Panic!

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE SLEEP! I have always been a goal setter and one of my goals is to consistently get 8-9 hours of sleep a night...throw in one or two 7 hour nights a week and it gets scary. I've always been this way, in bed by 9:30 ever since high school (can we say "I know how to have a good time!"). I swear I'm not a complete loser, but pretty darn close. Throw in IM training and my schedule gets tight trying to maintain this level of sleep priority (there are plenty of nights where bedtime comes around 8:30). So last night, when I got in my car at 10:00 to go home I flew into a mild panic.

I went to watch the World Tour of the Banff Film Festival, where they are show casing some of the movies that made it to the 2009 Banff (as in Canada) Film Festival. They were amazing films that were all tied together by a "mountain theme" with amazing athletes climbing, skiing, jumping and what not. They truly inspired me to go and try even more crazy things that I already have on my list of "to do's" (Kilimanjaro in 2010!).

Anyway, I was on this high when I got in my car and noticed, ahhhh, it's 10:00! I drove home as fast as I could only to realize that I hadn't packed my bag for swim/work yet and that I still needed to wash my face, check to be sure there aren't any more surprise grey hairs and apply a thorough amount zit cream (thank you sweating 3-4 hours a day). Whew, 10:30, done, in bed...now SLEEP! Then my brain started running...does this happen to you?..."only 5.5 hours of sleep, you are going to be exhausted tomorrow, you need to swim and then go to work and then bike...you have to get up again early on Wednesday and do another bike and then another swim after work...you then have to get up early on Thursday and meet your coach for mile repeats on the track...you then have to get up early on Friday for swim again...you are going to die of exhaustion from this one fatal night of only 5.5 hours, why did you stay out 'til 10 on a MONDAY...ahhhh" I know, I know, PSYCHO! Then of course I can't sleep because I start thinking about all I have to do and it's just a downward spiral from there...the madness.

We had an awesome swim this morning, logged 3900 yards, and I felt great...still do. Check back in around 3:00 and I may have a different story...I will most likely be on my way to Starbucks.

Hopefully you won't find me like this come Friday...I'm sure it's bound to happen at some point during all this training!

Really?

This can't be good, can it?  Check out the youtube of the youngest person to do IM...he's only 13 years old!  I mean, what' next?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHqPRN6SBGU

Back in the Saddle Again...

...I'm back in the saddle again.

Ok, so apparently Saturday was the better day to ride after all...and we learned that the hard way.  The weather report for the weekend was sketchy all week, so we didn't know what to expect this weekend.  It was supposed to storm Saturday but be warm and be cold Sunday but no storms, so Patrick, Katie and I decided Sunday was our day.  Well, there was tornadic activity (I just love that word, tornadic, weird) on Saturday but it wasn't until much later and it was a gorgeous day to run, ride, etc.  Sunday, not so much...41ish degrees and WINDY!  We strapped on our big girl pants (and big boy) and went out for a nice 30 miler.  All feeling in our feet was lost by mile 6 and we battled a head wind for a good 15 miles of the ride, not what I call a happy ride!  It was nice to be out with other peeps, misery loves company...and I have been getting really bored riding solo lately.  

I start my April training plan this Monday.  A lot of the same volume, but more intensity this time...meaning more interval training, faster, faster, faster.  We also have a Sunday reserved for "Dave Scott" bricks...15 mile ride/5 mile run/15 mile ride/5 mile run/15 mile ride/5 mile run/20 minute interval ride...then done.  Yes, that's 45+miles riding and 15 miles running...we're looking at a nice 6 hour workout, whew!  These are actually a lot of fun to me...I guess I'm a glutton for punishment!  There is also the first century ride of our plan slotted for the second weekend of April...100 miles here I come.  My fanny hurts thinking about it! ;)

Patrick freezing in the cold getting ready for the ride...Patrick NEVER rides in the cold, don't know what got into him this weekend!

Katie and me gearing up...Katie just got her bike and was already riding 30 miles with us on her third ride...she was a trooper!

The Principle of Inertia

An object in motion will stay in motion, so does that mean an object standing still will stay still until a force is applied? Well, I need that force! I had a rest week this week and I took full advantage. Last month I was super nervous about the rest week and squeezed in an extra run and short ride. This time around I probably went too far in the opposite direction. I took three full days off, no training whatsoever! I started feeling under the weather and decided it would be best to really use the rest week for what it is. I was still able to get all my prescribed workouts in, but really enjoyed my down time...even got a massage, lovely!

I was worried that I was getting used to the rest and 9 hours a night sleep...as I was walking into the pool today I felt like I hadn't been there in months (it had only been 4 days). We had a great workout and I am now pumped to get back into it tomorrow!! Ashley said that my stroke had improved dramatically and that she could tell I am really getting in shape...yee haw, there's my force to push me into motion. Now the test will be to stay in motion for the next three hard weeks.

