Catching Up

The past three weeks have been going pretty well from a training stand point.  I have managed to up my running mileage up every week, I have been in the pool at least three days a week for 1,500 - 2,000m a session and I have gotten on the bike a few times as well (not nearly enough though).  I was able to put in my best run of the year in when I was on a business trip in Erie, PA...6.6 miles at 8:03/mile pace.  Actually, I was able to get in a lot of training (running) on that trip which was nice.

** Lake Erie behind me **

** Looking at the Pittsburgh skyline **

What else is going on....hmmmm, oh yeah, I finally purchased a new set of race wheels!!!!  Profile Design Altair Full Carbon Clinchers 80 - ....and as a part of a promotion received a Profile Design Altair Full Carbon Clincher 52 Front Wheel as well.  I couldn't pass them up, the deal was too good, in fact if anyone out there is looking for a good deal on wheels or other bike "stuff", go to Bicycle Doctor USA, very reliable and trustworthy guys!

 I am still waiting on my tires to arrive from France (Continental Grand Prix 4000s), the cheapest place I could find them.  As soon as I have the tires I will taking them out for a spin....I am very excited.

Oh, I haven't heard anything on the London job yet.  I have been told to sit tight and not dwell on it too much.  I have a feeling that it just isn't going to happen, but I am still holding out hope that I will get another interview and hopefully a job offer.

Lastly, I have my first race of the season on Saturday, June 9th and I am not in any shape to do especially well.  I am going to use that as motivation to get my sorry ass in shape for the rest of the summer.  I am hoping to drop about 5 - 10 pounds before race day in hopes of making me slightly faster....we'll see.

That's it for now.  Cheers!

Broad Street & Soccer

It was Friday night when my wife and I realized that Sunday was going to be very chaotic.  Why it took us until Friday is beyond me.  I spend about two hours picking up my race BIB for the Broad Street Run (along with a friend of ours), and was eager at the chance to finally take part in a race, my first one since last July. 

When I got home that evening it finally sunk in, there was no way that I was going to be able to do it, the race that is.  There was not way I could expect my wife to run my two oldest daughters all over the place with an infant in tow.  Frankly, I was being uber-selfish to expect her to do so.  here is what our Sunday looked like:

• 5:00AM - Leave for Broad Street Run
• 8:30AM - Broad Street Run
• 9:30AM - DD1 - Church Play
• 9:40AM - DD2 - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 1:00PM - DD1 - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 2:10PM - Me - Dress Rehearsal for Dance Recital
• 3:00PM - DD2 - Soccer Game
• 5:00PM - Me - Soccer Game

 It was pretty evident that something had to give and it was me that had to not be selfish (with some rationalization from my wife).  I decided to give my BIB to our friends husband so that it wouldn't go unused.  All in all I was bummed, nothing more.

So, without the Broad Street Run to do, I was given permission to play soccer, filling in for some missing guys on a friends team.  Wow, they were bad (not that I played especially well).  It was a an Over-40 League game and our guys played like a bunch of 50/60 year olds.  I think the final score was 7 - 2 or thereabouts.   I managed to play a part in both goals, assisting on the first and scoring the second.  I should have had two more, but hit them over the bar by about a foot or two, power over placement rarely wins.  Regardless of the unfavorable outcome, it was great fun getting to kick the ball around.

Big week this week, hopefully I will hear some news on the interview I had last week (fingers crossed), I plan on purchasing my wheelset (got a great deal), and kicking up training a bit as well.

Cheers!

Tricky Thursday

Whew, what a topsy-turvy week I have had.  Between family, work, training and miscellaneous, I am emotionally spent.  I probably shouldn't be writing in my blog today because I am so busy, but I have to rid myself of some of my thoughts to simply clear my head.  So here's what's going on:

U10 Girls Travel Soccer Try-Outs - My oldest daughter had travel soccer try-outs last week and we found out just two days ago that she was going to be moved from the "A" team down to the "B" team starting in the Fall season.  Initially I was really angry that someone thought my daughter wasn't good enough for that team, then I thought about it and it made sense.  Without going into all of the drama that surrounded our past year of soccer, this is a good thing and I think my daughter will be better for the move.

Training - I have had a good week thus far, I am seeing a bit of a return to my old form.  Tuesday I got up early to go for a swim only to be stopped about 150m into it with an order to evacuate the pool b/c of lightning.  DAMN!  That ended my early morning work out.  My afternoon was pretty clear so after my meeings I went for an afternoon run in the warm/humid weather and absolute sucked ass.  I think I ran 5 miles in 45 minutes, I was miserable, hot, thirsty and depressed.  Wednesday was another story; I opted to skip the swimming and get a good nights sleep and fit in an evening run.  While waiting for my girls to finish up dance class I went for a pretty hill 4.75 mile run and low and behold managed to maintain a 8:15/mile average pace.  I couldn't have been happier.  Today I was up early and hit the pool for what ended up being a 1,900m swim (300m w/u; 4x100m drills; 5x200m @20sec; 200m c/d).  I wasn't fast or feel especially good, but I did feel like I accomplished something.  I am planning on running again tonight before going to dance rehearsal (Daddy Dance for my girls dance school recital).

Work - Hmmm, work has been challenging lately to say the least .  Frustration has definitely become a word I have become more and more familiar with over the past couple of weeks.  So, as I mentioned in a post back on April 23rd, I applied for a couple internal jobs in hopes that I might get an interview for the local one and dreamed about the possibility of getting a call back on the London one.  Well, about a week ago I received an email from our United Kingdom office requesting an interview and yesterday I had that interview (by phone).  I think it went well and hope to move on to the next round.  This has led to more than a few talks with my wife about living the ex-pat life and the positives and negatives, and ultimately deciding that if I am offered the position, I will take it and the family will be moving to England.

Miscellaneous - Everything else is going well.  My 6 years old is playing soccer and I think likes it (I coach her team).  We are not a strong team, but the girls all seem to really enjoy it which is key.  My six month old daughter is awesome, eats well, sleeps great and smiles all the time.  We are so lucky!  I think she is going to be the biggest of my girls; she is topping out in the 75th - 90th percentile for height and weight.  I love it!

I think that is it for now.  Broad Street is Sunday, I think I am ready; I have to sign up for some races soon; I am on the verge of getting a new pair of race wheels; and my Garmin should be order soon.  Whew....now back to work.