Foiled

For the second time in less than a week I actually got off my ass and made it to the pool only to be greeted by a swim meet.  What is a boy to do?

I did get through my first run yesterday. Cold and slow.  How slow, let's put it this way, my run speed in min/mile was greater than monday's bike speed in miles/hour.  I think that says something about my general state of fitness.  But it was cold, somewhere around 1 (one) degree F.  And there was snow everywhere, and ice, and some people don't know how to shovel, and some people don't shovel, and it was cold.

But I'm not making excuses, I was out there, and it wasn't that bad.  And I actually ran for 30 minutes. No walking, only one brief stop to discuss my lunacy of running in this weather with a friend passing by.

Tonight I have a brick workout on the plan, which sounds like a brilliant idea, 30 minutes inside getting sweaty followed by a 15 minute run on a -5 degree wisconsin winter night.  But it will get done, worst case it will be done in reverse, but more than likely it will just be a really long transition.  But it will get done. 

Now I just need to figure out when to swim.

Foreign

Strange, unfamiliar, uncomfortable, odd.

That's how it felt getting on my bike again yesterday, day 1 of week 1 of ironman training.  The sit region took the worst of it after not been on a saddle in quite some time.  The rest was uneventful if not boring.  And slow, I rode painfully slow.  Not that I really expected much different.

But as odd as I felt on the bike, it's probably just a glimpse of what I'll feel like in the water tonight.

DNS

I didn't make it out to the New Years Day Dash this morning. I have no solid reason for not going out. That really is the truth of the matter. Lot's of excuses, some fairly legitimate, but nothing that would have stopped me had I actually wanted to participate.

Hopefully this is not a precursor to 2009. Straight up IM training starts in less than two weeks. No more excuses, no time for them.

Deep and Steep

That would be a rough description of the hole I've dug myself over the last several months.  I really had no intention on going on such a complete hiatus from training, it just worked out that way.  Truth be told, the only thing lower than my motivation to exercise was my want to blog about it. 

So I didn't, no running, no swimming, no biking, no blogging (obviously), nothing.

And here I am, three months or so later.  A little rounder and hopefully somewhat refreshed and ready to head into 2009.  Now it's just a matter of doing.

This morning without any real thought I registered for a race.  In two weeks.  Nothing like an impending race date for motivation to train.  I have a feeling there will be a lot of these to get me through winter/spring. 

This one is the New Year's Day Dash, 5-miles of cold.  It's not going to be pretty, but so be it.

I've also registered for all my primary 2009 races. 

First off is Ironman Kansas 70.3.  Selected for the hilly bike course and what appears to be a viewer friendly event.  I reserved a prime campsite, right on the run course where the family should be able to see runners from each direction on the three lap course.  Looking forward to the trip, we have friends in Kansas City, and if I can weasel in a trip to Arthur Bryant's again, it will all be worth it.  (It really is all about the food.)

Next is Spirit of Racine.  Swimming in the big pond, my only hesitation with respect to this race.  The rest is fast and flat.  If nothing else it should be a PR for the distance.

Lastly IM Wisconsin.  Ten months and counting.  I really have not thought about it much. 

That's it for the big ones.  I've all but written off the marathon plan, but there is still a part of me that wants to do the Country Music Marathon in April.  If I can get in a running rhythm before the end of the year I'll hold onto it for a little longer.

Deep breath, that's exactly what I just did after rereading what I just wrote.  Gidde up.