me to be yielding even as I become stronger and more focused:

Twenty-Two

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight;
Empty and be full;
Wear out and be new;
Have little and gain;
Have much and be confused.

Therefore wise men embrace the one
And set an example to all.
Not putting on a display,
They shine forth.
Not justifying themselves,
They are distinguished.
Not boasting,
They receive recognition.
Not bragging,
They never falter.
They do not quarrel,
So no one quarrels with them.
Therefore the ancients say, "Yield and overcome."
Is that an empty saying?
Be really whole,
And all things will come to you.

Nailing a Workout and How if Affects My Mood

I did it, I did it, I did it. Three times today. Swim, bike and run. A triathlon of sorts. To wash away the mental anguish from sabotaging my own workout on Saturday (which wasn't really all that bad; after all I nailed the run, right?).

Let me just say that sleeping my normal amount was key. Normal being 8.5 hours. Also helpful was the lucid dreaming, which is typically positively oriented (I would hate to have lucid dreams about horrifying things, but I know it happens to people occasionally). Also helpful is implementing what I am saying I need to do which is to let my support network know that I am in no state to take any crap, be given "extra" work to do or be inconvenienced in any way. Yet it will happen, and I know that, but still at least I've put the word out there, so if I react badly, it won't come as a surprise.

Also helpful is knowing that I only have to work today and tomorrow this week. Even though I don't consider my job highly stressful, nevertheless, I am very aware of how differently I feel on a day when I don't work. Even better is having an actual "rest" day from training on a day of no work. When I have or take a rest day on a day when I do work, it isn't really all that restful, because I tend to just work harder!

So I went into today figuring (as I've said to people at work), "Every Monday is a new week." I guess it's a take on "Today is the first day of the rest of your life," but I don't always want to think that far ahead, and I think focusing on one week at a time (and sometimes one day at a time) is a little easier to cope with.

I had scheduled a 3,400 yard swim for myself, and Rich had scheduled a 1:30 ride/:40 run brick workout. When I looked at it on paper today, I thought something needs to give. So I decided to sub in a shorter (2,650 yards) swim workout.

Got to the pool about 6:45AM, and asked to share a lane with someone I hadn't seen there before--Brent. Brent is an awesome swimmer, and he looked friendly, so we started up a conversation, where I learned he's got friends trying to rope him into triathlon, and he has a concern with running, and of course me being the pusher that I am, I assured him he'd probably do just fine, since I know lots of former college swimmers (as he is) who are able to pick up the other 2 sports quite easily. I have to say, though, it's pretty easy to talk to a hottie swimmer dude. We can always use more hot men in the sport of triathlon!

Brent was almost done and Chad shows up, and I think Chad was a bit jealous that I was lavishing my attention on Brent, so he thrusted his hand into our lane to shake hands with Brent and introduce himself. I told Chad that Brent didn't know what he was getting into, and we all had a good laugh!

I start my workout and then Jamie arrives, and I tell him that Brent is almost done, although I laugh because many times when a swimmer says "almost done," they mean just another 800 yards or so. Anyway, Brent does finish up, I wave goodbye, and Jamie joins my lane, and we're all swimming.

So I had a good swimmer on either side of me to get me motivated today to swim harder than I normally do. At one point, I was keeping up with Jamie, and at another point, to my own amazement, with Chad. Of course he was going slowly (or so I thought), and I had fins on, so whatever. But still, like I said, it was nice to be surrounded by mojo. Chad even mentioned that I was keeping him en pointe. Unbelievable!

I finished up the workout feeling not at all tired, in fact when I started I was so wired up because I got such good sleep last night, otherwise I might not have even done the swim workout, since the key workout for today was the brick.

As soon as I got home, all I could think about was the next workout, but I had to get some work done before I started, and so I lined up what I needed to do, and caught a minute here and there to pump my tires, select today's outfits and running shoes and ensure I had bottles chilled for biking. I don't know why I even bother with regular clothes lately, since it seems I am always just taking them off to get ready for a workout!

I took off on the bike around 11:30AM on schedule, and did an easy warmup. What a gorgeous day! It was about 72 with light winds. I hoped that not too many cars would be looking to kill me today, but as always, I was very cautious initially. I did get a lot of looks because I'm still sporting my temporary tattoos which will remain until I get my massage on Thursday. I guess I look a bit aggro.

As I neared my interval loop, I could feel my mood change to "it's work time." This time, there was no easing into the interval stuff, just warmup and then it's GO TIME. Shifted into the big chainring, and started out. I thought it must be Tuesday, because that's when I usually do these workouts, but it got shifted to today because I'm riding 100 miles on Wednesday. But I still had some of my fans out, and they waved heartily every time I looped past them while they were on lunch break.

