1250

That would be 200 warm up, 1000 straight, 50 cool down. All the while surrounded by an obnoxious group that were chatty more than they were swimming. I figured it was similar to the distraction of all the other competitors on race day.

Run good

No bike. Just too sore. Wow can I feel my legs. Cooking instead. And the last of the laundry.

Here we go

Back at home until the race trip. Yay! I am so enjoying my own home, my own kitchen, my own bed and of course the dog.
It took some time to get back in the swing of things but it kicked in yesterday.
I did a 3.75 mile walk run. Wow I surprised myself at my endurance yesterday. I just started running and ran for a pretty good distance.
From there I went for a bike ride. Of course yesterday was Steeplechase day. So riding around town like last week was not going to happen. Too many folks crazed to get to the event to get their drink on were on the road. So I went to my friends neighborhood to get some hill drills in. We ride there on occasion it is a short loop. Unlike my own neighborhood it has some ups downs and flats. Where I live it is just up and down. No real test for peddling. I did a two hill loop 8 times that amounted to just about 10 miles. It got boring after a while but was well worth it.
I was tired and sore afterwards for sure.

Today I was going to do that loop I did last week. Unfortunately it is crazy foggy out there. Supposedly going to be that way until 10 or so. The road ragers aren't the best to be around on a good day. So I think I will stick to quieter roads today. Probably head over to SCCL. I was also thinking a flat run at the park to check my endurance there.
Always so much going on in my head regarding the workouts.
Swims will start up again tomorrow.
Considering run swims all week.

Pretty. Pretty tasty.

Treadmill

Did 45 minutes on the treadmill.  Tried to offset the fried cheese curds.  Probably not a worthy trade off but had to do a little something.
Now drinking lots of water in an effort to avoid the travel water retention like last week.
And trying to not get caught between time zones.  So even though the clock says 745 I am concentrating on it being 845
Hope this weeks travel goes well.

People watching

Interspersed with my training is dieting and work travel.
So the diet was really thrown off track last week.  But I managed to get the water retention down and the exercise up while I was home.  The scale was back to normal this morning but still not passed the Athena quest. Errr.
and then pops up more work travel.  Today we landed early.  I landed early in Milwaukee.  Found my way over to the art museum.  I had been to the outside of the museum a few years back.  Decided to check it out today.
There were pieces that were truly interesting.  And there were others I could have done.  My friends kids could have done.  Or no one really should have done.  On a Sunday you can imagine there were people there REALLY into the art.  I took in as much as I could.  Some Georgia OKeefe.  Some tributes to animation. An Easter lily painting I wish I could replicate. 
Of course in settings like this the mind races commentary.  By the time I sit down here all comments are blank.
It was a nice way to spend the early afternoon.

Late afternoon I am at the Harley Davidson Museum.  Now I enjoyed my first visit.  Had no real desire to go in again.  So I gawked at the bikes outside.  Then came inside to the restaurant.  This is where I promptly embraced one of my fave travel highlights - people watching!!
The man at the other side of the bar with the braided beard is quite a different site.  The yuppyish guy in his oxford and sweater eating a salad with his beer is the polar opposite. 
I had a salad with my beer too.  It was a bit intimidating in this setting.  I got a side of fried cheese curds to offset the salad.
Now to the hotel.  AND THE TREADMILL!

Scents of smell

I noted this yesterday.... honeysuckle in bloom and diesel exhaust while on the bike yesterday.
I notice these things alot when exercising.
When riding through SCCL, I envision the retired individuals spend a lot more time cooking at home than current generations that seem to go out more.  I say this because there is always the scent of grills cooking when I am there.  And it always smells like steak or burgers.  And then the mind wanders... mmmm what to eat when I get home.  Grilling out after a workout is not on an evening agenda.
Running through town results in a very different reaction.  On the weekends I get an array of frying chicken from Bojangles, faux grill smell from Burger King and other bad for you foods from the breakfast place down the way.  As I struggle with the run and to catch my breath...  this just makes me want to gag.
I prefer the honeysuckles.
Frangipani would be nice too but probably a stretch in these parts.

