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View albumSpeed Kills.
August 9
August 8
7:04 AM: Riding after work. I feel pretty tired, but I've been feeling tired, and the rides and runs have been going OK. So, I'll hope for the best again for tonight.
10:00 AM: I am absolutely covered in mosquito bites all over my butt cheeks. Those crazy little fcukers must have stung me right through my shorts yesterday. Aggressive! Hungry! Apparently I'm irresistible to the insect world, despite my liberal application of DEEP WOODS OFF. That crap doesn't work. Next time I will immerse myself in a tub of DEET and I will don a beekeeper's outfit. Or maybe I'll just stay clear of the trails in the woods for a while.
8:24 PM: Well, it rained and we canceled the Monday night ride. I can't say I'm disappointed. I got stuck at work, and wouldn't have been able to race myself to the meeting point in time anyway. I don't really feel like I needed a killer bike ride today. Quite fatigued from the past week and weekend and some relaxation and rest will do me good. Feeling exhausted and borderline emotional as well. Need sleep.
Went out to dinner last night to celebrate my birthday! (Early) I'm almost 41. This does not please me. Where has time gone?
Photos: Chris and me. Judging by the look on his face, the question of the evening should have been... "Where is Laura's hand resting?"
Me and mah Mama:
Me and my sister. She clearly was not very happy about being photographed. She flipped the DOUBLE BIRD. When one "FCUK YOU" gesture just isn't enough.
- Health data: Hours slept: 8
August 7
- 1h 03m 55s
- 5.00 miles
- 12m 44s /Mi
No idea where this run came from. I felt strong and awesome the whole time. Except it was eleventy billion humid degrees outside. This is the first 5 miles of my 2 hour run. 57 ish minutes to go.
Going to sloooooooooooowww it down for the next segment. Searching desperately for some shade. I might go out to Stearnes Woods. I am saturated in sweat. Not a single raindrop fell during this run. Sun came out and was beating down on me. Not a stick of shade on the path.
Next segment will be more IM paced. Aiming for 13:20-13:30 min miles. It will also be on a trail, so that will slow me down inherently.
- 48m 33s
- 3.42 miles
- 14m 12s /Mi
Well I did slow down a lot. Mushy muddy trails, lots of rocks, no breeze, and bugs galore! ZOMG. I wish someone would turn off the steam machine. It's just so HUMID.
Glad I sucked it up and did this, though... These are supposed to be the biggest couple of weeks of IM training and I don't want to blow workouts off now.
Not sure if this aided the cause at all, but I don't think it hurt, so at the very least I burned some extra calories with it.
- 25m
- 1000.00 yards
- 02m 30s /100 yards
No idea how far. 1000 is an estimate. Might have been a wee bit longer.
Just back and forth in the indoor pool. I was thankful and grateful to be INSIDE and away from the bugs, sun, steam, dirt, mud, grass, and other outside things. Blech. I've had enough of the great wilderness for today.
We shall see.
Birthday dinner tonight with my Mom, sister, BIL and Chris. We're going to Season's 52 again.
I hope I can stay awake/conscious for at least half of it. I'd like to be coherent enough to enjoy a couple of glasses of Cakebread Chardonnay. Yum.I may as well get this party started. Looks like it's going to be cloudy and rainy with a chance for thunderstorms all day long. I think I'll stay close to home, and just run on the path... I don't mind a little rain running, though... feels good.
August 6
- 6h 17m 13s
- 103.53 miles
- 16.52 Mi/hr
Felt FREAKING AWESOME out there today. Seriously. I expected to feel like ass, and I felt great. I have no idea.
I did, however, raise my seat another half inch or so, and that has made a world of difference in my "power". I don't have any numbers to speak to, but I can tell you from the feel of things my seat definitely needed to be about an inch and a half higher than it was. I am a new woman. It's crazy.
This was up and around Lake Geneva again, but on the second loop we didn't turn R on "Laurel" street, we went straight instead.
A great day with a great group. I LOVE riding my bike.
Me and Chris. Looking all Viking-like and whatnot.
Chris, me and Patty. Stopped for refreshments, second loop. You can kind of tell how saturated with sweat we are. Jerseys are sticking to our bodies!
And, of course, for your viewing pleasure, the MAP:
4:46 AM: I can't wait until I can sleep til 9 on a Saturday.
If you need me, I'll be on my bike. That is all.
Can someone tell me WHY this song was running on a loop in my head for 6+ hours today?
WHY???
August 5
- 54m 55s
- 2800.00 yards
- 01m 57s /100 yards
Miscellaneous swimming with Lisa.
We started out splitting the lane and then she hung in my draft for as long as she could for the rest of the swim. She's been out for a while and just getting back into things. She was worried about circle swimming with me. Told her not to worry. This is not a life or death situation. This is just swimming.
