Tuesday's Gone

Tuesday sucked.  Seriously.  I only have one or two days every year that are truly horrible, and this was one of them.  I had to work a solid 12 hours, and under more pressure than usual.  The kind of day that left you feeling screwed from both sides.  I had a really crappy run in the morning, and totally missed the RAM swim team practice in the evening.  Kelley made a wonderful dinner, but I had to eat it at my desk so I could stay online with my coworkers while we fixed a few problems.  Deadlines really stink.  And at the end of the day my brain was so melted I couldn't relax and had a hard time falling asleep.  Being able to work from home has its benefits.  But not being able to turn off the work valve and enjoy time with your family is too much.  I'm too old for this shit.

Then of course Wednesday I had to go back into the office to face the wrath of Tuesday.  It actually wasn't that bad.  We pulled together and made it all happen.  I got out of there at a reasonable time, and some people were almost happy. almost. I felt like this guy:

Then, all was right with the world again.  After a crappy run Tuesday morning and being completely exhausted mentally, there was no way I was getting up for the morning bike ride. I did some yoga and core work to try and relax. And Wednesday night I made up for it by getting in a 15 mile ride (39 minutes) and 5 mile run (38 minutes) brick! It felt light, fast, and fun.  And all of the stress of the week just melted away.

I am so ready for spring.  Raleigh has seen high temps in the 40's and 50's recently and I'm sick of it!  I love the colder weather, we got too hot summer for about 8 months out of the year here. But this might mean no spring at all.  The 2 weeks of spring we normally get are blown out now!  Don't take away the tiny window of pleasant weather we get here.  please. If I don't get some time on the roads soon there will be hell to pay people.

Last week?

Last week was week 7 of Ironman training, base phase week 5.  It seems odd to be posting about last week on friday of this week, but that's just how hectic this week has been.  Week weak wiik werk.

Monday's 9 miler was in recovery response to the wedding in DC, since I didn't get my normal long run in on sunday.  Wednesday night we had a 2 hour choir rehearsal at church, so I skipped the workout then.  Other than that I was able to follow the plan on par.  Got all three swims done, they were pretty long. Nailed my bike milage.  This volume approach to the bike is starting to pay off.  The rides that were finishing in the 18 or 19 mph range last month are coming in the 21 mph area now.  That extra speed is the goal of a volume based training plan.  I swam 9296 yards, biked 96 miles, and ran 21 miles with the double long run style.  Total time was 10:49. That's a solid week in any book. and 10+ hours a week will turn into 20+ soon enough.  I'm already knocking down almost 1 full iron distance a week for the Cast Iron Club.

Between the swim and bike ride saturday, we took the kids to the Raleigh Art Museum.  It was really fun to walk around there.  The cutest thing ever was seeing the kids snicker at every statue that showed a butt.  Even other patrons gave an "awwwww" when they caught the girls pointing and giggling.  Turns out, we have a lot of Rodan statues and Rodan used a lot of nude models.  Even had a 2' cast of The Thinker.  Of course, all I could say was "damn it Rodan, three drinks and I'm nude" (name that movie?). 

Last sunday's brick came after we sang the Easter cantata at church.  This was a very moving piece called The Power of the Cross by Mark Hayes.  Since our minister of music has been called up to another church, this was his last Sunday with us.  It was quite moving, and I'm going to really miss having Doug at the helm of our church music.

After the brick Sunday, my legs were totally spent.  They just didn't want to clear the lactic acid out as quickly as I really hoped.  So all sunday evening and all day monday I was barely walking on those sore legs.  Monday night I got in an easy bike ride just because I couldn't imagine running then.  By tuesday morning the legs felt better, so I tried running again.  DOMS is quite the bitch. So that's why it was so rough.

I'm a winner!
Thanks to the luck of a random number generator, I won a box of powerbar stuff from Alisa recently!  I like it when I win. Really, it's better for everyone. And I enjoy Powerbar products when I can get them.

I'm still digging pretty good on the new Lemon flavor of Gu Chomps on the bike.  Something about having those chewy sour goodness drops is so tasty after a big hill or when I need a little more electrolytes.  The Gu Brew is growing on me pretty good too.