Garmin Connect - WXW - Hill Loop - 12.31 Miles

First off let me just say that the hill on the way towards the high school - not as bad as I thought it would be..  I was peasnatly surprised.
The hill on Gray Byrum - again not that bad.  I did have a geared shift issue.  But that was more user error than endurance.
And lastly - OH that hill outside of Prescot.  It IS as bad as it looks every time I see someone else trying to ride up that hill.  Gonna have to do this loop again.  It is a good length with some good challenges.
Garmin Connect - WXW - Hill Loop - 12.31 Miles

Garmin Connect - Danskin Greater Orlando - Clermont Bike Route

here is the bike course for the race...
yes, those 3 hills in the middle do have me a wee bit intimidated.

Garmin Connect - Danskin Greater Orlando - Clermont Bike Route

Scootering

So there are 5 weekend days left that I can BRICK train for the race.  I was overwhelmed with the thought of steep hills when I saw the bike course for the race.  So I decided no matter what I need to get some riding in today.
Leaving a little before 8 in an effort to beat the traffic.  I was surprised by the brisk dampness in the air.  It reminded me of an early morning scooter ride - damp morning air against your face, fragrant honeysuckle in bloom roadside, even the sounds of a (possibly feral) rooster.  It kept my mind occupied.
Of course todays purpose was to try some hills.  I found that the hill near KPs outside Prescot most closely resembles the hills for the race.  It may be a bit steeper but pretty darned close.  So I decided I would make an effort to get myself there on the bike.
Then I remembered there is that hill on the way to the high school that has always caught my attention.  And lets not forget the one by Vallhala.  So with various routes in my head....
I covered some new roads today that I have never ventured on with my bike before. And I can happily say I conquered the hills.
I will post the routes later.
Now that I have finished breakfast I am considering a run.  I have time before the baby shower.

Hotels

We have discussed this before.  Using the treadmills at hotels.  I am never too sure what quality they are.  So I have opted to not run on the treadmills in hotels.
I did walk 20 minutes this morning.  Better than nothing I suppose.
To kick it up some I am going to try to add that walk to both the mornings and evenings.  Wish me luck on that one.

I ran both Saturday and Sunday.  Felt like I pushed myself.  Hard to tell as I am struggling with getting the new watch to sync.  My calfs or is that calves say yes you pushed yourself.  Must be those hills and toes part of the run.

Home again late Wednesday.  Need to get back in the water Thursday Friday Saturday.

Just remembered need to add more comment on the run.

Hair Cut

it is less the cut and more the color that impedes my willingness to swim today... dont feel like paying all that money and then go dunk my head into even more chemicals...
instead i hung out with friends and neighbors last night toe show off the new (less poufy) hair...  i thought that may come back and haunt me this morning...  white wine at the hair salon, coors light with the neighbors - two beverages i have not had in quite some time...  thankfully i didnt fell bad this morning
well i did feel bad but that was from the lack of coffee in the house...  i need to buy more coffee when i am out and about - the lack of coffee and having to go grab a cup in the morning always leads to bad decisions - financially and healthy-wise...  this morning i did OK - i did go to the gorcery store to get the coffee and i bough the makings of pork roll and cheese sandwiches - it was that or an egg mcmuffin... interestingly the egg mcmuffin was the same amount of points as the pork roll sandwich probably the fat content versus canadian bacon but at least this way i know the cheese was lower in fat and the muffin was higher in fiber...  i digress but...
it is a beautiful brisk morning... we have started some laundry and getting ready to start packing for the next trip...
somewhere in here i have to run out and find a baby shower present for next weekend - i have given up mostly on finding an outfit for the shower
and i would like to at least run today - cycling sounds good as well but...
i am just rambling - really procrastinating while i wait for this load of laundry to stop and to get out to the stores...

Athena - revisited

Now this version of Athena I would totally be OK with....
A slightly different approach to taking to the water than swimming.

http://bernews.com/2012/04/athena-yacht-docks-in-st-georges/

Revenge

I should have turned off the tv but the recap of Revenge caught my attention. Now I am exhausted and still watching. Even the little guy just wants to go to bed. Oops

