Beautiful evening run up to Tramway, across, then through some neighborhoods and eventually down to the pool. 460 ft of climbing. That doesn't sound very big. but going up the hill my run pace was 10 decreasing to 12, and ending up at 14 min/mi on the steepest part. 10-11 min/ mi going across then 8 - 9:30 running down the hill for pretty much the second half. And that part was fun! feet and ankles hurt a little toward the end of that stuff.

200 wu
4x50 drill
4x50 medium fast
2x100 medium fast at 1.57 and 1.58
200
200 strokes
100

sort of a strength / speed work out. Short and with a little more effort. - felt pretty good. Every one was complaining about how cold the water was. It was probably 81, maybe 80 at the lowest. Just funny to me, even though I like the water a little warmer than most competitive swimmers. They usually keep this pool at 84 to 85 degrees.

started off with a little run for just over 1/2 mile at 10 - 11 min/mi. Then decided I should walk the rest of the way to train the walk. I did ok at holding about a 15 - 16 min/mi pace. It takes some concentration. Ran the last few blocks at 10 min/mi

Perhaps next year I should spend some time getting some speed back.

9 Days till IMFL

but who's counting?

Magic is believing in yourself.  If you can do that you can make anything happen. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Wow, how true is this?  Sometimes it's a leap of faith, but if you believe you can run an Ironman race, then make the things happen that lead to that goal, then you arrive at the start line ready, and amazing, magic things happen.  (I think I'm going to need a little magic on the run this year - fingers crossed )

Opted to sleep a bit this morning in keeping with my goal of close to 8 hours a night.  I'll try to get out this afternoon and run and swim.

Today - shredding to document destruction people.  Clean out more boxes of paper, notes, clippings.  Pack car with stuff that can fit.  Pack for Florida trip.  WORK on project.  Buy replacement lights for house.  Other things at Lowes.  Did I mention get some work done.  And not spend too much time on BT and looking at the beach webcam. 

Tried to run. was supposed to be a tempo run. Legs, quads especially, were just too tired, so I decided to make it TED. Take-it Easy Day. I walked, trying to maintain a 15 min pace. Now that felt pretty good. Got to train the walk too because I'll be using it.

to the pool and back.
Gorgeous cool morning. my plan was to commune with nature and the universe, but with the legs hurting and thinking about walking I forgot. I passed a house at about 1 mile with a sign in the front yard: God Loves You. Ha! :) A reminder. So I spent the rest of the run communing with the trees. I experimented with extending my reach down to Ruidoso then all the way to my trees in Midland. Not sure I got there, but interesting. There was a lady walking with a lovely Labrador type of dog. I was, unconsciously, probably communicating with him, and as we passed he came over to say hi. She was embarrassed, but I had already been saying hi non vocally to him.
Great, great walk. Sunshine, blue,blue sky, and the leaves are changing colors.

400
6x50 drill
2x500
2x100 ebeh
300 cd and strokes

11 days till IMFL

yup, I'm excited!

Not sure what I'm going to do. There doesn't seem to be a way to make the font any bigger.

Cold today. I find it amusing that yesterday I ran 15 miles and today I rode 15 miles. Warmed up easy, rode hard up to the mountain, then pretty much rode easy the rest of the way. Felt like it ought to be easy after yesterday.
Another flat. I do not like these goatheads at all. I was lucky though, when I figured out that the tire was getting soft, I found a spot where the sun had just risen, so I got to be in the sunshine while changing the flat. Did I mention that it's cold outside today. Thermometer says 40 but it felt a lot colder than that.

12 Days till IMFL

I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

Misunderstandings - so easy.  We each listen through our own set of filters.  Even if you actually heard what they said, is it really what they meant?  I'm trying to learn to ask questions to confirm my understanding, and to speak more broadly and precisely.

Monday, the last week here before IMFL.  Painter's are scraping popcorn texture off of the living room ceiling.  Hard work and it's a mess, but most modern buyers don't like it, so down it comes.  I've got to get some work done this week - otherwise this month will be a waste as was last month.  Cannot afford that.

five laps around the lovely golf course in Ruidoso. 750 ft of climbing. Sunny, cool, and just plain beautiful. Ran about 1/2 a lap with a young lady who I caught only because her dog had to stop to potty. I was running about a 9 min pace to catch her then to keep up. Good thing it was on the downhill part of the loop. :)

Ran it on a 4/1 until the last lap which was 3:30/1:30. Practiced nutrition. I will need something extra in special needs. The two sandwiches worked out perfectly last year. I'll try to make them just a bit more nutritionally dense. Maybe something for my pocket to have at 18 miles?

I'm real happy with the amount of 9 and 10 min pace. Slower going up the hill, but still not too bad until the last lap. Had to stop for potty break at the end of the third lap.

13 Days till IMFL

Well the weekend went ok.  Got a full explorer of stuff hauled down to Ruidoso.  Missed the party on the mountain, but made it to Oktoberfest and saw a whole bunch of the people I wanted to see.  Got a good work out in on Saturday and the run today.  Feet hurt, but other than that I'm ok after the run.  A 45 minute nap didn't hurt any. 

Did you notice the font on the IMFL note keeps getting bigger?

Two false starts. 30 degrees when I woke up and I had a real hard time getting out there. Had to come back after 3 min for a rubber band for sweats, and at 19 minutes to take some clothes off. After that it was pretty good. cold north wind, but a sunny beautiful day. And I got the ride in. Left almost an hour late so I cut it short a bit, in favor of the swim which turned out to be almost a non-event.

Brick. Felt ok. Better than the others. Still geologically slow.

this was supposed to be a 5000. I tried, but it just was not working. Was it the bowl of cereal before, or the bike/run, or just that I had a really tough day yesterday? Anyway there was this really fast guy in the lane next to me, so I played with chasing him on some shorter intervals.

Finally at about 1000 yards, I decided that I'd just had it and it wasn't working. did 350 of side stroke, back stroke and breast to 'cool down.'

I'm ok with quitting. I gave it a good shot, and it just wasn't happening.
I was an hour late getting there and I've got somewhere to be this afternoon.