BRRRRR

Wow!  It is cold out this morning!  One of the many benefits from volunteering in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics I received was a warm winter coat.  I use it whenever I ski and on bitter cold mornings for running.  Keeps me nice and toasty!  But my face was really cold.  I have a neck warmer that can come up and over my mouth and nose, but I can't get enough oxygen with it on while I'm running.  So I pull it up for 30 seconds, then have to put it back down.  I met a guy taking his garbage out this morning, greeted him, and he said, "Aren't you cold?!?"  I laughed and said, "Yeah." He then proceeded to tell me I was crazy!  I kind of like being told I'm crazy. :)

Yesterday: I missed my alarm somehow and when I woke up I didn't have time to get to the gym.  So I did some weight training and exercises at home.  My muscles are pretty sore today!

Monday: Got up and ran 4 miles in the wind.  Definitely not the fastest 4 miles I've ever run!  Here's a tip:  Don't spit into the wind! :)

Sunday: Rest.....ahhhhh......

Saturday: Headed to the gym and did 90 minutes on the spin bike.  I must admit, I was dreading this because it is strange to me to be stuck in one place for that long!  The first 45 minutes were hard mentally, but after I was on the countdown, I felt like I could keep going.  I'm not sure how accurate spin bikes are.  My first 60 minutes (the longest setting the bike had was 60 minutes so I had to do a 60-minute workout and then restart with a 30-minute workout) it said I did 22.1 miles and burned 725 calories.  My average cadence was 83.  If that is true, I am WAY stronger than last year.  But it doesn't feel right somehow.  What do you think, Ryan?  The last 30 minutes, I did 11 miles for a grand total of 33.
    Finished my ride at 6:30pm and knew I had a soccer game at 8:30 that night.  My legs were spent and I didn't think I'd be able to contribute much.  However, that bike must have warmed me up because I had one of my best games ever!  Scored four goals, two of which were one-on-ones with the keeper where I was at full speed.  It felt awesome!!  I had been considering giving up soccer until after this Half because I keep getting hurt, but after that game,  I just can't do it!  I love the game so much!

Friday:  Jumped up early to hit the pool.  Did the long workout: 4x200, 1x1500, 4x50.  That 1500 was tough mentally.  Physically, I felt ok and could do it.  But mentally, I wanted to stop.  I didn't, though.  I kept thinking back to when I first decided to do a triathlon and the tri I chose was Pineview.  The swim was 1000 meters and it took me quite a while to build up to swimming that long.  My entire goal was to just be able to swim 1000 meters straight without stopping.  And now I'm swimming 1500......and it's only the beginning of the workouts!
    Had a soccer game that night at 10:20pm.  Didn't go so well, but at least I didn't get hurt.  We didn't have any subs so I ran and sprinted the entire 50 minutes.