Back on Track

This week I'm back on track. Birthday celebrations and random illnesses are over- The weekend was epic and I feel great. Today - 1:30 bike, 1:00 run. The race is getting close and I'm getting very excited.

Quiz Win

After a monster weekend today was a much needed day of no training. It's amazing how much time I get back when I don't train. And how did I spend that time today? Girls night and a pub quiz win! 

This time I am prepared

Today was redemption for last week's disaster bike ride. I had multiple extra tubes with me and I carried them the whole way. Of course I didn't need them. But I was ready.

pull a switch... to watch football

I switched this weekends workouts for a number of reasons. It was raining today so people weren't going cycling. I also wanted to catch the Man U v. Barca game tonight. Run 2:00, Bike :50, Run 1:00

Fridays just aren't Fridays anymore

My weekends are always spent with my workouts. I feel like I'm dating the Ironman. My Friday night: quality time with my boyfriend. swim :45, bike 1:00, run :25

Too much of a good thing

Birthday celebrations may have been going on for too long at this point. Time to focus on nutrition again.

Morning Skate

When I was in college my hockey teammates used some code phrases. Morning skate was one of them. I'd much rather be having a morning skate than getting up early to actually do a workout, but that's what I did today. For a good reason though. I spent the day at the beach with Claire. I am still not used to paying to sit next to the pool and the ocean and calling in the beach, but it is still quite lovely. I ended the day with the last of my birthday celebrations - drinks on a rooftop.

My stomach seems better; I made it through 1:20 run and 1:32 bike ride before napping on the beach.

Back to the grind

Back in the pool today, but not up for a run. My stomach is still not 100% when bounced all around.

Make up day

I put in 90 minutes on the bike at the gym to make up for missing so much this weekend. Dinner with my best friends is a good recipe for recovery. Throw in the pub quiz and life is looking up.

Swim, Bike, and run to the loo

This morning when I woke up I was not feeling any better, but I had nothing else in my system to get rid of so at least I had that going for me. I didn't upset that balance and kept my stomach empty. Despite not feeling great I at least wanted to go to the triathlon and do as much as I could. I started the swim feeling pretty crappy. In the 750m swim I threw up three or four times. Yuk! I was one of the first people out of the water, stumbled to my bike and started on the 20k bike ride. At least the ride was mostly flat because being in drop position is a lot like the fetal position and that allowed me to get through the ride. By the end I was inadvertently groaning in pain every few hundred meters. I dropped my bike in the transition area, thew on my running shoes and headed off down the road. I made it a few hundred meters- all the way to a bathroom- and that is where my triathlon ended. 

Aside from being sick, it was a beautiful day and Michel ended up getting 3rd place in his division and Calin was announced as a winner despite not even coming to the race (she's still injured). Michel's family came to watch the race and we all had a lovely lunch (I ate bread and water). The after party was awesome although I wish I weren't so sick and was able to enjoy the dance floor a bit more. 

Just not my day...

Today was just not my day. It started off on a wonderfully. When my friend Michel is around and riding I catch a ride with him, but he wasn't riding today because of the Tyr Triathlon tomorrow. So I met up with Nael, and not only does he live in my neighborhood, he is the "hot guy" that some friends and I spoke with months ago (which was a motivating factor in getting me connected with these biking guys). We get up to the usual meeting point for the ride and everything seems normal. I only have one tube with me but I rarely need one let alone two. This is when things start to go wrong. When I top off the air in my tires one of the valves breaks so straight off the bat I use my spare tube. The first 26 or 27km were great. I felt great on the uphill segments and am obviously getting better at them. Downhills I am not as reckless as I could be, for so many reasons. I am always the last one on downhills. After only about 1km I was unable to avoid a massive grate and I blew out the tube in my front tire. No spare. No one in sight. Fortunately I was carrying my phone and $50 (I often forget to bring anything on rides). Unfortunately the only two people I had phone numbers for were Tony and Nael, neither of which were carrying their phones on the ride. I texted both of them (voice mail doesn't exist here). I didn't know where I was or how to get back to the meeting point. I sat on the side of the road for a while hoping someone would come save me. Yes, you read that correctly. Oh wait, first I walked down the street to a tire shop but they only fix car tires and after examining my tube said there was no way to fix it. And I was able to manage this conversation in Arabic. And miming. Then I sat on the side of the road waiting to be saved. An old man came out of the house nearby and walked to the store on the corner. When he returned he invited me into their house. I sat inside using my terrible Arabic for pleasantries, watched tv with the old man and his wife. Eventually Nael got back to his phone and gave me someone else's number, and pretty soon a taxi with one of the bike guys in it rolls up. We put my bike in the trunk and then start searching the streets for another one of the bike guys who was riding his bike around searching for me. After driving around the village streets for a while we find him and all head back to the three other bikers. Since I don't have a tube the guys pay the taxi driver to take me back to Beirut. The taxi driver was very chatty and all I wanted to do was ride in silence. 

I made it home just in time to take a shower and run down the street to lunch with my friend Evan at one of my favorite restaurants in Beirut, but somehow even that went awry. I wasn't feeling too great but I thought it was because of the bike ride and the taxi trip home. After a wonderful lunch I went home and went straight to bed. Very ill. I was supposed to get in another 3 hours of a bike ride and a 30 minute swim, but that definitely didn't happen.

Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow for the Tyr triathlon.

Happy Birthday Run

Today I turned 32 years old. Celebrations included a lovely dinner with wonderful friends, a swim, and a run. It feels great to be in such great shape at this point in my life. And that I can be given an amazing present, a handmade sock puppet, and play with it in a fancy restaurant.