80 Miles to Nowhere

I don't know what to say...80 miles sucked.  It wasn't all bad.  I got up this morning, went to swim practice had a great swim, went to Cracker Barrel with some swim mates and had oatmeal/eggs/coffee and well, coffee and then loaded up the bike and went out for my 5 hour ride.  I felt awesome (see coffee) and was really killing it the first 40 miles...averaged 2 mph faster than normal, I was pumped!  I turn around at my determined halfway point and head home...like a horse running for the barn, I was not.  I quickly realized there was tailwind helping me the first 40 and I was going to have to fight it the whole way home.  I wanted to cry.  

My mild case of tourettes really shines while I'm on my bike, especially alone.  Not only do I yell things like "SQUIRREL" and "TURKEY" but I love throwing in words like "COLD" and many, many expletives that would make even a sailor blush.  

I get off the Trace around mile 64...okay, only 16 more, less than an hour if I can hold a decent pace with these beat legs.  I stop at the gas station to reload on gatorade and man, oh, man was I ever saddened when I realized it was officially lunch hour and their was a BBQ restaurant attached to the gas station.  I have NEVER smelled such deliciousness in all my life!  I really did think tears were going to well up in my eyes.  Those rednecks chowing down on 'Q had nothing on me...have they ever tried a Clif Shot Block?  Ha, ha, delish!  Wahhh!!!

Who wouldn't want to eat this spread after exercising for 6.5 hours!?

All in all a great training day...my head cannot wait to hit the pillow tonight and rest up for my 16 mile run tomorrow!  When is it going to be Monday? ;) 

Flying Squirrels and Other Animal Encounters!

I went to Percy Warner Park yesterday after work to squeeze in a few hours on the bike before sunset.  The park is great because you have two main options...take it out on the Blvd for some flatter riding or take it into the park for some monster hills.  I chose both. 

While on the Blvd you have to be extra careful of the yuppies on their cells phones not noticing you flying by on your bike (or in my case, meandering by)...but when in the park you must be on the look out for FLYING SQUIRRELS!!  I am not kidding, it's complete pandemonium out there.  Squirrels are darting all over the place and testing you...well, one little guy must have taken the dare from his friend because he ran right out at me.  I was cruising along at 26 miles per hour when I saw it out of the corner of my eye.  I yelled "SQUIRREL" (not sure what that would accomplish) but it didn't scare him away.  He ran right at me from the left.  He went head first into my front wheel (I thought I was going to have a direct hit and run him over, but no) and ricocheted off my spoke and went flying in the air.  I quasi laughed and quasi freaked out...I mean, if I'm going to die from a bike wreck it's not because I ran over a freakin' chipmunk!  I looked back, after taking a split second to realize I was still upright, and that little guy was just laying there...crap, I killed him...but he stood up shook it off and darted back into the woods...only to torment another rider, I'm sure.  

Not the actual squirrel...but close to what those little kamikaze squirrels look like.  Rider beware!

In other animal news.  I did my 5 hour ride today and took it out on the trace for a good 3 hours of the 5.  At about mile 40 (of the 80...by the way, totally hurt right now) I see a turkey, a real live turkey...what?!  The thing was sitting in the middle of the road with it's tail feathers all flared...I had to swerve not to hit it.  A turkey and a squirrel in 24 hours would have been too much for me to handle, so I swerved.  WTF?  What's with all the random wildlife?  I of course instantly imagined the turkey sitting on my table surrounded by all the fixin's and thought and about going back for him (kind of like in the cartoons when the bubble pops over their head of a pork chop or something...that's what I saw!).  This only adds to my weird list...some others being the peacock loping down the road (no joke) and the donkey that chased alongside me while I rode by him.  Beats sitting on the couch and watching Animal Planet!

Baseball Helmets?

Okay, so I have run three organized races in the last month and there has been a mysterious runner at every one. He's been easy to spot because he runs with a baseball batting helmet on...what?! Who is this guy and why does he wear a helmet running?

When we ran the Cedars Frostbite Half Marathon we had our first sighting. Pete said to me after the race "did you see the guy with the helmet?...he was so fast and kicked my a$$"...so the running joke is that he got beat by some dude in a helmet. Now after every race I have to call Pete to give him a race report..ie: a helmet sighting report (Pete is currently not my running friend since he has a stress fracture in his foot, so I have to report on Helmet Head and the fact that he always is flying past me within the first half mile).

I laughed out loud as I ran past a couple running this past Saturday and overheard her saying "did you see the guy in the helmet?" to her boyfriend...hahaha! Yes, yes, I did...