Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Got caught by a “gotcha” today at work that never should have become a gotcha, but did because of other, more pressing concerns. The joys of too much work, too little time. I think we’re now caught up on it, but I don’t like being in that position, nor do I particularly enjoy putting my boss in that position. Yuck.

Slept poorly last night, a result of a bit over overtraining soreness and late eating caused by needing to run to the grocery store right after running and cleaning up (rather than being able to eat first and then get to the store). Slept in a little, but I suspect I’ll sleep better tonight. Which is good, since tomorrow is my long run of the week.

I got a new pod(people) coffee maker for work, and it’s working out well thus far. Won’t get one for home, I still prefer the French press and grinding my own beans, but it’s a good, and cheaper solution for feeding the addiction at work. It was a freebie via a credit card I hold with otherwise relatively worthless “points” so the sole cost is the coffee itself, which is cheaper then buying it brewed from any of the local vendors. Not bad, though it does cut down on the need to walk out of my office, which is perhaps not the best side effect. I’ll have to take more chances to get up and walk.

My gut decided it didn’t want to behave for the past week. A combination of allergies, lack of exercise & water (traveled home in the midst of the remnants of hurricane Ida), change in diet (see last parenthetical), &c. just left ye olde gut very, very unhappy with me. Finally managed to calm it down yesterday morning in time to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather with a good 20 mile ride. Also got over to the Hill and fixed the fixie, which was a relief. It’s a shame there’s not a closer hardware store, but it’s all good now so I can ride to work again without problems.

Seven months until the half iron, six until the Olympic, and nine until the IM. Time to get out of off-season mode and back to training, hence the desire to get back onto the road yesterday. I also want/need to lose a few pounds as this season progresses so working out now is as important for that as it is for base building. While I’ve done some half-assed calorie counting I haven’t gotten really serious about it yet. Need to knuckle down on all fronts and get back to being serious about being a triathlete.

I’m currently sitting in my parents’ motor home, listening to the remnants of Hurricane Ida blowing past. Every now and again a particularly strong blast of wind manages to shake the coach back and forth. Reminds me of a camping trip we took when I was little and we had to flee into the vehicle we’d driven up in because the tent was literally about to be blown over by the wind that night. That’s not a concern here, obviously, but it is a bit disconcerting when your “home” rocks with the wind.

Completely forgot to bring any snacks, or Adult Tang, so I think I’ll be shopping tomorrow rather than this weekend. While I’m out in the wilds of Virginia I find it a good opportunity to hit stores I wouldn’t normally get to, or get things that it’s easier to haul home in the car rather than attempt to carry home via the Metro. If I can get out, that is. There’s more than a bit of flooding going on here, which made the drive down interesting once the sun set.

I got to spend the past two weekends with Mike – I went up for Halloween in Salem with him, and then he came down this past weekend for Code and a visit. We continue to talk nightly, and haven’t managed to run out of things to talk about. I head back up in early December to see him next, and visit Provincetown for the first time.

I’m thinking of taking a CPR course in late December. It would be good to know just in general, and also for my continuing work with our New Triathlete Program with my tri club. I’m trying to get myself back into “triathlon” mode, picking up literature I need to go over both for NTP and for my own training, and reinvesting myself back into a training mode that I’ve been out of since September’s race.

No pictures yet, but I finished sock #1 of the set I’m doing from the Braun’s Woods colorway. Fairly pleased with how it came out – the fit is really good. The way the colorway came out was a bit odd – I get a nice spiral up the leg, but the foot alternates between some light striping and two big chunks of pooled colors. Hmmm. I expect the 2nd sock (which has been cast on) will come out about the same.

Dug through stash to see what I might have for some quick hats for the two younger nieces for giftmas. Given my brother’s job situation they’ll get a check from me as the main gift, but something tangible for the little ones is good to do, too. Hopefully the bits of stash I’ve identified will be enough for two hats for them. Oh, and may I say that I am very, very glad I got a ball winder, as that’s making re-packaging yarn to carry with me much, much easier.

