So tired

that I just actually took a nap. that I actually decided not to go swim. that I am not even hungry. (Though that may be because of the dozen or so fun-size Halloween candy bars I ate 3 hours ago.)

I think this past week was also the first of the semester sicknesses where I just feel tired and icky most of the time. I have never quite figured how to get rid of the icky feeling either. It just comes and goes. My appetite kind of disappears along with it, except I keep eating no matter what.

Nothing too interesting to report. Did a 55 mile ride with two people from the tri club which was fun. It was much more entertaining to bike the route I used to ride regularly last year with company. And made the time pass a lot faster and the wind not seem so horrible.

Only ended up swimming 11901m this week since I didn't go today.
Biked 127 miles.
Ran 20-21 miles.

I get shin splint pains on the front/side of my left shin at the beginning of every run now. Usually mid way through they disappear but it's annoying. I haven't figured out if it's my shoes or because my left leg got weaker from unuse.

Bottomless Pit

Both my stomach and my life seem to be of the same. And I am NOT eating constantly because I am hungry, I am eating because I am stressed and when I am stressed self-control does not exist since it's one thing I don't want to think about. Hence why at the end of this semester I will probably be pre-diabetic and 15 pounds heavier. There's not even time for 3 meals a day anymore, so I have started substituting candy corn for one of those meals. Candy corn has supported me since sophomore year. It's a terrible habit but I just can't stop. There's no energy to tell myself that this is bad . All the energy goes toward school. Which is also a bottomless pit because there seems to be no end to the downward spiral. I think it can't get any worse, yet it does. It's only been 4 weeks so far. I'm not sure how I am supposed to survive the remaining 14.

On a lighter note, I finally ran outside on Friday. I ended up doing 5.8 miles in about 56 minutes, including stops to stretch. So that means less than a 10 minute pace! Which is surprising since last year I really think I was running at least a 10 minute per mile pace if not longer. The first half of the run felt stiff and my calves are tight. The second half was better. I still feel slow though.

I also did a 66 mile ride yesterday out to a university-owned park in Monticello, IL. I went with people from the tri club and it was ... interesting. There were a few guys there who I think had never biked anywhere close to that mileage that still decided to come despite the fact that there had been an email the night before stating that it would be a 60 mile ride. But I assume they are freshmen and I guess as a freshmen I lacked common sense. (Some may argue that I still lack common sense nowadays.) I was proud of myself that I was able to beat everyone up the "hills" in my big chain ring and that on the way back I was almost able to keep up with the 2-3 fast guys. And surprisingly, with not too much drafting on the way back, I was doing 22ish mph. And holding it! It was exciting. Though about two miles from home my legs decided it was quitting time and I got slow. But I'd say that's the longest I'd gone at such a speed ever maybe.

Totals for the week:
Swim: 3600x2yds + 2600m + 2600yds + 4000yds = something around 15km
Bike: 27 + 28 + 66 + 30 minute trainer ride = 121 miles
Run: 6.5 mi on treadmill + 30 min on treadmill + 15 min on track + 5.8 mi outside = 2hr45 minutes running

And here goes another week...

Two months

ago I fell while running and have not run outside since. However, today I did manage 45 minutes on the treadmill averaging 6mph (walked 2 minutes within the 45 minutes). Hopefully in the next week or so I will attempt to run outside. I am actually almost liking having to go the gym now since I get to watch tv there. The house I am living in does not have cable and the antenna can be flaky, especially in bad weather. The house also does not have a dryer so I have to go the laundromat to dry my clothes. The bright side to that is that there is also cable there.

So I have concluded after living in a house for 3 or so weeks (and listening to my friends in Austin who own homes) is that I do not want to be a homeowner. I do not want to responsible for mowing the lawn (which I had to do yesterday instead of doing homework) or pest control. At the very least, I will never buy an older home. I do not want to go into the basement and walk through a bunch of spiderwebs and then see huge spiders and other icky insects.

