WEEKS 13-15 AND A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

While I understand that a lot of my posts are on the humorous side this will probably not be one of them.  There are a variety of reasons for this including mental and physical exhaustion, various reality checks and the lack of quality time with the fanastic programming of Nickelodeon.  I will get into all that stuff shortly but let's review the past three weeks of training.  Totals came in for the 3 week period at 8.5 hrs swimming, 16.75 hrs biking, 12.5 hrs running and 3 hrs of strength training.  Last week I did my third FTP (functional threshold power) test workout on the bike since I started.  This consists of a 30 min warmup followed by an all out as much as you can handle but in a steady fashion for 20 minutes effort.  I dread these.  Those 20 mins hurt and feel like an eternity.  Just to review my FTP was originally set at 160 watts which means that is the maximum amount of power I can pedal with for an hour before my legs fall off. During my first test I averaged 171 watts, my second 173 and my third 186 watts.  YIPPEE.  I immediately got an email from Coach Jeff saying what a great job I did and that he was upping my FTP to 180 watts.  This is kind of like your boss saying you are doing such a wonderful job that we are going to promote you and oh yeah...by the way your job just got a lot harder.

 So I am thrilled I am getting stronger but wasn't so happy this week when all my bike workouts were now 12.5% harder.  Believe me....I could feel the difference.  OUCH. 

These are some of the nicer things I have uttered during bike workouts.

Swimming continues to annoy the hell out of me but I am still trying very hard to get better.  I am making progress but I won't get majorly faster by race day and I am ok with that.

Glad this dude doesn't swim at the Y

On a very good note with swimming my finger doesn't hurt.  The cortisone shot really helped and now I can't wait to have a needle jammed back in there for some more.  Whatever it takes!!!!  After a little adjustment period I am finally getting used to the longer distance runs again.  That is not to say they are easy because they certainly are not especially since they follow long bike workouts on Saturdays.  Yesterday's bike was 3.5 hrs and today's run was 14.  It is all about getting used to running on tired legs because that is what I have to do come race day.  Since the weather was a balmy 47 degrees yesterday morning at 6AM, Kerry and I were able to get outside for a ride finally.  It was very nice to be off that damn trainer but I did miss my mindless Saturday morning cartoons!!!!!  Due to scheduling conflicts with Kerry and Cindy I had to run my 14 by myself today.  The weather was good, 57 and clear, which means shorts and short sleeves.  I ran with music which really helped pass the time but I was struggling around mile 12.  Things were hurting and I just wanted to be done.  I always look at these runs as mental training for the IM because I know there will be plenty of times during the race that I just want to stop and I need to learn how to block that out and keep going.  I did.  In the 2 hrs and 17 mins it took me to run that far I had a lot of time to think.  I can't remember most of it but what I do remember is important so listen up.  Not once but twice the week something happened to someone I know that made me thankful for what I have.  A friend from work's father died suddenly and unexpectedly and Quinn's nephew was one of 5 police officers shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant in NH.  Thankfully after some recovery time he will be fine but one of the officers with him was killed.  Two very tragic examples that you just never know what is going to happen so Garth Brooks had it right when he said "So tell someone that you love just what you're thinking of if tomorrow never comes"  With that my dear family I will leave you with this...I love you all and feel extremely blessed to be part of such a close family because not everyone is and I will never forget how lucky I am.  Be safe. Go after what you want.

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE PART 4......ARIEL AND JOSH

They don't call them peeps for nothing!!!

