Reflections

Ariel's question from yesterday caused me to pause and think about a few things, plus I had a couple of beers with dinner so I am a little loose. I don't drink much anymore so a couple of beers has a pronounced effect on me. The following will be a scattering of random thoughts.

It is the beginning of a new year. A time many folks make new years resolutions. I've rejected that notion many years ago and have basically been on a quest to constantly improve myself professionally, personally, physically, etc. It's hard to balance it all, but I'm not happy with a just a piece of it.

I'm a happily married man. A happy union is something that some people never experience in their lives - I feel bad for them. Unfortunately, not all of our interests are in synch; however we support each other in our endeavors and we both agree that our daughter is our biggest accomplishment. She amazes us every day. My wife, Carol, is a private person; therefore, you will not see much information included on my blog regarding her (unless she pisses me off and I need to vent). Though I will say that she finds humor in some of the things that I go through preparing for the Ironman. She has not met Max yet, but I am sure she is a little curious about the guy who tortures her husband. She must also find it curious that I do pretty much anything that Max tells me to - she could only wish she had that kind of control over me.

Well, this is supposed to be a workout blog so I will discuss today's workout. This was the speed work pyramid that would best be done on a track but my misfortune had me doing it on a treadmill. Can I start calling it a dreadmill too or would that be copying? Here's how it went - 200m at about 10mph, 400m at about 9.8 mph. I tried the 800m at about 9.7 mph as the 400m was quite successful - I failed. I was 600m into it and had to hit the abort button. I know the workouts are supposed to be painful and don't have a problem with that, but this was feeling dangerous - I was starting to get lightheaded and was worried about flying off the back of the treadmill - gym wasn't real crowded, but there was enough people there that I would not have been able to show up again if that happened. I refused to miss a distance so after resting the prescibed time I did the 800m - I backed it down to 9.5 mph and that made a world of difference. It hurt, but I did not feel that I was about to lose control. I came down with the 400m and 200m and cooled down on a lifecyle (I had enough of the treadmill by then).

I did not record times for each effort. They would have been distorted anyway as it is hard to mess with the buttons while you are concerned about flying off the belt - I thought it best to just be concerned with making sure it was a good effort and forget about trying to time it. I was spent at the end of the workout so I am fairly confident that it was a successful workout.

Both of my calves are sore - the left one moreso. This is the calf that cramped during my swim. I'm going to use the foam roller, but what I really need is a trigger point kit.

I can't wait until most of my workouts can be done outside - I much prefer the fresh air to just about anything indoors. Jan 12th looks like the most likely day that I will run outside - hope it's decent.