Ramblings

I keep wanting to write a blog post, then I think what I'm thinking is stupid, mundane or uninteresting, so I don't. But I write this stuff as much for myself as for my alleged readers, so here goes.

Goofy Challenge was good, recovering from it not so much. Not physically, but mentally. Maybe I was doing so much that I really needed a good rest or maybe I have short-term memory. I could go and look at past years to see how I recovered from it, but this time was different because I'd trained a whole lot more before it, not just running, but swimming, too. So I guess a comparison would be apples and oranges. And then I worry it's because I've gotten older. Which sucks. I really have no clue as to whether what I am experiencing is age-related or not. Hey, I got faster at Goofy, so that's good, right?

I am fortunate, in a way, that I wasn't athletic as a child, teen or during college. Some of the people who were burn out and have to face that slowing down thing much sooner than me. I only started this stuff 12 years ago, and current indications are that I am not really slowing down yet. Maybe I just haven't reached my maximum speeds!

I am sleeping a lot. A LOT! For this season (which began on 8/31), I am averaging 9 hours a night. That feels about like what I need, and I hope I can keep that up. But since 3-5 days a week I have to be up at or before 5AM, that means I need to be asleep at 8PM. It seems some people are curious as to my lifestyle now--at least those that can fathom Ultraman and the fact that I am training even more now (on average--not right at the moment) than I ever did for an Ironman.

My typical weekday is like this: wake up at 5AM, have 2 cups of coffee and breakfast which is usually a hardboiled egg with a toasted English muffin with about 1 tsp. of jam, try and wake up, then leave home at 5:45 AM so that I can be in the pool at 6AM (M/W/F). Except that if it's Friday, I am swimming long, and so I'm up before 5 depending on how long I swim (with an aim to finish by 8:30 on Fridays, and 7:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays). On Mondays and Wednesdays, I do about 20 minutes worth of core stuff before I get in the pool.

Begin working, by 8AM most days, maybe 9AM on Fridays. Have a couple of bananas and whatever other snacks I think I want before my second workout, which is usually around 11:30AM. If it's Tuesday or Thursday right now, I would have lifted in the morning, and my second workout would be a ride of about 1:30. If it's M/W/F, my second workout is a run of :50-1:15 in duration (yes, even on Fridays after a 2+ hour swim).

After that second workout, it's time to drink the Endurox R4 and eat lunch, which is some sort of Lean Cuisine (they are fairly healthy) that includes rice. I really like the pot stickers the most. I am already working while eating lunch, and have meetings many days that begin right after my second workout. I am usually in a good mood!

I work until 5 or 5:30 (whatever gets me to 8 hours), and then I'm ready to crack a beer while I stretch for about 1/2 hour. Unless it's Wednesday, in which case I go and get a 1 hour massage at 4PM and then come home and work some more.

After I stretch, I get my dinner prepared, which is usually a salad or a side of rice with something that I've microwaved that had been in the freezer, having been prepared on a weekend when I actually have time to cook. I usually sit down to have dinner while watching something stupid on TV about 6:30PM. Maybe I read a newspaper or magazine that I subscribe to.

7PM is decision time--is there anything else worth watching on TV or not? The answer usually is NOT, and so I head upstairs and get into bed to read for up to an hour before going to sleep at 8PM or so.

Pretty boring, huh? Right now, I can sleep in on weekends, because my workouts are only 3-4 hours each day, so I can start whenever I like since they are all indoors anyway. And that's when I get miscellaneous things done like laundry, fixing bottles (for swimming and recovery drink), dishes, messing around with my training schedule (which is far more malleable this season than ever before!), trying to keep my house organized and relatively clean.

And of course, I have to fit in things like regular haircuts and waxing (!). At the end of each year, I make a schedule for like the next 8 months and hand it off to my girls, and they are cool with it, then I get the times I want that fit into my schedule.

I have a few things working for me in this madness--I'm single and not in a relationship (and have been told by many that I am not even desireable because of my insane training so there you go), I work at home and I live .6 miles from my indoor pool/gym. Oh and I have free weights and a weight machine at home so there is absolutely no excuse for me not to use that stuff and I can sneak in that time whenever the opportunity arises--sometimes even during work meetings where I am just listening in!

As much as I dislike winter where I live, at least there is no yard work to be done, except for snow removal, which I actually sort of enjoy--it's like another strength workout! Plus I'm outside! Somehow, during spring through fall, I find time to mow my lawn, tend to all my perennials and the odd home maintenance thing, although I usually pay someone else to do those things.

And yet, I get people asking me why I am doing what I am doing. In a way, I understand it, because I am not shy about saying that it is a challenge just to do the training I do while working fulltime. And yes, Ultraman will cost me a ton of money. But what else would I be doing with it? This is the first time that I have felt like I am sacrificing ANY semblance of a social life in order to do this, but I also know that it is temporary (at least unless I decide I want to keep doing it), and that soon it will be time for me to consider retiring from my regular job which would change things up a whole lot.