Happy Easter peeps!!!! After 26...yes...TWENTY-SIX...days straight of training I have finally been given a day off.  YIPPEE.  Surprisingly enough I feel pretty good although there have certainly been times over the past three weeks that I have felt like I got run over by a truck.  I will tell you all the gory details of training next week because it is my day off so I choose to not think about training.  So there!!  Instead I will talk about two more village people...Josh and Ariel.  Since I will NEVER EVER have kids these two are the closest I will ever get.  I can't believe my niece and nephew are 13 and 25 respectively.  Where did all the time go? I still remember when both of them were born. Josh was born the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college.  While I got to spend all summer with him I hated being away from him when it was time to go back to school.  He did some pretty amusing things as a kid and some of my favorites were him putting waffles, orange peels, hot dogs and a number of other things in the VCR.  If something was missing chances were Josh stuck it in the VCR.  After watching his Gram sprinkle Carpet Fresh on the rugs for years he decided one day to try it out on the chair in the living room.  Too bad he used the parmesan cheese shaker instead.  That chair NEVER smelled good after that.  Despite growing up in a household full of woman he turned out pretty darn good.  I think it is simply awesome that he is an xray tech like me.  I also think it is amazing that he is a firefighter.  No one should be surprised at that since his favorite toy was a fire truck and his favorite movie is Backdraft.  Some of my fondest memories of Josh are when we went to Cancun together.  After check in at the resort we dropped our bags and went to get something to eat.  Then we hit the pool and sat by the edge on two lounge chairs and proceeded to drink and drink and drink for the next four, five or six hours.  At one point we were laughing hysterically over a straw floating in the pool because after that much alcohol everything is funny.  Sometime around 2 am we went to get some food but I think we may have fallen asleep halfway through.  Josh continued his drinking spree the next day with tequila volleyball and the following day he was popping champagne in the hot tub on our balcony around midnight.  Of course he fell asleep out there and I had to wake him up and make him get out.  The best part was having so much time to just talk and talk to him about everything and nothing.  You are one hell of a man Josh.  I love you and I am extremely proud of you.  Josh is training for his own race right now.  He and Jordin are doing a Tough Mudder in the Poconos in April.  They are going to run 10 miles while navigating obstacles containing fire, mud, water, walls and oh yeah..electric shocks.  And they call me crazy!!!!!

Me and Josh at his graduation from Rad Tech school.

Friday was Ariel's 13th birthday.  Unbelieveable.  She slept over Thursday night and I took her to the Anime Convention in Boston that she wanted to go to.  I am still not really sure what exactly this anime stuff is all about except it has something to do with Japan, cartoons, characters and very weird people.

some anime freak and not even the freakiest by a long shot

 All that really matters is Ariel wanted to go and I would do anything for her so I took her.  I think Ariel and I have an awesome relationship.  It has been wonderful watching her grow up and I am so impressed with the way she has turned out..especially considering the amount of time she spends with me and the fact that I traumatized her on a sled years ago.  I accidentally lost hold of  her sled at the top of a big hill and she took off at warp speed stopping only after getting hooked on a tree branch.  This led to one of our favorite Ariel sayings.....Dee...I'm Stuck. Oops.  Ariel is a fantastic artist, extremely intelligent, a non-conformer and a kind soul (although she would prefer people think otherwise).  She is the reason my immediate family calls me Dee.  Before she came along I was Deanne and my Mom was Dee.  When Ariel learned to talk she called me Dee and it stuck.  When she was a baby I would babysit her every Thurs after work.  I spent many years going to the parks, beaches, Chuck E Cheese, Bonkers etc.  We spent hours finding crabs at the beach, playing games at the Willows, drawing pictures and making things. Nowadays we still have sleepovers and can likely be found sitting next to each other on the couch sharing a pair of headphones listening to some obscure music she digs up.  If I go more than a week or two without seeing her I miss her.  Thankfully the child hasn't developed my affinity for the F word which really is miraculous considering the amount of time we spend together and the amount of times I say it.  I am immensely proud of you Ariel and I love you.  It means the world to me that the two of you are following this journey of mine and are going to be in Lake Placid.

Yes she is taller than me!!!

SO MANY QUESTIONS

3.5 HRS.  That is how long I spent on the trainer Saturday morning.  Considering one minute on that thing feels like 10 then I FELT like I spent 35 hours on it.  My ass thought so too.  During that time an amazing amount of thoughts and questions ran through my head.  Some were deep and meaningful but most were trivial and humorous.  Let's face it... I am NOT going to cure cancer or create world peace while I am sweating to death pushing 130 watts on the trainer for hours at a time.  It takes all my concentration to keep my legs from falling off.

