12/22/08

PM:
Sat around most of the day but was slightly productive owing to the fact that I got my car's tires rotated (about 3000 miles too late), my oil changed (not too late, as I use synthetic oil which is nice but too expensive), and my car inspected (my previous inspection was done in November of 2007...in Virginia; yes the sticker was still on my car). That took a big chunk out of my day and an even bigger chunk out of my wallet. That is added to the large chunk of change I dropped on a new bike frame last night: the Planet-X Stealth Pro Carbon.


So that's pretty exciting. Hopefully all goes according to plan and I have a new bike ready to rock on February 28th when my first race rolls around...I suppose there's also the issue of being able to really 'afford' it but I know how to be careful (usually).

Got in 10 miles tonight, about 4 by myself and about 6 with Chris. We talked the whole time and I was pretty out of breath and tired. One of the reasons my HR is consistently higher on 'group' runs is either a) I'm just more excited or b) there is talking. I'm hoping it's the latter. Not that it really matters. Didn't feel too hot today; it was 30 degrees so maybe that explains it.

12/21/08

PM:
Motivated myself to actually get on my bike after scouring the internet for adequate Tri framesets that I don't technically NEED but really, really want. I feel like if I want to go anywhere in this sport I have to not only BE fast; I must also FEEL fast. Mental preparation and readiness is so important in competitions like triathlons because you have to really WANT to do well to finish well. So, shaving your legs makes you LOOK faster and consequently you'll probably go a little faster as well. With a tri-specific frameset, however, it's really not only about looking fast because the correct geometry and aerodynamics of a decent triathlon frame far exceed the capabilities of my beloved Klein's road racing geometry. As much as I love that bike (and really, I do), triathlons are really not it's future.

That being said, I got in a short but fast bike ride today (50 minutes) and covered a "staggering" 17.3 miles while out there. I was little underdressed for 50 degree weather so it was slightly chilly. I could have used some arm warmers.

After the bike I put on my shoes and headed out for a little over 2 loops to get in my first transition run in a while and also get up to 70.3 miles on the week! Woo-hoo, a career high. I feel pretty solid too and I feel as though my body is certainly capable of handling higher running mileage but at this point it's not really necessary to push that boundary.

12/20/08

PM:
Kept it pretty easy tonight on the booty loop. I was having a little trouble motivating myself so I sat around for a bit once we got home from work in a light drizzle - not cold - that fizzled my desire to run quite a bit. Once I got out there, however, it was really almost pleasant. 65 degrees with a cool rain is never a bad thing, especially if it's not a heavy rain (which it wasn't). Set a new high in mileage with today's run.

12/19/08

AM: Woke up and for the first time in my life forgot that today was my birthday. I guess once you're past 21 it's not a big deal anymore. You just get older. At least when you turn 25 you supposedly get a nice car insurance break. At 30, you are 30; that's a big deal (in a bad way). Then you just keep going, and going, and going until one day...you start taking Viagra. Then you go some more.

PM: Celebrated in style with a 10 mile run that felt just 'ok.' Wasn't great, wasn't bad. You know the drill. Not as quick of a pace as the last two days but still under 7:30 on a hilly course (for Charlotte). I'll be at a career high for miles after tomorrow, actually. I'm at 53-55 right now (I can't remember exactly and don't feel like looking at my log) and tomorrow I'll be adding 9-10 miles to that and since 60.4 is my high......I'll be awesome again!!! Yay

The injury to my hand rules out swimming (and biking too as the cut is right where my hands sit on the hoods) so I'm just going to let it heal before doing any of that. Well, I might bike on Sunday and next week but I'm going to bandage the s*** out of my hand.

12/18/08

PM: After gashing my hand today at work I was scared that getting my HR up would lead to blood pouring out of what was basically an open wound (that honestly could use a stitch or two) and me fainting and dying. Well, just kidding. Sort of. But not really. Did a quick 9.4 miles today in just over an hour and did 1 lap at my cap HR. Felt pretty solid, the quick lap was...quick. I'm feeling quick these days. My quickness has become quick quickly. I'm tired.

12/17/08

PM:
Got my new Adidas Adizero Tempo lightweight trainers in the mail when I got home from work and really flexed their muscle on my run today. Kept it easy and did the exact same route as yesterday, except for a little over 2 minutes faster with only a 1 bpm rise in average HR. I felt really, really solid today and am confident in my ability to put down some pretty good run times this coming year. I might do a MAF assessment test on Sunday because I'm almost sure my MAF mile is in the 6:40s range right now. That's down over a minute from when I started this gig 3+ months ago. That's some real progress. My endurance has come a long way as well, as I can finish a 10 mile run and feel perfectly fine. Hungry (my god was I hungry in the last 15 minutes of my run today) but very fresh.

I was within 3 feet of getting hit by a dumba** driver today who wasn't paying enough attention when SHE was turning left. I was watching her the whole time, knowing that she was not looking for pedestrians and just waiting to see what would happen. I was 'prepared' to jump out of the way if she didn't see me but she did (albeit late as heck) and I hopefully scared some s*** out of her and some sense into her.

12/16/08

PM:
Got in 10.35 miles tonight in some pretty dreary weather. Did 3 laps of the booty loop and then added on an out-back to get up and over 10. Felt pretty fatigued, but that's understandable considering the number of miles I've put in recently. In the past 30 days I'm up over 200, not bad. I'm excited for this week, but know that my mileage is going to take a pretty big hit from Dec 29th to January 20th - a lot of that 'hit' will be countered with a massive bump in bike mileage, but still. I'm thinking that I'll take a couple of down weeks, maybe 50 next week and then a couple of weeks around 30-45 depending on how I can fit it in my schedule. Also not sure about swimming, but I think I'll be able to do at least one swim while I'm at home and maybe even an open water event in the Gulf if we go to our beach house.