I still don't think I am doing anything amazing. I know people who are doing far more than me. What I don't get is how people react to me saying "This is hard." Like hard is a bad thing. I guess it is for many people. I think society, and I'll say American society, has conditioned everyone to think that life should be easy, and that is why, I think, there is an epidemic of obesity. Hey, I worked 8 hours--exercising is like more work, why would I do that? And food is really plentiful and relatively cheap here in the U.S.

Sure, we are all entitled to, and even need, leisure time. It's what we choose to do with it that defines our overall satisfaction in this short life we have. I am so glad that I became unattached to TV a few years ago. I can take it or leave it, and now, I really need to leave it in order to take care of my body well enough to do the training necessary (or that I think is necessary) in order to do this Ultraman thing. But I won't sacrifice reading--it has always been near and dear to me (except for when my Dad made us read books and do book reports during the summer which I used to think was torture but it was actually brilliant, because I absolutely LOVE reading now), and it's the written word that, helps me stay up on current events, expand my imagination and sometimes just escape from reality.

How am I feeling? Pretty damn good, now that I feel like I am finally recovered from Goofy. You know what? I like to run. Almost every time I do it now, I enjoy it immensely. Go figure! I still don't consider myself a "real" runner--I just am not fast--but I like it now. I am really looking forward to getting to run for 2+ hours because that is when it feels really good to me.

I am at a slightly decreased level of training for a few weeks, and I needed it, but it's weird that I sometimes think how the hell was I doing so much before, and how did I fit it all in? But then I just ease on back into the old schedule, and I'll admit, I'm addicted to endorphins, and I find myself doing just fine.

I am sick of winter, mostly because there are quite a few gray days in Chicago, and I spend 8 good months of the year outside for many hours that it sucks to be inside so much. Then again, it makes me reduce my training somewhat which I know is a good thing. And running on the treadmill gives my legs, hips and back a break from the pavement pounding.

I am starting the indoor triathlon series (only 3 this time) next weekend, and that usually helps with the winter doldrums. Although normally I would expect to win my AG, I am not assuming that this time since I will be training a lot more than in years past. But they will be fun to get in a 1 hour speed workout plus a massage afterwards! Oh and then I do a long run afterwards, but I am used to it. I am doing a 1/2 marathon race in March, and that's all for races until Ultraman, but there are some "epic style" (I hesitate to use the word just "epic" because I might be admonished) weekends I have planned in May and June that will form the final buildup to Ultraman.

Yes, I am still appropriately fearful of Ultraman. I do appreciate it when people tell me they know I can do it, and I do think much of it is a mental exercise, but I am feeling pretty good about the first 2 days--it's that pesky 52.4 mile run on Day 3 that I have no clue about. But all I can do is to keep keeping on. So far, I have responded very well to the training I have done, and as long as that continues, I will know that I am doing all that I can do in order to achieve the goal, given that I am still a working stiff, you know. I have had many daydreams or visualizations about finishing Ultraman, which is a good thing, and as each week passes, I will be pushing aside more and more naysayers, as they have no place whatsoever in my training program!

I do not yet have my game face, but I think I am getting close to it. I have only 6 months left to prepare, and this is very serious stuff to me, and I don't take any of it lightly. I am looking forward to getting the new bike, even though I keep thinking I didn't really need to get one, but I know that just like when I got my Pinarello, it will push me to do it justice and represent well out on the roads!

My very most food weakness holiday is approaching--Valentine's Day. I don't much get into the Halloween candy anymore, and I'm not a chocoholic and don't succumb too much over Christmas, but Valentine's brings my favorite candy and I just can't resist them:


I have already eaten 4 bags of these things and you'd think I'd be fat, but um...nope. They are like filler extra calories that I need and they are my FAVORITE candy EVER. They work well as a pre-workout snack and also in the evening if I think I want a few more calories.

Other than the hearts, I am pretty good about my diet. I am eating lots of salad, which will eventually switch over to more rice and pasta. I need the greens, and I feel great eating a pretty spare diet, although I am sure I am getting enough calories or else I would have crappy workouts.

The eating thing when training like this is interesting. Even though I have talked about the candy, really I eat pretty cleanly most of the time. Why? Because there is always another workout looming and I need to be at my best not just for the workouts but also to maintain my job and have some semblance of energy left for other daily living activities. But I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything--I just do not (except for the candy, OK?) have cravings for junk food, and I'm on such a tight schedule most days that going out for crap just never happens. I still love to cook and do so on the weekends and freeze stuff because I have very little time on weekdays.

This whole experiment has been interesting so far. I wonder how I will feel in 3 months and then again in 6 months? If it's anything close to how I feel right now, it will be GREAT! Like I've tried to explain, even though this is a crazy-fucking-ass way to live your live just to do a BIG HUGE THING, I am really enjoying it, even though it puts into focus what other "normal" people may think about it and my own mental processes as far as believing I am capable and just as much thinking what the fucking hell am I doing.

Today is a good day and I am happy for it!