I don't want to have to buy this shirt!!!!

Anyhow here is a very small random sample of what went through my head.  How could I possibly have only been on this thing for 45 mins so far?  How come they didn't have cool toys like this when I was growing up?

I totally love this toy.  We never had fun stuff like this!!!

 What the hell have I gotten myself into signing up for an IM?  If he lives in a pineapple under the sea why does Spongebob have to take a bath?  How could I have possibly only been on this damn thing for 48 mins so far?  Why would anyone buy  a toy called Princess and the Potty for their kid?

This is wrong on so many levels. Why not call her Queen Crapper instead?

What ever made me think doing an IM was a good idea?  Is it just a coincidence that Evanescence's song "My Last Breath" keeps coming up on my MP3?  How could I have possibly gone 53 miles and still be in the same damn place?  That plankton dude is pretty clever.

This dude has mad skills!!!  He is a modern day MacGyver.

Why did I let Kerry talk me into this?:)  I feel like a total Western PA hick right now knowing that CCR's "Looking Out My Backdoor" is the ONLY thing getting me through this interval.  Why, why, why aren't the penguins on until 10?  How is it possible that my legs are still moving?  More importantly, how the hell are they going to run 15 miles tomorrow?  And so on and so on but I did it.  Mission accomplished.  So now onto Sunday with 15 miles to run. Luckily the weather was much better than last week.  32 and dry trumps 45 and rainy anyday.  Also lucky for me, Cindy had to run 12 miles today.  Perfect.  I left my house at 6AM and ran to Cindy's which is convienently located just about 3 miles from my house and we headed out for 12 more miles.  The run started on a kind of surreal note as there were two deer at the bottom of Cindy's street.  She lives in Marblehead..not in the middle of the woods.  The view from her back deck is the harbor not trees.  Weird.  We also saw a cardinal which made me smile because cardinals remind me of Meema.  The first part of the run went ok but we were both feeling our prior day's workouts.  Cindy is training for 50K (31 MILES) run in May so she ran almost 6 hours in the woods yesterday.  Her legs were probably far more fatigued than mine.  Misery loves company though and having each other to talk to was invaluable.  By the time we got to only having 4 miles left I was hanging on by a thread and Cindy promised to tell me a very long story to keep my mind occupied.  Her story lasted about two miles and then even she gave up and we continued on in silence occasionally interrupted by grunts, groans and invoking of God's name to please let us be done.  Finally..15 miles done.  We walked a bit to cool down and stopped briefly at Cindy's where she filled my water bottle and put it in one of my hands and a hot cup of coffee in the other and drove me home.  You just can't beat friends like that!!!  Thank you Cindy.  After breakfast, a shower and a nap (at 10:15 AM) I went to pick up Ariel for lunch.  She is pretty much a carbon copy of Tracie and I personality wise minus the F-bombs (thankfully).  At lunch she was telling me about her dentist appointment yesterday and the whole time I was thinking "This is like looking in the mirror and listening to myself talk!!". Her version of her dental cleaning went a bit like this..First there were  all these bratty kids in the waiting room running around all over the place.   Some other kid was freaking out in the dentist chair...come on kid...you are getting your teeth cleaned NOT getting brain surgery.  And then it is finally my turn and the hygienest is asking all these questions like.."How old are you? Where do you go to school?  Who are you here with?"  Really lady..are you some kind of stalker?  I am not here to make friends.  I just need my teeth cleaned.  Then she finally has me sit in the chair and says she has to go get some stuff.  Really....shouldn't she have had it ready to go??!!!  If she was prepared and would quit asking questions we would be done by now.  Holy freakin Deanne Jr batman.  By the way Ariel...If I had the Play Doh dentist toy from above I could have cleaned your teeth in half the time.  Just sayin!!!!

