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

Prescription goggles seem to be a hit or miss proposition. Most of them at my approximate prescription are fine, but the one which listed itself merely as “strong” and a pretty broad range of prescriptions seems pretty damned useless. With the others I can see, even on land, almost as well as with my glasses. These, well, might as well be regular goggles for all the good they do. Which is, of course, why I ordered multiple pairs to try them out, both for vision and for fit. Two more to try tomorrow (excluding the bad ones). I really liked the first ones, so these have a lot to live up to.

Spent some time adding people to the Wii and the two games there (see my LJ for the codes). BC and I spent most of yesterday together, over at his place. Bought some Birkenstocks so I have shoes to wear inside the house, as well as outside for pre-race/post-race wear. Damned podiatrist and his sensible orders not to go barefoot. Not pleased with it, but wearing them inside does seem to be helping. Which is even more annoying, that he was right, and that walking around barefoot inside was somehow a bad thing. Blasted flat feet. Did the mom’s day brunch thing with BC’s family. Came home mid-afternoon in the rain (ugh), played some, made some dinner & lunches for the next couple of days. Just chatting and being a bum here tonight before I crash.

Have to take the Mini in at some point. It’s got this neat trick where if I accelerate too quickly, the run-flat tires’ pressure sensor thinks the tires have just gone down by more than 10% pressure, so the warning light cuts on, which then cuts out the ABS brakes and several other lights come on, the car dings at me, and it’s altogether incredible annoying. I know it’s not that the tires are actually going flat, because Dad gave me a plug-in pump that I’ve checked them all with. So it’s a bad sensor. Grrr. It did manage not to do the trick until I got onto the bridge over the Potomac on the way home this evening, thankfully.

Of course, I mention this to Dad and his reaction was to tell me about the other trick it has of cutting off the AC if you accelerate too quickly with the AC on. That, thankfully, resets when you stop the car and turn off the engine, but not until then. Gotta love it when your car’s computer has to reboot itself.

Anyway, off to bed so I can run & swim tomorrow. Taper week, with the race next Sunday, but it’s still got to be done.

Nothing like preparing for the brick workout tomorrow on the race course we’re going to be racing on in two weeks and reading things like this:

The Columbia Triathlon run course has been acknowledged as one of the most challenging in triathlon.

Ugh. This race is going to be an interesting challenge.

Tired this evening for some reason. Long day, but I got the (hopefully) final polish on The Project From Heck before it goes up to our front office to get ripped to shreds. Tomorrow is assembling the associated binder with all the cases and other materials we cite. Joy.

Went to a men’s knitting group tonight. All of three of us showed up, one of whom was way, way late. I stayed two hours, chatted a lot with my friend who showed up at the same time I did while we knitted, got a goof I put in the last time I sat down to knit taken out of the project (ripped out 4-5 rows to get below the goof, got it back on the needles successfully, and now there’s no sign of the goof. yay), and put several more inches on the thing. It’ll be done, eventually. Not like there’s a massive rush to finish a scarf now that Spring’s here (though getting the hot thing out of my lap while knitting will be a plus). It’s only once a month, so I can go again. Was nice to get out of the house and listen to the two-person band who was playing jazz/blues while we were there.

Short run tomorrow, and a swim after work, then it’s making potato salad and getting myself ready for a brick workout up in Columbia with the club. Get to test out the course (which I fully expect to kick my ass, since I’ve done zero hills this year), see what it’s going to be like in 2 weeks for the race itself. Get to see BC that evening, and he’s bringing over Tiger Woods golf to make me practice. I told him that’s fine, but I get to drag him into Super Smash Bros Brawl if he does bring Tiger Woods. I think that’s a fair trade.

Oh, and I almost forgot, called the student loan company to confirm that they credited the payment and I have a zero balance. Won’t get the official letter from them for another month to 45 days, but the helpful woman on the phone did confirm that it is in fact completely paid off now. Hooray!

I was told not to think about The Big Ugly Project this morning by da bosslady, and I was happy to comply. Caught up on other stuff instead, including sending out the weekly happy hour announcement for the work crowd (I’m the office social coordinator) for this Thursday. All in all much nicer than last week, though I know more of TBUP will be coming as the week goes on.

A pretty good swim tonight, though the pool was a bit more crowded than it’s been when I’ve gone in the evenings. I debated running this evening, since I missed running this morning, but the cooler temps made the decision for me. Plus the whole “train your weaknesses” thing (and swimming is most definitely my weakness in triathlon).

I do need to clarify something from yesterday’s posts – I do not have vertigo again. That, thankfully, is done and gone for now, and hopefully for the foreseeable future (though I won’t be going dancing anytime soon to test that particular theory of how it happened). I was lamenting the fact that because of the vertigo I couldn’t train, which then meant I had no base to build up to for the races this spring. Still miffed about it, but there’s naught to do at this point except aim for the next races that I can train for. So there I go.