TMI

You might not want to read this. But I just couldn't help myself. It is a little self deprecating humor. It reminds me of other stories of training- like that naked boy in the family locker room years ago (you'd have to scroll back a number of years to find that one) or bouncing off the coping of the pool last year at the start of the triathlon...
If you read the Spicy Pad Thai post that will give you some forewarning of what happened this evening. So I went to the pool at SCCL for a swim. I always am a bit self conscious on my age when I get there. Shoot we all know I am self conscious when I enter any gym. But here I think about age. On an average I have a few less pounds, a few less wrinkles, a few less gray hairs. And I still have that monthly well you know. It is why that spicy pad thai tasted so good the other night. And I am thinking this as I enter the locker room. Feeling some over the top need to be discreet. Again no real reason why. But in the effort to be discreet my klutz aspect kicks in and out of my hands onto the floor and out of the bathroom stall. So much for discreet. I just had to laugh as I scrambled to gather everything back up before anyone walked in. I was still chuckling as I entered into the gym.
With the klutz aspect kicking in... I was going to bike this evening. Please don't let me fall or trip. Thankfully the only mishap was in the locker room the bike I covered 5.5 miles in 20 minutes and 1100 yards in the pool in 30 minutes
Guess I should work to get past that age thing.
Will try again tomorrow. Last night of swimming for a while. Haircut Friday and off to MS for work on Sunday.

Back to basics

Basics in the kitchen that is.
First for breakfast this week. I usually work in some eggs for breakfast now and again. With the last cholesterol reading I have decided to opt against that. Not to mention the weeks worth of eggs on Easter Sunday will hold me for a while.
Then you see all the great meals with sausage or bacon. After the bacon fat people I try to avoid bacon not to mention my inability to cook it. There are other recipes for making your own breakfast sausage. That always catches my attention. But I truly get tired withy he amount of work.
So instead breakfast the rest of the week.... Sautéed potatoes (minimal amounts of it) onions, peppers and ground white meat turkey. I will be layering this over a sliced tomato and garnished with fat free plain Greek yogurt. Wow, that my make me jump out of bed in the morning.
For lunch... Well I chopped up some artichoke hearts and opened a can of Cannelini beans (I know so not my soak the beans style) and tossed with my left over cucumber salad. I am serving over a bed of savoy lettuce.
Dinner will be up in the air. I think it will turn out to be left over broccoli pesto over acorn squash.
And for a snack strawberries and mango tossed fruit salad. Thank goodness for that new waterpik I bought over the weekend.
Gonna try to swim again the next two days. I won't be near a pool for another week or so after that. Bummer.

SNAKE!

No, not the type of snake that have been terrorizing friends and family recently. What? You haven't heard the story of my mom watching a snake hatch all day? When it started to slither away it freaked her out so she killed it with a shovel.

The snake I am talking about was snaking through the pool. Swim up one lane down another. It is a way to practice for the pool swims in triathlons. Since no one was in the pool this evening I decided to put the exercise to work. It ultimately feels like a longer swim. Not too sure that is truly the case.
I swam 1000 yards freestyle, 200 breast stroke. A good evening.

Spicy Pad Thai

All the food of the holiday really got the best of me today. I ended up sleeping horribly last night. And then I just felt a little off all day.
I did not go swimming although I guess given the time I still could if I wanted to.
Instead I went to the grocery store. Capitalizing on the healthy living thing I made my way down the aisles... Strawberries, mango, rapini, cabbage, acorn squash, tomato, onion, apples... Cannelini beans, artichoke hearts, ground turkey, yogurt.
And the one guilty pleasure? This evening it was a single serving of spicy pad Thai. I haven't made that in ages. I remember why I like it. Something is do good about that spicy kick. In reviewing the box it doesn't do much for healthy fiber but the noodles do provide some protein. Personally I am just really partial to the spice. And that is a long forgotten pms fix of mine. Forget the sweets and the chocolate. Give me something spicy. And it was good.
Sure hope it doesn't interfere with tonight's sleep.
First to tackle the laundry. And then cover the plants outside. Maybe I can stay awake until 9.

On the bike

Did I mention I made the attempt at getting the bike in the back seat of the car on Friday. Not the most comfortable of exercises. Very concerned when it all got put back together. The front brake seemed off alignment and a bit tight. I will have to keep an eye on it.
But to offset all the eating I did go for an hours ride this afternoon.
Now I am washing dog blankets and watching The Masters. I feel full now. Guess it is catching up to me along with being dehydrated.
Early night tonight - I think.

No training

The day got away from me yesterday.  I didnt train but it wasnt like I didnt do anything.  The little guy and I cleaned up the back patio and front yard in preparation for company and cocktails.
Given the heat and the sun in the back yard I have reconfirmed that I will not be expending large sums of money for patio furniture.  Everything fades.  And it weathers quickly.  And in the middle of the summer it is just too hot to sit out there.  So I am sticking with the multi-colored adirondack chairs.
As for the front yard....  Well the oleander look to have survived being in the ground for the winter.  I am slowly removing all the dead leaves from each of them.  There is lots of new growth on the branches.  AND I have a new little oleander popping out of the ground.  Sadly it is right near the brick wall so I am not sure if it will survive.  The lantana and the gladiolos are doing wonderful.  And the dahlias are coming back...  Now just to see what else went to seed and pops up.  I will address that when the other travel is done.
Today headed to a friends house for breakfast in just a few minutes.  Hoping to not be so stuffed when I leave there.  May get some sort of run or ride in there.

