When best gets even better...

So, as previously eluded to, I have been in a bit of a training slump lately. Didn't know why; however I just didn't have the spark that I normally do to get out the door. A bit of apathy one might say, but I have been still getting my workouts done, while admittedly, a few somewhat reluctantly performed. Well, I had a recovery week last week, and am feeling much better to get back into things. I am very thankful to get that feeling back. It is a weird to not love to do the thing you love to do. I am pretty sure that I have my mojo back, and feel like I want to go on the swim a ton, run all over, century every day plan. :)

Whining aside, I am starting to get to know the roads here better, at least south of town. The roads are quite intertwined, and I still need to meticulously map out my ride if I am testing out new territory, not to mention construction surprises. I have definitely had my fair share of getting lost or getting stuck taking some not so bike friendly highways (read, high traffic high speed, and no shoulder). With that being said, I am absolutely in love with the riding here! The terrain is awesome, and every road is picturesque with foliage and quaint farms. No matter when I go ride, and how far, I always seem to see other riders.
Side note-
New theorem/postulate: only fast riders wave to other riders. No wave = slow.

For the past, er... way too long...I wasn't really swimming, and didn't care. I didn't get any better when I worked really hard at swimming, and when I didn't work that hard at swimming, I had some of the best swim splits ever. Things that make you go hmm. Anyhow, I think I have found the next best thing that will get my spark back for swimming- that is finding enjoyment in the mere act of being in the water and enjoying the world around you- that is open water swimming in Lake Wingra! When I first moved here I was getting mixed reviews on the swimming status of the various lakes and bacterial counts. I have gotten the final word from the tri-geeks and got the real word- it is a go! This means that I have my very own open water training grounds a perfect 4 downhill blocks away... Lake Wingra! There are no motorboats allowed on the lake, and there is usually enough of a handful of canoers/ kayakers/ small sailboats for company. The state games rowing/ crew championships were held there this weekend- those rowers are a pretty fit bunch, and it was fun to watch as I swam along the shoreline to stay out of their hair. I also ran into a nice group of wetsuit-clad people sitting around post swim when I rode there on Monday to swim. Found out it was an open water master's group composed of quite a few tri folk- I am going to join them tomorrow for an evening swim. Not only just having this lake so close, but I am very excited to have found a masters group that meets in the *gasp* evenings!!! (for some reason fishies love to torture themselves by getting up at 5am- tried for about 3 years to convert myself to working out at this time- never took.)


Not to leave out running, I have found the Arboretum which can be reached in a run of a little over a mile from my house. The Arboretum is a beautiful wildlife preserve run by UW in the middle of town with over 20 miles of dirt trails in addition to the secluded, shaded road through it. A perfect 1 hr run from my house, through the arboretum's main drag, and back. I really can't believe that there is trail running less than a mile from my house.

I am on the last steps of my long, drawn out unpacking process. I will hopefully be hanging pictures soon which is what I consider the final stage.

In the meantime, I have a DVR, and couldn't be enjoying it much more with all of the Olympic trials in swimming, track and field, and not to mention a little race in France that is going to start here in a few days. I have literally gotten chills/ teary eyed while watching the trials on TV. I am jealous of my Omaha friends who are actually there watching it. It is absolutely amazing to watch these athletes compete, not to mention break world records left and right. I am foreseeing nothing getting done when the actual Olympics are going to be on tv; notwithstanding, I am excited to have so much material dvr'd for this winter.

I can't even come up with a witty enough caption for this one...

Article: Athletes may be using Viagra for competitive edge

Interesting to say the least. This brings me back to my Endocrinology lecture in undergrad, some of my favorite and very memorable lectures include endocrinology behind bonking, and endocrinology/ pharmacology of erectile dysfunction and treatment.

Hy-Vee triathlon RR:
- At first it felt a little funny getting ready for the first tri of the season, then I was back in my element, found my official 'packing checklist for going to a triathlon' amongst the remaining boxes of stuff to be unpacked in my office. My fool proof list to accommodate for my scatter brained nature before racing. Got everything ready, cleaned the bike, popped on the H3s, and headed out the door for a nice road trip to DesMoines. Got into town at 3:59 and was able to run in to meet up with Andy and Rick for the 4:00 required pre race briefing/ propaganda show. Got the swag bag, realized Andy's car's parking brake broke in the 'on' position (not good), and left the car to drop off all of the transition goods at various locations around town. Picked up Dave, got some Jimmy Johns, and settled in for a good nights sleep at the Rodeway ghetto inn. Oh wait, we needed to be up at 3am to get to transition by 4am. Had a few canned 'double shot' coffees on ice, and finally felt ready to go.

Swim: Without swim training, go figure, I was slower. Oh well- it was an interesting experiment on my part and I got to know my body better. Conclusion of the experiment is that lack of swimming means It takes me a long time to warm up in the water. On a mental note, I was confident with my skills and the race until I got in the water. Then I thought- 'what was I thinking that I could do this after avoding a pool like the plague?' My lack of training haunted me and I literally needed to pop my head up once, look around, and question what I was doing. I then told myself to htfu, remind myself that I have done two ironmans, and focus on the good, efficient, relaxed form that I have worked on all winter. Second half was great- I enjoyed the rest of my swim, for it was a beautiful morning and the water temp was perfect. As far as water quality, fecal coloform does not scare me; I grew up swimming in the Mississippi almost every day.

