The theme of the past 2 weeks has been wind, wind, and more wind! I am really getting sick of running and biking in all of this wind. That being said, I actually have had a good couple weeks of running and I'm looking forward to my 7 mile long run this weekend. My first race is 2 weeks from Sunday and I am completely ready to kick off my racing season. Another highlight of the week was the delivery of my road bike by my parents. Now I just need to find time to get it into the bike shop for new tubes, tires and a tune up.
I did want to share a story from yesterday. As usual, I went to the pool over lunch and put in 1,250 yards, as I was leaving the pool it started to pour down rain. Within a few minutes the rain stopped, the sun came out followed quickly by dark clouds and more rain. This pattern lasted for several hours and ended up postponing my planned 4 mile run after work. With a busy evening and more potential for rain (not to mention the strong winds) I decided to run on the treadmill. If you have read my blogs before, you know how much I hate running long distances on a treadmill.
After the run, as per usual on a swim/run day for me, I was exhausted and looking forward to an hour of relaxation before heading to bed for the evening. That relaxation was quickly disrupted when my wife, Erin, came downstairs from putting our oldest daughter to bed and invited me to join her in the gym for a circuit workout that she had gotten from the gym teacher at school. I was not thrilled, but really enjoy spending time with my wife, so I got a dry shirt and headed downstairs. A little less then an hour later, I was lying on the basement floor dripping with sweat and so exhausted that I couldn't imagine standing up. That circuit showed me that no matter how far I have come, there is always room for improvement. Although I was crabby with Erin about the workout, I really appreciate all she does to push me and encourage me.
That workout was just one example of how Erin has encouraged me. Another example is alluded to by the second portion of the blog title, "Deciding on a New Challenge." Over spring break, Erin joined me at the pool for one of my lunch time swims. As we were leaving, she commented several times on how far I had come since she last swam with me over Christmas break and how comfortable I look in the water. Not too long after that joint trip to the pool, Erin began making passing comments about how maybe I should have signed up for the Olympic distance triathlon instead of the sprint distance. After several weeks of consideration, and long discussions with my wife, I have decided to do just that. The sprint distance triathlon included 400 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike ride and 5 kilometer run while the Olympic distance includes a 1.5 kilometer swim, 40 kilometer bike ride and 10 kilometer run.
My progress during the late winter and early spring has been better then expected and I am looking forward to the new challenge. I am going to have a lot of fun this spring and summer training for this triathlon, which is now only 149 days away.
