6.24.2007

Getting back into the swing of things ...

Since the Ironman I have been pretty lazy on the workout front. Not including this past week, I can count on two hands the number of workouts I have done. I just haven't felt the motivation to get up and run, swim and bike on a consistent basis. I have much preferred going out and drinking wine, sleeping in until 10am on the weekends, and just generally relaxing and being lazy. I've also been spending a lot more energy on my job and have done a bit of travelling as well. This is all well and good, but I don't like the extra 5lbs on the scale, feeling lazy and unfit, and I miss that post-workout feeling!

Last week I decided it was time to put a stop to the laziness and sign up for a couple of races. For me, I need the motivation of a race to get some consistency into my training. I'm a goal driven person. Also, as a good friend recently reminded me, I can no longer use the Ironman as an excuse for not working out ... it was over 2 months ago!

I signed up for Jack's Generic and the Longhorn Half Ironman. Jack's has become our annual "head to head" race. Last year I beat Gordon by about 1:45s. I intend to beat him again this year! I am also very excited about doing the Longhorn Half Ironman in October. It will be Austin's first half ironman distance race and it is going to be awesome. We had originally talked about doing the half ironman in Cancun, but we've decided to spend our money on a trip to Hawaii instead (and we're going to time it so that we can volunteer at the Ironman World Championships = AWESOME!).

So I am back on the training bandwagon, but I'm being careful to ramp it up slowly and not overdo it with 10hrs of working out in the first week! So this week I did 4 workouts - 2 swims and 2 runs. They were hard enough. The running is pretty brutal, I feel like a big fat slowly lazy runner, and in the pool I am working much harder than I used to, to keep the same pace. But I knew that it would be tough starting up again. Sure, I've lost some fitness, but it will only take a few weeks before I get it back and the important thing is that I am excited and motivated, for the first time in a couple of months, to get out there and start training!!!

Weekly workouts:

Tuesday (19-June): Swim 2.6km (1.25hr)

Thursday (21-June): Run 4.7mi (.75hr)

Saturday (23-June): Run 7mi (1.15hr)

Sunday (24-June): Swim 3km (1.25hr)

Total time: 4.25hr

Next week my goal is to add a core workout and at least one bike workout.

6.14.2007

31 is not agreeing with me so far

So I turned 31 on Monday. It wasn't too bad of an experience, really. Had a great weekend in Houston with Gordon, Kate and Tim, then went out for dinner with Austin friends on Sunday night - went to Mars, it was fantastic. I wasn't able to take Monday off from work, but it was a good day. A co-worker brought in a cake for me, and Gordon cooked a delicious dinner. Then we capped off the night by watching a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Season I. It was a b'day present from Kate and Tim. I am hooked already!

I flew out to Boston Tuesday morning. The plan was to meet with a bunch of New England customers Wed/Thu, fly to Toronto Thursday night to meet up with my boss, for another customer meeting Friday morning. Then back to Austin.

The Boston trip went really great. Jam-packed with meetings, but they went really well and it was a successful trip all around.

Fast forward to the American check-in counter for my Thursday night flight to Toronto. "Passport please"... blank look from me, then an "oh, shit" as it hit me that I had forgotten to pack my passport.

Can you really believe that I forgot to bring my passport with me? I'm Australian, for gods sake, I travel internationally all the time, how the heck could I forgot my passport???!!!

Well, I did. Apparently turning 31 is not agreeing with me so far.