vet appt!

after spending ANOTHER $150+ at the vet this week... the motivation to workout was minimal...
Instead I came home, fed the little guy and his buddy that is visiting... we listened to music and danced around for our evening...
playing fetch to some goldfrapp is rather fun...

ordered some take that imports too... old habits die hard!
one of these days I WILL buy my own copy of Sing When You're Winning

jump in the water...

finally got an outdoor swim with KP into the mix...  we did 4 sets of 250... my pace was within range of where it has always been 5:30 for the set...  i had pushed myself with the idea of swimming fast and that seemed to kick in.. just not sure in time for the race in 11 days....

the one thing that really got me with the swim - how crazy WARM just short of HOT that the pool was.  it was so close to uncomfortable.  like sweaty uncomfortable.  how can that be when you are in a body of water.  made me think - is this what it would feel like to swimming in dubai?

tonight is vet night - so not sure what type of workout will be worked in this evening

tomorrow is supposed to be wine after work at a friends house - was considering how to swim, let the dogs out (yes, dogs - B has a buddy visiting), and get there....  have to give that some more thought...

then this weekend is the last of the mini tri swim/bike/run training...

storms dont make for a good workout...

so last evening was another attempt at swimming...
standing in the workroom of the office compiling reports i looked outside and noticed the trees were bending in the wind.. wind?  where did that come from?  by the time the reports were compiled it was getting dark outside... not a good sign...  i finished up work and headed out.  i had hoped that maybe the storm was only passing through near the office and not near home...  NO SUCH LUCK!!! 
by the time i got 3 miles down the road - the rain was coming down so hard, i could barely see the road in front of me...  and it didnt let up until i got close to home... 
and the random thunderstorms passed by all night...
so no swim, no workout...
amazing that i did so much better with the workouts last week while on the road

nothing yesterday!

i have done a pretty good job of overprogramming myself this week for work...  i have some meetings right in the middle of the day that warrant drive time etc...  and cuts right into that middle of the day and other tasks at hand...
so i didnt get home from work until after 8pm last night
and i thought i would be OK for not eating and go work out... i was wrong... it just got to be too late and i got too hungry... 
gonna try again today....

no morning run today...

they are so consistent you would be surprised right?  HAH!!
when i was still tossing and turning at 1:30am it is surprising that I even let the alarm stay on...  tossing turning... thoughts running running running through my head... and some stupid song - Mr. Saxobeat by Alexndra Stan...  I actually like the song that is until this morning as it is STILL running through my head...

I have packed up my gym bag - running gear... swimming gear...  garmin... sneaks... headset...
I have a late meeting so it will be up in the air as to what I can get into...

in good news - shed some nasty travel pounds over the weekend - now some crazy push between now and race day to get that a little more reasonable than it was as of getting off the plane on Thursday

if i obsess long enough

i will find what i am looking for..

and hopefully since I just watched in its entirety it will not porduce an out of coutnry error message like i have been getting... this version is so much better than the X-Men version of the video...
and to think after all these years of Robbie obsessing... it was a link through Jason Orange that had me stumble upon this...  sure Robbie looks good in the video - but Jason grew up rather handsome as did Howard - both of whom I never noticed the first time around....

couldnt wait to get home

Struggled for the ride today. But I did get 10 miles in. So coming in for the home stretch after covering 8 miles in the crazy Sunday late for church traffic... Some little kids comes running in front of me to pet some guy's dog. The mom or parental person saw me. She didn't reprimand him for that because the kid was still moving with speed towards this dog that was almost as tall as he was. And somewhere in there the owner told the boy NO. I heard him say as follow up- I really don't trust him. THIS was what he was being scolded for. Good thing since he just didn't seem to be minding those instructions. And then behind me I heard the bark of said dog. Yeah, not to friendly...
Kids need to be more mindful of their surroundings in these parks. I know it is safer than cars on the road but there are still dangers.
And if your dog isn't friendly why bring him to such a public place.
Well headed home now. No run. Gonna try that yoga thing later.

running

so i went back through the history of my runs on the garmin site...  i wish there was a way to overlay the reports and graphs for comparison...  the only comparison is distance, time, average pace, maximum pace, average heart rate, maximum heart rate...  and when i look at that it doesnt realy look like i have improved at all over the past few months... and that PISSES me OFF!!  I can't compare how long have I run in one shot, what was that pace?  what was that heart rate?  that's what I'd like to compare...  there is something different about yesterday's run with quarter mile stretches of running versus the 1 minute of running...  i may have to tinker some more with the reporting process, send some suggestions to garmin, and determine w ork around for now...  or i could just get out there and run some...

my shoulder blade is really bothering me so now i am on the fence about how much to do today....
AND even though I thought I was getting ane arly start to things - looking at the clock across the room - that does not look to be the case...errr

87.2 Yards

I had to go back to previous entries this fall to remind myself of the actual length of the pool at the gym.  I had started counting in sets of 4 because the math was easier than the off yard here and there....
So I have been swiming 3 sets of 4 to give me an estimate of my swim time for the traithlon.  That works out to be 261.6 yards.  So for all intents and purposes this is a good test.  I knew the total length was around 80 so I knew i wa within reason.
I have been counting 10 sets of 4 as 800 yards but in reality it is 872..  no bige deal one way or the other just need to remember that it is not 1000 yards.
Yesterday I hit a new high - well at least for this time around - 14 sets of 4 - oh now where is that calculator???  ahh, 1220.8 yards...  I am happy with that.