WEEKS 11 & 12 AND SHEER RANDOMNESS

Two more weeks down in this journey.  As mentioned before, Week 11 was a well needed recovery week with a mere 9 hours of  training and then of course Week 12 came roaring in at 13+ hrs and a few pretty intense workouts.  Totals for the two week period were 6 hrs 45 min swimming, 10 1/2 hrs biking, 6 1/2 hrs running and 2 hrs 20 min strength training.  I got out on the bike again Monday after work with my friend Deb.  It was 60 degrees when we started and below 50 when we finished only an hr and a half later.  That cold front also came along with nasty winds that had me wishing I weighed 50 lbs more because I thought I was going to get blown off the bike.  I love my after work rides with Deb but traffic is horrendous and we can only go certain places so it only works for shorter rides. Not once but twice this week I was up at the crack of o'dark thirty to get long bike rides in.  Saturday called for a 3 hr ride.  I would have preferred to ride outside BUT I had swimming at 8:30 so I needed to be done by 7 so I had an hour to recover before heading to the pool.  You do the math. There were plenty of nasty intervals in that 3 hr ride and they were made even more difficult by the fact that the Penguins were not on!!!!!!!!!!  WTF.  Clearly Nickelodeon does not care that I need entertainment on the damn trainer.  I did watch in no particular order (all with the mute button on) an infomercial for some acne product that apparently turns gangly geeky teens into supermodels, the news, the Nanny (thank God for mute!!!!!) and some cartoon featuring a white dog who seems to spend a lot of time looking at his butt.

This dude seems to be very fond of his butt!!!!

Like I said before....don't judge me.  It is a matter of survival. Speaking of survival.... today's workout called for a 14 mile run.  14 miles is hard enough as it is but 14 miles in the cold rain is downright demoralizing.  Thankfully I met Kerry after 3 miles and she kept me company for the next 8 or so.  That helped pass the time.  Aside from just enjoying her company, running with Kerry makes me realize how much easier it is to  train for this kind of event when you don't have kids.  Kudos to her for getting her workouts in around sick kids, social events and life in general. You are a rockstar Kerry!!!!  I was so very happy when my Garmin turned over to 14 miles.  I looked and felt like a drowned rat when I got home.  After a shower it was on with the compression tights and on the couch with the heating pad.  Thank goodness I have a massage scheduled tomorrow.

Tired, soaked and ready for a hot shower!

In random news.....for those of you who don't know I had surgery on my right index finger in November.  Due to arthritis I developed a cyst which was putting pressure on a nerve and causing extreme pain.  It would swell like crazy after swimming and be very uncomfortable.  I have a high pain tolerance and I knew this was not going to work if I was going to attempt an IM so I had it removed.  I had to take two weeks off from swimming.  During the surgery the MD said I had an extensive amount of arthritis in that joint for someone my age and that he "scraped" it out.  OUCH. While the cyst and swelling went away for awhile the pain never did.  Over the past month the swelling has gotten much worse and the pain has been pretty bad.  I found out during my two rides outside that biking aggravates it also since you are constantly changing gears outside and that is the finger I change gears with.  It was so unbearable last weekend that I broke down and made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to see if there were non-surgical options to pain relief.  I simply can  NOT have surgery again right now because the last thing I need is to take off two weeks  from swimming again.  Since I changed health plans I couldn't even go back to the guy who did the first surgery.  Anyhow after an xray and checking out the swelling my new MD said that the cyst may very well be back but the pain is from the arthritis and the way to treat that is with a cortisone injection so he stuck a needle in my distal interphalangeal joint.  OUCH

The arrow is EXACTLY where the shot went. Would you expect anything less from an xray tech?

If these shots don't work my only other option is to have the joint fused together.  Of course that would have to wait until after the race.  SO at the ripe old age of 44 knocking on 45's door I am officially old.  I am getting injections for arthritis.  Actually what I really have is a condition called spraybutteritis.  It is a rare disease brought on by years of pumping a spray butter bottle.  You may think I am crazy but look at the facts.....I have this problem in only 1 joint in my entire body and it is the joint I use for the spray butter bottle.  Can't argue with the facts!!!!

You have done me so wrong!!

