If anyone’s checked here lately, there hasn’t been much going on. No post-Super Bowl wrap-ups, no race reports, no snarky comments about somebody else’s bad running habits.
I’ll post more as soon as two things begin to happen: I get a little less busy and start to enjoy training my ass off. It’s swimming/biking/running and running more every day, and often about two hours plus of all that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (other days have slacker workouts of just an hour and a half). And then a long run or race on the weekend, and now I’m tired just thinking about it, much less writing about it.
So bottom line, no news is good news, it’s just mid-winter fatigue. However, I will make a couple of points that might not be considered news by those who also train their asses off.
Swimming – I have progressed, if you may call it that, from pre-school to kindergarten. And I no longer thrash like a school of piranhas, I just gasp for air at all the wrong times. My comfort level is much higher, though, and I’m making it to the pool three times a week. I’m trying. Anyway, as soon as I get the breathing part down, I’ll feel much better. And stop trying to swim like I’m running, which is way too fast under the circumstances.
Biking – I’m doing 2-3 hour-long spinning workouts a week, and my quads would like to say hello to all of you and ask you to please tell Cranky to stop all this crap. Also, the lake of sweat I generate around the bike is getting embarrassing, but once again, at least I’m trying. And I went to a seminar and workshop on getting the right bike fit, and although I learned a lot, I’ve come to the conclusion I’ll probably have to sell my now-old car just to afford a reasonably good tri-bike with all the fixins. I’m half-joking about that, which implies I’m half-serious, and you guessed it, that part’s not funny.
Running – In preparation for Boston, I’m doing two tempo runs a week on the dreaded treadmill, in addition to the usual ‘easy’ runs, whatever the hell they are. The weather hasn’t been bad here, it’s just I can’t keep an exact tempo pace outdoors, and then I feel like I’m slacking or something. So (today) I start out with two miles easy, followed by four sets of one mile at tempo pace (for me, 6:48) with one-minute rests in between. I had another three miles at tempo pace on the schedule today, but I was still tired from yesterday’s session at Lake Spinning, and had to just keep it at four. Plus, more than an hour on the treadmill makes me quietly insane. As opposed to loudly insane, which describes half the population of New York City.
Add to all this the Bronx Half Marathon this Sunday, and I’m ready for Athletes Anonymous. I bet they serve Gatorade and bagels and gel at THOSE meetings. No coffee and cake? I’d be outta there.
The other day I read about an alarming statistic: 30% of the population of Mississippi is obese. While that’s indeed alarming, whenever I am experiencing self-doubt (as in halfway down the 25-meter pool lane), I compile a brief list of all the folks who probably couldn’t do what I’m doing right then. So that includes a third of Mississippi, half the tourists at Epcot Center right now, and let’s just throw in Britney, too.
More later…
Brit and The O’Jays – Backstab Me One More Time
Go Home Productions… Great Mash-Ups, Cranky-Approved…
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3 comments:
Pretty good report.. considering that you did all that.. and are generally busy besides.
1. Cranky? Tired? Oh my gosh, I never thought I'd live to see the day!
2. Swimming. Good for you! Let's go put a gold star on the Cranky chart on the fridge.
3. Don't worry about getting a bike that costs more than your car. Spending an extra $1,000 isn't going to do nearly as much for you as a little extra training. And you should go for a road bike anyway.
4. I can't believe it! You're counting your blessings to inspire yourself, drawing inspiration from those who can't. You're just like those feel-good stories in the magazines. You're like those human interest stories in the IM coverage every year. You're... a stereotypical triathlete! Oh my GOD!
S and SR, thank you...
And yes, a very small, tiny gold star with dried-out glue is hanging off the fridge. Now that I'm finding more humor than hysteria in swimming, I can at least laugh about being Mr. Cinderblock '08. And I have a feeling I'll be going the cheap(er) route on the bike, newbies are practically forbidden from buying race-ready tri-bikes for their first event. Well, they should be.
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