I was dreaming about the race this weekend, and woke up at around 4am thinking that the race was today and that I had to get my stuff and I was late and had forgotten to check in yesterday and needed to hurry and leave before I missed the start. This has never happened before. Hmm…I think Freud would say that I’m a little nervous about this race. Which I guess I am, given that I haven’t been able to run more than a few miles in several months. Even despite that, I’m not really worried about my fitness and my ability to sustain the necessary intensity to finish the race, I’m just stressed out about my calf injury. It feels fine, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to suddenly grab me as soon as I take a wrong step. It’s going to be a constant distraction at the back of my mind until I cross the finish line. But I'm crossing the finish line. Got to go tonight and get the bike. He's not going to be there until 9pm, which means a choice of either: a) taking the bike on the subway or b) riding home in the dark, neither of which I'm crazy about. I have lights, but still. Ironically, when he asked me if I wanted him to remove the reflectors, I said, "Sure. After all, I NEVER ride at night; what do I need reflectors for?" B: Granola, skim, blueberries L: turkey on ww with swiss S: banana, granola bar

Took my bike to the mechanic today. I'm really pleased--I think he really knows what he's doing. He asked me about stuff that has been bugging me but which I never worried about before. He, too, suggested fixing the cable routing, and also volunteered to take off my reflectors. Went to the pool after work, intending to do mostly drills but it was too crowded, so I swam laps for an hour instead. Felt really good at the end, which is unusual--usually I feel good at the beginning. This wasn't a great food day. B: Cereal L: Pizza and assorted junk (boss bought lunch for everyone. I did eat some salad.) D: spaghetti & meat balls, red wine

Had my last PT appt today, but I'll keep my program up until race day, then went to the gym planning to do the elliptical. It was, of course, full, so I rode the bike instead and did some strength stuff. I hate credit card companies. They made a mistake and "oops" CANCELLED the card that my wife and I use for EVERYTHING. Utilities, cable, newspaper deliveries, Amazon, iTunes, AOL, pretty much anyone who's got a card on file for us has that particular card. And now we have to wait for the new card, and then go around and change all of them. And all because of their mistake, which they claim to be unable to fix, because once the card's been cancelled and the new cards ordered, there's no way to reactivate the account. Bastards. I hate the airlines most of all, but in the pantheon of "companies I hate" credit card companies are a close second. Grr. One of our vendors brought in cupcakes today. I mighta had one. Maybe. B: Cereal L: Grilled chicken wrap. S: Maybe a cupcake D: Tuna on ww S: pb on ww

Madame JMK has a softball game tonight (even though it’ll probably get rained out and they’ll all just go drinking…), so tonight, I’ll be riding Stage Deux of my TdF Challenge on the trainer (Allez, Silence-Lotto!) and abusing myself for hours with The Stick, as per my PT. What, that doesn’t sound like fun? I successfully cut the cable off my kid’s bike. I don’t think I have a future as a bike thief—it took longer than expected, even though it was a cheap cable lock. I’m bringing my bike for a pre-NYC Tri tuneup on Friday. Supposedly this mechanic, who works with a lot of people on the Brooklyn Tri Club is great. They call him “The Bike Whisperer.” Heh. Here’s the list of stuff he’s gotta look at: • I’m having persistent trouble staying in the smallest cog. I’ve adjusted the barrel adjuster, but it doesn’t seem to stay put. • Aerobars need to be tightened so that they stay tightened, which probably requires some shimming or whatnot. • General tuneup stuff—tighten cables, clean drivetrain. • When I bought my aerobottle last Spring, the mechanic at the store (Cadence) told me that the cable routing on the front of my bike was “weird”, and that he’d be happy to fix it if I brought it in for a tuneup. I have no idea what this means, and I didn’t ask at the time, so I’ll ask this guiy what he thinks. I may also replace my cleats—they’re getting kinda worn out. The last time I rode, I had more trouble than usual clipping in. B: Kashi L:Salad S: Clif Bar Pre-workout-pb&j D: grilled chicken club

Good news from the PT. He's going to give me a program to follow, and he thinks I'll be ok. I told him that if I can finish the race running at a 9:00 pace or better, he can have my free Chipotle burrito that I get for finishing. I have to throw some love at Garmin. We got a GPS for the car, and the charger-thing was broken when we took it out of the box. At first, they wanted to send me some parts and have me try to fix it, then it turned out that the parts were backordered. We have a vacation coming up in about 3 weeks, and I explained that I didn't think the thing was fixable, and I didn't want to wait 3 weeks to figure it out and then not have the GPS for the trip. THey wrote back very promptly and offered to send me a new one in 7-10 days if I returned the broken one. They have great customer service. I'd never hesitate to buy another Garmin product. (This is Jonah, and I approved this message). B: Clif bar L: Salad S: Clif Bar D: ww pasta w/chopped tomatos