Rain...again

The happiest moment of today was at about 4:50 AM and I realized it was raining too hard to bother with a long ride today.  So i slept another much needed two hours, and put off the ride until tomorrow, no problem.  Meantime I logged a few hours on the trainer while watching Mongol, a film about Gengis Khan, that is the first of a trilogy.

Friday One more week before I leave....

Last night, Thursday, I managed to log what will be my fastest longest run.  It wasn't Really fast, and it wasn't Really long, but it was 12 miles at the most aggressive pace that i can manage right now.  My theory is that to follow with a 4 mile run this morning kind of gives me the dead body feeling that one usually gets when they go out for 3 hours or so.  I'm trying desperately to avoid the heinous long runs. No time, not enough training, and trying something new for a change.  Next week I bounce back up for a longer run plus recovery soon after.
Today i got my swim and run in early, and spent the day organizing my life enough that I feel alright about leaving for an entire month.  Looking forward to challenging workouts this weekend and getting on into this week.

what is my job, anyway?

You know how sometimes we sit around and fidget, worrying that we don't have a real job?  Well, I  figured that maybe the best way to decide what to become is to take a look at the list of ironman participant job titles. Here's a sampling from the upcoming Subaru IM Canada.

architect,artist, astronaut, attorney, bad guy babysitter, bank employee, bean counter, beauty queen,
 beaver hunter, butterfly herder, canadian air force, carpenter, firefighter, police officer, cat wrangler, cartwheel man, chemist & personal trainer, chiropractor, consultant, controller, cookie monster, cougar hunter, donut tester, double knot spy, duck hunter, electrical wizard, engineer, entrepreneur, farmer, fed govt employee (can), flunkie, geek (2), goat rancher, googler, half brained triathlete, hobby dancer, pole dancer, hostage negotiator, homeschool mother of 5, ironmom (2), ironman addic t, IT, king of scotland, lawyer, management, manager, marketing, massage therapist, married well, master of the universe, MD, MOM, mountain man, motivational speaker, movie director, Mr. Tea, naked pirate, nanny, naval engineer, nice guy, nice person, nuclear medicine technologist, nurse, oil and gas, oilfield consultant, oncologist, opera conductor, outdoor industry, outdoor retail, owner, owner of sofa sofa, sofa, paramedic, paralegal, pain enabler, parole board, people mover and shaker, PE teacher, periodontist, personal trainer, pilot, pipefitter, pirate, radio host, rectal emission technician, relationship engineer, retail, retired, runner of circles, sales, self employed, shark bait, skull grinder, smuggler, snake slayer, student, surfer, tattoo artist, teacher, that guy, unencumbered woman, village idiot, volunteer, wonder woman, wrench puller, xray tech, yak herder, yoga teacher & autobody tec..

2010 weekly hour totals:

OR...guess what you'll be paying for August 29th?  (January, February, March).
0,0,5,6,3,10,66,3,3,2,7,7,8,13,13,12,13,15,16,12,14,13,16,17,13,11,30,4,17,16

More like: 34 days, but who's counting?

I'm completely stumped. If I started this blog at 49 days, and I'm at 34 days now, where did the time Go?  I finally get a few long workouts in, then all of a sudden I have to start the herculean task of trying to pack for a mammoth bike ride, plus a month long road trip with the kids.  Egads. What have I signed up for?  I'm having an impossible time doing such things as mundane as logging on to USA triathlon and my library so I can download some audio books.  Last night I finished the week strong with a solid run to the concert in the park after my long ride with Jack.  I was finally happy as I ran past John K; and waved at him effortlessly.  I can do this!

I even managed to log some decent sleep last night, so things are really looking up.

well, at least i had Jack's company today

after the biblical flood & 11 year old birthday party at a rock climbing wall, I had to change workout plans for this weekend.  Move Everything off of Saturday and onto Sunday.  So, Sunday was a 100 miler, but finally the heat has broken and there is no more active rain. Only Jack and I all the way out beyond Plainfield and back. There was a terrible headwind coming back, but Jack wanted to pull so pull he did.  I had enough brains at the end to come home and nap hard, then had enough energy at the end of the day for 7 mile sunset run and I felt strong. yippee! Now i'm trying to figure out what will allow me to sleep properly through the night, too many sleepless nights lately.  Somehow as I was running into Scoville Park on Sunday evening and I saw John Kennedy I wanted to scream I was so happy that I had completed my volume for the week!  I was as happy as Leisle when Rolf finally kisses her in Sound of Music.

Heat Index 103

Well, this might be an exaggeration, because it's now 2:30 and when i was running my 75 minutes it was before 12:15. Don't know what the heat index was then, most likely in the mid to high 90's.  I survived it and actually felt chipper, but now that it's over I can barely move. Addie and I are in the basement watching Ricardo Montalban on Star Trek and this suits me fine.  I may have lost about 5 pounds in water, if that's at all possible. Most likely, I'm a little low weight these days, so need to bulk up a bit, especially when taper begins.  I'm not finding a lot of companionship for some of these midday runs, i wonder why not?  This morning Mark and I swam, and carpooled, so that was a good thing.

