You ever wanted to do something that didn’t make any sense?

You got your life figured out yet?

Oh, you do?

Huh.

Um, I do, too.

Pretty much. Except for some small details. Like career and stuff.

Someone asked me last Sunday, without thinking about money or income what I would like to do. I instantly said, “Professional Triathlete” and I was a little surprised by that. I think I have always wanted a career that wasn’t full of pressure, and that might sound weird to say, considering that you only make money if you finish in the top – that’s pressure, isn’t it? Yeah, but it is pressure you put on yourself, and even stronger than the pressure to finish, is the pressure to do well. That is competition. That is the best. You can always strive to better your time.

I like jobs where you are constantly figuring out how to do stuff. It’s fun. How do I explain this better? How do we organize this? What is the incentive to get this to work?

I also don’t like to get up early…maybe that is why I would love to sleep in, eat breakfast languidly, and then run, or bike, or lift, or swim, or read.

Ah, reading. And writing. I don’t write as much as I used to. That used to be so much fun. I need to do that again. I was published in Cal State’s literary journal – first time ever submitting. I should write more, since the world needs to hear my words.

Maybe what I need to hear is the world’s words. I am an island, but one in an archepelago, whose roots are connected deep below the surface. Maybe that is the thing that will make the most sense.

What the what!?!?!!

Williams Shatner is the best.

Ever.

WordPress won’t let me show you the full link at Hulu…but you can watch it here.

Flo-Ting, have you met Ina Funk?

What time is the discussion?

Hey y’all,

I haven’t posted in a while. I am still working out a bit; swimming, lifting, and biking. I haven’t been doing a lot of running lately, and I can’t say I miss it. I haven’t been rock climbing lately, either, and I do miss that.

I’m in a funk.

I have been trying to meet some prerequisites for a Industrial/Organizational Psych program at Cal State. I have to take a class called experimental psychology, an upper division class. I can actually take it at Cal State, if the instructor will sign my add-slip on the first day of class.

But here is the kicker: class meets M-W-F, from 12 – 1:10 pm, and there is a lab twice a week from 9 – 11:50 am. So in order to take the class and still work my 40, I will work on Monday from 2-6, Tuesday from 8 – 8, Wednesday from 2 – 8, Thursday from 8 – 8, and Friday from 8 – 11:30 and 2 – 6:30. I think that puts me at 40 hours, actually at 41. I was thinking of only working until 7 Tuesday through Thursday, putting me at 38 hours, and using vacation time. It only gives me an hour those days, but that hour will help immensely. Anyway, a screwy schedule, if I can pull it off.

Grad school seems really far away, and it seems to be taking a lot longer than I thought it would. It makes me doubt if I have what it takes, which is a common enough assessment I have made of myself.

There are days I just want to write, run, bike, and swim. Just be a professional triathlete – but you have to be good in order to do it. I don’t know that I am that good, but I don’t know. What to do?

There is a season for everything – so says the Teacher. A time to be born and die, laugh and cry, build and tear down, etc. Can I find contentment in this time? Yeah. There are a million good things going on that aren’t dependent on me being in a classroom right now. Focus on the good and use that as a launching pad to change the bad.

I want to buy a guitar I can bring to work; it would be cool to play on during breaks or lunch at work. Such a stress reliever.

I’m smiling, now, hopefully floating in the right direction.

Triathlon Results: Never Satisfied…

So, here are the results of my triathlon:

103rd...hour seven

I cut 5 minutes off my previous time, on a course that was slightly harder but the same length as the previous course. I should be happy, right? Never satisfied…

The race started at 7, and I got there a bit after 6, after packing up my stuff, swallowing a protein shake, and grabbing coffee from the Chevron station down the street. I had to set up still, register and change at the pool, so I was a bit pressed for time. The pool was a jog away from the transition area, a cause for concern, knowing that might add a bit more to my time. Having driven the bike course the day before, I mapped it out to be closer to 11 miles than the 10 advertised – also concerned that this will add to my time. Anyway, I got changed, and ran up to the start of the race…no stretching or warming up, really. Probably not a good idea. The race started and I saw a couple of dudes I know, so I had to pass them.

