A body in motion, etc.
I woke up at 3 AM Monday morning, certain that a black widow had landed on my head. Either that, or I had already been awakened by the birds outside the window and was hallucinating. I count either as a possibility given that I was up at my parents’ place in NH and had been in the sun for quite a bit.
I could write a lot about what I did this weekend, instead, you’ll get a punch list. The weekend was nearly non-stop. Continue reading
I threw on my suit (a suit that when I bought it a year ago fit, but I am told no longer does) Thursday night because why not? and met my sister and her neighbor for dinner. The conversation was one of those that I thought people stopped having when they graduated college or turned 25 or 30 or…: “What do I want to do with my life? What should I do with my life?” It’s not a questions of bucket lists or a list of things you want to tick the box on (which is what I thought at first as they are both older than I am), but what will give me a sense of fulfillment, keep me moving forward. And the neighbor imparted the following piece of wisdom, which I’ve been turning over and parsing in my head for the past week:”Never make decisions based on fear or greed. And staying somewhere because you are afraid to leave, or make too much money, is doing just that”. So I’ve been mulling that over in my head for half a week now. Avoiding actively making a decision based on fear or greed, at least without some thought and balance (for instance, if I am afraid of heights, and I am, do I want to go climb Everest?), seems simple enough. But inaction… how do you prevent that? I think it’s far more complicated and much more difficult to do (for it often means leaving behind some sort of safety and the change of the status quo), but I think if you can accept that and learn to do that, you can probably live a much happier, more fulfilling life.
Posted in Philosophy
There’s been a lot of time for reflection for me lately, between the sick, the not sleeping, etc. And then there was RTB, where the love from my team and other teams was incredibly overwhelming. Anyhow, I was thinking about important things in relationships with family and friends and teammates and loves and just people in general, and I came up with three:
And then I realized that wasn’t really enough. Those are important, but there’s a few more.
I go back and forth on loyalty. At times it feels a bit like an anchor. But the first 5… perseverance sticks out because it’s not a way that one relates to someone else, but there’s some quote floating around in the back of my head that goes something like “He persevered”. And I suppose what I mean is that I just need to keep on moving forward (whether it be in a race, life, whatever).
I’ve been sleeping a lot since RTB. More than I’d like, but given the past month and a half, I know I need it. I’m finally feeling healthy. I realized this during RTB. If I had been sick, there was no way I would have been able to do what I did. Or maybe I was just able to put everything behind me and do what I needed to do, what was asked of me, what was required of me.
This week is swim testing. It’s been a while, but thanks to Julia and Anne and just some focus internally, I’ve gotten better position in the water and found a bit more speed (I wonder as well whether spending so much time on the static trapeze doing crucifixes and dislocations has strengthened my lats): 100m was 1:19 and 500m was 7:41. Not blazing at any level (except for maybe pee-wee, but probably not), but fast for me.
For shits and giggles, here are my legs from RTB:MA.
1Oh Community. I hope you don’t get worse without Dan Harmon.
Posted in Race Report
A week in. The week started off with a great run at midnight (started before midnight, turned around for home at midnight) with a friend, then slept for 3 hours, woke up early and had a great rest of the birthday. Tuesday was also fantastic: a good bike ride and more fun with friends. Wednesday plans fell through but that freed me up for more training and on Thursday I got in my second straight good bike workout. And then Friday and Saturday: Reach the Beach with Team Racemenu.
Continue reading
Posted in Race Report
Last race of my 20s was my first 8K ever (seriously, 8K? whatever). Oddly enough, had I turned 30, I would have come in first in my AG. But I was still in my 20s. So as it was, I came in 3rd in my AG.
So how’d the day go? I woke up at 7 (after waking up at 12:30, 2:15, (and despite not thinking I had fallen back to sleep, again at 5:55)). Got in my car and drove south to Westport, MA, for what Matt Corr and I (both being of the May birthday) had dubbed the #birthdaybashdash. He’s a much faster runner than I am, but that doesn’t stop me from talking shit. Got down to the race site, pulled on my swiftwick socks (love) and Pearl Izumi isoTransitions (swoon) and warmed up. Then I got my number. Since I know the Racemenu crew, and they knew my birthday was coming up, they gave me #30 (awesome).
I wasn’t feeling great and knew that it wouldn’t be my day to back up the trash talk. But hey, it’s a race and races do strange things to your system. Race started and two guys went off really quickly, like headed south of 5:10 pace quickly. No way I would keep up with them. As we got to the first turn, I looked down at my watch and saw it had me at 5:25 pace. Less than a quarter mile in, and I knew I had to back off the gas. No way I’m carrying that pace for 5 miles, not on my current fitness. So I backed off. Maybe I’m getting smarter in my old age?
Miles 1-4 saw Matt receding into the distance IN FRONT OF ME. I wasn’t feeling great, but decided that going slower and still running was better than being chickenshit and walking. So I kept going. And around mile 4, I realized Matt wasn’t getting farther away, but closer, so I picked up the pace. And then he looked back. He looked back, saw me, and picked it up too. In the end, I’d finish 7 seconds behind him, and 14 seconds behind 1st place AG (and 3.5 minutes behind 1st place OA). All in all… not horrible. I’ll take it. And now… I’ll never race in that AG again. Good riddance. Onward and upward (at least age wise).
Posted in Race Report
After a rather bad April of training, I’m glad it’s May and I’m finally feeling healthy again. Because I’m unsure of where my fitness is right now, I’ve decided to make Quassy an Olympic distance race and added Portland to the race schedule as a half. But it’s very very nice to be healthy.
Track day/swim day today. Track was 8×400 (a bit faster than they were supposed to be, but I’m not very good at judging pace). Felt like puking starting with #5 and that just kept going through the rest of the workout. After it was done I decided to have a bit of fun with my indestructible camera and instagram.
More track work in store this weekend, as well as some easy running to try and keep my legs loose.
The swim was 15x100yds ALL PULL. That will leave me sore in the morning, but according to the swim clinic a few weeks ago, the only problem with my swimming is that I am weak.
Posted in Training
