When motivation fails you

For some reason, I've had a motivation FAIL this week. Last Saturday, I had an awesome long run (pretty sure I PR'ed that 16 miles) and then followed that up with a great trail run with my buddy Andy (who was on his mountain bike).

Thank goodness Monday was a rest day - I needed it. (Although, I did ride my bike)

I'm feeling very healthy and strong but Tuesday seemed to hit me like a lead pipe. Tired and groggy...which is just like I felt when I was neck deep in my allergy treatments. I think that tiny exposure I've had resulted in being much more sensitive to the seasonal Arizona allergens. It's left me slightly unmotivated and a little more likely to sleeping in .

Something is blooming this week and my body doesn't like it.

I'll muscle through it. It's a relatively light week in terms of mileage. I'm still debating whether to go nutso on the mileage this weekend or take the chance that I'll get it done next weekend (I'll be travelling *all* next week and get back Friday evening). It's somewhat unlikely that after a week of being on the east coast, working with customers 14-hours a day, that I'm going to want to come home, get up at the crack of dawn to go run 21 miles on Saturday.

I already feel the odds stacking against me :)

It's hard to believe that the Black Hills 100(K) is just about a month away. Starting this weekend, my long runs are transitioning over to trail rather than road. It will take more time but I'm looking forward to being on the trails as well as this race - I feel much more prepared than I was last year. The only difference is the distance (it's just 12 more miles right!?)

Too much, too soon? (Superman syndrome)

In classic Superman style, I've been pushing myself pretty hard this week endeavoring not only to make up mileage from last week but really get a rhythm going leading into the new month.

The prescribed mileage this week was 42 miles. Naturally, I bumped this up to 54 thinking it would be no problem.

• Monday, good.
• Tuesday, fine (legs a little sore)
• Wednesday, slight tickle in my throat.
• Thursday, sustained IV-drip of Emergen-C, in bed by 9
• Friday...throat is questionable, feeling 80% and tired

I would just love not to be sick right now.

I have to travel for work next week and it never fails - either I'm sick before I leave or I get sick in the process. In either case, it makes for a sh*tty week and lost days of training.

I'm probably going to take today off in the hopes I can re-cooperate enough to do my long run on Saturday.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Avoiding illness at all costs

Over the past couple days I've been feeling...well...pretty ok. I felt a little off on Wednesday evening and decided to skip the Thursday run just to be on the safe side. So here we are on Friday and this morning I felt even weirder. Sluggish, sniffley and hazy in the eyes. Screw it. I need to get the mileage in.

About 2 miles into the run this morning I was labored and exhausted. Breathing was hard and I wasn't sure I could keep going. Glancing at my watch I noted my pace was painfully slow (close to 10 min/mi). I just wasn't feeling it.

I got to mile 2 (a major intersection) which is a really easy point to decide to turn around an just go home but things were starting to feel a little better. I pushed through and mentally pushed aside my doubt and trepidation about perhaps being sick.

I kept my pace slower and after a while, I started to feel better and more controlled with the run. Until mile 8 anyway. Things started to fall apart and I knew this just wasn't my day. I had planned on going 13 but I know when to say when. I labored on through another mile and a half and just threw in the towel at mile 9.5. That's how discouraged I was...I didn't even want to go another half mile to make an even 10 miles.

I consider this a blip and will continue putting in the mileage this weekend.

I'm leaving Sunday afternoon to go to Seattle for the week - business awaits. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that travel and I don't mix well. It usually goes something like this:

me: Looking forward to spending time with colleagues, networking and having some fun.

Travel: That's what you think. I know how sensitive your sinuses are to air travel and the damp dank moist Seattle air.

me: Leave me alone. I just want to stay healthy.

Travel: But you know you're going to stay up too late, have some drinks while socializing and ultimately get sick. And I know you have a race coming up next weekend. No amount of vitamins or Airborne can save you!!! Sickness will find you.

me: You're the devil. Please just let me get through this week without getting sick.

OK, so that little dialogue sucked. There's a reason I'm a tech nerd and not a writer.

My only goal next week is to stay healthy, get plenty of sleep and not over-indulge in food or drink. Wish me luck.

Look for my Cave Creek Thriller 50k race report in a couple weeks.

