About This Blog

As time permits, in-depth musings on myriad subjects will be posted. Abbreviated adages will be announced via Twitter.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

CapTex 2009

Great race, save the bike retrieval from transition. Thanks to the awesome support from those who made the journey to Austin, and thanks for reading.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

HTFU

I'm staring at 32 days until the gun goes off at Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

That countdown timer has whittled its way down from triple to double digits and, before too long, to single. There are a two or three more intense-ish weeks remaining until I begin my taper (sadly, at the same time school lets out for summer; now I really am grateful for Swine Break '09), and the workouts are every bit of that: Intense.

This past weekend was to see a century & follow-up run, but, due to the aforementioned Swine Break, the SAT I promised to proctor was rescheduled for this past Saturday. While the bike ride was definitely out, the run was still a possibility -- until the heavens opened up, literally, as I handed in my paperwork to the lead administrator. So, I went home & slept. Sunday was to be a bike ride to the gym, weight workout & swim, followed by a ride home. Stupidly, I left my bike lock at home, so I turned around at the gym and rode back home, narrowly avoiding being taken out by people in a hurry to get to church (seriously! two cars, making turns into two separate entrances, nearly took me out -- my front tire actually hit the rear bumper of the second car). By the time I made it home, I was livid and unwilling to do anything. Then N--- came over and game me a pep talk before she all but dragged me out the door to run with her. While the run was only six miles, and at a 9:something pace, it gave me a wakeup call: I need to harden the <expletive> up. Granted, it's not likely I'll have any near misses with the church crowd at Ironman, but I am likely to face some serious mental challenges out on course -- physical challenges, for certain -- and, unless I am fully prepared for anything that can get thrown at me, I may as well not even board the plane.

Hypocritically, I skipped this morning's workout, due only to nearly passing out after last night's harder-than-it-should-have-been 15-mile run, but did post a really good brick tonight. Swimming's scheduled for tomorrow morning, with the Ride of Silence having the green light for the evening. Meet at Hemisfair Park, if you're keen on the Ride of Silence; wheels down at 7:00. Yea or nea, keep an eye out for cyclists, and thanks for reading. 

Monday, May 18, 2009

I'm in the Wrong Business

So I'm sitting in a workshop, learning about blogging. Sit & ponder that one for a moment.

Right, that's what I was pondering, too. Personally, I was hoping for more on how to use blogs as a useful writing tool for teaching. For that, I do have my own ideas, and I'm hoping to get them in order sometime after Ironman has been put to bed, for it doesn't appear I'm going to get anything useful here.

The person running the workshop (remotely, from Arizona) is doing little more than serving as a human search engine for various blogs he's found and organized. Yes, it's that lame. I'll bet he gets "exceeds expectations" on his PDAS, though. Maybe I need to move to Arizona. Why not? J--- is. A--- & her husband moved there, too, and they're both triathletes. Hmm....nah, wouldn't work. N--- hates Texas because it's so hot; I can only imagine what she'd think of Arizona. Still, we'd be closer to an Ironman course, because we all know how much I'm enjoying the whole training process.

Speaking of, I'm off for a 15-mile run after this workshop is done. For now, I'm off to mapmytri.com to get a route together, as, after 34 minutes, there's been nothing mindblowing going on here. I so hope this is not how my kids feel.

Right. If you're keen on the run, meet me at the library ~4:30 this after. Thanks for reading.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Safe Transport

The past few days have been tough, both in terms of training and in terms of going back to school after a week-and-a-half off. The down time was great for training, and I could have certainly used a lot more of it. I am totally looking forward to the summer holiday.

Yesterday was a brick workout out at Boerne Lake. I'd heard there would be a few people swimming at 7:00, so I headed out from N---'s just past six in order to get there and suited up in time. Glad I did, too, for the parking lot by the boat ramp was filled when I rolled in at 6:45. Apparently, several groups were meeting to swim at seven, including the Purple Menace, and all of them were intent on being in the park by 7:00 AM, for that is when the gate guard comes in. Make it in before she does, and you save $8 a car-load.

