Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Got my goggles back today! It's amazing how I can obsess over something that is seemingly so minor. I purchased new goggles last night...I needed another pair anyway and found a good deal. I actually had a goggle dream last night, or rather this morning.

I set my alarm to go off just before 6:30 this morning. The pool opens then and I wanted to call before anyone got into the locker room. I left my goggles hanging off one of the lockers last night.
Just before the alarm went off, I had this weird dream that I was calling the pool to ask if they had found my goggles. In my dream, the dude I was talking to on the phone was kind of a jerk. I said, "Hi, I was there at lap swim last night and left my goggles in the locker room. I was wondering if anyone found them." He made some comment like, "Yeah, I don't really know." "Do you think you could go and see?" I asked. His strange response: "Yeah, well it's not like we're going to get the stilts out or anything!"

I was making this dream call from my cellphone, which for some reason was attached to a sproingy car charger cord and my car which was at least a block away, so the cord was under considerable tension. After the pool dude said he wasn't going to get the stilts out to look for my goggles I started getting a little testy.

I snarked back at him, "Well, if I see anyone wearing those goggles, I'm going to rip them right off their fa---" at which point my phone slipped out of my hand and shot back towards the car, smashing on the street as it bounced along. Double-whammy! No goggles and now no phone.

Perhaps a minute later my alarm went off. Thankfully my real life call to the pool was pleasant and uneventful. The woman I spoke too was very nice and went and found my goggles immediately. I stopped by about an hour later and picked them up, and all is right with the goggle world.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Got a good swim session in tonight. Rather than my normal series of 500s or 400s, I switched it up tonight and swam a 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 200, 300, 500 series. If I would have had time, I would have stuck the 400 in there on the ascent, but I was happy to get 2500 in tonight.

On a sad note, I realized once I got home that I left my goggles at the pool. Waaaaaah! Those were my favorites. I'd been wearing them for 3 years. I tried calling, but the pool was closed. I'll try again first thing in the am, but I fear my Speedo Sengars are no more.

Relaxed. Comfortable. And. In. Con-trol.

Had a great 5 miler tonight. It was sunny and hot, but not too bad in the shade. I set out to have a good run...to not push the pace too hard, and to feel good. [SNL Target Lady] Successss![/SNL Target Lady]

I was chanting to myself as I ran: Relaxed. Comfortable. And. In. Con-trol. It worked, I felt good the whole run.

Swim tomorrow...

Ooof.

I had a long run planned for yesterday. I was hoping to get 8 miles in. We had another early morning rain followed by sun and heat. I headed out around noon and felt OK. I didn't have tons of energy, probably due to the previous day's ride, but I wanted to run.

I got about a mile and a half into the run when my legs started feeling really fatigued. I was acutally happy for a red light so I could stop and rest for a couple of seconds. Sometimes I'll feel a little sluggish early in a run, but once I get into a nice rhythm it gets better. It wasn't getting better...

At mile 3 I had decided the long run wasn't happening on this day. My route is a figure 8 set of squares that intersect near my house, so from mile 3 to mile 4.55 I was having a little mind/body struggle. It's hard when you are used to pushing through pain and fatigue to tell yourself, "OK - I'm just going to stop." But I think it's necessary sometimes...not doing so can lead to injuries...gotta maintain that mind/body balance.

I'll try to get another run in today.

Great Ride

It's a beautiful day in Champaign. The day started with an early thunderstorm, then cleared up into a sunny, slightly windy warm summer day. I waited for quite a while to ride, putzed around the house, ran some errands, etc. Finally got onto the bike around 4:30.

I headed out on one of my normal routes, but headed north and then west towards Mahomet...the wind was blowing NNW at about 15 mph. Heading out was tough. I equate windy riding to climbing...we have no mountains here in Central Illinois, so the wind is our substitute. I was planning on a ride of about 30 miles, but when I got to the halfway point, I was past 17 miles. I stopped at a gas station in Mahomet to top off my bottle, and bought some vitamin water. I got the biggest bottle of water in the cooler, which filled up my bottle and I stuck the big bottle in one jersey pocket and the bottle with the rest of the vitamin water in another jersey pocket. It kind of felt like I had scuba tanks on my back as I rode the route back.

