Well, I guess I haven't been feelin' it...the inspiration to write. This could be for many reasons I tell myself:
A. I don't have anything mind blowing, important to say. Actually, I quite bore myself sometimes!
B. I'm not good enough to write anything fabulous.
C. Why am I doing this?
D. I am simply out of practice..
The mind rattle can go on forever like this I suppose..Then I remember what a teacher taught me many years ago. Maybe in college? Nursing School?
K.I.S.S- Keep it Simple Stupid
I go to my fall back KISS plan: The List!
1. We are in Tucson to train in warmer weather..Which so far has turned out to be a great idea. As rides are being cancelled right and left in ABQ because of the bitter cold and indoor trainers have become the norm, we are cycling outside in the lovely Arizona sunshine. Not always "no jacket" weather by any means but warmer nonetheless. Well, except for that nasty rainstorm the first weekend we were here in which we said no f-ing way were we riding the Tour de Tucson in a complete deluge of rain from morning til night! This is a rare occurrence in this part of the desert. We did get to see a few ABQ friends anyway at least and enjoy some great social time!
2. Living in a 1000 sq. ft. Apt./Condo has its benefits..I can empty the dishwasher without taking a step, just turning from dishwasher to shelf. The cabinets however, are on backwards so that I have to close the dishwasher to get the soap out to fill it-who designed this place?? A small concession I suppose..H and I can't be in the kitchen at the same time though, just not big enough. We are learning to share the kitchen space.
The whole place took me less than 2 hours to clean yesterday. I am very spoiled at home and we hire someone to clean our house there every 2 weeks. Cleaning is a skill that comes back easily, even the toilets!
H and I maneuver the smaller space quite nicely in all, I can see how "older people" like to simplify their lives and move to condos...in Arizona it seems. The average age of inhabitants in this complex seems to be about 75. We haven't met any neighbors, if we have any close neighbors, we rarely see them and they are sure quiet..
3. To bike here is a dream. The whole city of Tucson seems to have HUGE bike lanes, plenty of bike paths, very cyclist friendly. There is a bike path loop planned to go around the entire city of Tucson, which will be well over 100 miles once completed. We have seen much of it in our travels. We were given a tour of 2 bike rides from our new friend here, who is bike savvy and gave us some great riding suggestions the first week we were here. Thanks Alli!
Since we have been in Tucson the past month, we have biked 460 miles in this lovely city.
The people we have contacted to ride with have been really nice, we just can't seem to haul our asses about of bed early enough on Saturdays to join anyone yet! So we brave the bike paths and lanes ourselves, which so far has been pretty easy. There is no way to get to or from our condo without climbing some hills so we were getting some awesome hill training under our legs..
The people we have contacted to ride with have been really nice, we just can't seem to haul our asses about of bed early enough on Saturdays to join anyone yet! So we brave the bike paths and lanes ourselves, which so far has been pretty easy. There is no way to get to or from our condo without climbing some hills so we were getting some awesome hill training under our legs..
Yesterday,we ventured out to follow a Garmin route, which as it turned out (poor planning on my part), ended up being 96 miles, 12 miles longer than we thought. We finished in the almost dark, moon over Tucson time of day:
4. Running is just as spectacular. We are 1.5 miles away from Sabino Canyon, where a myriad of running trails abound. We have ventured there a couple of times. The trails seem easy to follow, it's just finding the time to get it all in! There is also a bike/running trail literally right out the door of the J.C.C., the Club we joined to do our swimming. Not only is there a concrete bike path but a parallel marked dirt running path for miles. Choices, choices, choices!
Total run miles since here: 79 miles.