I wound up swimming the circumference of the lake with a small group of CdA-bound triathletes. My first time all the way around, according to one's GPS, we clocked 2.3 miles of open water swimming -- and in 1:08:33! Once out of the water, it was onto a bike ride, again with the same group. Some were more swift in "transition," while others took nearly 45 minutes to be ready to ride. Because I was an uninvited guest, I opted not to say anything and just hung back as best I could, until I saw how late it was getting -- and we were still nearly ten miles out. Thus, the proverbial hammer was dropped, and I rocketed back to the lake to get changed and head back to N---'s in order to grade papers until she returned from the lab. Unfortunately, her day didn't go as planned, either, so we just wound up hanging out together, making veggie burgers, and watching the HBO miniseries John Adams.

This morning was a planned 20-mile run, but I failed to take in adequate nutrition pre-run, as well as not loading up the Camelbak with a Nuun tablet. I tanked after 11 miles, and sulked back home to shower and feel sorry for myself.

About the only thing that has gone perfectly this weekend is arranging for the bike transport up to CdA. Rumor circulated around last weekend's fateful 1604 ride that J--- was taking a trailer up to CdA with room for several bikes. I swung by J---'s shop yesterday to inquire about it, and, while the price was a bit more than that of the airlines, that I would not have to fuss with a bike box (and that I could smuggle my Big Red for the special needs bag in the trailer) made it worth the extra $50. Barring theft or serious traffic accident, the Slice will be waiting for me in Idaho without the need for assembly and little-to-no maintenance. That alone made up for the longest 56-mile bike ride I can remember.

Tired and sore from this weekend's activities, I'm off to lick my wounds. Thanks for checking in, and thanks for reading.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Back to School

Alas, the unscheduled break (aka school closures due to swine flu) has come to its end. Faculty & staff returned to school yesterday for a meeting and work day; the kids return today.

Over the break (including yesterday, since I was still without students), I managed to get in...
  • 12,749 yards (including two trips to Boerne Lake!) swimming
  • 217.3 miles (plus one 2-hour trainer ride) of cycling
  • 51.99 miles of running
I'd have liked my bike mileage to be a tad higher, but, in all, I don't think it was too bad, considering Sunday's wreck, which effectively shortened bike mileage by 40; run, 10. Meh, whatever.

Tonight has (hopefully) another 20-mile run on tap, with brick workouts beginning with Trisition at the lake this Saturday. I'll see how the first one goes and then reschedule accordingly. However, both CapTex and CdA are creeping up on me really quick-like. Training must really stay ramped up, even though there are four weeks remaining in the school year. Lucky for me, most of it will be spent in testing, insuring the kiddos are ready for final exams that first week in June. From there, it's taper, taper, taper, all the way into Idaho.

See you on the Parkway tonight. For now, it's off to work. Thanks for reading.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

To Be Continued...

Apparently, this swine flue thing is still hot on the nerves of the powers that be at the Department of State Health Services. They've "recommended" the district stay shut down until May 11th, and the district, apparently, is complying.

While bad news for getting curriculum & whatnot knocked out, this is quite good news for training, as I have been blessed with yet another week to get in some serious training for CdA. At 49 days and counting, timing is actually pretty good. I just hope we don't wind up going too much further into June than what we already do. In a podcast, the superintendent requested that employees stay home and away from others to stop spread of the disease. While I am staying shy of others, staying home is just not something I can do too well; there's training to be done. Then there was snippet from USAToday:

Health officials say swine flu is preventable: the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests washing hands often, getting plenty of sleep, being physically active, eating nutritious food and drinking plenty of fluids.

Why we are expected to stay at home and do nothing, essentially waiting to get sick, is beyond me. I guess I'll just keep doing what it is I've been doing: Hitting those last three points hard and heavy. Of course, with all of that physical activity, getting plenty of sleep is a no-brainer.

I'm off to finish my tea and head out to the lake for a 2-mile swim. Tomorrow's the 1604 ride, for which I am quite stoked, followed by a rest day on Monday. Depending on how things go, D--- & I might head up to Comfort for some mountain biking.

Stay healthy, and thanks for reading.