My run time was really good, about 21 mintes. Should have slowed down a bit, because the bike course had some hills, and my quads are paying for it now. I never quit, though.

When I made it to the swim part, I slipped out of my clothes and ran up to the pool, slipped on my new goggles and freestyled the whole 150 yds. I was really proud of myself for that.

Things I would have done differently: drank more water in the morning. I have this fleminess in the morning, and dairy doesn’t help. I could feel myself wanting to throw up at least once on the run, but kept it down. I also would have gone a little bit slower on the run, to save myself for the bike. I would have slept longer the night before, but I was all nerves. I would have snacked more: I wasn’t bonking, but my energy level wasn’t all that high. I also would have done more interval training, and put my butt in the seat for the bike part.

I think that if I had finished in one hour, I still would be picking apart the race to see how I could have improved. I like that. I will get to an hour, and then faster. I can do this.

Never satisfied…

Triathlon Training: Final Week: All Week

It’s go time.

Yellow Light, waiting for the green

Sunday is the 7th Annual PossAbilities Sprint Triathlon and I am excited. I am getting butterflies, even as I write this.

Monday through Thursday has been all over the place for me this week. I did weight training, bike training, running, and swimming, but not on the correct days. I feel ok with that, though. I just need to be ready for Sunday. I think I am. My running time is good, my swimming time will be amazingly better (about half of what it was, cause I was doing the breaststroke) and then there is my biking time…I don’t know about that one. I really want to get on the bike, but I don’t think that will do anything beneficial for my training. I am resting today and tomorrow, and just doing some stretching and yoga, keeping it really light. Drinking plenty of fluids, that sort of thing, and getting rid of unnecessary body hair.

What?

I know, that is kind of weird. It makes me feel like a warrior, shedding anything unnecessary to the battle which I am entering. It starts with the hair on my head and moves to legs and arms, next. I really don’t think it does anything, necessarily, it just does something for me mentally.

Also, coffee. It apparently dulls the pain receptors in the brain during workouts. Awesome. Is there anything coffee can’t do. Oh, that’s right…kick buttocks in the Sprint Triathlon.

One hour – all glory.

I am excited about it. We will see how it all goes. I will report back on Monday and let you know how it went. Until then, I am resting, waiting, and getting myself, my bike, and my mind in order.

One hour. 60 minutes. 3600 seconds.

Triathlon Training: Rest of Week 7

So…

I have been a naughty boy – I haven’t been doing so well on the training. I skipped Thursday because I overslept and had a dental appointment, and had class – unfortunately, class was cancelled, so I could have slept in, worked out, and still made it to my dental appointment.

Anyway, I didn’t work out on Friday, either, because I needed to swim, and the Drayson Center is closed early on Fridays, and closed on Saturdays, so I ran on Saturday. I felt pretty good about that. I did 5 miles in 42:24, which averages out to 8:28:48 minutes/seconds/milliseconds. On Sunday, I had a birthday party to attend, so I ran for 10 minutes, rode a stationary bike for 10 minutes, and then swam for ten minutes. It wasn’t extremely long, but it felt good. Sunday will have to be balls out, though. If there was any possibility of making it under an hour, this seems like it.

That gives me an average 5k time of 26:17, leaving 33:43 for biking 10 miles and swimming 150 yds. At an average speed of 23 mph, that will take me 26:05, leaving 7:37 for 150 yds swim. That shouldn’t be an issue. I think my average for 150 yds is around 3 minutes, so not including transitions, I can finish in about 56 minutes.

I am feeling it. That movement in my stomach, that excitement. I love it. I think I want to do these for the rest of my life.

Aw, yeah!!!

Triathlon Training: Week 7: Wednesday

So I didn’t wake up in time to train on Wednesday morning, but I did get to train on Wednesday night: I did the 40 minutes of riding, but not much in the weight department. I have seen my strength going down, lately. My aerobic ability has gone up, but the two need to move in the same direction.

The strength training consisted of presses and some extensions of arms and legs. Some lat pull-downs for swimming strength – we’ll see how the dividends pay off.

Dave