Crikey! Take it easy.

Well after much deliberation I have decided not to bike today. Several of the family told me I was stupid for running yesterday. Ill take the day off, although pressure is mounting!

Im back! With Strep!

Who says life isn't a roller coaster? I woke up feeling much better and started to plan for a run and swim. We went out for pancakes this morning as David is off and wanted to show Granddad what he likes to do. While we were there the Doc called every contact we had, not the nurse the doc! It turns out I have strep! What the Hell is that? So an IM to a friend and much googling we have the details. Now it turns out Isla has had it for 10 days - untreated. The poor wee soul.

So I went and got the prescription and ran 8 miles and the took my pills. Yes I said it 8 easy miles. The goal was 9 but as soon as my heart rate hit 145 I finished the current mile and called it a day. Just as well as Iron Man 2 was about to finish.

So with the news of the strep and it being contagious for another 48 hours I didn't go to the pool tonight. I'm starting to get stressed!

Test Ride

WellI feel a bit better today so Im doing an easy bike ride with Henry, my father in law. I felt ok afterwards but still a bit tired and still taking some pills.

Will I be able to recover - lets start freaking out!

Wheres Dave?

Dave's in his his bed.

I cycled 40 miles on Tuesday and one Wednesday started feeling tired. I ran 8 miles at 11 minute pace and felt event worse. By the evening I was running a steady 102 fever and this has lasted until Saturday where it dropped to normal, leaving me optimistic I could bike on Sunday or do something! I woke up at 1am with a stonking headache that couldn't be moved. Did I mention I'm alternating every 2 hours during the day between dayQuil (Day time benelyn) and Ibuprofen to keep my fever under control. Both do not interact with each other but Im still at 102!

Still no fever on Sunday but my head was splitting, I went to bed but got pissed off with this approach. So I thought I'd try a 40 mile bike ride, 20 miles with my father in law as I really wanted to show him the trails! Then 20 back by myself. So the weather didn't go as predicted and it hit 90 by noon. Not 3 as predicted! I have to say I was a mess by the turn around and opted to "punt" as they say out here. Kathleen took me home. I am now running another fever of 100, the headache is gone and back to feeling blah.

For the past month the quote has been "my cardiovascular system is willing but the body isn't" now its "my body is willing and cardiovascular is toast"!

Now blah doesn't bother me usually but when you are doing an Ironman in 7 weeks its a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Aerobars and Beer Fest!

My goal was 80 miles but I didn't get out early enough so I settled for 70 miles. They were good miles too! I didn't blow up and felt good at the end. Then it was off to the Great American Beer Festival.

I got new Aerobars for my bike this week too. I went for the T1 Vipers from Profile Design mostly as that's what the salesman said to take. I was a bit dubious of them but I have to say they are very handy. They took a bit of getting used to but when you have a head wind they help a lot. I also found that on downhill it was very easy to get fast as the bars put you in the aero position very easily.



They are a bit hard to maneuver on and it was hard to just stay in a straight line.

For the most part I used the bars and went at the same effort as sitting upright which resulted in an increase of speed of about 2mph. By mile 60 I was getting tired and used the bars to do the same speed with less effort. That was actually harder to do as it involved going at a slower tempo. The gears cant be changed from the bars.

Overall, if you ever have a head wind then get yourself some of these!

Long exercise day

I took today off so that I could get my long run and long bike in this week. David got me up and we headed up to the bagel shop to get my supply of bagels for the week.

The target was 17 miles today so I had 1000 calories for breakfast. 2 bagels, a bowl of cheerios and a cliff bar. Then I filled up all my bottles with Gatorade, not accelerade its a bit thick for the run sometimes. I grabbed a couple of DVDs and off I went.

Instead of tricks to keep me interested I ran a steady 12 minute mile pace. HR was down at 88 for a while but I did not increase my pace. I made it! I did feel I could probably do another mile but I have to swim at night too. I didn't have to stop, sit or walk. I just did it!

I have been debating running outside a lot but I am reminded about why I keep that to a minimum. The left leg and knee especially help remind me that I do have arthritis and it will get really bad really quickly.

Swim went well. It was a bit tough but good.

I ate 5000 calories today but I livestrong.com shows 5300 burned plus the 2800 I'm supposed to eat just to stay alive! So I'm hoping Ive eaten enough for tomorrows big cycle.

Great Bike

Went out for a good Ride today. The plan was 3 hours but with my long training session on Wednesday and Thursday I went for the usual 2 hours. So 35 miles in! I felt good afterwards.

I started out trying to go fast but my left leg reminded me that I have to take it easy. I ended up spending about 15 miles "coping" with it. It culminated on a hill where I was climbing up remembering all the bad things I have done to the point where I nearly stopped. I caught myself and started looking for positive thoughts. The finish line, the kids - that sort of thing, before knew it I was off and going fine again. By the end I wanted to go further but having a job really sucks some times! Oh right, that's what pays for me to do these things.

Dog report: Usual, stupid dog came out again. This time I tried cycling straight and it ran and stopped in front of me. I screamed at it a bit but kept going. Every time! It must do that to all bikes that go by raising a question of whether the owner is arrogant and stupid. Complaints will result in the loss of the dog.