There are 1760 yards in a mile but for some reason swimming distance recognizes 1650 yards as a mile.  Something to do with meters versus yards and miles getting caught up in the distinction..  And in viewing that - I am not too far off from swimming a mile...  We'll call it 5 more sets of 4...
So I guess the goal for my swim with the remainder of the summer will be 20 sets of 4...  and I will slowly increase my amount over the next 6 weeks.  That shouldnt be too hard. 

Need to think about short distance speed though for the next 2 weeks....  Speed is not a mind set for me out there so I need to do that.  But for today - having played some fetch with the dog and walked around a bit with the coffee etc...  today will not include a swim...

that would be a shoulder blade

Yesterday was a productive day when it comes to the training.  I was really pleased with all events.  I pushed myself oh just a little bit on each one...  And it felt good. 
With my evening I obviously watched the rest of Long Way Down.  But I also did a bunch of laundry and cleaned through a few closets of stuff.  Some of those internal conversations that just say - get rid of that stuff.  You have had it for ages, you dont use it, it is just taking up space.  I wouldnt say there was all that much in the mix but it felt good.
AND somehow between the swimming and the yucking things about my shoulder blade decided to make itself known.  I didnt feel it until later in the evening so I am not sure if it was tired and then in pulling and pushing and moving stuff I aggrevated it.  OR - if it was just from the swimming and when I finally had some down time and it had a chance to rest it decided to hurt some.
I am trying to decide if it similar to my knee pain - just sore and stiff and once you start moving it about it feels OK... or if it is a let it rest type of pain...  I amleaning towards a let it rest type of pain.
Unlike the road bike - I can swim in the evenings after work.  The road bike I need to do as much as I can over the weekends as that is the only time I get to ride a real bike... Although we did determine last week or so that stationary bike has an impact all of its own. 
So much for letting the shoulder rest - little guy looks to want to play some fetch over morning coffee.

I take that back... LWD was amazing

I got tired of my DVD player being on the blink... so I found the rest of the Long Way Down series on youtube...  I take back my original comments - the gorillas and the elephants and the whitewater and bungee jumping and hippos... were all pretty darned amazing!!!
And in the midst of it all they knock the wind out of you with a trip to the genocide - yes genocide - museum in Rwanda... 
I watched the whole Hotel Rwanda thing when it was released a few years back.
I have watched Black Hawk Down a few times - yes, Ewan is in that.
I dont remember any of this in real time - I don't know what I was doing at the time...
But this museum was sombering to say the least - it is at a church where civilians were hiding and in a matter of a day 5000 of them were killed with grenades, machetes, hammers and fire...  One of the displays were the skulls bones and clothing of the deceased... Yes, sombering.  Like a modern day Auschwitz for lack of a better description.  And how sad that we can find a comparable event throughout other times in history....  What a shame humanity can continually be so inhumane...

I hope to find only happy attractions on my upcoming road trip to Ireland....

Long Way Down

I am sure I must have commented on this over the winter.. I found myself sucked into the Long Way Round series on DVD.  It is a bit addicitve if you like a little Ewan McGregor and Stereophonics as a soundtrack...
So now I am watching Long Way Down.  It is slightly less entertaining.  I dont know why - I think because I am not finding the trip through Africa to be as interesting.  I dont know why I found the trek through Europe and Asia more interesting - maybe because I didnt know what to expect.
http://longwayround.com/
But with Africa you expect to see zebras, elephants, and monkeys.  And they keep saying I have never seen an _____ in the wild before.  Well isnt that why you are in Africa?  To see all that?  And how many in the audience have seen these wild animals in the wild?  Maybe it was that IMAX movie about Africa I saw in ATL YEARS AND YEARS AGO that ruined the surprise for me. 
Of course the 2008 version of Libya and Egypt was amazing in comparison to today's news.  And the fact that the Americans traveling with him are having different difficulties with some of the countires.

Anyways this is what the little guy and I are up to after this morning's big workout.
12 miles on bike, 2 miles on foot, not too sure how long that ride was.
Yes, I know I am supposed to go look at new bikes today - but I dont really feel like parting with any money today so why bother.
Instead I will just tinker around here...  Unpack.  Thaw out some food from the freezing for dinner.  And actually do some work... 
AND GO TO BED EARLY!!! to do it all over again...

SMC - Run - 2miles by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

SMC - Run - 2miles by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details
The run portion of my morning. I think if I keep at this, I may be able to run that first mile during the race. We shall see.