In one other note of sheer randomness....if  you read the comments left on my blogs you know Jacki is convinced she will be sliced up and murdered in her sleep while in Lake Placid.  She may be on to something and now I am worried because of this

As if I don't like swimming as it is, now I have to worry about this in the water...and by the way Jacki...I hear this monster thing kills people on land too!!!!!  Just sayin'

A FIRST FOR THE YEAR AND A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

This weekend marked the first time this year I have been outside on the bike.  After 11 weeks and countless hours on the trainer I just couldn't take it anymore and was bound and determined that my two hour ride Saturday was NOT going to be spent watching those damn penguins from Madagascar.  Not that I don't like them but I can only take so much.  Kerry was feeling the same sense of dread over yet another trainer ride so we hit the road together at 7AM Saturday.  It wasn't exactly balmy....a mere 44 degrees.  On a bike that is chilly.  I had
on from top to bottom...helmet, pullover hat, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, jacket, gloves (with hand warmers stuck in them), bike shorts, tights, socks, bike shoes and booties over my shoes.  See below


I felt a bit like the little kid in "A Christmas Story" with all the layers on

Riding in the warm weather is far easier in the clothing department.  By the way...did you notice the tennis ball, foam roller and stick on the floor.  I wasn't kidding when I said they are always there.  Anyhow  the ride went well with many good things.  First I wasn't freezing and did not lose feeling in any body parts.  Second I had no feeling of apprehension when I started riding like I had last summer after the accident. Third my wheel didn't fall off.  The only reason I say that is in order to switch from trainer riding to road riding I must remove my bike from the trainer, take off my back wheel, let the air out of the tube, remove tube, remove the trainer tire, put on road tire, reinflate tube and put wheel back on bike.  Seeing as how I am mechanically compromised this is a big deal for me.  I executed everything in a timely manner except getting the wheel back on.  It would be much easier if I had a bike stand but I don't so Quinn had to help.  This was only the first attempt of the season for this so I was happy.  My ride was supposed to be done at 65-75% of FTP.  For me this would be an average of no more than 120 WATTS.  Since it was the first ride out I decided I was just going to ride like I always ride and see how I felt.  As I suspected I have a tendency to ride far too hard which is why my legs want to fall off when I try to run after biking.  I ended up averaging 135 WATTS.  Oops my bad.  There are two kinds of bikers...spinner and mashers.  Spinners prefer an easier gear and pedal faster.  Masher like a bit harder gear and pedal slower.  I am a masher.  I need to become more of a spinner because mashing during a race is like riding and doing leg presses all at the same time.  Not good for that whole "Oh crap...I have to run a marathon now thing".  I will learn.  The one bad thing about the ride was my stupid *&@##% freakin powermeter.  It decided 52 minutes into the ride that it had had enough.  Memory full.  Really??????  How about a little advance notice?  Like WARNING WARNING memory is getting full please delete files WARNING WARNING.  I don't think that is too much to ask for.  In all honesty I didn't even know that could happen.  I thought the damn thing would just write over the oldest file when it filled up like a few of my other devices.  Lesson learned.  So I only had 52 mins of data to send to Jeff which considering I rode too fast isn't such a bad thing but I am sure he got the point from the data he had. So after my 9 hour recovery week of training I am back up to 13 hrs and no days off this week.  Even better the weekend has a 3 hr bike Saturday and a 14 mile run Sunday in store for me.  OUCH.  If you think this is bad look into my crystal ball.

  My coach does a training camp in Lake Placid about a month before the race.  I got the details last week and it will include a 13.1 mile run Friday afternoon, 112 mile bike Saturday followed by a 4-8 mile run and a 1.2 mile swim Sunday.  How's that for volume.  More on the camp later but those are the kinds of hours I will be putting in the last 10 weeks of training. One more thing before I sign off....it is now time for me to work on getting into race shape.  Yes I am in good shape but I am a few pounds over my usual weight and about 5lbs over my race weight.  Since I will have to carry every extra pound up and down countless hills on race day and attempt to squeeze them into a wetsuit I need to make it as easy as possible on my body so I need to buckle down and watch what I am eating a little better.  I eat insanely healthy for the most part but lately have been slacking a bit.  I made a little sign to put on my fridge which will serve as a reminder of what I am trying to do and why.

