Driving

There are not many things more annoying to me than drivers who slow down and speed up repeatedly when I am around them on the interstate. When I get on a road that isn't too crowded I like to set the cruise control at about 5-7 mph over the speed limit and just get in the right lane and mosey down the road. I've hit stretches where I haven't even had to touch the brakes for over two hours; this isn't at 2am either, it's at fairly normal times during the day. What really irks me though, is when some moron will come flying by me and hop into the right lane then slow down. I move quickly up behind them and consequently have to pull into the left land and pass them, usually while they are talking on their cell phone or eating or doing something similar that does not require you to slow down. I pass them, move back into the right lane and keep going on my cruise control. Then, once they are done with whatever it is that they were doing they decide to speed back up and tailgate me for a bit as if they're expecting me to speed up just to sit them or are affronted by the fact that I passed them and then got in front of their car. As the car passes me the driver/passenger shoot me a look as if to say "what the f*** are you doing in front of me?"

Of course, not everyone does that. But I remember those that do and hate them.

Updates, yay

It's weird being around in Charlotte when I'm not working. It's not just that I feel lazy, it's that I feel as though I'm completely out of the loop. Knowing that as I sleep, exercise, and eat that life is going on much the same for everyone else. People are still working on the houses that I've been working on for the past couple of months; now it's just that I'm not doing it. It's different from a break in school because then you know everyone else is doing similar things. Maybe they've got a job of some sort but the common bond of attending school that you share is no longer present. Work is totally different. Or I guess it's just the 'real world.' I'm glad that I am not fully immersed in the 'real world' yet...although I feel as though it's getting closer.

I'm heading down to New Orleans for a week this Friday and plan on coming back to Charlotte where I'm not really sure what I'll do next as I won't really have that much time to just putz around before Greekfest and the start of work. I also really want to get in some solid blocks of training (12-15 hour weeks) in the month leading up to Patriots. I think I definitely need to concentrate on cycling and swimming because running is not likely to improve as much as those will if I put a decent amount of work into it andddd because my hamstring/right leg/hip whatever is really bothering me a lot right now. I'm really tempted to just take off from running through Sunday to see if I can get back to at least semi-healthy again. Playing softball tonight was difficult because it was bothering me so much. Not really sure what to make of it.

Swim

So I've finally discovered that I really like swimming. It only took me 23 years but it's a great way to get fitness in my upper body without having to lift weights, all the while contributing to aerobic fitness to a degree. I also look dead sexy in jammers.

It does get pretty boring swimming lap after lap of 25 meters but you do what you have to with a triathlon in 6 weeks and a 1500m open water swim in the James River looming over your head. I've also developed a fairly painful spot in my hamstring which leads me to believe that it's either a strain or some sort of pull, but I'm not really sure a pull can result in one tender spot. It seems to dissipate after about 30 minutes of running; not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. It's been bothering me for about a week now, so I'm thinking of taking a week off from running and concentrating on biking/swimming, both of which need some work.

My biking fitness is definitely coming around, however. I feel much, much stronger on the bike now than I did a month or two ago and my ability to power over short climbs and spin my way up longer ones has significantly improved. My recovery time is next to nothing on the bike as well, almost certainly a product of my running fitness.

I really have no idea what to expect from the triathlon in terms of results, but I think I can do the bike in under 1:15 (40k), as I know most of the roads very well and hopefully under :40 on the run (10k). More aggressive estimates would be in about 1:05-1:08 on the bike and :38-:39 on the run. Although I'm not so sure about the run because the Colonial Parkway is not built for fast times (running or biking, for that matter) with it's rolling profile and crappy surface.

I'm pretty excited, but also very, very nervous about the swim. I have no idea how a swim of that length will affect my biking/running. Should be fun.

Triathlete

I signed up for the Patriots International Triathlon on September 7 on Sunday night and just started swimming yesterday. Preparation for a 1500m open water swim will be short but hopefully with my only goal being to simply survive the swim I can get to that point in the month and a half that I have.

Patriots International (Williamsburg, VA)
1500m open water swim in James River
40km bike
10k run on Colonial Parkway (yuck, that's going to suck)

Anyone have a TT/Tri bike I could use? Ha, right.

More work

Tomorrow is the last official work day for the AmeriCorps here (if you've completed your required 1700 hours at that point), but I'll be here for another 2-3 weeks finishing my allotment. Bullshit.

Lots of work left

So I have ~120 hours left to complete in my AmeriCorps service term, which is a lot. That's a good 3 weeks of work right there, not taking any time off and that will mean that I'll be here about a week or two longer than any other of the AmeriCorps. I'm not a slacker, I just made the mistake of not keeping very close track of my hours for the first 4-5 months of work, thereby screwing myself out of a good deal of time. So that kind of sucks, as I'll only get 2-3 weeks off as opposed to a whole month.

I probably won't be racing again until late August at the Greekfest 5k just because I can't justify taking Saturdays off anymore. So that will mean that I'll more than likely miss James K Polk and Blue Points - at least one of which I would have done as a death workout (stay with the leaders as long as possible).

Wall-e was so awesome

Watched Wall-e tonight and became scared for the human race. If we end up the way humans are portrayed in the movie it will be a very scary thing. Great movie though, really great.

Going to end up being close to 60 miles again this week, although this time around I'm definitely feeling the effects of the increased mileage. Went for an 8 mile run today and felt the worst I have in recent memory. I'm pushing myself beyond what I'm really capable of right now, and it showed today. Hopefully scaling it back down to a slow and easy 45 or so miles next week will help me out a bit. If I manage to scale it back, of course.