Nice weekend here. One of my body electric brothers was in town and crashed here, so got in lots of walking around, playing tourist. I need to go ahead and join the Smithsonian as a supporter of the American Art Museum – I always end up taking people up there rather than the Mall! I especially love some of the crazy folk art stuff on the first floor; we ‘Mericans have managed to come up with some batshitcrazy stuff (as well as some seriously good art, but the batshitcrazy tends to catch the eye). ‘Twas good to catch up with him and reconnect, and I always enjoy playing tour guide in my little city.

Up a bit too late to run this morning, so will do so this evening instead. Will have the advantage of being warmer then, too. Made plans with Mike to head up there the first weekend of December. He’ll be down the weekend after next, so I’ll get to see him soon! There’s a game day that weekend, too, so I get to show him off as well. The holidays will be a little bit crazy, and we briefly toyed with the idea of a visit “home” to his parentals, but it’s a bit soon for that yet. We talk a lot, more than I normally ever like to talk on the phone (friends will confirm I’m more of a texter than a talker), but it’s not felt forced or anything. Still smitten, obviously.

It’s about time for me to go through the Uberlist for this year, catalog what’s been done, what’s yet to be done and is still doable, and what’s completely out. Not quite sure how I’ve done – I haven’t kept up with the list that well this year (in terms of looking it over), but I suspect I’ve done a bit more than I thought I might, realistically. But that’s another post.

Starting to get back into a routine now after a couple of weeks of head cold, travel, complete abandonment of exercise, etc. Ran Monday and this morning (much to the chagrin of my legs), went to the men’s knitting group tonight and got another inch or so done on the leg of the latest sock, cooked a good meal last night, getting into the groove of the new fiscal year at work, etc. A return to semi-normalcy, which is very welcome.

Part of cooking last night was using my microwave convection oven for the first time as an oven and not just a microwave. I knew they didn’t take as long to cook, but didn’t expect quite how much faster it would be. The little 3 lb turkey breast that the label said should take 2.5-3 hours in the oven took 45-60 minutes in the microwave convection oven, and came out quite nicely. Color me impressed. Add to that the butternut squash, roasted in the normal oven, and some asparagus to go with and it was a nice little meal, with some good leftovers. I need to cook more, and this was partly an experiment to see how easily I could cook up something like the turkey breast for taking into work instead of buying the deli meat sandwiches and all the filler they have in them.

Before heading out to the knitting group I raided my stash and managed to find the yarn I was going to make into a scarf last spring (improvised design, didn’t work). I have found a better pattern which is almost exactly what I was envisioning for myself, so was good to find existing stash for it. I should catalog the stash again, and add in all the new sock yarn from the summer, but meh. Also managed to find some stash for a couple of other gift projects. Score.

Spending time with Mike this past weekend was wonderful. Still very much smitten there, and looking forward to seeing how it grows. We just fit together well, and he makes me want to be better.

Running’s getting going again because I have a race in two months, and I will be prepared for this thing and its hills, come hell or high water. Fridays are going to start being hill workout days – heading up toward the Mall via L’Enfant Promenade (that dreadful monstrosity of I.M. Pei’s), and if I can get far enough, up around the ‘hill’ around the Washington Monument. This is the problem with having moved down to the river – it’s relatively flat here, and thus harder to train on hills without traveling. We’ll see how this Friday goes.

Friends visiting over the next three weekends, including Mike in early November. Busy times, and good stuff to do – will help get me out of the apartment, and back into a social groove. While I am doing the IM in August, I need to better balance a social life of sorts, no matter how limited, and settle back into a better pattern of living.

So, I fagged out this morning and bought the super-duper-mega-deluxe-expensive version of Our Lady Of Pop’s latest collection of music I mostly already own. I must say, I’m kinda enjoying having the vids on ye olde AppleTV thingey (since the TV is the best set of speakers in the apartment, this is a good thing).

