Today was a travel day mostly although we did stop by the venue for some meetings. Just long enough for me to realize that directly outside the venue is an awesome outdoor lap pool that I will not be allowed to use. I will however be able to stare at it longingly. Joy.
Other than that we went and got some lunch and I managed to find a local grocery store to stock up on food for the week so I can continue to dodge catering. Sweet! Weathwise today it was stupid hot and stupid muggy. I had planned on a six mile run today. I decided I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the heat so instead I went into the hotel gym. As hotel gyms go this one isn't bad actually. All the gear is new and in great shape which is a nice change. And there are treadmills and a nice spin bike which is really all I need.
So I jumped on a treadmill, cranked some Green Day (treadmill running is the only time I ever listen to music when I run) and set the treadmill for an hour long random hill workout at 50% difficulty. Which meant the peak max grade was 8%. I then set it for 8min/mile and had at it. The first time it dialed itself up to an 8% grade at that speed I was dying but I refused to slow down the pace. So I went for it. I had an awesome workout. (including some long stretches of climbing where my heart rate was parked at 175 for several minutes at a time) Clearly that treadmill is well waterproofed as I turned into a giant puddle. Literally every time I pumped my arms while running sweat was flying off the ends of my arms. I was pretty proud of the lake I made under the treadmill. Great workout! And it beat trying to run through the city on roads I don't know in a not so great area in the hot and muggy temperatures. So that was good. I'm surprised to see a decent stationary bike here so I may even get some biking in while I'm out here although I had originally planned to just swim and run out here as I'm going to do another big 2 day block right after I get back with a 56 mile bike / 3 mile run brick followed the next day with a 13 mile run all on the FIRM course.
So after my gym workout I went to checkout the pool situation.....
No those aren't giant poolside chairs... that is in fact a shoebox size swimming pool. I think I could stand in the middle of it and touch all 4 walls. So yeah... thats not gonna work! Fortunately however there are two YMCA's, both with pools within a mile of my hotel so I can swim there should the need strike me. However now that I've seen the lay of the land and gotten a better idea of my work schedule I may not swim out here. We'll see. Part of me is thinking of shifting things around and doing an ocean swim on Monday night and then doing the brick tuesday/wednesday and then doing some easier workouts leading up the YMCA sprint race on Saturday and then doing another two day big brick on Sunday/Monday on the FIRM course. I may even do the tues/wed brick on the TT course and time it so that my fourth lap of the course happens at race time. Now THAT will be a great workout. But I'll figure all this silliness out soon. Tomorrow is going to be such a long intense manual labor intensive workday that I don't think I'm going to workout in the morning. I think that will be counterproductive as I really need my energy for the workday.
It certainly keeps my brain hopping trying to figure out how to juggle business trips, races I want to do, fitting the TT and everything else into my training schedule. Somewhere in there is also doing chores around the house and attempting to have a social life. My friends are beginning to think I'm blowing them off... or spending time with some new girl they don't know about. No such luck I'm afraid... I've just been so exhausted after training my ass off for the FIRM and then working all day that I just haven't had much energy to be social. Evenings have turned into reading and recovery time, or time to catch up on chores around the house and pack up various bags for the morning workouts and route planning etc. How people juggle all of this and have a family I don't know.
So speaking of racing... lets talk about what may lay ahead....
August 14th Barrington YMCA Sprint Triathlon - This should be another confidence booster, transition rehearsal, good time race before the FIRM. In fact its my last race before the FIRM. I hear its a pretty competitive field at this one and I'm looking forward to racing my ass off and seeing where I stack up against the rest of the pack. I'm hoping for a top ten percent finish again, but I have no idea if thats possible. We'll see.
September 12th - FIRM 70.3 1/2 Iron length race. I am so incredibly psyched for this race I can't stand it. Every workout I do that goes well I feel more and more confident that I'm going to have a great day and a great race. Not overly so, but each successful big effort is building my confidence that I'll complete the distance. I have but two goals... one - to complete the race. two - to do so in under six hours. I think both are very much possible. However really I only have the first goal. My number one purpose in doing this race is to open my eyes to what its like to race for this long. I want to experience one half this year so I have a better idea of what I'm getting myself into next year. So the mission is just to complete it. Next year I'll really race it. In fact next year I'm thinking I'll try and do the Patriot, Amica, and FIRM 1/2s. And then with any luck the year after that I'll either do the same thing again, or do my first full ironman. We'll see. But thats a long road ahead!
September 18th - TDD Sprint Traithlon. This is a club race. I'll probably be totally spent from the FIRM as thats only a week later, but I want to go have some fun with a bunch of fellow Tri-New Englanders and enjoy the day. So even if its a death march it will be fun.
September 25th - Amica Sprint Series in Newport. I haven't decided officially if I'm going to do this race yet, but I'd like to. Its not cheap so I won't do it unless I'm feeling strong and well recovered. I'll register for this one pretty last minute if I do it.
October 3rd - Theres a sprint in New Jersey near my parents house. In fact the bike course goes right past their neighborhood. So I may consider closing my season out with this race. We'll see.
January - First week of January is the Disney Marathon weekend. I think I may sign up for this. Looks like I have enough points to get free airfare and hotel and it will give me enough time to train for it. The sick and twisted part of me is really thinking of doing the "Goofy" which is when you run the full and the half marathon on back to back days. In which case I'd do both at a relaxed pace and enjoy the weekend which could be great fun.
And then of course theres all my wintertime base building goals... strength training, more coaching in the pool, joining a masters swim group and getting much much faster in the water, strength training, and learning to love riding in the wintertime.
Lots of great and exciting things ahead!
And speaking of the distant future I also registered for the Providence Rock and Roll Series Half Marathon in August 2011. Theres a deal now so its only 55 bucks so I said what the hec. Normally the though of loud music on the race course does not appeal to me. But then I read they have cheerleaders every mile. I mean C'mon! Who doesn't love cheerleaders! Plus I can probalby walk to the starting line of this race from my house so it seemed like a no brainer.
Ok... its been a long day so its time for me to try and get some sleep. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't suck as much as I think its going to!
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