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE PART 3.........QUINN

I am quite sure that just the title of this blog alone makes Quinn want to run and hide under a rock somewhere.  She would prefer to stay in the background and go unnoticed but that isn't going to happen.  I think you can have all different types of best friends.  They are all equally important but love and support you in different ways.  I consider my Mom and sisters all my best friends and get something different from each of them.  I also consider Quinn my best friend.  She is also my sherpa......no...not this kind of sherpa.  More of a race sherpa.  Lucky for

her I don't usually travel to races with all my belongings tied up in bundles so she doesn't have quite as much to carry as that dude.  I manage to keep it to a phone, maybe a jacket, and car keys on those rare occasions when I actually drive myself somewhere. I guess she could be my chauffeur sherpa too because I hate to drive anywhere.  It would be ok if I was the only one on the road but that never happens. Quinn does so much more than just hold my crap on race day and drive me places.  She is probably the only person I can stand to have anywhere near me on a big race day when I am nervous.

This is how most vacations are spent!!!

 After many years of living in the same apartment (almost 20..yikes) she probably knows me better than anyone else.  She possesess an uncanny ability to calm me down which comes in handy on race day as well as everyday life (like anywhere in public when people get on my nerves....which is well.....everywhere in public!!!)  She is also able to convince me that I can do and finish whatever race I am about to attempt.  She is the ultimate race sherpa. Quinn has come to see me in races from 5K's to marathons and sprint triathlons to half ironmen. She has accompanied me to NH, Maine, Chicago, RI and all over MA.  She even drove one of the vans for our 12 person relay across Massachusetts a few years ago.  It takes a special person to agree to spend 48 hrs driving 6 smelly runners and their crap across the state on very little to minimal sleep.  Of course she did institute a "TIPS OR NIPS" policy meaning after running your section of the race you needed to hand over a nip or tip to Quinn in order to be allowed back in the van.  Thankfully I do a lot of races with beer available to help her pass the time.  Not only

Gotta pass the time somehow

does Quinn research the course in long races to pop up different places to cheer me on but she manages to organize my family to get them in the right places where they need to be. As members of this family you know that is no easy task.  Sometimes I think some of you could not find your way out of a paperbag with a map (but I love you anyways!!!!).  She did an awesome job along with Danielle in Chicago and I ended up seeing them 3 times during the race.  She will be invaluable in herding everyone along in Lake Placid.  It is weird that during long races I worry about my family being bored or not being where they need to be but I know Quinn will have it all under control.  She always does and that is why she is my best friend and I am eternally grateful for and to her.  I do however shake my head in amazement at least three of four times a week that we haven't killed each other in all these years.  There are plenty of times when we retire to our separate rooms to get away from each other until we forget what we were arguing about.  Speaking of arguing...Quinn called me lazy this morning.....I found this amusing.  I work 40 hrs a week and work out 12 plus hrs a week...how can I be lazy?  She's right of course.  If it isn't in my training plan I probably don't want to do it.  I never go downstairs to get the mail.....I just don't feel like walking down  a flight of stairs.  If I drop something on the floor I will be more likely to step over it as opposed to picking it up.  Now if my training plan said spend 20 mins picking your crap up off the floor I would probably do it. Or maybe if it said run up and down the steps at your lactate threshold pace and finish strong with a trip to the mailbox I would get the mail.  Ok fine you win...I am lazy.  Whatever.  By the way today is Lynda's birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(you too Aunt Lorrie!!!!)  Do you know I knew Quinn for at least a year before I knew her first name was Lynda and her last name was Quinn?

She might have been thinking of a way to push me over the edge here!!!

Thank you Lynda for listening to me piss, moan, whine and complain when things hurt or I don't want to do something.  Thank you for putting it into perspective and making me realize how lucky I am that I have the ability to attempt this stuff at all.  Thank you for making me laugh and taking care of me when I needed you to.  My deepest apologies for traumatizing you when I crashed my bike and for asking those four questions over and over again.  You are my best friend and you know we all consider you to be just another member of this crazy family which I am sure scares the hell out of you!!!!!!