Totals for the week:
Biking - 5.5 hrs (approximately) 85 miles
Treadmill - 2hrs25minutes
Elliptical - 3hrs20minutes
Swimming - 12364 meters (+ maybe another 2500m today)

The silver lining to not running is that I think my swimming has gotten somewhat better and my biking has improved since last year, at least in the cornfields. Last summer I remember averaging 13 mph, 12mph with wind, and so far since I've been back I've been doing 15.5-16mph and it only dropped to 14.7mph yesterday with winds of around 15mph and gusts around 30mph.

Yay and Boo

http://www.mattoonbeachtri.com/GreatIllini/08results/GREAT%20ILLINI%20HALF%20AQUA-BIKE.HTM

Slower swim but faster bike than I thought:
Swim (1.2 miles) = 39:23 (4 minutes faster than last year)
Bike (56 miles) = 3:06:01 (19 minutes faster than last year)
T1 = 4:04 (had to put on brace and get Garmin working)

I don't know if I was supposed to learn any lessons from this, since I did nothing "correct" in preparation for this, except for maybe rest days and carbo-loading.

The kicker is, had I been able to run, I probably could have gotten 3rd my age group. And I don't think I would have gone any slower on the bike since my strategy usually is go as hard as I can on the bike (since generally I don't go very hard it doesn't really have an effect) and then run as hard as I can. Boo. Dumb knee.

ETA: I think I ought to start keeping track of my weekly totals again. Not what I did daily, but total meters/mileage for the week. For some reason the pools here are in yards so I'm converting to meters.

Swim: (including Austin Tri oly swim and Great Illini half swim) 17680 meters
Bike: (including Austin Tri oly bike and Great Illini half bike) 24 + 32 + 24 + 56 = 126 miles + 35 minutes on trainer

Plus I think 2 30 minute sessions on the treadmill and maybe 1 hour 20 minutes on elliptical.

Time for work. I think I need to cut down the alloted time for exercise. Sigh.

A Real Aquabike

I did a half iron distance aquabike this morning. 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike. Felt really good for both despite the last time that I biked anywhere near 56 miles was Buffalo Springs and before that. The two weeks after that were somewhere 40, mid-40s in terms of mileage and since I hurt my knee, the most I'd biked was 35 miles last Sunday in Austin. So I have to say I am proud of myself, especially since I cut off at least 15 minutes from my time last year on a similiar course. There seemed to be actually more hills this time around, and a headwind coming from the north. My Garmin said average mph of 18 for 55.62 miles. I hit the start button a bit late since initially when I started on the bike my chain was in the middle ring instead of the big ring so I wasted time fiddling with my gears. Luckily got it into the big ring and remained there for the ride entirety. Including the hills, er steep inclines. Nothing compared to Austin of course.

Will post official times once they are posted...

The Best Place in the World

I don't know whether it's the great friends or people I've met there, the city and its amenities, the weather, or just that it's not school, but Austin is my favorite place. And I'm so glad I went back to visit and am already looking forward to when I can next go. I got to stay with my good friend/coworker and his wife in their beautiful house and see/hang out with almost everyone I wanted to. I even got to do the usual Sunday group ride I used to do when I was free. I got to talk to people I had seen before and the ride itself was fantastic. I felt very strong even at the end considering that was the farthest I'd rode since middle of July.

The only downside was that I was only able to do the swim and bike part of the Austin Tri. The swim went okay without a wetsuit and the bike started off decent, but after 2 loops (it was a 3 loop course) my knee was in a lot of pain. I actually almost dropped out then but decided I could suck it up and finish the course. I don't know why it hurt Monday and not Sunday, except maybe it didn't like going so fast and having to push harder on the uphills since my gears decided not to change. But I was really frustrated when I got off the bike and having to turn my chip in was just depressing. Overall I feel pathetic and it's even ruining my motivation to work out and eat well. Not to mention school is awful and I don't really like the house I'm living in and the pool schedules are so retarded.

15 weeks left... I may do a half iron aquabike Saturday. Still debating.