update

Last Friday I rode 45 miles right after work in furnace like heat. It was the hottest ride of the season. Water becomes so important in heat training. I think I needed a bit more - I got home, sat down for a while, and when I stood up my vision turned to a swirling paisley print. Pretty cool design really, not sure how my brain did it, but I stood motionless in the living room and concentrated on the pre-fainting paisley pattern until it passed. That's some hot weather!

Saturday I got in a quick 1,000 yards at the Y. I was short on time so I knocked out two quick 500 yard free's max effort. Felt pretty strong. My breathing felt clear, effortless. A good sign.

Sunday was the Indiana State Road Race championship - a cycling event. My first real road race since I was about 16 years old. It was rainy, the course was wet. There was literally a line for the ambulance at the end of the race. People were crashing all over the place. I was almost tangled up in a guy losing control going through a turn...I watched him perfectly plant his face in the ditch on the side of the road. Another time there were several bikes suddenly down in front of me - I pulled hard to the left to avoid the bodies and bikes but noticed there were more bikes than bodies. Later I learned the missing owner of the bike was found thrown into the 6' tall corn field with a broken collar bone. Ouch. I just staying in the draft, kept my eyes on the situation, and waited for the sprint. I finished somewhere in the top 20 out of 40 or so guys I suppose. I was well positioned going into the final stretch but was dropped on the sprint by several people. Good times. I told my boss about this race and he's once again worried about my judgement.

Last night I ran 10 miles. Good run, good temperature finally. I'm feeling horribly under-trained. Time goes so fast - and it takes so much time to get to Ironman level. September 12th is right around the corner!

Boo Radley Running

I read To Kill a Mockingbird on my vacation. Great book.

I ran 7.5 miles this morning. It's so dark already in the morning? It was pitch black when I started out...and foggy. As I ran past a dim light at the park a bat swept down past me, completely silent, making it's presence known by fluttered a bit in front of me in the foggy ill light. Yikes. Creepy. I started thinking that this is exactly the type of running weather Boo Radley would prefer.

Yesterday I swam 2,200 yards. Did two hard 800 yards swims all out. Rode into work yesterday in a heavy fog and lived to write about it. 18 miles.

my return to training

I have fallen off the face of this blog. Neglected. Abandoned. This entire expose has drifted off to become words floating around on the surface of the Internet of all things long forgotten. Likewise my training has also suffered greatly over the last few weeks. I think I've gained weight actually. Tonight I did the Tuesday night race ride and finished behind the pack; as in didn't lead the break-away group. And I was dying. It was really a wake up call.

We went to France last week. Spent time in the beautiful French Alps. Took skiing chair lifts across the mountain tops to the finish line of Stage 8 of the Tour de France. Snapped some good photos of Lance Armstrong. He looked like he was my age that day. I swam one day at a pool in Chatel, France. Dress code: Speedo. I've never felt so out of place in my life. I had to go buy a Speedo - as I didn't pack mine. I've never walked around a casual public pool in a Speedo type suit. I felt so European. Took a train to Paris and walked ourselves silly around that beautiful city. Saw fantastic art that I have always wanted to see. Drank Bordeaux. One early morning I ran from our hotel past Notre Dame, past the Louvre, to within sight of the Eiffel tower, and then home. I didn't have any identification on me at all. Young Parisians were still on their way home, drunk, and having mild fights in the streets over girls (completely true). There is not much trash in Paris - you can't get anything To Go. But you can buy a bottle of wine. I ran past the ruin of many bottles on my morning run - and watched the street cleaning crews sweep the glass away. It was different than a lap or two at Foster Park. Took the Euro Star under the English Channel to London. Spent a great night at an old English manor in the country side, and finally toured around London for a day. Not a bad week all in all.

Except for zero training. Even the week leading up to the trip was mostly lost - I had so much to prepare. My training was sacrificed. Poor timing also - as I'm in the big part now, the final push. Every work out has to count. But for whatever reason I don't seem to care anymore? Horrible isn't it? It all kind of started when I trashed my TT bike.

Yesterday I ran 6.5miles. This morning I swam 2,000 yards. Tonight I rode 40 miles that almost killed me. I'm coming back.

50/20

I rode 50 miles today, nice weather. Perfect cycling in fact. The farmers were out making hay - literally. I love seeing huge swaths of field with large rolls of hay strewn about. It's surreal. And real - like the work of a farmer in the field. That Whitley county is beautiful.

I took the day off today to train. So, when I got home from the ride I drank some calories (glass of HEED and a Poptart) then went on my long run. 20 miles. Everything was going along until mile 14 or so. At one point I stopped and just sat down for a minute to stretch and stop. I think the ride took a little out of me. It was not a good run. I got home, hobbled upstairs, got a few towels to lay on, and immediately fell asleep. I didn't have any gels (liquid calories) on the run or the ride. So I was a little bonked out. I was also desperate for water a few times...eventually made it to one of my local water holes. There's a house with quick, obscure hose access right off the sidewalk that I hit routinely. I've never asked permission - but it seems like no one is ever home.