When I fired up the first interval, I could really feel a power surge in my legs, and thought where did that come from? OK, well, let's just keep it up then. And I got the first :15 done and thought, can I repeat with only :03 rest? Yep. And then once more, with feeling. They were all good intervals and spot on. And then I got to go easy for :05 and finally complete the last bit, which I should have cut short because I was running low on time, but then I thought, what the heck, I can be a few minutes late for my 2:00PM meeting or cut my run a bit short. So I got it done, the workout ended up being 1:45 and it felt great.

Now it's time to run. Since I was trying to beat the clock, I hurried up and changed into running shorts, washed my scummy face, put on my running shoes and hat, grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and I was off in about 2:30. Not too bad a transition time--it could have been faster--but it was good enough for today. It was not a race!

I started running in my typical "just keep your cadence up and the pace will take care of itself" mode, and surprisingly, my legs didn't feel all that trashed. But I could tell I'd need to work to make it happen. Looking at my watch, I decided that instead of running for :40 that I would just go 4 miles in however long it took and call it a day.

The run went well, and I was really in the zone of just doing what I needed to do, and it didn't feel like pain or bad in any way. It just felt like effort.

When I finished, I just felt great, and I still feel great. I reestablished that my bike power is right about where it should be right now (I haven't had luck with hitting the elusive 200 FTP; I'm stuck at around 180-185), and that's what I'm going into IMLP with. And I learned that even though I haven't been sleeping enough, that I've been doing quality workouts, and the numbers show up when I am truly rested.

So I guess the point of this post is that I'm just like anyone else in that I can get down on myself when I don't perform up to my own sky-high expectations, but also that I know deep down inside what I'm capable of and that on any given day, it can all unfold to give me a wonderful experience, which is what I had today. So I'll take this one, and be happy for it, yet not use it to set expectations for the Ironman.

I will be happy (I should say happiER--I haven't been unhappy) just for today and see what tomorrow brings. I feel like I'm finally absorbing all the nonsense of the last 11 weeks, and this week makes the magic 12-week classic Ironman build. So it's about time that it's all seeming like it's coming together!

Weekly Workout Totals 06/25/2007-07/01/2007and Surviving Ironman Training

So, the ride yesterday didn't go as well as planned. 1) I decided to stop and take pictures. 2) I was "thinking" a bit too much. Even though I'm bummed, it is what it is, and so I will let it go and move on. I'm riding 100 miles on Wednesday, and so I have another chance to see how well I do, although I wasn't given any pacing guidance, so I will most likely hammer it! I plan on riding my disc just for shits and grins, panties, the whole outrageous kit! What the hell, it's the 4th of July, gotta celebrate!

Now, onto the topic at hand: How do you (an average age grouper) keep your sanity while training for an Ironman? It all comes down to the following equation:

Sanity = x * (time you want to train to achieve your outrageous goals) - y * (time actually available to train) - z * (unpredictable life crap) + q * (value of your support network, and be honest) + s * (genetic giftedness) + t * (amount of training planning you actually do or coaching you receive) - v * (amount of unnecessary crap you engage in that doesn't contribute towards your training/racing goals) + r * (your knowledge of the art and science of triathlon training in order to cope with all the other shit)

The variables x, y, z, q, s, t, v and r are very important and very individual, and are subject to change at any given time! Considering that "sanity" will reflect your ability to execute on race day, it's very important to be honest about the variables. Things get even more complicated because many people are unable to self-assess to the extent required to keep things in balance and keep things real.

What about me? I am subject to the same stressors as the next guy or gal. Sure, I'm not married and don't have kids, but hey, cut me some slack. I do EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING for myself. I work, and if I lose my job, I have noone to lean on to support me. I pay the bills, take out the garbage, tend to the house and yard, do the laundry, cooking, dishes, repairs, anything you can imagine.

BUT, and this is a very important BUT, I do everything possible to ensure that I can get in the training that I want to do to achieve what I think is possible for me. So I eliminate crap that doesn't need to get done, and while I make incessant lists, many things never get done because they just aren't truly necessary. If I want to go out drinking with a friend, I know in advance the price I will pay and whether I will be able to execute the next day's workouts. I knew that by stopping to take pictures and "thinking" too much yesterday that I was jeopardizing my race rehearsal ride. Sure, I'm still pissed, but it was a choice I made, and in the end, I still had fun doing it, I still got in a good workout, and the experience will still contribute to my race day execution. At least I did the workout, you know?

I am by no means a talented athlete. I got where I am by sheer determination, discipline and hard work. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes my sanity equation gets out of whack, and I just try to sit back and figure out what needs to give.

Right now, for example, I'm sort of at the edge of my own sanity. I feel incredibly fit, yet I am subject to the odd poor workout. I also need to be aware that as I've aged that I may have reached my inevitable peak and begin to decline in ability any day now. It's all I can do right now to do the workouts, maintain some semblance of "regular life," do my job and begin planning for a race that happens in 3 weeks. It's fucking nuts! I would be totally remiss to say it was anything less than that.