What was such a hinderance on the way out, was a huge boost on the way back. The wind pushed and I shifted up onto the big ring and cruised back at 24+ mph. Total mileage was 36.4.

Felt great...planning on a long run tomorrow.

Outdoor Swimming Season

My wife and I hit one of our local pools, Sholem, for lap swim last night (7:00-8:00pm). Aside from a May triathlon in a small lake, this was my first outside swim of the season. It was great (mostly). There was still plenty of sunshine and warmth in the air when we got into the pool, and we still had plenty of light left to get home when we were done.

Most of my swims are done at an indoor facility in Urbana, UIAC. Usually this works out ok, except that a lot of the time in the evening, half of the lanes are in use by the local swim club and there are older ladies doing water aerobics in the deep end and I sometimes have to swim through a slick of their perfume. Seriously, perfume in the pool??? CACK!

Sholem is on our side of town, just a few minutes away on bikes. We rode over and paid our $3 each to lap swim. The lanes are set up in an area of the pool that is 3 ft 6 in deep. One disadvantage to swimming in water this shallow is that the bottom of the pool is clearly visible. This means that every bandaid or other bit of gross debris left over from the day is easily identifiable. I think the net effect of this is that I swam a little faster, so I could get out of the water. I got in a series of 4 500s and felt pretty good. I'd missed my last couple of scheduled swims, so it was very necessary to get back in the water.

I'll keep going back due to the proximity and cost advantages, but I hope they can get all that junk off the bottom of the pool.

Lake Mingo

The Lake Mingo Trail Run was Saturday June 14. I was looking forward to this since I hadn't raced Tri Shark and needed an organized event.

This event is a Kennekuk (KRR) event and is held in Kennekuk County Park near Danville. I really enjoy the KRR events and try to run all of them.

Saturday morning I got up and did my morning pre-race routine. Had a cup of coffee, made my usual pre-race breakfast (PB&J), filled my water bottle, gathered up all my crap and headed off towards Danville. I usually give myself just enough time to get to a race site, get checked in, and only have to stand around for a few minutes before starting. Today was no different, but I could have used a few extra minutes because my PB&J was sitting a little rough in my stomach. I hoped that this wouldn't require a mad dash off into the woods during the run.

The run started on time (9:00 am) and we were off onto the trail. The course for this run is very nice. There are a couple of short sections that are not under cover, but most of the run is covered by heavy forest - this is one of my favorite run courses in this area. The trail winds through the woods and around Lake Mingo and features numerous bridge crossings and some challenging up and down hill sections.

The effects of all of the recent rain we've had were very evident...the first 300 yards or so were through an open field and the ground was squishy with large puddles of standing water in some spots. My feet were wet in the first minutes of the run. There was thick, sucking mud throughout the course and knee deep water in a few sections.

The first and second halves of the run were great contrasts. Early in the run, I wasn't mentally focused. My stomach was a little upset, my feet were wet and my legs were sore. After the first half, I just settled in, enjoyed the experience, and had a great time slogging through the muck.

I last ran this race in 2006. My time this year was about 8 1/2 minutes slower...likely due to the difficult conditions. When I got home and checked the results, I discovered I had placed 2nd in my age group. Very Surprising.

Post Race Feasting

After a race, I like to treat myself to a quality meal. Sometimes it's a boatload of sushi; sometimes it's a mess of mexican food; sometimes it's ribs or fried chicken. A good pigout session is justified by the number of calories burned in a race (yes, even a sprint distance race). After Saturday's race was rained on (not out...the race happened, I didn't) my wife and I went for a ride in the afternoon and put in some hard work in the wind (25+ mph gusts). Even though there was no racing on Saturday, there were calories burned that needed to be replenished.

