Reality Bites...

Well, if you've been wondering when the next update would be coming along, here it is...about three weeks after the last one, which should be an indicator of the chaos that has ruled my life (and wreaked havoc with my training) over the past couple of weeks. Work (you know, that thing that I do that pays the bills so I can do this other stuff, too) has basically taken over--I'm really really really hoping that I can get things back under control and back to a manageable level of insanity this week.

It started three weeks ago with one humdinger of a cold that kept me out of the pool for fear of literally drowning in my own snot (gross, yes, but also true). Add to that a project that falls under my group (and that Erin is actually leading) that has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past couple of weeks and, incidentally, right before start-up. Throw in a plant trial in northern Wisconsin, a number of challenging start-up-related issues of Erin's project, and the fact that there are still just 24 hours in a day, and the picture becomes a little clearer. I am, in a word, exhausted...sleep has been minimal and stress has been high--and not even the four-shot lattes I've been sucking down can keep me from being completely drained.

So, the net of the chaos is that I've had two way-less-than-optimal weeks of training--this past week I got in one measely workout during the week (a decent bike/run combo at least). At least I've hit my long stuff on the weekends (more or less--cut this weekend's a little short just due to exhaustion), but I haven't been in the pool for a week and a half, which should make tomorrow morning's swim interesting at best.

The bright side of all of this is that I did a half marathon in Indy yesterday and finished with both a PR (1:52:17--even good enough to place in the top 10% of my age group) and the most evenly paced splits of any run I've done to date, so I'm pleased with that. More importantly, my friend Theresa completed her first half marathon yesterday (along with all of her siblings, which was way cool to see)...and she thanked me later for inspiring her to start running in the first place. Funny how friends know exactly what to say to keep you going when you're down...

Anyway, I'll get the wrap-ups for the past few weeks posted soon, hopefully--haven't had a chance to add everything up yet...and I'm hopeful this week will be better. Vardo's headed this way this weekend, so we're going to ride together Saturday--it'll be our first training outing together in person since we both started our "official" IM training programs. Should be fun...and a great step in helping my life return to normal...