06/22/07: End of the week....

Or is it really just the beginning of the weekend?

Funny thing about focus nowadays....then end of the work week really just means that my "real" training is about to begin. The mid-week workouts are more filler than anything else, keeping the mind and body focused for the weekends longer workouts. Fortunately I'll have some great time away from training this weekend too.

There's more to life than ironman, there's more to life than ironman....If I keep saying it, maybe it'll take hold.

So far this has been a great week, training and otherwise. Since this blog is all about training for IMFL, we'll stick to that for the moment. I fit in all of my workouts, made it to the pool when I really didn't feel like it, and even managed to fit in today's optional recovery ride this morning on the trainer, which you all know I despise if you've been reading my blog.

With a bit of flexibility, this should be a very enjoyable weekend. I have fun plans for tonight, which is why today's workout happened this morning on the trainer. The TnT sprint group has their triathlon tomorrow morning, which I wouldn't miss for the world after working with them for so long, even if I wasn't their main coach. Since I have no desire to bike for 2 1/2 hours in the mid-day heat, tomorrow I'm going to run on the beach for an hour and a half instead. At least the ocean breeze will keep me cool and I can enjoy the sightseeing along the way.

Sunday morning I'm planning on doing a group ride, and will hopefully make it to the hammerhead ocean swim in the afternoon. It'll be nice to see how well the swimming improvements I made in the pool translate to the ocean.

After yesterday's rant about being miserable on a bike trainer for an hour, I had to laugh when I saw this article about a guy who's going to run on a treadmill for 24 hours in Times Square. There's no amount of anti-depressants or other chemical inducements in the world that would keep my from going completely over the edge if I had to be on a treadmill for 24 hours (not that I could run that long anyway). Here's a link to the article:

http://rodale.typepad.com/deans_run_home/

Now let's get to the votes on what Andy should do after ironman:

Do another one faster? Maybe...While I only committed to doing one, my friends seem to think there's no chance of that happening. As Tony put it, either it's going to kick my ass so badly that I'm going to have to do it again to show it who's boss, since I don't let anything kick my ass, or I'm going to have a great time and want to do it again....just have to wait and see on that one....

Xterra? Speaking of getting my ass kicked......I did an Xterra my very first triathlon. While I can endure the pain of an endurance event for hours on end, and even a 1/2 mile ocean swim in rough water with only 2 weeks of training after not having been in a pool for years and years, there's a certain pain I have no intention of repeating ever in my life....that of bouncing off of trees....OUCH! That was one of the most miserable mornings of my life....I think I'll stick to something much easier, like doing ironmans.....Ironic part is that very event is what got me hooked on triathlons. It kicked my ass so badly, that I had to come back.....I'm just doing a slightly more sane version now (although sane seems to be a very fluid concept at the moment).

I will say Ride the Rockies sounds kind of fun. I also may want to do the Triple Bypass at some point. When I was living out there some friends did it. I wasn't nearly in good enough shape to join in on the fun back then. Funny story about that. A day or two before the event, one of my good friends drove into the Vail parking garage and heard a very loud crunch.....ooops....there goes his gorgeous Kline road bike.....So he did what any hard core rider would do....rode the Triple Bypass on his mountain bike.....You da Man Chris!!

Oh, I almost missed the English Channel....I met someone back in '05 who did....Let's see...a 9 or 10 hour swim in 50 something degree water with no wetsuit....Hmmm...I think I'd have a MUCH better chance at surviving Everest....Climbing wall at the Y - here I come......

Andy
Live with Purpose...Enjoy the Adventure