17 days of training left and this is what i have to show for it?

A good tan never hurt anyone. well, actually, a good tan really has hurt a lot of people, but that's about my level of competence right now.  The nasty side effects of being outside for hours and hours and hours are many, especially if those hours are spent in suburban, exurban chicago but i digress....i'm exhausted and dreading the weather and whatever sort of rides my so-called friends will throw my way this weekend.  What with an 11 year old birthday party and a cranky husband, what do i have to fear, anyway?  The way i look at it, this far into the game, i need to start playing the happy game: so....last year on this day i was feeling_______________and i looked like _____________ and i was not able to _______________________and so on.  Whenever i look at last summer's photos, i realize that i don't smile in a single shot. Ouch.  At least today I laugh, although at IM Canada, I don't really think I'll be all that happy>

2 and a half hours of What?

My plan to break long runs into smaller segments is sort of working, but why am i still totally exhausted and i feel as if i'm hardly moving?  Yesterday the heat index was about 90, and i first went out for a brisk 25 minutes before I had to deal with the kids.  Then at 10 i went out for what became two and a half hours of slogging, just to get the volume in.  I was all tricked out with fluids and nutrition, but my fatigue was so unsettling as I left my house that I decided to walk until I felt like running.  I walked for a full 50 minutes before I even bothered to run or jog.  Once I got started everything was OK, and I then walked a few more times, but for shorter periods.  Whatever this summer is, it is Not a summer of training fast.  So did it all add up to 18 miles? there's no chance of that.  My total time for the day was only 3 hours, and with an hour of walking, well, let's just say that i did the best I could on that given day.  Today I'm still feeling the aftereffects of the heat and fatigue.  I made it out for my morning loop ride, but i'm resting for the remainder of today.  Time to bank some recovery and avoid the heat of this place.

stuffy heads and oversleep

I've basically been on track with volume since last week, but Door County with it's wet, cooler weather brought on what appears to be a summer cold.  I'm trying not to panic, since it's mild, but I've had to scale back some of my volume.  My longest ride in Door County was three and a half hours, 64 miles rather than the 80+ I was hoping for, but really, rest is the most important thing this year.  My long broken run worked alright.  i went out and did thirty minutes, then a few hours later i did 2 hours on some of my favorite trails in Newport State Park. 
Now that I'm back in Oak Park my body is adjusting to the heat/humidity and overstimulation that is my regular life.  I hardly slept last night, so had to cancel swimming. Now to arrange a long run during the heat of the morning....17 more days until i leave Oak Park and say goodbye to volume goals.

scheduled swim

ALL swim Chicago Masters  5:30-7:00 except when I'm out of town:



Mon, Wed, Friday 7.26-30

Mon, Wed, Friday 8.2-8.5

Scheduled Runs/Jogs

Tuesday 7.27 6 midday in Oak Park
Wednesday 7.28 7 early morning OP
Thursday 7.29 12 early morning OP
Friday 7.30 easy jog, midday 4 OP
Saturday 7.31  sunset 4 or less, easy!!! OP
Sunday 8.1 brick one hour run, before noon op

Tuesday 8.3 7, OP, midday
Wednesday 8.4 broken 18, 14,4  morning 14 w/addie on Salt Creek or waterfall, 4 in PM< easy
Friday AM one hour run, mid morning, OP.

Scheduled Bike Rides

Saturday 7.24  6AM 80 miles tt  (addie's birthday party--busy day)
Sunday 7.25  6AM modest ride/hinsdale or so 35-40

Tuesday 7.27 6AM morning route
Saturday 7.31 6AM longest ride of year (for me.) hoping for company but my companions may dust me, so i'll finish alone.
Sunday 8.1  Early-ish 30-40

Tuesday 8.3 6AM morning route

Thursday 8.5 EARLY last long ride before we road trip to the West....

Tuesday 7.13.2010

Today was an easy ride, L/H morning route at 6AM.  People used to ride, but now all are out at 5:30.  Nick usually shows up but not today.  Two guys passed Poly at about five til 6 but i didn't know them and they didn't stop to chat.  Better luck next time.  My pace was gentle and i'm trying to stay on my TT  bike until September.  Enough of the Kestrel.
Nothing more planned for today except rest & packing for Door County.

Finished 400 miles with the Gogebic 6 (well, 397).

When I told Ellen S. about Laverne and Gail's she said, are they together?  Aww....how blissfully remote we are from the exurbs of Chicago. Laverne and Gail probably are not a couple, but they do have a friend who needlepoints a mean salt and pepper container.