This is not a Vacation!

I woke up yesterday morning to a couple of inches of new snow but relatively (for winter) mild temperatures. A little shoveling and blowing would be a good warmup before I hit the trainer. I had a brick run planned, and was thinking about running outside, but with the roads being dicey and most people don't clear their sidewalks, I decided I'd go to the Y for that.

It was nice being out in the snow, and while I wouldn't have minded shoveling, I was on a schedule, so I got out the Toro and cleaned the driveway pretty quick. Then I cleaned up from Friday night's dinner party and got on the bike.

Beginning this week, I'm working off of actual bike workouts, and when I looked at what I had planned, it looked pretty doable except for the FT stuff. My FT is probably down about 5 watts, but I'm acting as if it's not. I can't hold FT watts for more than like 3 minutes at a time just now, but I know how to tweak the workouts so I still get in the time I need to, and it's just a matter of weeks before I'm back to full strength.

I ended up doing this (total time 2:15)
WU: 30' @ 65-70%
MS: 2 x (20' @ 80-85%, 10' Easy)
10 x 2' (1') @ FT
10x30/30
5' Easy

I was spot on for the 80-85% (which is like Z3 heart rate stuff), and I did pretty well on the FT stuff and awesome on the 30/30's. My legs are ready for the pain now, and mentally I'm in a good place and really motivated to work!

When I finished, I headed to the Y to run, but only did :25 because I was just bored and hungover. Surprisingly, I didn't feel like puking for my first brick run since NothingMan, but then again, I've done this how many times?

I went home and showered in my new shower (it's fucking awesome!), then put on compression tights and got ready to head to the airport. Luckily, my flight was not delayed at all, and other than a few screaming kids (headed to Disneyland), the flight was uneventful, and I almost even napped a bit.

My buddy, Mark, picked me up at the Orlando airport (their baggage handling sucks as I had to wait like 20 minutes for the bags to arrive), we dropped my crap at my hotel, and went and had dinner at a local watering hole. It's nice and warm here, and today we have a fun day planned--a 2-hour run in orange groves, and then a nice swim in a pool somewhere and then some lunch and then just hanging out--probably including a stop at Ron Jon, since I can always use more swimsuits! There will be pics, but I didn't load my camera software on my work laptop so no downloads until I get home :(

Tomorrow I'm going to work from my hotel so I can spend a little quality time in the sun in the middle of the day, and then Tuesday-Thursday is heavy duty working and socializing. The office is basically across the street from the hotel. I'm at Embassy Suites, and it's pretty damn nice. We'll see what the fitness center is like and whether the pool is actually swimmable, but no matter, since I'm swimming today, I can chill on that until Friday when I'm back home. I want to get in a ride on some sort of stationary bike, and I can run outside every day I'm here, too!

So even though this trip is about business, I'm turning it into a great time! Bonus is that when I get home, I'll have 5 more rooms in my house 100% complete! While I'm gone, the foyers are being tiled, the custom shades and ceiling lights mounted in my office and guest bedroom, and hopefully the counter tops for the laundry room go in. If I get even luckier, the furniture for the upstairs bathroom will get here from China and I'll have a completed bathroom! Regardless, Friday is when the zebra carpet gets laid down in my living room and I have some plans for it...

I know I've turned a corner because so many things are giving me so much pleasure now, and I'm appreciating small things...so here's a list of things that fit the bill:

1. I love my new garage door and opener.
2. I love my Toro snowblower
3. I love my new shower
4. I love my new laundry room
5. I love how I've finally organized all the crap in my house and things are put away.
6. I love my bikes and riding them hard!
7. I love knowing that I'm officially starting to race in 3 weeks!
8. I love that it's near Christmas and I'm excited to be giving gifts to people I love!
9. I love my friends, even the creepy Internet ones!
10. I love that I'm fortunate enough to be able to get the hell out of Dodge during the winter (and will most likely do so again in a few months)
11. I love that I'm so fit that even though I jacked up my back, everything is coming around and I'll be 100% in another week or so
12. I love shiny things. I just bought the collector Absolut Disco bottle. Maybe I need a disco ball, too ;)
13. I love music
14. I love massages

I think I'm back to loving life!