Holidays and entertaining

It is rough to try to eat and drink healthy when people come to visit for a holiday. I am sure it is something I have noticed before. I just really noticed it today. And there are still more festivities tomorrow.

12.5 miles

Just took a moment to plot my ride today.  I meandered (well at a fast pace) through various nooks and crannies of my mom's neighborhood on the bike today.  There are some hills out there... both fun on the down and miserable on the up.  But I just kept pushing along.  Come to find out I covered over 12 miles in 64 minutes.  I want this pace to improve and I am sure it will come race day.
I also hope the hill situation will be different come race day. 

In other news - took the front wheel off the bike today to see how it fits in the car.  I dont want to drive all the way to FL with it on top of the car.  Imagine that - cyclist, bike shop owner neighbor did not steer me wrong.  It sure did fit.  As well as the step stool for putting it in the bike rack.  And with plenty of space for luggage.  Now that I know it works I think I will go back to using the rack. 

Where to ride tomorrow? 

No riding Sunday.  There will be even more crazy morning church traffic on the roads. 

Will be swimming the rest of the week as I will be on the road after that.  Silly me...

Cleaning carpets

I have company coming over tomorrow evening. And with my lovely aging incontinent puppy some carpet cleaning is in order. Not that I am partial to the Floorcare products but I have to say the Hoover Steam Vac Spin Scrub I blotted from Cat works like a charm. Same composition as a vacuum no awkward compartments easy cleanup... And it looks to be doing a charming job. Half of the rooms are done by now. Of course the larger rooms are still looming on the list of things to complete. But I hope to have it done within the hour. Then some laundry sorting. Menu constructing. Then off to Target, the grocery store, maybe the pet store (dreadfully contemplating doggie diapers). By then I hope the rain will lift and I can get a swim bike run in to the latter part of my day. It would make for a wonderfully full day.

No blood

Iron still not high enough. Probably not enough intake on a consistent basis. Dinner with mom instead. Thunderstorms precluded training. Train tomorrow. Blood donation has benin pushed back further.

Sushi and burgers

And you thought guys night with lots of sushi was a treat. And some half pound burgers to the mix.
Dinner was really good. Hard to decide on what to eat so we opted for a little bit of both.
We had some tropical something roll. It was good. It basically was a roll with a layer of three types of fish on top! You would think that would be enough. Nope. We had this Miss Moffitt something that was a usual roll ( no, not the type with cream cheese - fish and cream cheese need to stick in the bagel arena) anyways it had avocado on top.
You would think that was enough. But we had burgers too. Half pound (I only ate half) bison burger with cheese and guacamole. Side of sweet potato fries. Half pound angus beef with blue cheese and fried onions. Decadent I suppose.
Good thing I felt good about that scale this morning.
Tomorrow and overload of the cucumber soup :)
Came home to a freshly cleaned house this evening. That was really nice. Now to get ready for Easter dinner.

Is it chip time?

While I have been watching my diet someone else has done an amazing job of putting on the pounds.  Dont expect the little guy to go out and swim,bike, run any time soon.

Dinner

Seems I have been getting my days confused around here.  Meeting on Monday morning accidentallt scheduled for Tuesday.  Phew got that fixed.
Tomorrow nights dinner is really for tonight. I was really confused as to why he would still be in town for the holiday.
So tomorrow first official weigh in for WW@W might get a wee bit skewed by todays eating.  Oops.
Tomorrow back to regularly scheduled menu and swimming. 
Swim bike run will take over the rest of yhe days.
Well except for the hours of carpet cleaning after my aging puppy.
Now to go kill some time before dinner.  Crate & Barrel is beckoning. 
Gonna swing by Cowfish too just to get a handle on the crowds.