Bike: Fun course, more challenging than the pancake + 1 hill of last year. Happy with the fact that I averaged about 10 watts higher than last year; however my time was slower. I'll take it. I saw the Kim West himself out on the course in his requisite devil costume, and popped him a wheelie!

Run: I have been working on a lot of intensity with my running all winter and spring very diligently and planned on using that for this race. For the whole run, I asked myself if I could be running any faster, and made sure that answer was no. In other words, kept the rpe where it needed to be. Although a hilly course, my plan still produced dismal results. A little disappointing to still chug out a snails pace run split. The reality of actually training hard, really executing oneself, and still sucking is a pretty big chip to swallow. I am still happy with being out there doing what I love to do and executing a solid race overall.

After the race, got cleaned up, had some good food, finally fixed Andy's car, and headed back to Madison. Overall it was a very fun weekend. I am pretty sure it got me re energized for this season and hopefully jerked me out of this slump that I have been in with training. As far as I am concerned, mission accomplished.


Other side notes on life:
- Got lost for the first time on a bike ride in Madison because a road was closed for construction. Ended up in the closest thing to the 'projects' in town. I coudn't find my way out of town for a few hours, I was pretty mad by that time, and ended up doing an adapted version of intervals through the 'hood' instead of on the route that I was looking forward to checking out. Oh well. Finally found a bike trail that I could take back to my house. side note: I am hopefully going to check out that route tomorrow.

- Got to check out 'the terrace' on lake Mendota and see what the fuss is about. Pretty fun place.

- Get well wishes for my friend Sara who came down with an MRSA infection. She is almost all better now, but still pretty scary for being a healthy, fit twentysomething. I guess moral of the story is it can happen to anyone.

- Planted some petunias in my yard today and also weeded and mowed. My yard looks awesome!

- Rode my bike over to 'concerts on the square' tonight to meet up with some friends, and meet some new ones. Pretty fun times!

- Fired up my new grill Monday- chili lime chicken burgers with grilled pineapple on grilled wheat bagels (someone forgot the buns at the store...haha) I am getting used to this whole grill thing. Next up was the roasted corn for salads- another success. mmmmm...

Yet another update on life...

- Did the final move from Omaha at the end of May. I have been saying that I would remove my rear view mirror on my way out of town; however, I didn't need to. The final load in my car was so full, it literally took me 5+ hours to back, I had knives under my seats, clothes jammed in every nook, and the back end barely closed, yet I did it! Literally, I had a hole for myself to drive, and that is it. The passenger seat was up to the level of the dash, and the rest of the car was densely filled to the roof, which had 3 bikes on top.

- With that being said, I moved in with my parents for a few weeks until I closed on my home. It was actually quite nice to spend some time with them. During my stay I got some beautiful riding in and around LaCrosse county. It was awesome to ride the ridgetops, and go into the valleys filled with beautiful mist and quaint little dairy farms. My stuff was in the garage in what I would call a pretty impressive pile. It is pretty funny when you actually take all of your stuff from its little nooks where it is all packed away- it turns out to be more than you thought- oh well, I guess I do have a house to fill.

- So, I am now in Madison, and officially a homeowner. Moving in went really really well thanks to some awesome people and wonderful friends. Fortunately, my home is perfectly fine with the apocalyptic flooding that has been going on around the area. While out running, I saw many many homes around the lakes in town that were pumping out their basements. All in all, I am thankful that my home is atop a moderate hill from nearby lake Wingra which I have been wanting to go kayaking on. I am loving Madison, and the neighborhood that I am in. I have wonderful local restraunts and shops within walking distance, beautiful trails to run on, the arboretum nearby with miles and miles of trails winding through beautiful green space, and a straight shot out of town to beautiful country roads to ride on. Every ride I have been on I have seen at least a dozen other cyclists out riding no matter what time. It is such a welcome contrast to see people out on bikes everywhere training, commuting, and bebopping around town, people are running everywhere, people out in parks and out on lakes sailing/ boating/ kayaking. I am loving this town.

- I got cable installed yesterday, reluctantly, but I was allured by having the Tour de France DVRd in high def so I can watch it whenever I want. :) So, within a few hours it stopped working. So, I called the cable company to see what the deal was, they couldn't fix it, but here is the catch. During the course of the phone call, the tech asked TWICE if I wanted to add movie channels to my cable. I asked her why I would want to pay for more channels when what I have isn't even working. She couldn't give me an answer, obiously. Naturally, I got things working on my own after the phone call.

- This weekend is the Hy-Vee triathlon, oh wait, duathlon, oh wait again, triathlon! I will admit, with all of this moving and nomadic lifestyle the past few weeks, getting to the pool has been pretty non-existent since Omaha- for real. I am not proud of it, but it is what it is- it unfortunately hit the chopping block pretty hard. So when they first made the announcement that the swim of the race was cancelled- I was really disappointed and bummed that I would be driving a long way (even longer due to interstate closures) for a 10K-40K-5K. I was secretely releived that I would not need to test my lack of swim training, but a little scared thinking how a 40K TT would feel after runing 10 K. Right before I was going to run before my ride yesterday to test the waters, the announcement came out that the swim is back on. Mission aborted- I am glad that I did not need to experience the horror and unnatural progression of a run-bike instead of a bike-run! Kudos to the race directors for pulling a new course out a few days before the event- I presume not an easy task. So, now that the swim is on, I have made a decision: to go into the swim cold turkey, and of course with a wager. :) No swim training, and I will hopefully have the same swim split as last year, or faster. I need to beat a 30:28 swim, and I will get a post race feast and drinks- bring it!