Thursday, May 6, 2010

A Bit Behind

This week has been kind of crazy at work. 16 hours monday, 14 hours tuesday, 11 hours wednesday and (thank God) only 8 hours today. So 49 hours in 4 days and half a day tomorrow is enough to put anyone behind. And I'm exhausted. And that left no time for exercise! This is less than ideal but it's only temporary. We were wrapping up a big project.

Last week I had one day to workout that didn't hurt after the century ride. Tomorrow I'm having a mole cut off of my back that means no exercise for 2 weeks! This is also less than ideal but temporary. I'm really not happy about it. This is the kind of chain of events that usually leads to me starting back smoking again. Even after 2+ years, the temptation is incredible! The lack of consistent exercise compounds the desire.

At least I got in some AM yoga and a great lunch swim (60 laps). Tomorrow after the surgery I'm heading back to Greenville to visit with my folks for the weekend, and I'm meeting Kelley and the kids there. It's the first time in a long time that I'm really looking forward to being in Greenville. I miss my parents and morgan terribly, and while it was a pain having to drive back there every freakin weekend until the house sold, at least I got to see everyone regularly.

Also this weekend is Mother's Day. Happy mother's day to all you moms! I can't wait to go see my mom tomorrow. Also yesterday was Morgan's 30th birthday. So we've got to celebrate a bit. Also next week is my dad's birthday and my brother Michael's wedding anniversary. May is a popular month!

So I can't workout for 2 weeks. Guess what happens exactly 2 weeks from tomorrow? We're closing on the new house and moving in. So my last two weeks of freedom still have to be restricted. gaaaa. Still it will be nice to get settled into the new place and act like a real family again. Actually living with the wife and kids seems like such a foreign concept now after almost 8 months apart. It's going to be nice.

April Totals:

Swim: 4 miles, 5 swims, 1 triathlon
Bike: 280 miles, 8 rides, 1 century, 1 triathlon
Run: 15.2 miles, 4 runs, 1 triathlon
Strength: 5 workouts
Yoga: 5 sessions

I put some serious distance on this month. 280 miles on the bike? I know some folks will do that in a week, but that's a ton of mileage for me. yes it includes the 102 mile Tarwheel Century ride. But even without that, 172 miles is still a huge month on the bike. Wow. What's surprising is the number of workouts. 5 swims? 8 rides? 4 runs? That's only 17 tri workouts, and I am supposed to hit 9 of those every week. It looks low because of the taper, race, recover cycle. I really do feel good about the month. I tapered a few days before the triathlon. The week between the tri and the century was spent with a cold, and the week after the century was certainly in recovery. So that's really 2 and a half weeks out of the month when I couldn't workout. And CJ plus stress minus workouts equals nicotine cravings and heavy ones. It's not a good time to take two weeks off.

There is one thing I'm going to have to do. That's get over the hatred of open water swimming. I'm going to add a few events to fill out the summer/fall race lineup. Remember this is Ironman prep year. I've already done a marathon and a century ride. The only distance left is the 2.4 mile open water swim.

Here comes the OWS. The Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge is a 1 mile open water swim locally here on June 13th. Supposedly I do a mile in the pool every wednesday, so I should be well prepared for this. Open water is a totally different feel than in the pool, so I'm curious what a timed swim-only event will feel like and how hard I can push myself. I'm only mildly concerned about the distance or conditions, as Jordan Lake is a fantastic place to swim.

Then comes the BIG DEUCE. It's a 2 mile open water swim also in Jordan Lake July 24th. This is the big dog. I've never come anywhere close to swimming 2 miles before. So if I can get trained up for this one (and yes there is plenty of time for that after we get moved into the new house) it will be the last step in Ironman prep. Yes I would love to do a fall marathon and century ride too, but that may not be in the cards. But if I can drop that deuce then Ironman is a sure go.

SetupEvents is running a triathlon at Jordan Lake on October 2nd. That may be too soon after the half ironman in september to do a sprint, but it could be a fun one if the half ironman doesn't happen. The race organizers are still getting the permits set for the half ironman.

I think I'm going to finish things off this year with an oly. I know I said I wasn't going to do an oly this year, but hey it looks appealing. Pinehurst (where they play the US Open golf championship sometimes) is only about an hour away from here, and SetupEvents is putting on the Pinehurst Triathlon again. The thought of 900 triathletes invading golf country is just too appealing. It's in October, and I love to race in October. Actually I love doing anything outside in october. So that will end up giving me four triathlons this year, which is the goal. 1 half ironman, 1 oly and 2 sprints. I'm getting really excited! Again not a good reason to take 2 weeks off.

