Not the brightest idea

The day started off well enough. Dragged myself out of bed and got a short recovery spin in the garage. When I got home from work later in the day, I got dressed for a workout that is supposed to go like this: (1) one mile run to the gym, (2) abs and weights, (3) hill repeats & (4) one mile run home. The hill repeats hurt but when I get home, I generally feel good about the day.

Unfortunately, when I got home today, I changed the process and had a workout that looked something like this: (1) eat fried chicken that was found in the refrigerator, (2) run to gym, (3) start abs, (4, 5, 6) fight urge to puke, try hills, stop and walk home in disgust.

Ouch

Got in a decent long run today. Finished with 16 miles but as with last week, I had to break it down into smaller sections to make it manageable. Did three 4.8 mile loops and finished up the last mile and change on the treadmill. The crazy part was when I got down to less than a mile, I reset the treadmill so that it showed zero miles. Somehow, it seemed easier to do the first 8/10th of one mile than the last 8/10th of 16 miles. Was hating life toward the end but glad to have finished. 26.2 miles...got to be kidding.

Head for the hills

Good ride with Brit today. We got up fairly early and rode the Great Western. It was a good change of pace with climbing on the front side and a relatively easy decent to the car. Ride distance was only 42 miles but the hills made it worthwhile.

Brit and I are going to coordinate our training schedule and I hope that we can ride together at least a couple of times per month. Hopefully, I'll be able to hang with him since he seems to gain fitness very quickly and is pretty gifted athletically.

Rest or Rationalization?

Got up in time for my 6:00 a.m. spin class but didn't quite make it out the door. Talked myself into calling it a recovery morning and climbed back in bed. Then the guilt monster started up and I couldn't sleep. Great. Just great. Finally went to the garage and got an easy 30 minute computrainer ride in.

Run and done

Finally got my but up and put the running shoes on. My 8:30 a.m. run actually took place around 2:00 pm but at least it's done. Managed to get in 15 miles. Had to break it up into three segments. Did five miles, came home drank some water, ran another five, came home gassed up again and finished up with five more. I couldn't come to terms with 15 but three sets of five was somewhat ok. Funny how mental this sport can be. Had the same thing going on during the ride yesterday. Broke it down into little sections and managed to survive.

Thinking that half the battle is getting my mind/attitude right.

May try to get a ride in the mountains done next week. Kebby and Steph knocked off a 90 mile monster today that would do wonders for my confidence (or it might just crush me...who knows).

Go time

August 1st. Good a time as any to start keeping a log of my Ironman Arizona training. Kebby, Steph and Jen are out riding and I should be getting ready for my run. Funny how updating my blog about training seems more important than actually doing the training right now. Fortunately, I'm going to have to get out and exercise so that I actually have something to write about.

I believe the keys to having a good race in November are going to be:

- consistent training

- good nutrition

- staying healthy

Obviously bad luck can hit anyone but I think I generally know what to do. Got to get up every day and at least start the workout. Have to be smart about listening to my body. Walk away when the carrot cake starts whispering in that seductive voice. And finally, stretch/roll every day.

Managed to get in 86 miles on the bike yesterday, so the guilt monster is acting up too much yet.