Weekly Workout Totals 12/08/2008-12/14/2008

I had a great week all around this week. My house remodeling is now complete except for a few minor things that will get done today, and I'm loving the results! My new big black and white bathroom is fucking nice, and I smile whenever I go in there. My living room is spacious and zebra-ed out! I can stretch out in there (there's room for several people to stretch, actually), hang out (I started a crossword puzzle laying on the smaller sofa yesterday afternoon), listen to music and just enjoy life.

I had the bestest weekend with Shelley. We had so much fun and so many laughs, and well, we need to get together more often! She gave me some beautiful crystal candelsticks which were put to good use last night ;)

I had a good training week even though it doesn't look like a lot of hours...I ended up doing a whole lot of running since that was the easiest thing to do while I was out of town in Orlando. I'm a teensy bit beat up from it, but a massage tonight will fix that! This week I'm home and back on my training program, and I know I'll be in good shape for ZebraMan!

Weekly Workout Totals	12/08/2008-12/14/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by zebra stripes and pirates!
Swim:	4300 yards (2.44 miles) in 1.55 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 543 calories burned Canadian: 3931.92 meters
Bike:	Approx. 68.55 miles in 3.92 hours; 30% of weekly workout time; approx. 1897 calories burned; Total TSS=184 Canadian: 110.32 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 42.75 miles in 6.67 hours; 51% of weekly workout time; approx. 3035 calories burned Canadian: 68.8 kilometers
Strength:	0.82 hours; 6% of weekly workout time; approx. 205 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 113.74 miles in 12.96 hours; approx. 5680 calories burned Canadian: 0 kilometers
Sleep:	7.07 hours avg./night
Stretching:	1.77 hours. Massage: 0 hours

Orlando Pics (yes, there's one of my ass)

Mark performing valuable geek services while wearing compression tights

My favorite place to buy swimsuits and assorted beachy stuff

Mark after our 2 hour run in the orange groves in Clermont (nice pecs, dude!)

Mark stretching (he can also pee while doing this, trust me I know!)

Me...um...flashing the moon...not sure you can tell but the actual moon is up!

Me feeling pretty happy I was able to run 2 hours

Me with the rising moon in the background

After swimming at the NTC (formerly owned by USAT)

Mark enjoying a brew after our 3-hour workout

Mark enjoying a burger

Can You Say My Fucking Fitness Has Returned???

So, yesterday I nailed a 2:15 hard ride and :25 brick run. Today, I had the total fucking pleasure of running 2 hours with Mark in the orange groves of Clermont, Florida. The trail we ran on was mostly sand with plenty of hills! We had both agreed to run it slow (for us), since Mark's been having knee tracking issues (I spent plenty o' time esplainin' to him various reasons for it), and my back is still touchy from my various injuries. But we ran at our planned 10mpm pace, and it was an absofuckinglutely gorgeous day! Upper 50's, clear sky, and light winds. We saw centipedes (or some wormy thing with millions of legs), spiders, grasshoppers, herons, various birds (my spotting), and I heard sandhill cranes. After that, we headed to the NTC (formerly the USAT training center) to swim for about :50. We both got our tans on, and then we headed to a watering hole close to my hotel for burgers and beers.

So I gots in almost 16 hours of quality training this week, had a fucking excellent time doing it all, and I've got 4 more days here in Orlando. While my back still isn't fully recovered, all signs are pointing to improvement, and hey, if I can run, bike, swim and lift (and there are other activities which are good signs he he), then I must be OK, right?

As I said, pics will follow once I am back home in my Den of Iniquity!

THREE WEEKS TO ZEBRAMAN!!!

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!

On a Roll

Thought I'd start off with this pic from September when I was visiting a friend in Vegas. Good times! I bought that swimsuit at Kohl's there for like $10. A few people at this pool told me I looked hot in it. I dunno. I think I mostly just look drunk and horny!

The tan is mostly gone, but I hope to get a bit of a refresh this Sunday in Orlando. I'm going to do a long run there, and hopefully my back will cooperate for 2 hours. I've run twice this week with no pain while running, so that's a good sign.

So far this week, I've hit pretty much everything I've had planned for training! That is such a good feeling, and now I know I'm good to go for ZebraMan the week of 12/22. I can't wait!

There have been a few more snags in the remodeling project, but for sure next week while I'm gone, both foyers will get spanking new tile (black granite upstairs and white ceramic downstairs), if Kohler actually ships the right parts I'll have a working toilet upstairs, the custom shades will be installed in my office and guest bedroom, and when I get home, we are going to lay down that zebra carpet! I'm getting custom Crackhead stickers made for Bitchie (sparkly pink, what else?), I have a solid training plan in place (subject to whimsical change, of course!), normal sleeping is coming around, I'm actually looking forward to Christmas, and I could give a crap that it's winter, cold, snowy and did I say it's fucking cold (7 degrees as I write this!)?

I've got a nice evening and Saturday morning planned before I head to Orlando (hopefully without flight delays but you never know it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow), and it will be nice to get away from home for a week even though it's on business. If I get there at a decent time, a friend of mine down there is going to whisk me away to some sort of triathlon gathering that should be loads of fun. I'm looking forward to meeting the crew down there as I plan on showing up regularly now that my BFF Cindy is moving down there. I'll be able to get in decent training on Monday since meetings don't begin until Tuesday. Tuesday-Thursday it will be an AM workout, most likely just running.

That's it for this week's updates until I'm in Whore-lando. I think this will be about the 12th time I've gone there?

I know it's been awhile since I've said this (what, 3 months?), but Life is Fucking Good!

Updates

I've not been blogging much lately. Why? Watch the video...been trying to have some semblance of a normal life while having my house upgraded. Bathroom remodeling begins tomorrow. I'm glad to have a work day free of contractors! I get a massage tonight! I had a wonderful weekend! I even managed to do a (nearly) Olympic distance NothingMan last Thursday, which I am calling GhettoMan. Even though I've been stressed out and tired, GhettoMan gave me hope that I can be up for a 1/2 NothingMan in November. I'm excited about going to Panama City Beach next week to be with some great people--Shelley, Brett, Forrest & Regina (rode bikes in their hood a few years back), then I hope to have a girl's weekend at my pad (with the new zebra carpet!), remodeling will be finished (until next year, anyway), and then some R&R at the homestead followed by a trip to Orlando (business) 2nd week of December, which I may extend either to race or just train in (hopefully) good weather. Sheesh--by that point I should be back in "regular" training, which means

CRACKHEAD FUCKING LIVES!!!

Time is indeed precious, and I'm trying not to waste any. I will seek to control the things I can and let go of those I can't, and will do my best to be in the here and now. I like being timed, but I also like not being timed. Either way, time is precious. Apologies for the acid flashback, but I really liked Journey once upon a time, and am finding I still like them. I like big guitars, and I like certain chords, I like melodic music, and Journey has all that, plus I can sing along in Steve Perry's key!

Time is precious!