November Totals

So it's December 2nd already. ya know what I've been up to?

Had a fantastic thanksgiving, but got absolutely ZERO pictures. dang. Still, it was great to hang with the big fam for a day. I actually got 4 (yes four) whole days in SC with my wife and kids. I'm still amazed. It was the first time in about 8 years that I haven't been stressed over some work thing, or had to go back into the office friday and/or saturday after thanksgiving.

I also did not accomplish anything at all over the holiday. Just played with the kids, and had a date with Kelley - we had a nice dinner and saw New Moon (and it was awesome, I felt like a teenage girl) while my mom was babysitting. I had some hopes of things to do, like repair the grape trellis's in the backyard. But I chose to play with the kids the whole time instead. It was wonderful.

I also got in a 5 mile run on saturday. Felt good and strong. I'm ready to ramp up the running a bit. I know increased mileage no more than 10% per week. but dang, it's getting good.

Screw Charlotte, NC. Normally the drive between Greenville and Raleigh is less than 4 hours. Wednesday night driving back it took me 6. Sunday headed G to R it took 7! The majority of the extra time was spent crawling through Charlotte. I got to see it at 7 mph on sunday. that's only 14 miles in 2 hours. I can run faster than that (at least @ tybee island in Feb) people! come on. Why does Charlotte have to bite down so bad?

Monday was mostly a recovery day. It's been a long stressful week on the job, we've got deadlines all week. Still, I did my tri power workout before work.

Tuesday was another story. Incredibly long and stressful day. But I did yoga before work so I felt centered and focused all day. Went to the pool for 800 meters of speedwork over lunch. It really gave me a great mental break to power through the long afternoon. Then I hit the bike for 20 miles after work.

Today's been fun too. Did my Tri Power workout before work, and got in speedwork on the treadmill (3 miles worth of 0.3 mile intervals with increasing speeds) over lunch today. The plan was to get in a long swim (1 mile at least) after work, but I saw lightning as I was driving to the gym. So I decided 5 workouts in 2 days was enough. But tomorrow is another day.

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So what happened in November?

Well, there was my first half iron distance triathlon, and the ensuing recovery. The numbers:

Swim: 7800 m, 4.875 miles, 7 swims (1 race 1.2 miles)
Bike: 106 miles, 3 rides (1 race 56 rides)
Run: 32.1 miles, 6 runs (1 race 13.1 miles)
Strength: 90 minutes, 6 workouts
Yoga: 2 hr 30 min, 5 sessions

Factor in the race recovery (1.5 weeks), thanksgiving holiday turkey & such, and that batchelor party in Charlotte and that's a lot of time away from the gym. Swimming rocks. I'm so glad to have a gym with a pool now. Getting 7 swims in last month is more than I expected.

The bike is another story. 3 rides? I'm sure there was more than that, and I left it off of the log. My log spreadsheet gets neglected sometimes when things get too busy. 106 miles is still not bad, but over half of that was during the B2B. 32 miles of running is pretty good under the circumstances. It's been actual running too, not elliptical miles while nursing a hip problem. It feels so incredibly good to get back into interval runs, tempo runs, and long runs again.

Strength training on my new plan (still the Tri Power workouts) is supposed to be 3 times a week, and yoga is twice a week all before work. 6 Tri Power's and 5 yoga's is pretty slack. Should be closer to 12 Tri Power's and 8 yoga's. Still, holidays.... race recovery... I'll take it with excuses.

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I'm not dead

It feels odd to only post once a week, but between the new job and workout schedule and heading back to Greenville every weekend it's all I've been able to crank out. However, I still have the following posts planned before the end of the year:

New Ride - Car
New Ride - Bike
New Ride - Wetsuit
Holiday Gift Guide - What makes a Training Smoker happy
2009 year in review
2010 preview & next year's mostly full race schedule

Have a great weekend!