run this amazing day

With great anticipation, I headed off to the pulmonologist yesterday afternoon for a round of breathing tests.  I revisited my allergist last week for a somewhat timely check-up, and he prescribed me a different round of treatment based on all my whining about breathing still being so hard.  However, I held off from getting those filled until my appointment yesterday, mostly to avoid wasting money on a prescription that I might only use for a few days. I was told not to take any of my normal meds the morning of the test, and to avoid chocolate and caffeine.  Because of this, I took my first workout that included fast running in about four months into the gym and did it on the treadmill.  I was still wheezing quite a bit by the time I hit the final mile, and I felt confident that I had junked up my lungs pretty well for my appointment. The test was quite a bit different from the "blow into this tube" test that I've taken at the allergist's office.  I was conn...

All of my grandparents are still alive, which is pretty amazing.  I'm lucky to have all this family still around. Several of them have birthdays in the early part of August, so the poet and I decided to take our barking squirming family on the road up to PA for a itty-bitty vacation before I hunker down into my new job and he hunkers down into the school year.  In case you are wondering, the weather there isn't any better than the weather in DC, although maybe slightly cooler overnight, but generally just as rude.   Since I declared August 1 my official return to training, that meant that I needed to pack all of my swim/bike/run  paraphernalia  along with our piles of puppy.  While traveling, I managed to fit in a MAF test at the track of my old high school (which is now turf and rubber instead of grass and gravel): MAF tests in the heat and humidity have not gotten any more fun since June, in case anyone is wondering.  I also met up with som...

Due to the wild and crazy roller-coaster of insanity that was the end of June, I never recapped the month and set goals for July.  The horror.  I’m going to briefly check back in with June.... June Goals More outdoor swimming.   Check, at least until the OTP became consistently over 90º and my swim caps started exploding from my boiling brain. Now that the peak block is over, get back in the weight room.   Once, but then Sonja put the kibbosh on it during taper and I happily agreed. Continue to steer clear of all things that cause IM anxiety (people, places, online training calculators, etc.).   Except for one last round of stress immediately before the race, I had a pretty anxiety-free taper. Make plans for July that include the words “beach” and “margarita” and “grill” and “drunk” and NOT the world “bike” or “train” or “heart rate.”   As this posts, I am halfway to the beach.  Yes, it’s August, not July.  No, I don’t care. Enjoy every sin...

The second half of the Q&A is much more opinion than it is facts about the race, just so you are warned.  The same disclaimers about this being my first attempt at the distance and generally knowing nothing about how to be fast (or generally much at all, except how to pose for ass pictures) still apply. Race Recon What surprised you the most about each discipline at that distance on race day? In the swim, I think I did an excellent job of scaring the crap out of myself about how much contact there was going to be.  On race day I was surprised to find that it wasn't nearly as bad as I had been imagining.  On the bike, I was surprised to feel happy well past the half split - this makes me excited to go race another 70.3, because usually I'm ready to get off at 56 miles.  I was also surprised by how low I felt after mile 60 and how long it lasted.  On the run, looking back I'm surprised at how positive I stayed inside my head, despite the fact that I w...