Twenty Weeks

My fellow Louisville triathlete, Jenny underlined the passage of time when she iterated that we had ONLY twenty weeks left till race day. Gulp. Twenty weeks sounds so much shorter than five months! And, actually, that was last week. Now, we have only nineteen weeks.

Training has been going okay. The mild winter has afforded the opportunity to get outside on the bike several times. Last Saturday, I got in a 41-mile ride on a beautiful sunny day with temps in the upper 40's. Criminy, the weatherman just announced that it will be in the 70's on Monday. Good grief. I would be totally enjoying this wonderful weather, if I wasn't terrified that the trend will continue through the summer.

Going back to the training topic, I decided to rejoin the Reds. I missed the gals a lot, and felt a little isolated. So far, I can't say that it's felt that much different so far, except for I now get a lot more email. The training schedule has a bit more volume, which mentally makes me feel better, though I wonder a little if I'm better off physically.

We had a group swimming lesson on Sunday, where the coach managed to find everything wrong with my form, as usual <sigh> I am never going to be a fast swimmer. And, according to her, it's doubtful I'll ever be a good swimmer, either. I guess when I look back from where I started, I am just grateful to survive the swim.

My bike rides, while I've felt pretty good, I am astoundingly slow. It's hard to believe that I've been spinning pretty intensely 2-3 times a week since November, by my average speed on those rides! I keep reminding myself that I am stronger, even if it doesn't appear that way right now. That's my story.

Tonight, I've been fighting the guilt of taking the evening off. My mood has been low, and I have been tired, stiff and sore. I had two big weeks back to back with only one day off. I am not a spring chicken any more, and it's been hard to know what the balance is between tearing down/rebuilding or tearing down/wearing down. Regardless, I didn't do anything tonight, so what's done is done. I have to fight to remember not to compare my training volume with someone else's. If I was totally slacking off, that would be one thing, but just because I got in ten hours this week and someone else does twelve doesn't mean that her training is ultimately any more effective than mine. I read somewhere that allowing someone else to impact the way your feel about yourself or your enjoyment of the sport is immature. (I think that came from Active.com). It's a good thought.

Reds

Red Ladies

As the last three months have progressed, I have felt a little isolated and well, downright lonely! I know that partly, it's just the time of year. I think we all are off doing our own indoor things. However, it went deeper than just training buddies. I really missed the Red Ladies, my training group from last year. For a group of varied women in age, professional background and athletic experience, we gelled into an extremely close group.

So, I'm back. :)

February

It's February 1st...well I guess technically it's February 2nd, and according to my New Year's Resolutions, I should be asleep right now. Oops.

I am having a bit of a slacker week, though I didn't start it off intentionally that way. Monday, I went to yoga and SHOULD have gone swimming after, but did not. Tuesday, I talked myself out of spin class. Julie and Amy were both going to be gone. Who was I going to share my pain with? Tonight, I went to the gym a little earlier than usual, intending to swim, only to find that all the lanes were filled with swimming lessons for another 40 minutes, to be followed by a triathlon class. So...even though was in my swimsuit at the time, I bagged it.

My reluctance with getting wet doesn't seem to be getting better. I don't know what's up with that, but Stella needs to get her groove back, and soon! I've had a tough time getting my head back into it the last couple of months. I have great intentions to do 2,000 yards, but after ten laps, I start watching my lap counter. Then, I'm ready to be done after 1,000 yards, barely managing to push myself through to 1,500. I have definitely got to get over myself, as I've got a lot further to go that a mere 1,500 yards. Kansas 70.3 is really NOT that far away.

So, part of my distraction tonight revolved around looking at a "new" bike. I swore that I wasn't going to get a tri bike this year. Tri bikes are too specialized and who knows if I will continue with this crazy, self-absorbing, prohibitively expensive hobby after this year? Well. Just like my "Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night," my resolve has flown out the window.

Reasonable facsimile of bike w/out Zipps

It's really not my fault. How was I supposed to resist when I see a Facebook friend advertise her '09 Felt B12 for sale? That just happened to be my size (I'm a little vertically challenged and good, used small bikes do not come up for sale that often). That came with Zipp 404's. That was pimped out pretty darn well. I took a little test spin tonight and knew it would be mine. I thought I'd crossed over to true tri geekiness when I bought my set of Zipps. Now, I know I have with this bike AND Zipps.

I really, really am almost done with gear purchases.