Sick of being Sick

I don't know whats up with me. But in the last month I have had some kind of stomach bug that seems to be hanging on. I had a fever and very upset stomach at the beginning of the month and prior to that I would get an upset stomach for a day and it would pass. In the middle of the night Monday I woke up with an upset stomach and was up until after 6am. I worked from home on Tuesday and by this morning I felt fine.

I was unable to swim on Tuesday and I did not run this morning just to be on the safe side. I really hate this. I am going to see a doctor hopefully next week to see he can figure out whats wrong with me. Tomorrow I will head to the pool and hopefully the weather will allow for a good run on Friday.

Every had one of those days?

Sunday was one of those days where I wanted to kill people. There is construction on my near my house where a new bridge is being built. Due to the construction traffic has been re-routed and it comes down my street. I understand the traffic and I am willing to deal with it. What I am not willing to deal with is the dangerous drivers trying to make the light and not paying the least little bit of attention to what is going on around them.

I was taking the cars for their monthly baths and a fill up and I was almost hit twice pulling away from the curb. Both times were by what appeared to be moms in mini-vans with their kids with in the car with them. Then I would put my nose out to merge into the lane and people would cut me off, swerve to miss me (even when the light was red), or flip me off. It took all myself restraint not to walk up to one of the guys in front of me at the red light and throttle the little bastard. There are rules for a fucking reason. Follow them.

On a lighter note, I was able to get in two rides in the last couple of days. They were nothing special but I was able to do 15 miles in the 50 minutes of a Miami Vice episode. No, I have replaced Magnum. I just needed some variety. One of my blogger buddies Mary did 3 hours on the trainer. I would have killed myself after that long. But I bet my wife would beat me to it.

Saturday Run

Saturday dawned partly cloudy and chilly here in the Nation's Capital. I typically ride the bike on Saturday and run on Sunday, but after looking at the weather I decided to run on Saturday and spin to some Miami Vice on Sunday.

I hit the road this morning hoping to get in a long run (at least long for me). I did not set a particular route, but I knew I wanted to run down by the water and through Old Town Alexandria.

I ran down to the end of the Four Mile Run Trail under the bridges and turned to head back into Old Town at the southern tip of Washington National Airport. At this point I was on the Mount Vernon Trail and I saw these ducks swimming in the cold Potomac.

I felt sorry for those guys. I would have hated to have been in the water today. As I approached the Daingerfield Island Marina, I was able to catch this great photo.

Then it was another couple of miles into Old Town and up King Street. It is always fun to run throught Alexandria on King in the mornings. There are so many people out walking their dogs and drinking coffee. It is great for people watching. Then under the train tracks, down Commonwealth Ave and back to the Casa. Today's run was 8.2 miles in about 78 minutes. I did not push it too much and I felt great. My first run of over 5 miles since before Christmas.

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Good Week So Far

This is been a good week all the way around. Don’t you love good weeks? I have gotten in about 4400yds of swimming and a 4.5 mile run. Tomorrow is the end of the work week and I have a 5 mile run planned. I just hope that is not too cold in the morning to make the run crappy.

Tonight, Donna and I are heading to see the Spirit of the Marathon. I will have a report on it later. It does look like a good movie and I think it will be inspirational. For those who are not able to see it tonight, there is going to be an encore viewing in February.

More to follow.

Big Thanks

Before I forget AGAIN. I would like to thank DC Rainmaker for making my new banner. I really do appreciate it.

Workouts

I was able to get in a 15 mile ride on the trainer on Friday morning, an 8 mile run on Satuday, another 14 miles today on the trainer.

Yesterday was a 2 hour 8 mile run with Donna. She is doing the run/walk Galloway method. She is really getting pretty good. She was able to maintain a solid 13 min pace for the first 5 miles and then she started to wear out. Part of the problem is that she has not learned to eat while running yet and her body just runs out of gas. I think after the run yesterday that she has figured out that she has to have a nutritional plan to complete the half.

Today was another 14 miles on the trainer while watching Miami Vice.

I would love to get out and do something, but 22 degrees with windchill of 1 is not to my liking. So I will just stay in and watch some football.

Life can get busy

We all go through stages in our life where we are taxed, or bored, or (fill in the blank). The last couple of years I was on a project at work that bored the living shit out of me. I learned a lot about the fuel and energy industry, and I learned that you can't blame the oil companies for the price of gas. They merely sell it to the highest bidder (so would I). However, the basic aspect of the job was boring. I was kept in that position I was because I was trusted. If I had been the person in charge of the project I would have done the same thing. However, in the last 2 months life has gotten interesting.

