Flat But Functional

I'm procrastinating. In my office that serves as a bike garage (c'mon, you do it too!), there sits my tri bike.  She's got a flat front tire.  It will probably take me 30 minutes to change it, considering I haven't had a flat in a few months and I'm terribly slow when it comes to repairs.

While I may be physically tired from all the training, I am confident I will perform well in Arizona. I know the training will pay off.  What I don't know is how I'll respond if my bike has mechanical issues.  Actually, I do know that.  I'll respond poorly!

From here until Ironman, I need to force myself to change flats on my tri bike.  It could be the difference between a good race and a great one, or something far worse.

There may be a follow-up post tomorrow morning about my tube-changing adventure.

Fortunately, my patience is high after a great time-trial swim (1,500 yards, my longest pool TT yet) and a soothing lunchtime yoga session.  Today's training schedule was relatively light and the highlight -- besides my 1:40-1:48 T-pace (depending on how well I counted laps) -- was being able to leave work at 6:30 p.m. without thinking about another evening workout.  That's where I'm at in my training.  If I can grab free time that doesn't involve triathlon training, I'm happy.  It's so ironic that we do this for fun and yet sometimes it's the last thing we want to think or talk about.

Isn't this supposed to be a hobby!?

Anyways, since I felt smooth and efficient in the water despite my fatigue, it boosted my confidence for the remainder of the week.  I thought swimming 60 laps in the pool in one set would just be mental torture, but it wasn't too bad.  I broke it up mentally into 15x100 sets, which made the slog much more tolerable.  When it was all over, I was surprised I had room left for much more swimming.

That's how I know I'm getting in much better shape.  It takes a lot more to tire me out in one workout.  It's the cumulative effect I can't do much about.  That's why I'm having to be awakened by an alarm clock even with 8-9 hours sleep.

Tomorrow, it's time to revisit good ol' Griffith Park for 2.25 hours of trail running. Fortunately, I'll have my Fortius buddy Joe to keep me company.  He's faster than me so hopefully I'll be able to keep up, though the goal tomorrow is to keep my heart-rate in zones 1-3.  Easier said than done when I'm trying to catch a rabbit.

And so it goes. Another day of two-hour workouts down.  Another day of two-hour workouts to go.

And now, it's time to fix a flat tire.

I just realized that metaphorically speaking, I am that flat tire right now.  I can barely function in my current state.  I could use a little inflation.  I need to put in the extra time to get right, so to speak.

Heh, hopefully I'll be pumped tomorrow!

57 days and counting.