Yet I know that to some folks, I appear totally cool, calm, collected and all that shit. Oh, boy, there are things I could talk about going on in my head that would make YOUR head spin. Let's just say I have an extremely active fantasy life right now. My brain is constantly scrolling through all sorts of scenarios, not just for the present, but for the near and far futures. I am constantly testing myself against what I think I am, what I think I know, what I think I want, and all possible combinations. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that I can concentrate on a single thing, like writing this post. Am I unique in this regard? I don't think so. I bet that if I could get other would-be or already Ironmen to comment on these feelings that they would concur.

It's a fantastic thing to bring your body to this point--where you are a finely honed machine that is constantly chomping at the bit for the next challenge. In fact, that's how I like to schedule my entire training calendar for a year. Most of the time it works like a charm, but there's always something different about an impending Ironman.

At this time, what I try and do is draw heavily upon my support network, and by that, I mean those people closest to me who really know what this is about in terms of ME--they don't need to know the ins and outs of Ironman training or racing--but they need to know ME and just be there and reinforce my sense of self and confidence and in the end, that's really all any of us needs, right?

But sometimes my support network doesn't see through my external shell of She-Ra strength and attitude, and I need to remind them that I am just as vulnerable as everyone else. It's OK to ask for support when you need it, and it's OK to be a little selfish in these last 3 weeks. Of course, that's with the assumption that I'm giving back to my support network. I try my best to do so, and I am regularly surprised at all the nice things other people do for me throughout the year. I never think I am doing enough for others, which is a personality fault of mine. I'm a doer, plain and simple. That's what I do; that's what I get satisfaction from. Even when I may feel overwhelmed at all the "doing" that I've committed to, in the end, that's what makes me a happy camper. When my schedule is overflowing with stuff, to me it all just becomes a juggling act that is yet another skill for me to master.

So now, here's what I did last week. I have one more big (20-hour or so) week, and then it's taper time! I'm feeling very much on the edge right now, but I just need to bear with it and then it should all come together. I'm heading back to Wisconsin this Friday with Rich to conduct an IMWI training camp, and I'm looking forward to that. To me, it will be a ton of fun, assuming I don't frighten off the other campers! And then I'm looking forward to meeting up with old friends at IMLP, so no matter what happens, it will all be good!


Weekly Workout Totals 06/25/2007-07/01/2007
Swim: 15215 yards (8.64 miles) in 5.12 hours; 24% of weekly workout time; approx. 1790 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 180.54 miles in 10.32 hours; 48% of weekly workout time; approx. 4584 calories burned
Run: Approx. 31.75 miles in 4.82 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 2177 calories burned
Strength: 1.03 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 258 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 220.93 miles in 21.29 hours; approx. 8809 calories burned
Sleep: 7.07 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.23 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Oh, and if you haven't looked, see what's blooming for this past week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8737154@N04/sets/72157600496071836/

Edit (Monday morning): I woke up at 2AM (as has been happening pretty much daily for the last 3-4 weeks--notice the correlation to the number of training hours I'm putting up) this morning. I was hoping it was later, but my curiousity got the better of me and I looked at a clock. I was like, oh fuck, this is even earlier than my usual 3-3:30AM wakeup. But whatever. I've learned not to obsess about this, figuring that as long as I am horizontal, it's all good in terms of giving my body a rest. So I took stock--I was, as always, hot, even though my bedroom temperature was 73 (my bedside clock has a thermometer in it--I told you I like to measure stuff!) and I had a fan blowing on me all night and I sleep naked. I went to the bathroom and turned on the light, looked in the mirror and thought, "I look disgusting." Guess most of us don't look so hot at 2AM, huh? And this is why we invented alcoholic beverages... I washed my face, got pissed about a zit on my chin (I mean what the fuck, I'm 50 and I still get these things? Oh yeah, I ride a bike and drool all over my face while sweating like a pig.), turned off the light and got back in bed, knowing I would lay there for awhile wide awake thinking, or should I say "scrolling." I just let my mind do it, because trying to stop it is futile (much like the Borg). What was cool was that I went into a lucid dreaming state--I went through 4 dreams, where I had them and then immediately became fully alert and awake, knowing I had just had a dream (trust, me, they were all good ones), feeling like my mind was having some fun, and then I dropped back into sleep only to repeat the sequence. Sometimes I just have to let my brain run wild, and this can be the happy result. I ended up with 8.5 hours of sleep, and I feel great, rarin' to go. There's a link on my sidebar to a dream interpretation site. I taught myself to recall my dreams many, many years ago, and also this ability to stare at the ceiling (during daylight hours) until I am not "seeing" at all. It's sort of like what happens when they give you that shot of sodium pentathol to put you under before surgery and you see the bright white light that collapses into nothing and then you are out. The purpose of doing this? Achieving the feeling of nothingness and everythingness all at once. Being there and being gone. I think it's a fleeting glimpse of that thing they call "Nirvana."