5.Swimming-the JCC is a great club. After searching for the puurrrfect place to swim and do strength training, the JCC won our hearts. All the pools here are outdoors, well because it is "warm" here yearlong I suppose, but "warm" is a relative term. The pool is heated, thank goodness although outside, with a skin suit, 2 caps and earplugs, I found it quite toasty on the days I swam with the temps in the 40s midday. This was a rather cold spell for Tucson, most days have been in the 50-70 degree range, which is lovely outdoor swimming weather, I must admit. The JCC pool is clean, empty of swimmers mid afternoon and clear lane lines so I don't go wandering into H's lane at any given mindless moment of time. We have adopted a swim program in which we are swimming 3 times a week for an hour...nonstop..The whole rationale being well, if I want to run a marathon, I run long. If I want to ride 112 miles, I train doing long rides. It would only make sense that to swim 2.4 miles nonstop in a race, I would train by swimming long swims. We learned this from a coach online so we will see if we can withstand the absolute boredom of such a plan. I have gone through no less than 3 different swim music devices to help cut the monotony of swimming 2 miles at a time with no stopping. So far, no cigar-it seems my teeny tiny genetically engineered ears won't hole the earphones of pretty much any underwater music device earphones. I finally broke down and bought this:
It is a music device that works by conducting the sound waves through the bones in front of your ears-who the hell knows how that all works. I don't care-I just want my music!! The first one I bought was defective (of course), I am now on Finis Neptune music swimming device number two, which I will try tomorrow. Total swimming yardage since being in Tucson: 18,150 yds.
I have done Yoga at a local studio a few times, I am honestly having trouble getting out the door to keep up but I know Yoga saved me last year while IM training. Saved me from injury, insanity and tight muscles. I need to cultivate some discipline here cause nothing like a little Yoga to keep me grounded!!4. Running is just as spectacular. We are 1.5 miles away from Sabino Canyon, where a myriad of running trails abound. We have ventured there a couple of times. The trails seem easy to follow, it's just finding the time to get it all in! There is also a bike/running trail literally right out the door of the J.C.C., the Club we joined to do our swimming. Not only is there a concrete bike path but a parallel marked dirt running path for miles. Choices, choices, choices!
Total run miles since here: 79 miles.
5.Swimming-the JCC is a great club. After searching for the puurrrfect place to swim and do strength training, the JCC won our hearts. All the pools here are outdoors, well because it is "warm" here yearlong I suppose, but "warm" is a relative term. The pool is heated, thank goodness although outside, with a skin suit, 2 caps and earplugs, I found it quite toasty on the days I swam with the temps in the 40s midday. This was a rather cold spell for Tucson, most days have been in the 50-70 degree range, which is lovely outdoor swimming weather, I must admit. The JCC pool is clean, empty of swimmers mid afternoon and clear lane lines so I don't go wandering into H's lane at any given mindless moment of time. We have adopted a swim program in which we are swimming 3 times a week for an hour...nonstop..The whole rationale being well, if I want to run a marathon, I run long. If I want to ride 112 miles, I train doing long rides. It would only make sense that to swim 2.4 miles nonstop in a race, I would train by swimming long swims. We learned this from a coach online so we will see if we can withstand the absolute boredom of such a plan. I have gone through no less than 3 different swim music devices to help cut the monotony of swimming 2 miles at a time with no stopping. So far, no cigar-it seems my teeny tiny genetically engineered ears won't hole the earphones of pretty much any underwater music device earphones. I finally broke down and bought this:
It is a music device that works by conducting the sound waves through the bones in front of your ears-who the hell knows how that all works. I don't care-I just want my music!! The first one I bought was defective (of course), I am now on Finis Neptune music swimming device number two, which I will try tomorrow. Total swimming yardage since being in Tucson: 18,150 yds. Strength training, weight training-whatever you want to call it, is one of those necessary evils in the world of Multisport. I do it, begrudgingly a couple times a week.
Now massage, that is a different story, I endulge myself once a week, even got a Pedicure once last week..ahhh, the carrot at the end of the endless training stick!
So this is my journey so far in training for Ironman Melbourne, which seems so far away in distance and time..I know from experience that 14 weeks goes pretty quickly, the older I am getting...sometimes I think yikes, am I ready for another one of these? I am sure most of our friends and family think we are nuts except well, the other nutty ones who do these silly endurance events..It gives us aging retired folks something to so, to look forward to. A purpose in life..for now anyway. The big payoff comes when one of our granddaughters said to H as she got done with one of her first soccer games Look Grandpa, I am an athlete like you!
Now that folks, is priceless..
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