(oh, and the champagne flutes she uses in the Music video? That’s my crystal pattern)

I’m also suddenly feeling the urge to knit a sweater. I think I must be getting feverish from the head cold. So instead tonight I’m going to work on the long-neglected sock I’m supposed to be knitting. I have to admit, I’m a little afraid of knitting a sweater. I’m not a fan of wearing them, and I’d be trying to make this to be at least partially fitted (as opposed to looking like a big lumpy sack cloth, like many sweaters do), with a really pretty pattern, but man, that’s a lot of yarn to buy and work with. I’m hoping the feeling will pass, but I suspect it won’t. Hmph.

I did get up and run this morning, so am obviously feeling better than I was this weekend. May bike in the morning if I wake up for it. It’s perfect running weather out there now – 50s in the morning. Not so perfect biking weather, but it’ll do. Better than using the trainer, which I’m not ready to do yet.

(okay, watching older Madonna vids, it’s sooooo obvious that she got serious dance training over the years, because the newer ones are so muh more technically competent than her early ones – I mean, watching Lucky Star makes me feel kinda embarrassed for her it’s so amateurish)

Managed to get through the last day of the fiscal year without major drama, mainly because I completely ignored one of our program offices. They can’t manage their own field offices, and I refused to play referee today. Made the day go much better than it might have otherwise. Of course, they’re trying to drag me in tomorrow, but I think I’m going to ask my management to intervene, both with the program people and with the field personnel who are a piecemealing their objections to what we’ve (HQ) told them to do. Tomorrow will be another day, and another year, and another set of messes. Gotta love it.

Well, I made it through the triathlon season. I think this is the first time in my five years of doing tris that I’ve done all the races I was signed up for, and didn’t get a major (or minor) injury. No broken wrist, no broken ankle, no sprains, no plantar fasciitis, none of the usual maladies. Not bad.

The last race, the Nation’s Triathlon, which I haven’t written up, was my fastest to date – 3:17:21, or about 15 minutes faster than my previous fastest Olympic distance race. I attribute most of that to the bike. This was a relatively flat course compared to the other races I’ve done, and it showed. However, that said, while the swim went really well at North East (in that I swam the whole thing), I managed to swim, bike, AND run the entire distance with no pauses for rest, which I have to say I’m particularly tickled about. I’ve always had to take walking breaks on the run, and it was soooo nice not having that happen this time. Getting there, albeit slowly.

It does bode well for a good season next year, with a bit more thought going into preparation now. As I mentioned last month, I’m signed up for three races, an Olympic, a Half and a full IM, and I’m starting to do some off-season stuff to help get going for next year, planning out the general tone of workouts, getting in some yoga, etc. I want this next year to work, racing-wise, and to do well at the IM.

In other news™, I find myself smitten. A friend I’ve known very casually online popped down to DC from Boston over Labor Day weekend, and let me know he was coming in. We planned and then met up for bear happy hour at Motley on Friday night, and well, I finally slept in my own bed again Monday night after putting him on a train back to BWI to fly home. To say that we hit it off well would be an understatement. I’ve very much been enjoying chatting with him, flirting via SMS, etc. Mike’s a good guy, and I look forward to getting to know him better. Longer readers will know that I rarely travel on my own (when not for races), so the fact that I have plane tickets to Boston next month should be a sign of how this is going. We know it’ll be a challenge living in two very different cities, but since when have I done anything normally? And I think he’s worth it.

Well, after trying this once before in 2008, and massively failing owing to plantar fasciitis and a spectacular break up, I’ve signed up for another Ironman race, this time in Louisville, Kentucky. On August 29, 2010, at 7:00 am sharp I’ll hit the Ohio river and hopefully sometime before midnight I’ll finish.

Still a little bit freaked out this evening, much as I was when I first signed up for Arizona. I know I can put in the work, and frankly after the injury I think I’m better able to focus on what I need to do to get through this. I’m signed up for one other race next year at the moment, the Eagleman 70.3 (that’s a half-Ironman), and I’m hoping to get into the Columbia triathlon for the third year in a row (registration opens Tuesday). That’ll be it for tris, and I might through in a road race or two as well. I haven’t sketched out the year’s full plan as yet, because I want to get through my last race in two weeks, the Nation’s Triathlon, first. Then I’ll fill in the gaps and set things in motion.

