Feeling Fucking Awesome!

But first, here is my theme song:



I am such a creature of habit! And I do like discipline...except for being on my 4th beer...but I digress.

What I did this past week wasn't that unusual for me (volume-wise), except for it was the first time I swam almost 3.5 miles in one workout, followed by an 80-mile ride the next day and then 107 miles today. Which makes it like something a person might do to prepare for an Ultraman...but I digress.

What was great about this past week was that it was just 3 weeks after an Ironman, and despite being a little rough climbing hills on the bike (but not so much running), I felt pretty damn good. Ask me tomorrow morning how good I feel and you might get a different answer, but I feel strong and solid.

Yesterday I rode 81 miles in Fermilab all by my lonesome, and it was sunny and hot. I was basically riding in circles and enjoying the heck out of it! The security guard who had given me a free pass to ride on the Big Ring came up to me and asked me about my race, and we chatted for awhile. A woman working in the Ledermann Science Center, where I stopped with about 20 miles to go for cold water (and she let me fill my water bottle from the ice cold water cooler), looked me up and down and said, "You are really skinny." When I went to the bathroom to pee and wash up a little bit, I looked in the mirror and almost believed her. I typically lean out a little right before and for a few weeks after an Ironman, and this year is no exception. But then I thought, hey, I am not losing any power on the bike, so who cares?

I did not go to McDonald's after yesterday's ride, but it was so hot and sunny, that after returning home and then running errands for about 2 hours, I was beat, and just laid around until it was time to sleep.

This morning when I got up, the radar showed bad juju way west of here, but I thought, hey, I'm starting to ride early, maybe I can get most of it in before getting rained on. I had the pleasure to ride about 25 miles with someone I'd never met before, but who reads my blog and is in my age group and who could probably smoke me at any sprint triathlon--Karen. She's a really strong rider, and I enjoyed talking to her and trying to keep up with her! But she didn't need to ride as much as me (well, neither did I, I guess), and so I kept on. Luckily, though it was in the mid-80's and quite humid, we had cloud cover most of the time, so I wasn't burning up like I was yesterday. Whenever the sun would peek through the clouds, I would just sneer at it.

I also ran into a couple of guys I hadn't seen in years, and that was cool. I also outbiked several women way younger than me who at various points took off like rabbits ahead of me and I just reeled them in and then went for the big pass at the crest of a hill into a headwind. That is my type of fun!

They started the big bike race in my town an hour late, as when I arrived back home, it started pouring like crazy, and I waited that out and then walked downtown to watch and take a bunch of pics (which I'll post tomorrow sometime).

I tell ya, if you've never done an Ironman and then picked back up your training afterwards, you don't know how great it can be to capitalize on that fitness! I guess I'm just that sort of person who can't do just 1 anymore--seems like a waste to me--especially when I've got more summertime to go! Now I just hope it rains like hell this week so that I have good weather for Revenge of the PirateMan!

Oh yeah--about 15 miles from finishing today's ride, I saw someone had hoisted a Jolly Roger flag in their yard, and I was just smiling from ear to ear thinking it was some sort of sign. I should have ordered one of those so I could hoist it while I'm doing my thing, but between training and trying to organize myself before it, I've got plenty to do.

Here's how last week broke down:

Weekly Workout Totals	08/10/2009-08/16/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by PIRATES!!! Argggggghhhhh
Swim:	12600 yards (7.15 miles) in 4.22 hours; 18% of weekly workout time; approx. 1477 calories burned Canadian: 11521.44 meters
Bike:	Approx. 227.12 miles in 12.57 hours; 55% of weekly workout time; approx. 6218 calories burned; Total TSS=810 Canadian: 365.51 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 33.11 miles in 4.99 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 2244 calories burned Canadian: 53.29 kilometers
Strength:	1.05 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 263 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 267.38 miles in 22.83 hours; approx. 10202 calories burned Canadian: 22.83 kilometers
Sleep:	8.57 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.95 hours. Massage: 1 hours