Busily trying to work through two dozen honey tangelos my parents shipped up from Tampa before they left to drive the RV back to Tidewater. Normally I end up giving a bunch away because I can’t get through them fast enough, but I suspect that’s not going to be the case this time around. They’re very, very sweet, and I find myself bending over the kitchen sink to devour one more often than usual (it’s easier to peel them, and spit the seeds down the disposer, right there). Good stuff.

BC and I had a nice, low-key NYE, over at a friend’s house with a few other folks. Much fun was had playing Godzilla Unleashed on his Wii, and aside from a single glass of champagne at midnight I didn’t touch a drop (I drove up there so we didn’t have to deal with taxis or Metro). Driving home was the most challenging part – drunken people popping out in the road at random intervals, all trying to flag down any taxi they could. What. A. Mess.

No new year’s day run this year – we got up too late, and then had to zip off to another get-together at Richard’s place in the afternoon. No matter, we got in a nice 4 miles today which, while cold, wasn’t bad. The cold symptoms are calming somewhat finally, but aren’t completely gone quite yet. Rest, relaxation, lots of water, and no drinking. Am going to begin exercising again, though. I just can’t wait any longer.

Speaking of which, signed up for my third and final triathlon for this year, the Nation’s Triathlon here in DC. So I’m doing Columbia in May (Olympic distance), Nation’s Tri in September (Olympic again), and Ironman Arizona (aka IMZ) in November. And a couple of other running events, I’m sure, sprinkled in between (Lawyers Have Heart 10k in June, the National Press Club 5k in September, etc.). Aside from IMZ, they’re all local things, so not a ton of travel for races this year, which should be a bit easier, especially if I’m transitioning jobs later this year.

We did a little shopping today, and I picked up some extra controllers for the two gaming systems, as well as recharging stations for both – no more disposable batteries.

So, a nice quiet beginning to the year, which I hope bodes well for the rest of it.

So, if all goes right in a year I’ll have finished an Ironman race. Let’s let that sink in. An Ironman. Wow. This is definitely a big deal.

A 2.4 mile swim to start, 112 miles on the bike in the middle, then 26.2 miles of running, a full marathon at the end. It’s easy to see why they allow racers 17 hours to finish the race (7 a.m. to midnight).

I’ve known for years that I eventually wanted to complete an IM race. It’s all RNJTM‘s fault – he generously took me up to see him race his 3rd 4th IM Canada in 1999 and ever since it’s been sitting in the back of my brain, waiting for the right time to happen. When IM Arizona announced a second race in 2008, with easy online registration, well, I jumped at it. After an hour or so of contemplation, that is.

This isn’t something one can enter into lightly – it’s going to involve a lot of time, and a lot of foregoing of other activities. Folks who’ve done marathons know what I’m talking about – early bed times, not going out drinking with friends, and lots of time on the road. Just add “in the pool and on the bike” to the “on the road” part.

I know where my first steps are, getting back to my regular exercise routine, reducing my caffeine and alcohol intake, and spending some quality time working on swimming technique. The swim is my big limiter (along with nutrition) – if I can keep my heart rate down during the swim, not have a panic attack, and stay on a good rhythm, then I can get through the rest of the race much more easily than I’ve done to date. I’m getting there, but it definitely needs polishing. Get to test that in May here locally, thankfully.

Did get in a swim this evening, mostly drill work to retrain me how I should be feeling in the water while I’m swimming. It did help – wasn’t terribly fast, but was more comfortable than it’s been in a while.

I’m still processing the magnitude of signing up for this race. I know I can do it. Might not be terribly fast, but I know I can finish it with the right training. Doesn’t mean it’s not intimidating, or freak-out worthy, but I know I can do it. The fun part is going to be the long runs and rides well into cooler weather here in DC (October and November), then adapting to the warmer temps in Tempe.

But before that, it’s getting the base built up, which is where I find myself now. Wow. This is going to be a lot of work.

Not content to stay put, and despite my resolve to race less next year, I just signed up for Ironman Arizona, 23 November, 2008.

Yes, I am insane.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is all perfectly normal.

I’m in the period commonly known as the “taper” for my race on Sunday (as well as “recovery” from the 1/2 marathon, but that’s another insanity). It’s when athletes ramp down their training time and intensity in order to give the body time to recover and be prepped for the effort of the race. And it’s perfectly normal during such a time period to experience feelings of depression, and let down, and anxiety, and just generally “blah.”

But knowing that it’s normal doesn’t make it any less annoying. Or make me any less grumpy.

But anyway.