SMC - 12 Mile bike ride

Untitled by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

pretty happy with my results today... probably fall asleep from exhaustion soon...

thank you work related stress

I assume that's what this is...  It started back in September... first I had some medical tests done and my concentration for the Sept RR disipated and I did not compete...  I had lots of help in the mental game to convince me not to do it.  Soon after that one co-worker dropped out of the mix.  In an effort to keep things moving forward without problems - some tasks were added to the mix to keep things on an even keel...  That made for a stressful October...  November another co-worker took themselves out of the mix.  It wasnt that the work at that point was beyond reasonable.  It's just that any other time was spent doing that.  Stress levels were high, bad decisions ensued.  Working out fell by the wayside.  Eating healthy became too much work.  Beer or wine after work seemed like a good way to blow off steam.  That lasted through the holidays where food and distraction is already at an all time high.  With the onset of the new year and everyone wanting to hear more about what we do - the road trips started.  Monthly trips out of town - you think you can master all that there is to keep a handle on - but again it is hard when you are on the road to make the right decision.  Driving after hours for 4 hours - you dont say "hey, let me stop off at this grocery store at this random exit off the highway and buy something healthy"  you say - not too usre exactly where i am and to be safe I think I will just grab some processed fried chicken or beef sandwich in a drive through and since it's easy I think I will get those fries on the side"  Lunches at your destination and dinners could be a little healthier but the salt content in most of those foods is through the roof...  And it all continues to build up.
When you do get home - there is no food in the fridge, there is a suitcase of dirty clothes just waiting for the laundry, a dog that wants attention, and a house & garden that could use a once over and still no food in the fridge... the propsect of going to the supermarket and buying something healthy to grill up for a meal just seems exhausting at that point... so you opt for a frozen meal - usually a pizza that is supposed to feed 4 but somehow you manage to most of it...  and the cycle continues...
one year later - or at least one year since the last RR - you find yousef 10 pounds heavier - when all along you wanted to be 10 pounds lighter this time around...  and now it is only 17 days away....
you dont look at the times from the last race - you dont want to burden your 10+ self with that thought... you just plod along and try to do get through the training so finishing is an option...
and then you realise - if all remains the same - those next 17 days will actually entail NO travel!  and the next time you are currently scheduled to sleep in a hotel is at the Adare Manor in Ireland...
and there, the motivation tries to kick back in...
17 days 'til race day - probably NOT going to drop those 10 pounds but you can make some headway in that direction... and 10 weeks to Ireland - you could probably make some headway there as well...
so the concerted effort begins - let's hope that the world keeps a distance and does not try to dissuade me..

17 days until Ramblin Rose

and i will be home between now and then so have all this time to concentrate on training...  and maybe but probably not get back down to last year's race weight...  that is a whole other topic for me to talk about...

OFTR

Stainless steel stall doors and high tech heavy duty air hand dryers... Ahhh, bathrooms in the plant. But hey throw in some trendy music in the background and a tv and you could call it the gym locker room.

I hit the hotel gym Monday and Wednesday. I tried today but slept miserably so that didn't happen.

Home tomorrow and it is a busy day for a Friday. I should have taken the day off just because I knew I would be so tired but I didn't put that thought together until now.

Back to the swim, bike, run combinations for this week. SO looking forward to it!

people watching continues

I have sunglasses on the top of my head holding my hair back. I don't consider this an acceptable accessory for a hairstyle but I often times find myself using it. It keeps the glasses safe - especially when you have to pick up all your stuff and move to a different gate.
Now I am watching this older gentlemen. He has on a navy blue blazer with a crest on the pocket and a coordinated yellow shirt - not oxford, not izod, one of those shiny brushed cotton older gentleman type of golf shirts. On the bottom he is wearing jeans. But where the outfit really takes a turn - the Keen waterproof hiking shoes. I bet he thinks the same thing about my dark grey sauconys and my pale yellow prana capri pants. A fair amount of military personnel have passed both coming and going.
Lots of iPads.
Can't wait to nap on the plane.

sauna

When I was a member at the Y, I didn't spend much time in the sauna. I was far more a fan of the steam room. I would even stretch while I was in there I enjoyed it so much. I may have mentioned the new gym only has a sauna. I have acclimated well with the sauna. I have worked it into my mix. TODAY however it was a whole new experience. There was a woman in there that started to ask me about my Garmin. Some 30 minutes I left and man was my corp temp high. I think I need to try that again.
Conversation was good too. We talked about Crossfit and triathlons and marathons and training in general. In a small world moment - we had met before -last year - during one of my work meetings. CRAZY small world.
It ended up taking up time I had allotted to something else. Now, with the flight delayed I am glad I got all that I needed done - done. But also bummed for the hurry up and wait scenario. Reminds of that time I waited in ATL to meet a friend. Waiting and waiting and waiting around an airport...

sitting in the airport

So last week I made some notes with the assumption I would post about them later. Well that didn't materialise. So this week as I sit here:
My flight was initially scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. I am so surprised at the amount of people JUST arriving at the gate. I suppose that also supports the some 4 to 6 people I have already seen sprint by me this afternoon. I KNEW there were multiple reasons for always wearing sneaks to fly. But some people go high fashion. I wouldn't be surprised if they find themselves in pain by the time they arrive at their destination.
As always the people watching is top notch.