I’ll get through this one.

I should do brick workouts more often, that was good practice.

Biked about 25.5 miles, then ran 6.5, with a dismal eleven and a half minute transition (in my defense I had to catch the elevator upstairs and completely changed clothes, but still). Perfect morning for it, started just before 8, was done right before 11. Garmin estimates I burned about 2,700 calories and I believe it at the moment! Trying to snarf an egg and cheese sandwich (homemade, not fast food). Body’s saying while I may have consumed some sweet stuff on the bike & run, now it needs salt, and lots of it.

Bike seemed to be quite happy that I cleaned the chain yesterday. Only took me how many years of owning the thing? Oy. Better late than never, but boy did it need it. Next, the mountain bike chain. Time to get the bike a full check out after the next race, I think the tires may need to be replaced soon, they’re looking a little cracked.

In the meantime, I think it may be time to get out and do some errands.

So, brief notes on the course:

Great swim conditions – flat, no waves. Too warm (85.4) for wetsuits, and no one in recent memory could remember ever being able to use one there. Buoys well placed to measure progress.

Bike was challenging, but not overwhelming – this wasn’t Columbia. Still hilly, but not bad.

Run was hot, hot, hot. Rolling hills, blazing sun with no shade, but plenty of aid stations. A shame they can’t move us across the road to run on the shady side of the street.

Personal notes:

Getting there early was sooooo worth it. Got parked, got set up early, got time to go to the port-a-johns a couple of times. So worth the earlier wake up for the lack of race stress. And in general, I wasn’t as stressed about this race this time. As I started to get some pre-race jitters Saturday, I looked in and said to myself, “You know, you’ve been doing this for 5 years now, you know what you’re doing, you’re going to be fine.”

Best swim ever. Well, aside from major, major chafing. And overdoing it, heart-rate wise. That said, I got my groove relatively early, with very little in the way of stopping to do side or breast stroke, and just powered through. Seeing those buoys slip by at a regular clip was nice. About halfway through I realized I had forgotten to put body glide on my arm and armpit, as I normally do for a pool swim, because the right arm area just got chafed to hell. I did a practice swim beforehand (a first for me), which helped with the comfort level. On the practice I was able to do bilateral breathing. On the real swim I ended up breathing just on my right side to keep my face out of the sun – the reason the right arm is chafed more than the left. I also pushed a bit too hard, because I was feeling pretty good, until I got out of the swim and realized I’d pushed my heart rate too high. Walked rather than ran the distance from the water to transition.

Started the bike with a seized up calf. When I went to mount up my left calf just screamed at me. Came back down (off to the side so I wasn’t in the way) and let it settle down before trying again. Did get back up on, and did ride pretty well, though I used some of the downhills to stretch out both calves, and spent a lot of time worrying if I was going to be able to run at all. Need to work on uphills – I crawl uphill, then fly downhill. Muscular endurance? Will have to check that out. Got tired of flying past people on downhills and flat only to get passed like I was standing still on the uphills. Also, they seemed to like Busch Lite out there because there were a lot of cans of it all over the less populated parts of the bike course (these are the things you notice while trying not to pay attention to how slow you’re going uphill).

Did manage to run – some bouncing up and down in transition after I switched shoes showed that it was going to be okay, so I zipped out on it. The course, as I noted above, was very, very hot. All in the sun (except the immediate start and finish). The aid stations were good (though I’m still glad I carry my own water bottle so I can sip at my own pace), and volunteers were fantastic. I got a cold washcloth early and put that on my neck, recharging it in the ice pools where drinking water was stored as I was able. I think that’s the only reason my neck isn’t as red as my shoulders (which aren’t bad, just a little red – and I did start with sunscreen on, but didn’t reapply in transition). Felt fantastic to have it on there, and to get more cool water on it. Walked most of the course because of the heat, came in running the last bit.

Total time: 3:40:17. Not my fastest (Columbia 2008), nor my slowest (Mooseman 2006). Did learn from the experience, and had a fun time challenging myself, which is why I do these things after all.