Back in the Heyday

A lot has happened in the couple of weeks since my last post-- which is why I haven't posted in a while. That, and I'm not supposed to use my company laptop for anything personal, even in non-work hours. (They monitor it and even block sites-- I could get around it, but don't want to risk it.)

This week, we've done a lot of training since Sunday:

• 2 hours in the pool on Sunday;
• 1.5 hours swimming on Tuesday;
• 1 hour bike and half hour run on Wednesday; and
• 1 hour bike then 1.5 hours swim on Thursday.

Today (Friday) is an off day. Planning a longer run on Saturday, possibly a short run on Sunday if I canfit it into the travel schedule. I'm in Dayton, OH all next week so I'll be logging a few miles on the road with my most portable equipment: my running shoes.
--
A few weeks ago, we went for dinner with some friends, some of whom are on the ball hockey team, but none of them "do triathlon". We were talking about the team, and I was saying how much I suck, and was happy to get my first shot on goal a the end of the second game. The rest of the conversation went something like this (well, actually, this is an almost unfair retelling, but the gist of it was pretty close. And this version is more entertaining.):

"It doesn't matter how good you are, as long as you're out there running hard. At least you're in pretty good shape." (one of the guys on the team)
"Oh, I don't know... I don't think I'm in very good shape at all!"
"Oh my god, you were in SUCH great shape last summer when you did your marathon!" (one of the ladies)
"It was a triathlon."
"Well, I could never do that. It was SO amazing! We watched you, and you were really fast. You must have been in really good shape."
"I still don't think I was in fantastic shape, even then. Let me give you some perspective. In High School, I played basketball or had practice every day. Before that, at one point I was on three basketball teams. I played a lot of different sports- I was about 50-60 pounds lighter, and had way more endurance. First two years of University, I was snowboarding every day-- and walking up and down the hill. Compared to any of that, I'm not in very good shape."
"Oh."

When I say "a lot of different sports", that includes: basketball, fastball, snowboarding, hiking, skiing (cross-country and downhill), waterskiing, badminton, volleyball, soccer, climbing, football, mountain biking, and ultimate frisbee. It's much easier to do all that when you're in school, have summer vacation, or even when you're working at what is considered Not A Real Job (as in "when are you going to get a Real Job?).

And that's why I love triathlon. I can get three sports out of it, training with the same group. Now if only I can keep doing it consistently for more than 6 months...



"Whatever