Cucumber mint soup

This weeks menu has included another cluster of vegetables and some fruit.
Breakfast has included mixed berries in balsamic vinegar over chilled oatmeal. More berries than oatmeal.
Lunch has been grilled chicken breast with buffalo sauce tossed with black beans and tomato, broccoli, onion over iceberg lettuce. It has been fairly tasty even if the buffalo chicken isn't as sloppy as wings. This has been the first chicken I have cooked in quite some time. I have been relying on the restaurants during business travel for my meat protein the passed few weeks. But since I will be home for two weeks I decided to add it back into the mix.
The afternoon snack is a salad of chopped zucchini and marinaded artichoke. The artichokes add sufficient flavor for the whole salad and lots of fiber etc....
Dinner has been roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower with dry ranch dressing mix. Pretty tasty. Would have never thought to use that. Amazing what some googling of web sites leads you to for food ideas. This was accompanied with the cucumber mint soup. I didn't actually follow the recipe. I was supposed to peel and seed the cucumbers before purée ing I skipped that step so there is a little more girth to it. And then my fresh mint was over fresh and bad so I used dill instead. That added a bit more bite to the mix. Perhaps a bit too much.
But it has been a filling week of food.
Now how to eat smart tomorrow night at dinner.

Dilemma

So tonight I swam 1000 yards straight. Felt great to just get in and swim and swim and swim.
Tomorrow is a bike ride day. The weather might not hold out. We shall see how that goes.
The dilemma for Thursday is that my friend is flying into town. We are going to dinner. It was a good excuse to not train and hold on out until a full swim/bike/run on Friday. Sorry no kite flying in these parts. But now I have learned that his flight is not arriving until 645.
Let's do the math. Flight arrival at 645 means dinner won't be until 730 or 8. Dinner at that hour does allow for a workout before hand. Or I could donate blood. Hmmm. Will need to think on this.
Figuring out where to go for dinner will be the other mid distracting challenge.

Athena

So close I can taste it. Of course I am in the middle of using so many scales and so many resources I hope it doesn't screw it up.
As I mentioned a few posts back that I have lost 13 pounds. I have been focusing on lots of menus and recipes on The Whole Living web site. It has been a focus of lots of green vegetables along with some fruits and mostly grains and fish. It has done well by me.
Now most people know I am not one to avoid meats. But I had found that my inconsistent schedule and work travel allows me to get meat into my meals that way. And that seems to be working. Although I have struggled with having a high enough iron level to donate blood recently. But it is not off the charts low. Just too low to donate.
Add to all that the two trips for work and bad food decisions in the midst of of all that. I am still hovering. This morning down a total of 14. But I won't complain considering the past two weeks.
The other aspect added into the mix is we have enrolled in Weight Watchers at work. So now not only do I weigh myself in the mornings right after my shower. My preferred version of weighing. But now I also weigh in at work mid day. Not my favorite approach. Their scale has me at a different place. But I will be OK with that.
So now I have two weeks to concentrate on it all before I head back out for work. My goal is to get within a certain range by race day. Sure hope my concentration holds out.

Personal best

I need to remember to comment on this before I forget. So yesterday was my first day back after being on the road for almost two weeks. I did some training lat week. A bike, a swim, a run. But from the road it can take some motivation to get out and do those things. And my desire to complete multiple concentrations on one day is difficult.
So yesterday when I found myself running and swimming I was very happy. It has been a few weeks since something of a combo had been attempted.
The run went OK. I am still one to do a minute on minute off with the run. I push myself every so often but the minute routine seems to help me cover the most ground. I did 3 miles and kelt me tell you the hills in that place could get the best of you. I turned around when I did to avoid doing one more series of hills.
From there I went to the pool. I was all hot and sweaty. I wasn't sure how well it would go over. My goal for myself was 3 sets of 500. I have been trying to work up to the 800 to 900 constant for the race. At 400 or so I thought - well I have down 600 total in the past maybe I will do that. At 500 I thought 600 isn't that far from 800. And since 800 is close to the half mile maybe I should give that a try. At 700 I thought shoot lets just go for 900. So I did. And boy was it ever worth it.
I haven't down anything today. I was feeling quite bushed from it all.
On a plus as noted earlier I did get that shelf in the bathroom and go to the movies.
Now cooking some buffalo chicken for lunch this week and some cauliflower for dinner. If only I could motivate to put away my laundry the day would be complete.

I have a good memory

For the woman at Lowes and my mom who both thought I was surely mistaken that the color on my bathroom wall was Coral Gable and did not in any way have a pink to it!

We shall see

Todays training motivation.... off to see The Hunger Games...