*Side note - Calin injured herself playing soccer on Wednesday night. She did something to her calf muscle and is non-weight bearing at this time. Not sure what that means for her training... and I don't think I'll be playing soccer again until after July 10th.

Another Day Off From Work!!!

Two days off from work in a row! Sweet! Too bad it won't extend one more day for my actual birthday tomorrow. Oh well, the extra time today was glorious. I spent much of it dining on a balcony with friends (and playing with the tea cozys). After getting in my workout in the morning of course.

Instability

One of the few benefits of living in an "unstable" country is that sometimes school is just cancelled. Today was one such day and it is AMAZING all the fun things I can do in one day when work is not one of them. It made me wish for a very brief second that I could go pro and *only* have to train.

The timing of this "day off" was perfect as it is my birthday week, so I was able to fit in my workout and three social meals. This is made easier when you eat more than three meals a day. 

Dog Sitting

Really, working a full time job and training for an Ironman is like working two jobs. So when you do things like dog sit, even that morning and evening walk seriously cut into your "free" time. I'd only advise it if you *really* love the dog and/or owner. Cycling intensity was higher today than on most Tuesdays leaving me with even less energy post-workout.

Day off!

These days off don't last as long or come as often as they should. Especially when I have Student Led Conferences all day long. Makes for a long day, although it is nice to see the kids "show their stuff off" to their parents. Best part of Mondays besides not needing to get a workout in: Quiz night at the Greedy Goose!

where do the weekends go?

They go to lots of miles on the roads and in the water.

naps

After a super long workout, a nap is a necessity. I'm still kind of groggy and would still be asleep except a friend called and we're going out. Good thing I took a nap!

I'd rather be...

I am busy doing student-led conferences today. I would rather be running in the Wadi Rum desert Full Moon Marathon. sigh

more food, please

Went to dinner with friends. Wanted more food than was served to me. Out of luck.

Dinner Party

One great thing about training so much is that I can eat pretty much anything I want. Comes in handy when Patrick cooks up a delicious dinner for us all. MMmmmmm.

*there is a downside to the higher metabolism though... I look forward to the time when I don't have to eat every 2-3 hours.

late nights

I woke up early this morning for a Skype interview at a school in Myanmar. I nailed it but I'm not sure I want the job. And I need to get more sleep than last night (4 hours) but don't regret the new friends I made last night. The 1h15m run and 1h45m bike were not pleasant today due to lack of sleep/energy.

No Training Day

One day off from training per week does not seem like enough, but I have come to enjoy them despite their brevity. I love that my day off and Quiz Night at my favorite pub coincide. In a few weeks it'll be even better when "girls night" of television resumes as well. Simple pleasures.

Tonight I took the extra few hours I had in my schedule since it was a day off and met up with some new friends at a familiar bar. It was refreshing to share a few drinks with "new" intelligent, interesting, attractive, thoughtful people, although they all thought I was crazy for doing an Ironman. Cheers!

MMA and Music

MMA yesterday was interesting. It was Muay Thai. I spent 2.5 hours training and sparring with 3 lebanese guys and a "French Professional." I felt a bit out of place but it was fun and I plan to go again. If you want more details than that, email me.

I put in todays long workout early in the morning to avoid as much harassment as possible. Being a foreigner I get a lot of attention anyway, but when I'm a foreigner in spandex shorts and tank top I get a lot more attention. Not exactly what I'm going for. The first run was great and the bike ride at the gym was fine. It was hard to stay motivated during the second run but some techno with the right bpm kept me going strong. Anyone have any suggestions for some good music set to specific bpm? I need more motivating music. 

Cross Training

Today is my first venture into cross-training. This is what I'm going to call it, although in reality it is doing martial arts for 3 hours and pretending it is just as good as going biking for 3 hours. Just as good, maybe. Same muscle groups, kind of but not really. Same cardio levels, sure. 

This is also my first time doing martial arts since I was about 8 years old and my mom took me out of karate class because I was showing all my "friends" the cool moves I learned in class. 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Just keep swimming

Today's swim also felt good. It's all coming back relatively quickly, which is good. Still need to make it through this weekend and at least half of next week before deciding if I'm in or out for Zurich.

Sigh. 

Feeling Back on Track, almost

I started todays workout with a swim and felt fantastic. Swam hard and fast. My shoulder was a little sore by the end but not terribly so. Then I started a run. Ran out of energy after 15 minutes. Oops. I need to pay attention to my fueling plan. Perhaps I should have a fueling plan. 

Football

Got back on the pitch today for the first time in what feels like FOREVER! It felt great. I wasn't tired at all and ran pretty much the entire game. I squeezed a bike ride in earlier today too so I'm set for the day!

Work is tiring

Going back to work was very tiring. By the time I got home and walked the dog I was ready for a nap not a workout. Full speed ahead tomorrow then.

Bikes and the Beach

I went for a bike ride today. I was hoping there would be some serious climbs so I could really push myself. It ended up being a recreational ride but the weather was great and the coastal views were stunning.  Best part about it: we went to a little beach place afterwards for lunch and enjoyed the water, sun and friends.

Worried

How did May arrive so quickly? Only 10 days to get back up to my full training program or I call Switzerland off. I'm worried I won't make it. Or worse, that my mysterious medical malady will return.

Other things I'm looking forward to this month (to distract me from worrying too much):
- Dinner with friends at Momo
- Finding a job (International Education, can start Aug 1... let me know if you have any suggestions)
- Possibly a weekend in Jordan running in the desert
- My birthday and the festivities that surround it
- Tyr Triathlon (sprint) May 22