So, I ran this little race last Sunday. The weather was near-perfect, with the start in the high 60s and slightly overcast. The boardwalk portion (a.k.a. the last two miles) was quite sunny and warm, however. Thankfully they had misting stations set up all down the thing, so one could run through the water for a quick cool-off. I tried to follow my heart rate for the run, knowing where my limits are for taking in nutrition, and trying to keep it lower for the first half. Mostly did okay with that, but definitely was slowing down by the end. Not nearly as much walking as the last time, though. Pretty much only walked twice (on the boardwalk) aside from the aid stations.

Oh, and lesson learned – carry water with me (like I did back in April). I can sip slowly when I want to, and not when they decide to put up a station, and I don’t have to gulp water down periodically, which was not pleasant. The water bottle stays with me for the upcoming race.

The bands were good this year, as they were the last time I ran this course in 2003. I finished faster (2:32:11) than the last time I ran it here (2:49:12), though slower than my overall best 1/2 (2:15:07). I wasn’t trying to kill myself, since I have another race (with another 1/2 marathon) a week after this one, though, so it was all good. I do recommend this race. It’s gotten bigger in terms of number of participants, but it’s still a fun course to run, relatively flat, and having a band every mile or so is definitely the way to run 13.1 miles.

BC and his sister also ran it and did well, with him at 2:20 and her at 2:12.

We had a perfect hotel for it, right at the end of the strip, and right where you got out of all the madness of the finish chute. Ocean views, and close enough to hear the stage but not so close that it was obnoxious when we closed the door to the balcony.

It was good to get a vacation weekend away with BC and friends. We did end up missing the concert Sunday night because dinner took for-e-ver, but that’s not unusual with holiday weekends in tourist spots. Not a bid deal to me, I’m not much of a fan of live music anyway, but you could tell there was some disappointment at the table when we realized how long it was taking to get food.

Since I’m originally from that area, BC got to meet my family as well, and they were out to cheer. Fun moment was BC’s sister running up to my Dad around mile 1 and asking him if he was my Dad (they hadn’t met), then BC running up behind, recognition, and her handing off a long-sleeve T for him to hold for her (she’d worn it to the start line). Dad’s version was more fun (“Suddenly this attractive young woman ran up to me off the course and asked if I was your father…”), but I can’t tell it as well as he could.

I do have to say, I’m glad the race season is almost over for me. One more month, four more races (1/2 iron, 5k, 5 miler, sprint tri), and that’s it. I need some down time after this year’s frenetic pace. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed all the racing, but I’m ready for a break.

I just saw a woman wearing black Crocs with her pants suit. It’s a shame they don’t give us honorary fashion police ticket books, or she’d have gotten one.

I need to teach my clients the concept of “admission against interest.” Just because someone has asked for information doesn’t mean you have to divulge everything, only what they asked for, narrowly tailored to fit the request. This is not an opportunity to throw on a hair shirt and get out the scourge, folks.

Saw Stardust this weekend. Marvelous film. Will enjoy getting it on DVD once it’s out – this was definitely an over-and-over-again type of film for me. And Michelle Pfeiffer was hot as the witch queen.

Rode out to BC’s place on Saturday. If that type of commute is going to become a regular thing, which it may, I’ll need to get another bike. I rode the tri bike, which meant carrying a bag on my back. Not terribly comfortable for 2 hours. I need a bike with a rack for panniers, and the mountain bike simply is not up to that kind of riding. Maybe in the spring I’ll look for a road bike. And figure out where to store a third bicycle.

Getting back into the swing of things, post head cold and pre-races. The swim is still the most nerve-inducing part, but I expect it to go more smoothly than previous races. I’m less anxious about it than I have been in the past, and I think it’ll be fine.

I’m glad I gave up the morning paper, I am making it through more in the way of other reading, but the magazine pile hasn’t really diminished. I have made it through 1.5 books, though, and the last Harry Potter is sitting out, beckoning.

Been neglecting my two-a-day workouts for far too long, so in addition to the long run this morning I swam this evening, putting in a shorter overall session, but including a 1k yard set in there. That’s roughly half of what I have to swim for the race, and it didn’t kill me, so I’m feeling better than I was this weekend about my upcoming big race, then Diamondman HIM (half ironman).

Also, heaven help me, I was looking today for information on the Chespeakeman race, a local (Maryland’s eastern shore) ultra triathlon, aka an ironman distance race, but without the sponsorship of the official Ironman organization (which carefully controls the logo and naming rights). It appears to be much more low-key, and much easier to get into, than one of the branded races, so I may seriously consider that as my first IM race. The timing isn’t the best for me, given it’s at the end of September (one of the crunch times for me at work), but I think it may be doable. Not this year, but maybe next. I’ve been saying I wanted to tone down the amount of races I do next year and concentrate on only a couple, with the goal of an IM the following year, but it might work to do Chespeakeman next year at the end of the season, with an earlier HIM race. Decisions, decisions.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever want to do more than one, but I do want to finish an iron distance race at least once.