Bad Luck

The past three weeks have pretty much sucked big time, there is not other way to say it.  I have been the unfortunate recipient of some bad luck and I desperately need some thing(s) to happen to get me in to a better state of mind.  In short here is what has happened:

• Thursday, July 11th - Driving home from work I am stopped and a woman backs into my brand new car.  I literally had the car for no more than two weeks.  It needed over $7,000 worth of work in order to get it back in driving shape.

• Thursday, July 18th - I am asked to play goalie for a friends soccer game, which I excitedly/hesitantly accept.  About 60 minutes in I tip a ball over the crossbar and land on the outside of my right ankle bend it sideways.  A doctors visit on the following Monday reveals that it is a bad sprain, but thankfully not broken.  During that same doctors' visit I am told that I have pretty significant arthritis in my ankle joint and that I should start limiting my jumping and running activities.  I explain that I am an endurance athlete, to which he thinks I should focus more on the swimming and biking and much less on the running.  UGH!!! (pic below is two days after, the swelling was pretty bad)
  

  

• Thursday, July 25th - I have been interviewing for a new job and everything seems to be going well and I very excited about the opportunity.  I received a voicemail last Thursday (7/18) telling me that everyone has been impressed with me thus far and they want me to come in and meet with the Senior Management for the last round of interviews.  I followed up with a phone call and an email, but haven't heard back from the internal recruiter since the voicemail he left.  I am not optimistic about my chances now (I went through something similar five months ago and it didn't end well for me).

To some, maybe this isn't so terrible, but it seems I am not getting any "good" with the "bad".  Example:  I get a new car which is great, but then I get in to an accident and end up having to pay the deductible because it was a hit and run.  I am finally feeling like from a training standpoint I am back in the groove, then I hurt my ankle and am limited to only swimming for the past week (can't get my cycling shoes on my foot yet).  The job thing, I just want an answer, I want closure, either a phone call setting up the next interview or communicate to me that I am no longer a candidate.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I signed up for a race tomorrow (signed up two days before my ankle injury) that I am not going to be able to do (because of the injury) and I don't think I am going to get any refund or credit for future races.  Friggin' great, $105 down the drain!!!!

Alright enough "woe is me" for now.  On a positive note two blog buddies are doing Ironman's this weekend:

• Yas at NJ Training is doing IM Lake Placid 
• Big Daddy Diesel is doing IM Switzerland (although he has been radio silent for a while now)

Good luck to both of you!!!  Hopefully I will be back for my second to last Ironman next November at IM Arizona 2014....with my last Ironman hopefully being Kona in 2015.  One can dream can't I?  Cheers!!!

Training So Far

As is the norm for me, I haven't written much down on my blog lately.  There have been some things going on in my world (e.g. job change, looking for a newer job, family stuff, training stuff, etc.) that have prevented me from spending a few minutes jotting down what is going on with me.  First and foremost, I will state that I have a finalized race calendar:

• Saturday, July 27th - Born To Tri, Asbury Park, NJ - Sprint Distance
• Sunday, August 18th - Wilkes-Barre Triathlon - Olympic Distance
• Saturday, September 21st - ChesapeakeMan-SkipJack - Half Iron Distance (modified)

I may try and add in the Atlantic City International Triathlon on September 15th, only because it looks like a cool race.  With that said, it probably isn't a good choice since my "A" race is only six days after, then again my training schedule says that I should be doing a 14 mile run and 2,200 yd swim that day....I think a race might be neat change.  I'll have to wait and see how I am feeling and if I feel like dropping $180 on the event.

I supposed I should touch on my training, which over the past week or so has turned a corner.  Prior to that, training was atrocious!  The heat and humidity have been killing me and my allergies/exercise-induced asthma.  All of my runs had started out great, right around 8:15/pace, then would drop off significantly over the next few miles to where I was forced to walk in order to survive (e.g. my heartrate would shoot up over 180 BPM and my breathing was very labored).  From Thursday of last week through today, I have been feeling like a new man, running around 8:15/pace on my shorter runs, feeling great on the bike and even smooth in the water.  I have been really using my inhaler wisely and trying to run at the right time of day.

Last night was one of my best workouts on the bike in a while.  I opted to not hop on the trainer and instead did a three-loop 5.3 mile course around my neighborhood.  Each lap was progressively better than the previous and I felt great the entire ride.  I averaged just under 20 MPH for the entire ride (16 miles) and all of my stats were sport on (e.g. heartrate, cadence, etc.).  Tonight I have a 4.5 mile run and 1,400 yd swim (probably end up doing 1,800 yds), I hope that heat doesn't kill me too much on the run.

I am ten days out from my first race in a year.  Granted it is a Sprint Tri, but it is still a race and I still need to be prepared for it.  This is all part of my 2014 plan and I am finally feeling like I am getting healthier and in better shape....although I can't seem to drop the weight I need to....ugh!

Catch you all later, peace out!