Three Sport Day

The doctor cleared me to run (just on the treadmill) yesterday! I made it a goal to run today. Pretty funny. Day started at the pool, because my son wanted to go swimming. After we came back and had lunch, I cleared out the garage, dug out the treadmill, and plugged it in.

I honestly didn't know how it was going to go. I "ran" one mile in 19:10. I thought my knee was pretty tired at that point, so I stopped. Long way to go.

Then I realized I could make it a three sport day, so I went upstairs and rode a bit.

It feels so good to be back in the swing of things. It's been so long.

Lows and Highs - Independence Day for Celiacs...

With marathon training season upon us in Houston, this Celiac was feeling a little down as I tried to schedule my July 20 appointment for post operation review. Every time I had, the scheduling screen did not show up, leading to delays while the clinic staff consulted with the tech support, etc. I told them that not running was absolutely killing me (see my post on the Ironman).

Finally, the answer was that the doctor was going on vacation, until the 29th. Three hours of "Oh no..." and then - "If you can come in tommorrow, he'll see you." Sweet - please pray I get cleared for at least jogging.

In other big developments - The rumor is that Jason's Deli will roll out gluten free bread system wide! This weekend! I'm so excited - the only thing is that you have to ask for the special prep area. Happy July 4th.

Not signing up for Ironman, Texas (yet)

It's absolutely killing me to not sign up for this race. I was actually on the registration page with credit card in hand, when my brain kicked in and said, "It's less than a year away and you haven't run step one since February, and your doc won't let you run for another three weeks." I just couldn't do it.

Maybe the race won't close (ha ha).

Met a Celiac on a 21 miler today

What are the odds of that?

That's the longest run before the Houston Marathon. Kinda glad its over.

Annual Goal Setting today

Usually toward the end of the year, I tend to get a bit contemplative and evaluate my life. The idea is that I just want to make sure my Christian values are lined up with what I am doing on a day to day basis, and that I am doing the things I love.

This year has been quite odd in that the mood struck me much earlier than the usual Christmastime/New Years. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the new job(s). Or it might be that we just came off our family vacations (Disneyworld!). Or that my training is ahead of schedule and I am doing the mileage now that I would normally be doing in December. Or perhaps it is because we successfully completed another Celiac Awareness Run/Walk a few weeks ago.

Whatever the reasons, it is a very good exercise to be clear about what one wants to do and what one does not want to do. I have found it especially useful to have priorities about those "to-do's." The biggest differences between this year and those prior are the sharpness of focus and priorities. I also have fewer specific goals and more goals focused around process. This year, I hope to think (and analyze) less and do more.

Revisited Soccer Last weekend

When I was in high school and college, I really loved the sport of soccer. I haven't played hard for a long time, until last week. Our church put together a festival for the Hispanic festival and I signed up. Fun.

Of course, the next day, I found muscles that I hadn't used in a long time. Still fun.

Yesterday, I made sure I took my first opportunity to get a flu shot -- not the swine flu one, just the seasonal one. It always knocks me back a step, but I figure it is good insurance against something worse, especially around race time. I was feeling a little bummed lately that I've been pretty distracted and my training has suffered, but my wife pointed out that I am well ahead of schedules from previous years, when I haven't been nearly as serious. That made me feel better.

Ironman Lottery results

April 15 is the day that the Ironman race in Kona releases the lottery results, which makes it a "fork in the road" day for my calendar. This year, they showed the results on the Florida 70.3 show, but I was driving back from visiting my sister in DC and wasn't watching. We did get to drive near a Saab with an IM sticker and a tri-bike on top for a while.

My wife was talking to her friend on the trip. Her friend's husband is a bit of a jokester (and a friend) and he told me to go "cry in my gluten-free beer" because I hadn't been selected for Kona. I was annoyed, because I knew that the results wouldn't be online for a couple of days, so how could he know? And he said that he was watching the Florida show. Knowing his viewing habits, there really must have been nothing else on or he was yanking my chain. I told him there was no way he watched it, and he told me I was in denial.

It turns out he did watch, and I was in denial. I've been doing the lottery for years and have not been selected. Bit of a bummer.

There are basically three ways to get into the Kona Ironman race:

1. Be fast
2. Be lucky << my default option
   
3. Be rich

One of the the things that surprised me this year was my level of annoyance. It went beyond the usual annoyance at being at the wrong end of a joke, and for the first time there was a bit of disappointment. Upon reflection, it had nothing to do with my friend (who simply spoke truth, right?), but was about a change in my attitude. I'm not sure when it happened, but I'm pretty sure I "wanted it more" this year. I think it indicates to me that maybe I need to really sharpen the focus of my strategy on the other two options as well.

Our family in a field of Bluebonnets

Springtime is already here in Texas and the wildflowers are beautiful this year.

Many of the country roads have some outstanding blues and oranges courtesy of the wildflowers. The fields make for great viewing from a bicycle seat, and they last a few weeks.