Saturday's quality meal: Tapas and beer at Cafe Luna.

Cafe Luna has been my favorite Champaign restaurant since I first ate there many years ago. They serve very high quality meals in a comfortably classy setting. The restaurant recently moved from its Campustown location at Fourth and Green into the old train station at University and Chestnut in downtown Champaign. My wife and I were anxious to see the new space and see what the menu had to offer...we weren't dissapointed. The old space was "intimate" and by intimate, I mean cramped. It wasn't uncomfortable, just small and easily crowded...not much space between the tables. The new space is very nice with plenty of tables and plenty of room...a nice upgrade.

We did not have reservations, but we intended to sit at the bar anyway, so seating was immediate. I ordered a beer, Schlafly Oatmeal Stout and my wife ordered a sparkling wine. Both were yummy. We each decided to order three items from the tapas menu and share, so were could maximize tasting. I selected Roasted Spring Vegetables, Tuna Tartar Trio (spicy, Shitake, and Herb), and Flank Steak Crostini with Fig Jam, Arugula, and Blue Stilton. My wife picked Ceviche Scallops on Celeriac Root with Orange Filet and Avocado, Sauteed Asparagus with Sundried Tomato and Chive Butter, and Bell Pepper Crabcakes. All of our selections were outstanding. I had another beer and my wife ordered a white sangria. We decided to have one more item from the tapas menu and picked the Strawberry Rhubarb Pork Ribs. Yum-yum! I need to race soon, so I can go back for more.

I highly recommend this Champaign establishment for anyone looking for a delicious high-quality meal.

Tri Shark Rain Report

I was hoping to post my Tri Shark Race Report here. However, after waking up to a thunderstorm, driving to the race site through a thunderstorm, and waiting for the race to start between thunderstorms, all I have to post is a rain report.

The race was supposed to start at 8:00 am. Due to the thunder, lightning, and heavy rain the race start was initially pushed back to 8:30. Race management kept checking weather reports and when they determined that the weather would not be cleared up at 8:30, they pushed the start back another 30 minutes to 9:00. At this time they also announced that, due to lightning, there was the possibility that they would cancel the swim and just hold a 1.55/13/1.55 duathlon instead. As it approached 9:00 and then another postponed start (9:15) I decided to call it a day.

I didn't feel like risking a potential crash and/or injury on the wet roads to get this race in. It wasn't an easy decision, but it's something my mother would have said was a smart choice, so I'm ok with that. I'll race another day...

A couple of other things:

• Thank you to the people who helped push my van out of the mud!!!
• I saw a funny shirt. I didn't see the front, but the back said, "If you can read this, you're in last place."
• Special thanks to all the volunteers for standing out in the rain waiting for the race to start. Volunteers make races possible and we triathletes really appreciate your willingness to give your time.

Good Brick

Squeezed in a nice brick workout last night between thunderstorms. My friend Andrew invited me to ride and run with him near his house. He has a good 13 mile bike TT course through country roads, and a choice of 3 mile out and back runs.

After riding a quick 10 mile TT the night before, I wasn't sure how I would feel on the bike. But, I felt good...really good. I had a nice pace and my cadence was fast and strong. I'm hoping this bodes well for this weekend's race. In my last race, May Madness, I just felt like a little power was lacking on the bike. I'm hoping I've timed my bike workouts well going into Tri Shark.

Following the ride, we took off for the run. I chose a route to the west (into the weather) and Andrew headed east. I was planning on running about 3.4 miles, but I had to cut a mile off due to looming dark clouds and flashes of lightning that I was running directly into. I picked a turn-around point and headed back. The run felt good. I tried reminding myself to control my breathing early in the run and get the legs stretched out...

It was great to get a workout in on an unfamiliar course. Often workouts on familiar territory can feel too static..."here's a rise in the road...I can go fast here...need to brake here for the turn...yawn." So, it was nice to ride a course where all I knew was where to turn.