The winds of change

Today was my last bike ride until we return home on July 26. Our summer odyssey across the Midwest continues on Friday as we pack up the church-sized van and make the trip to Idaho for my family reunion starting on July 21. It will take us a few days to get there and I didn't want to deal with lugging my bike around any longer than is necessary. Besides, I'm not going to ride it while I'm in Idaho so I figured I might as well ship it home now.

In a way, I'm kind of disappointed about that because taking 10 days off from anything takes you backwards just enough that you have to work 2x more to get back to where you were. On the other hand, no bike forces me to get my running back on track - my longest run thus far has been a 10K. Not going to cut it for Lake Stevens on Aug. 15.

Oh, on a sad note...my Garmin Forerunner 305 is officially dead. One too drops has rendered it a very expensive stopwatch.

R.I.P. 305

Some like it HOT

Coming back to the Northwest for some business has been a clear validation of our decision to move away several years ago - they've had a run of grey, cold rainy weather that would even make a snowman say, "WTF?" Since I arrived on Tuesday, it's been raining and cool...not unexpected for this time of year but nonetheless, a pain in the ass for me and my fellow co-workers who have been trying to train for upcoming races. It puts into perspective that I'm not fighting as many weather-related elements in Arizona - if I were, I don't know that I'd have the discipline or desire to do long rides/runs in the pouring rain.

On the polar opposite end of that spectrum is Arizona. This is the time of year when the low temps only get down to 86 and you pack the oven mitts in the glove box to make sure you can actually drive your car after it's been sitting in the sun for a couple hours. Water bottles get frozen, the tri-tanks get washed every night and the sunblock is applied every day...

So while I can certainly appreciate (and respect) the heat of Arizona, being back in Washington takes me back to those marathon training days when we did get up at 4:30 am to run in the miserable rain. Those days when the weather was a perfectly cool 55 degrees. Those are great memories - one of which I relived on a run today with my co-worker who got us all started on this 'running' thing. The rain actually stopped long enough for us to get in a quick 4 miles near the office. Ah...dodging oncoming traffic, sucking in exhaust fumes and avoiding the slugs...those are good times :)

if I'm being honest, there is no way I could come back and be covered in clouds for 9 months out of the year - this is no way to live...in fear of rain. So next Saturday when it's 115 and we've fried some eggs on the sidewalk and peeled the soles of my shoes from the road, check back in and see which climate I prefer. I may have changed my mind ;)

Soon, the real challenge begins

If you're married and/or have kids you know that finding the time for training can be difficult. At any given time there are activities, classes and carpools all layered with anything related to life or your wife (mine teaches after-school art classes, volunteers, etc)...so needless to say, planning a training schedule each week has been a constant in my life for some time. You might say it's like working out a T1 plan for the family...ha!

I bring this up because as challenging as it can be sometimes to make time for all the things in your life as well as this little thing called an Ironman, you make it work. We don't have the option to just train all day at the expense of our sponsors, so we make do and do what we can.

This mindset is important because I realized this morning that June is basically here - and that means my training schedule just got a bit more interesting. Let me tell you why -

1. We leave for Disneyland on June 8 through June 10 (we won the trip, imagine that). Three days and two nights of magical bliss with my wife, her sister and child along with their mother and my own 2 kids. Happiest place on earth? That depends on how well the mini bar is stocked...
2. June 21st we fly to Rapid City, SD. We'll be staying for about 2.5 weeks until...
3. July 5th, we drive from Rapid City to Minot, ND to visit my family for a couple weeks.
4. July 18th, we drive from Minot, ND to Cour d'Alane, ID for my family's grand reunion that starts on July 21 through July 24.

I'm exhausted just writing it all down.

First, the good news - I'm taking my bike and every piece of gear I own so that training does not fall behind. I'm looking forward to the scenery of western South Dakota and getting in some rides with my old college buddy. It will be slightly more challenging to find interesting scenery in North Dakota, but at least it won't be as hot!

So what's the big deal you might ask? I have no doubt that I'll get in some workouts - it's not the frequency, it's the quality. I have yet to figure out when and how often I'll be able to do long rides or bricks. Slogging to the local YMCA for swims  We're talking about small towns with fewer resources than Phoenix metro...compound that with the likely diet that comes along with being away from home. Let's just say I can already see the dietary temptations that lie before me - something I must resist and conquer.

Lake Stevens 70.3 is August 15 - just enough time to get back from travelling, bust out one last brick and then taper. It will take every ounce of strength and mental fortitude to stay on track - making time to train and eat right. The workouts themselves will be the easy part.