Oh no...she's starting the birthday celebration early!!!!!

WEEKS 9 & 10 AND RECOVERY

The totals for the past two weeks come in at 2:15 hrs strength training, 7:15 hrs swimming, 11:30 hrs biking and 6:30 hrs running.  This adds up to a whopping total of 27 1/2 hrs of training averaging out to 13 3/4 hrs per week.  Definitely a step up from the previous weeks and a good reason why I feel a bit like a truck ran over me.  Week 9 began on Monday with a scheduled swim and run.  Week 9 also began with me dealing with extreme nausea and feeling like hell.  There was simply no way I could work out on Monday.  Didn't even want to...NOPE, NO THANKS, NOT INTERESTED.  In the big scheme of things missing an hour swim and 45 min run aren't going to have any effect at all on my performance come race day so no big deal.  There will always be missed workouts over the course of a long training plan because well....life happens.  As long as you get most of your workouts in consistently you will be fine.  Despite knowing and understanding this I chose to ignore it.  Why you ask?  I am a MORON!

Hopefully I don't advance too far on this scale!!!

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling marginally better so I decided to go swimming before work and do Monday's scheduled swim.  The swim was barely tolerable and by the time I got to work I felt like hell again.  I had some stuff that needed to be done and after that I went home.  I promptly fell asleep for a few hrs and since I felt ok when I woke up I went out for my 45 min run from Monday. Did I mention I can be a MORON?!!!  By the time that was over I felt like hell again so I went back to sleep.  I am sure you can guess what is coming next.  I woke up and felt ok so on the trainer I went for my scheduled Tues ride.  MORON. Doing three workouts in one day is no big deal when you are healthly but unbelieveably stupid when you are fighting off some virus.  I ended up missing my workout with Jeremee the next day but managed to get the rest of them in.  I did however not feel 100% better until Friday evening.  The week ended Sunday with a 1:45 run with Cindy and Kerry.  It was so nice to run with them again.  Our schedules don't match up like they used to so it is great when we can all run together.  Time passes quickly listening to Cindy's stories.  We spent most of the run talking about how we should slow down and blaming each other for pushing the pace.  It is usually Cindy or Kerry's fault in the first part of the run but always my fault later.  I am clearly built for endurance (and pancake eating but that is another story) so I feel much better once I get an hour into the run.  For Week 10 I was back on track and had a few long workouts.  Thurs called for a 2 hr bike and since I don't like having to come home after work and do long workouts I prefer to get them out of the way in the morning.  I start work at 7AM so that meant an early wakeup and on the bike by

That would be 3:45 AM people!!!

Saturday brought a 3 hr bike which I think may just be my limit on the trainer.  I was going out of my ever loving mind trying to pass the time.  I was sick of listening to music so I turned on the TV and proceeded to amuse myself by watching a few episodes of the highly educational and thought provoking show

Don't judge me.....whatever it takes

I was feeling a bit beat up after this ride and could feel the increased training load starting to take it's toll.  Sunday ended the week with a two hour run which I had to do by myself for various reasons.  My legs felt like spaghetti the first 50 mins but a bit better for the rest of the run but I was oh so very happy to be done.  Since I had already seen next week's schedule I knew I not only had a recovery week coming up but Monday completely off from working out.  Next week's training hours only total 9 and believe me I am happy about that.  As soon as I got back in the house after my run I stretched and hit the living floor to roll out all of my aches and pains.  After breakfast and a shower my legs were still pretty cranky so it was time to break out the recovery tights.  These are awesome but almost as difficult to  get on as a wetsuit.  It is still

These freakin things cost almost 100 smacks!!!!

like trying to put a size 2T tights on my adult size 8 legs.  They are compression graded just like the compression socks given out in the hospitals after surgery.  Instead of just providing compression and aiding blood flow to and from your calves they do that for your whole leg.  They aren't miracle workers but they do make my legs feel better.  That's all I have for now.  Stay tuned for a special mid to late week post this week.