We did 5 x 400 and then I put on the paddles and pulled an 800. Then I got out. Done!
- Massage
- 1h 20m
Sort of lame massage today with Julia, my same girl. Disappointed. She cut me off early and didn't work the important parts as much as she usually does. :( Sad. Might try someone new. Julia is too hit or miss to keep spending money on her.
5:33 AM: I'm up to swim. I can't begin to fathom how I'm going to move through the water without sinking to the bottom of the pool. (Heh. Fathom. Bottom of pool... that was an unintentional pun!) Jeez, I'm sharp when I'm beaten to a pulp.
At any rate, I'm stiff, sore, tired, exhausted, and I probably should not be submerging myself in water or operating heavy machinery, but I'm about to jump into my car and drive it to the pool. Wish me luck.
August 4
- 2h 50m 48s
- 13.00 miles
- 13m 08s /Mi
Paced this extremely conservatively and extremely evenly. My first miles were 13 ish and my 9th mile was 13:04. The last couple of miles may have been a little slower, but the average was still 13:08/mile so they couldn't have been that much slower. To me, this means I paced it right. Could have kept going but I needed to get my ass home and onto my work computer. Was getting skittish about the time.
Very humid still, but less hot. Icebath afterwards. :)
Ran @ MHSP.
It's not about who goes the fastest, it's who slows down the least. Picking a wise and sustainable pace is KEY.
My BIL shared that nugget of wisdom with me some years ago, and I think I'm finally getting what it means. Aside from the obvious, I think it means knowing yourself and your abilities and not blowing your wad in the first 6 miles of the run. This is why I do the run/walk. It slows me down on the front end and helps me find a *sustainable* pace. I actually think this pace might be too fast. For Ironman I will aim more for 13:30 or so.
I'll see you on the flip side, guys.
SCHWEATY!
August 3
7:18 AM: Still muggy outside. Not as hot, but waterlogged and soggy. I just can't get motivated to do anything outside in this humidity. I know that sounds like I'm wussing out, and maybe I am, but I give up. Today I will keep as my recovery day and chalk yesterday up to a missed run. I'm exhausted. Maybe I'll try to get a massage tonight. I still have a couple of credits left... Long run Thursday is looming on the horizon.
10:37 AM: No appointments available for massages tonight. Phooey. I made one for Friday instead. That will be after my long run, so maybe that's better anyway. 
5:53 PM: Home early because we LOST POWER at work. Seriously. One minute we're talking on the phone to customers and using our God Awful computer system and the next minute everything goes dark and quiet. I don't know what is going on with the electricity situation here in Illinois, but it's clearly not working very well. Or perhaps it's me. Hard to tell. No storms today. (Although we did have some last night...) But today, it's beautiful outside, about 85 and sunny. We think maybe a construction crew mowed over something by accident.
I was right in the middle of a fairly huge case, so I continued to work in the dark. I'm not kidding.
Rest assured, however, that once I got that all sorted out, I got the hell out of there just like everyone else.
- Health data: Hours slept: 8.5
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Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Long swimmy in the outdoor pool. Started out cloudy and looking like rain. Ended up sunny and fabulous!
500 warm up (8:48, 1:45/100)
6 x 75 drill/pull/drill
850 swim (14:53, 1:45/100)
This was supposed to be 800, but in figuring out the times, I can see we went 50 too long. I don't swim 1:50+ per 100, ever, so making it 850 evens it out to 1:45/100 which is also pretty slow for me, but more realistic given my fatigue. So I'm going to call this an 850)
2 x 400 (6:36 and 6:41)
1:38/1:40
3 x 200 Pull/swim/pull
1) 3:09
2) 3:15
3) 3:09
400 Pull (6:36, getting tired)
4 x 100 on 1:55
1) 1:39
2) 1:40
3) 1:39
4) 1:39
100 cool down
--------------
4100 Blargle.
Tired. Tired. Tired. Tired.
Great run. Great great run. Nice weather. Air in the air. Nice. Nice. Nice.
10:18 AM: Weird backwards curl happening in the front of my hair today. Like when the old telephone cords used to get kinked and curl backwards...
1:14 PM: I am craving something non-processed. And I'm serious. I had a feeling this was going to happen, so I brought a peach from home and bit into it with gusto and enthusiasm and it turned out to be dry, mealy, and disgusting. Agnes was going to Whole Foods so I gave her $10 to purchase fruits and vegetables for me. I shall consume them all right here at my desk, the moment she gets back. Sometimes I just have to have a piece of fruit or a vegetable, and this is one of those times. I must be lacking some important nutrient(s).
FROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
For some reason I started thinking about THIS POST today. WOW. How far I've come in 7 years.