Work and Training Collide!

This week is going to be difficult to find time to blog.  It's E3 -- the Super Bowl of videogames.  And it all happens right here, in sunny LA.  In downtown. During the Lakers-Celtics series. Can we say NBA traffic jam? Boom-shakalaka!

(If you're old enough to get that, good on ya!)

E3 week is really the first solid week where my training and work schedules collide head-on.  Yes, I realize how fortunate I am to even say that considering we're six months into the year.  I'm at the show all day, parties at night, and up early in the morning to train.  Something's gonna give.  So far, it was blogging last night.  I came home around 11:30 p.m. knowing I'd need to be up at 5:30 a.m. to get in the pool at 6.

Speaking of the pool, this morning's workout was both painful and productive.  Painful in that I felt inadequate in the pool next to Ann, Janna and Deirdre, all of whom seemed faster than me in their respective lanes.  That's never a good feeling.  It brings out all the insecurities I already lambast myself with as it is.  Especially when I'm pushing as hard as I can and simply pop when trying to keep up.  I know I'm supposed to be swimming at my own pace, but at the same time I feel guilty if I'm in a "faster" lane than Janna and Deirdre and they're kicking my ass in.  I try to keep up, generally do, but fall short at the end.  I'm going to attribute that this morning to lack of sleep and standing for hours straight at cocktail parties.  I can move all day, but when I stand still my back locks up.  When I lock up, I get tired. When I get tired and don't sleep enough...well, stuff happens.  On the plus side, I did two things I've never been able to do until today: swam the length of the pool on two separate occasions without taking a breath (GASP!!!) and I shaved a full second off my fastest 100 time (1:31) at the very end of the workout.

So no matter how painful training gets, there's always a bright spot and something to cling on to.  It's such motivation to get out of bed in the morning even when sleeping is the only thing I want to do.  Fortunately, I just snuck an extra hour in from 7:15-8:15 after the workout.  That will save me from certain doom for round two tonight -- two more cocktail parties.  And tomorrow morning I need to get up super early to fit in my brick workout before round three.

There's so much more to talk about right now, but I need to jump in the shower and jet over to Helen's Cycles.  Yep, my tri bike was in for repairs...the front wheel needed tru-ing. And those pesky aero bars needed an adjustment too so they don't keep tilting in the middle of my rides.

Off I go!

156 and 155 days to go.