I moved to a project that was a little more my speed. It deals more directly with the Army and the type things that I have done in my life. But the best part is that the gentleman I am working with is a great teacher and salesman. I am getting to see a side of the business that I so far I haven't seen. He cares about the success of the people he works with and wants to see them succeed also. It's hard to believe that this almost 300lb man was once a professional soccer player and college coach. However, he attacks every opportunity the way a coach would and I really do appreciate it. I have the leadership skills, the technical knowledge, and now I have a great teacher in the business skills.

In addition to the new project, I have also become an independence coordinator. This additional duty can be time consuming, but it puts me in contact with people that I would not have come in contact with, and it also furthers my career. More money is good right? I can get a new bike.

Now on to this weeks training. It hasn't been too bad nor too good. So far this week I have gotten in 2 trainer sessions for about 28 miles, one 2200 yd swim and about 4 miles of running. Tomorrow, I am running with my wife in her effort to do her first 8 miler. She is doing a half mary program in the Galloway fashion. It will not be a fast 8 miles, but it wil support her and I am proud of the effort she has put into it.

Me elected to something?

I was recently elected to the DC Triathlon Club's Board of Directors. Thank you for everyone that voted me and believe I will represent the club in a positive manner. I will do my best.

Please understand, I enjoy the training and the competing. However, triathlon is not a lifestyle for me. I am not out swimming, biking, or running like a lot of the members of the club. 3000 yds of swimming, 45 miles on the bike, or 10 miles running are all long workouts for me. We have club members who do that for a warm up. So I was surprised when some of the members asked me to run.

Run I did, was elected and on Saturday I became the treasurer. This is rather big organization. We have over 700 members with a core group of 100-150 who are really active. The club was started about 7 years ago and has really grown. It is time to start running the club more like a business than just a social club with an athletic problem. I really hope that this year we see growth in the activities, the training, and in some community service. Triathlon is a great sport than a kid can take with him/her their whole lives. Last year DC Achieve started the DC Kids Triathlon. I really want to push to have the club take a more active role in this endeavor and hopefully get it pushed out to other cities. I know that USAT and the Mid-Atlantic hope so too.

There will be more to follow as I know more.

Home Improvements

This weekend has been rather busy with all kinds of stuff. The DC Tri Club held its Annual Meeting on Saturday--more on that in another post. The big news was the installation of our new windows.

We own a rather old townhouse in Alexandria, VA. My wife was smart enough to purchase this house years before I was in the picture. She gambled on an up and coming neighborhood and it has really paid off. You should see our property taxes. LOL Well, the one thing that house has needed for years has been new windows. So instead of moving, we have decided to put some money in the house and not buy a bigger place. Number one on the list was new windows. Number two is going to be painting and then number three will be new furniture and an HD TV. I am waiting on the TV.

We started the window process in November. We picked out the windows we wanted from Home Depot and coordinated to have them made. The last week in December the contractor showed up to install them. He started with the spare bedroom and did he run into problems. This house was built in 1937 and I don't think the windows have been replaced. The metal frames of the window were embedded directly into the brick. There was no wood framing out the window. So the measurements were now incorrect and they had to be remade.

Saturday morning the contractor and his assistant showed up and started the work. Those two men worked there ass's off. They finally finished the job this afternoon and the windows look GREAT. The amount of damage that you would think would have occurred due to the old method of construction did not occur. I am more than pleased and the house is so much quieter. That should help my wife sleep much better.

When the air outside is frightful--spin, spin, spin

It is currently 22 degrees F in the DC Metro area and 12 degrees out in the 'burbs. Armed with that information do you think I decided to exercise outside? If you answered yes--you don't know me very well. There is no need to "make yourself suffer" it comes naturally when needed.

This morning was an easy spin while watching more Magnum. 48:12 for a distance of 13.45 miles or about 16.75 miles an hour. Well, now it is time to shower and get my happy ass off to work for an early morning meeting.

Today's Workout: Swimming like a Wounded Pigeon

After two weeks of eating delicious and highly fattening food I was back in the pool today. It was not an overly difficult workout at all, but man was it difficult. The core group of swimmers were back at it and it was obvious that we were all feeling the holidays.

Luckily, our coach decided to have work on shorter distances and drills to get us back in the swing of things. Total workout distance: 2400 yds. Time: 52:13.

It was good to get back in the water after the holidays and work off steak and lobster and chips and beer and....

Only 136 days before Columbia.