Back on the Track

I broke in some new running shoes with an interval run this morning...hadn't been to the track in a good 5 weeks. We've decided to do the Leavenworth Half Marathon on October 13 for sure, so I figured it might be a good idea to hit the track. I felt pretty good, but was a little slower than a couple months ago. Haven't lost it all, though, even after a month of recovery. Yea!

Today is the only sunny day of the week, so I'm planning to get in a bike ride later today before the rain returns...might be the last one for a while.

Interval run:

2 mile warm up: 17:58
1 x 800: 3:46
4 x 400: 1:48, 1:49, 1:49, 1:50
1.8 mile cool down: 16:26

Total: 5.8 miles (incl. recovery between intervals)

Out of the lake and into the keg...

This morning was probably the last Friday lake swim of the year. It wasn't really that cold with my neoprene socks and insulated cap...and there were 2 people out there sans wetsuits...but it seems the group is planning to hang up the wetsuits for '07 and migrate out of the dark and back to the pool. I HATE the end of summer and the end of lake swimming, but I also hate being cold and swimming in the dark, so I guess I can't fight city hall...or you can't fool mother nature...or...insert some other appropriate cliche in this space. The toaster at the Essential Bakery was FINALLY fixed, so we got to end the season with the correct breakfast after the swim.

One redeeming quality of September is the "Fremont Oktoberfest" (which, yes, is obviously held in the wrong month, indicating perhaps that the planners of the event drink as much as the particpants?). We've rallied some fellow beer enthusiasts and my goal is to get to Fremont today in time for the 3 additional Happy Hour tokens available before 6 p.m.

The next event on the horizon is possibly the Half marathon in Leavenworth in October (linked to an Octoberfest actually held in October)...and/or the Seattle Half Marathon on Thanksgiving weekend. My biking is, unfortunately, dropping off almost as rapidly as the daylight lately...but I'm trying to hold on a bit longer and get in some rides. I went out for a ride at lunch one day this week and, on an impromptu whim, did hill repeats at Interlakken...for fun! And it really WAS fun! I'd thought about doing the Black Diamond Olympic Distance race tomorrow, but decided to just let the season go...it was a really good race season and I'd rather not risk going out on a bad (or cold) note. And, honestly, at this point, the beer garden tonight, sleeping in, and going for a leisurely ride with Seujan tomorrow sounds really great!

PROST!

Viva la Junque!

Long live junk miles!!! I had a fabulous 52ish mile bike ride today at a leisurely average pace of 14.5 mph. It was sunny, I felt great, it only took half the day, and I didn't even get pissy when I had to stop at stoplights! Whoo-hoo! I enjoyed the hills (did Juanita each direction) and just had a great time on my bike. I chatted with some women by the bathroom at the park in Kirkland who were interested in my bike and asked how much "one of them" cost...they both seemed incredulous when I told them and I realized again what a subculture I live in being in this triathlon world...my bike is (still) one of the least expensive on the rack when I race, yet it's worth more than my car and way more than the hobbies of many other people, I'm sure. Oh, well...I'm a happy recovering triathlete in a very healthy relationship with my bike and I like my addictions. I mean, I could have bought a lot of crack with the money I spent on my bike (and my shorts, and the wetsuit, and the running shoes, all the tune ups, the travel, the entry fees, the massages, the PT, the swag, and...oh wow, I'd be dead by now), right?)

This week was a nice recovery training week...everything was fun/not hard and I got to swim in the lake twice. Yesterday we swam a bit longer than usual (gotta keep Duncan training for Hawaii) and it was a really nice morning. The water has been warm and calm and we got a sunrise during the swim again yesterday. I'm savoring every last bit of September summer!

In other Ironman recovery news, I somehow managed to pull off a dead toenail yesterday that lost its life during the marathon portion of the Ironman (sidebar: the toenail extraction occured during a 1:1 meeting with my boss...but I don't think he noticed!!)

Life after Ironman

I've now been an Ironman for about 8 days...After a week, I'm down to saying, "I did an Ironman!" only about once a day and I actually took off my IMC sweatshirt and washed it. The post-race buzz has worn off a little, but Seujan and I have done a very good job of maintaining it with regular celebratory beverages ("'Nother drink? Sure! I'm not training for anything!")...which leads me to wonder if the post race "Recovery month" is so named because the stacking of celebration beers could make one NEED the other kind of recovery. OK, that's a little exaggeration, but it has been nice to have a few toasts and to relax a bit and work out for FUN. Sleeping in, running around Greenlake as the entire day's exercise (wow, is this what "normal" people do? One shower per day, wow), and remembering how much fun "junk miles" on the bike can be has been a nice reward for the months of training. Of course, my "working out for fun" eyes were bigger than my legs on at least one occasion when Seujan and I went out for a 55 mile ride on Saturday. We were both mentally and physically done about 10 miles before the end of that ride...but still had to pedal back to the car. Oops.

I haven't blogged much as things seem a little boring post race...I mean, big deal, I ran Greenlake and swam in the lake with long chat breaks to admire Mt. Rainier. Oh, and I think I spent at least 8 hours last weekend in coffee shops and bars shooting the breeze and catching up with people I haven't seen in months ("Did I mention I did an Ironman?" Maybe there's a reason I haven't seen these people in months...they may have been avoiding me?). The most exciting things to report have been that I got a bit of a cold last week and today, for the first time in probably 3 months, I wore a pair of shoes other than the Chaco sandals I swiped from SJ last spring...the ones I've worn to work every single day, worn to/from races, to the store, in the rain, and around the house. I pried them off my feet for one day (for another pair of Chacos, but still...), but true to my creature of habit ways, I'll probably be wearing them tomorrow again. Other than biking and running, there will be no socks or real shoes on my feet until it's absolutely necessary. Hoping the late summer/early fall hangs on until, well, December would be nice...