IT'S TOO FREAKING HOT HERE!! I know we get a lot of summer here in the south. But come on, really? Already? It was 95 outside the whole time I was driving back to Raleigh last Sunday. Spring is gone. Summer is here. Summer will not go away here until November. I already miss the high's in the 60's and 70's. They weren't here for very long. The one bright side - this heat is conducive to open water swimming. There's a group that hits an OWS every wednesday night that I might start hitting. I did it once last year with Calyx and Donna. It would be nice to make it a regular thing. There's also a master's team that meets at an outdoor pool that I'm looking into. Long distance swims and conquering the open water are going to take more than the 25 yard pool at the gym can really provide.

Allright, that's enough verbal flatulence from me. I'll blog as soon as I have something decent to report. Have a great weekend! Big congrats to Ryan for making Kona again - can't believe he won his age group with a 10+ hour ironman. You know that was a tough course. And he even hit 58 mph on the bike! And big ups to Amanda who recently hit her weight watchers goal weight after losing 107 lbs! Now she's running half marathons.

14 comments:

Sun Runner said...

HIGH temperature here tomorrow: 46 degrees.

Yes, you did see that. 46 degrees. High.

We're back to winter, apparently.

And guess what? I'm running a 5K race tomorrow morning! It will be just like February all over again!

Wes said...

Relax and enjoy your downtime. Now that you are a triathlete, you have to realize how gross smoking is. Not tempting. Disgusting. Don't we both know it? Think about it...

Good luck figuring out the rest of your season. You've earned a little down time. Stay away from the brewskis (like I'm one to talk), and two weeks won't be anything but a blip on the radar!

Have a great weekend!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Perhaps your weather & my weather could meet in the middle so we could both be happy? It's been in the 40-50s lately. And tonight we are getting a dusting of snow. Seriously? Seriously. It could be worse - there is a city in North Dakota that is supposed to get 6" of snow today. wtf, Mother Nature.

Stay strong - don't smoke! That sucks that you still have the cravings.

Have a great weekend, buddy!!

RBR said...

I quit smoking 16 years ago and when the shit hits the fan the temptation still comes back. Don't pick up a cigarette and you won't smoke. Sounds lame, but it works for me.

Good luck with the surgery and the move and all the craziness going on!

Jess said...

Summer's here too. I missed the nice spring temps they weren't here for nearly long enough.

I hope you can get ready for that two mile swim. That would be really awesome to have that under your belt!

Heather @ Side of Sneakers said...

Goodness you have been busy!! This heat came out of nowhere- I can't say I'm thrilled about that;)

Amanda said...

enjoy the time with the family. especially after that kind of work week! seesh!

Anonymous said...

I hope the mole is nothing serious! And you stay away for the cigs :)Try not to get too stressed from lack of exercise. Have a great Mother's Day with your mom and have a great weekend!

teacherwoman said...

Wow, you have been putting in some long days! Sorry to hear about the set-back with the mole removal, but like Wes said, "relax and enjoy your downtime".

As much as I miss our nice spring weather we had last week, I am not ready for 95 degree weather here. blech. It's been in the 40's, low 50's all week here, and wet. Actually, we are supposed to get some snow today, but nothing that will stick. It's just the idea behind it that sucks. lol

Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

awesome mileage over the month...and what the hell is goin on at work? Are youall building a rocketship or something?

lol

Rachael said...

Two weeks!? I'm sure you will be so busy with your move. Is there something that you can do when you feel the urge to smoke? Stay strong :)

Also, thanks for the advice on upping my mileage to help me gain speed. I did 4 miles the other day instead of my usual 3.1!! I totally surprised myself but I did it. Going to try and go for more this week :) I gave you a shout out on my last post!

Alisa said...

Wow, lots of work time for you! I thought my 10-11 hour days were bad.

Holy biking month! You're getting so strong on the bike.

That 2 mile swim challenge sounds awesome. I'd love to do a 5k swim sometime. I've done 2 miles in the pool before, you can totally do it, no problemo.

Stay away from the cigs, you'll regret it if you don't.

Unknown said...

Try to find a way to enjoy those 2 weeks of down time...and another way to de-stress.

Unknown said...

Wow - sounds like you have some great races in the works. I think the OWS races are going to be perfect training for you!!!

Good luck with the surgery this week and enjoy the downtime. Sounds like this are a bit hectic with you right now anyway! Just don't smoke... that's gross! :)