Here's what we did Saturday after the race. Great post-race recovery, don't you think?

Bike fit = 20%+ more watts!

I know it's been a while since my last post. Work has been busy. Today I went for a bike fitting at the local bike shop. The fitter takes a look at your form and then mucks around with your seat, handlebars, stem, etc to get you more "aero" and more powerful.

To make a long story short, I went through the process and even in the store I noticed I had more power. So I went home and put the bike in the computrainer and did my ride. My heart wasn't working any harder, but I was putting out more watts - over 20% more power. I knew my fit was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad. I'm a believer. I think I'll make my next goal to put out more watts than my weight in pounds for an hour aerobic ride.

In other fun news, my back tire is showing the tread, which means I've finally worn out a tire before I ruined/punctured the tire.

Also - the other day I used a CO2 cartridge to repair a flat, and I thought my tire had reflatted, but the guys at the shop told me that CO2 just leaks out like that. Who knew? You're just supposed to empty the tire when you get home and refill it. Hmm. Learn something new every day.

Christmas is finally put away

Today was the day we finally decided it was time to put away the Christmas tree. I know, you're thinking, "Your Christmas tree is still up in February?" No. It's in the box - we've just been trying to decide where to store it. I wasn't keen on the floor of the garage, and my wife was thinking attic, and well, it just sat there in the playroom for about two months. After a while, you just sort of forget that it's there.

Tonight I was out grilling and looked at the garage and said to myself, "It's time." Perhaps I was inspired by my children, who were picking up (!) in the playroom. So I climbed up in the attic, cleared a space, found a bungee cord, wrapped the box and started moving it out. My always helpful wife was hot on my heels, asking if I needed help.

So I lifted that box without any trouble right up there. She guided it into place, and that was that. The whole operation took perhaps 20 minutes total, and now we can enjoy a tree-free walkway until Thanksgiving or so.

So what on earth made us wait to put it away this long? It makes me think that a lot of training things are like that tree -- if you just do them, you get them over with quickly and get to reap the rewards. If you don't do them, well, they just sit there waiting for you.

Workouts have been pretty good. Swimming is up to 1200 meters (in 30 minutes). My legs are achy tonight, but that's probably to be expected.

Post Race Tidbits

Last night I enjoyed going to both the Houston Racing Triathlon Club meeting and the Katy Fit post marathon party. I don't think it was nearly as much fun for my wife and kids, but I really enjoyed myself.

The best part is that I'm already looking forward to a number of upcoming events. This is different from previous years when I felt like I didn't want to see a pair of running shoes for weeks afterwards. The next big target on the horizon is the MS 150. I got some good advice from some Ironman-distance triathletes, who said, "After the first day when you get to Lagrange, strap on your running shoes and go for a long run." I thought, "Perfect." Based on that mental self-talk, I think my mental recovery is complete.

My physical recovery is going pretty well too. Today was the hardest day for the legs, but I walked for 20 minutes and I can already feel that soreness going away. Pretty soon, I'll I will be left with is the bruise on my ribs. Oh, and I should mention that I got away with trying something new on the day of the marathon. I tried some Access shakes, and they seemed to work out for me.

What a week...

This week I found out I would be going to India in January. To make a long story short, I had to get my passport renewed to get my Indian visa. Luckily, since I live in Houston, this wasn't a big deal. I did manage (stupidly) to nearly lose both my passport and my drivers license. Since I'm flying to my parents on Sunday, I can only imagine how bad that could've been.

Training has been a bit haphazard this week. I've had to work long hours, both getting up earlier than usual and going to bed later than I would like. Plus, I just didn't feel like running. My marathon training group is supposed to do a 21 mile run this week and I didn't feel up to it. I got two vaccinations today, and I have one in the fridge for later (oh joy). Thank goodness one of my running buddies from church called and said he didn't feel like running the full distance either and how did 10 miles sound? So that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

I guess I'll go to bed so that I can get up and do my run...

Craving Something Sweet?

I went out today for a 6 mile run with my kids, and that was nice. It's the first time I've been outside the house running during the week since my wreck.

I told my wife I was craving something sweet, and she reminded me about our recent trip to Anderson, Texas. We were out with some friends and when they suggested dinner at a local eatery, I had to explain about my gluten-free diet. Well, after going to great lengths to explain to the staff about how I couldn't have any wheat, barley, rye or oats, or any of the derivatives, I settled on a steak and potato. That went well, and once dessert time rolled around, I asked them if they had any gluten-free desserts. Imagine my surprise when they said that the strawberry cake wouldn't have any wheat in it! My wife ordered one, and when it came out, it was pretty clear that it was cake.

Not one to pass up a dessert, I asked her what kind of flour they used to make the cake. She replied, "Oh, there's no flour in there. She used cake mix." It was everything we could do to not bust out laughing.