Saturday, January 24, 2009

January has gone missing

Where has the month of January gone? For me this month has passed by quicker than any January in recent memory. I know they say this happens to you as you get older, but this month really slipped away. Usually it is the one month that seems to drag on forever. With cold weather, post Christmas blues and the like, it seems like a 45 day month some years. However, not this year as we have it licked!
But that poses a bit of another issue, as I am now approaching the start of my official training for IM CDA. I believe the start date for my 20 week program is February 1. I am already in good position for that as I have started conditioning the body for two a days and longer weekly hours. This week will end up just over 11 hours, which is probably a little more than I should have. One of the obvious issues we face is that we charge out of the gate and plunge into big weeks right off the bat, only to be dragging our sorry asses in late May. Then I will be complaining about how burned out I am, sick of training, blah, blah, blah, whine, whine, whine. So that is the one caution.
As mentioned in my last post I am going to try and mix things up a bit more than I usually do. I might even try swimming in a different lane at the pool! Wait a minute, that's just crazy talk! But I may start at the opposite end of the pool one day.
This week, thus far, I have managed 4 swims for a total of 8,600 metres, 4 runs with one more today, and 3 rides. I tweaked my right calf on my Wednesday run, so I skipped Thursday. With the help of the Trigger Point massager I was able to get the knots out and I blasted through a 10K run on the treadmill last night in 41:27 running at between 2 and 3% grade.
I also got some great news on Friday as my younger brother has chosen to join our company and move to Hinton. It is really exciting to have some family right here again. I am also excited because he is a very talented guy and will help our facility out in numerous ways.
On the reading front I am still struggling through "The Spiritual Brain", it is some tough slugging and I kept hoping it would get better, but with 30 pages to go it hasn't happened yet! I am also reading a biography on Joseph Stalin. Hopefully I can learn some tips on how to manage my people more effectively. Torture, murder, and banishment to Siberia seemed to work effectively for Uncle Joe!
Musically, I have picked up a few good albums lately, Susan Tedeschi, Back to the River, and The Derek Trucks Band, Almost Free. Both are blues albums and Derek Trucks actually plays a bit on the Susan Tedeschi Album. He is an awesome slide player and has also played with the Allman Brothers Band.
Have a great weekend!

4 comments:

Grellan said...

I'd say the trip down Mexico way helped shorten the month for you. That's some swimming total.

I notice, and remember I know nothing about IM training, that your swims appear long - 8.6 km in the pool is over twice the IM distance - that would equate to 247 miles on the bike and 58 miles on the run. Maybe it's just a time thing.

Garry said...

Grellan,
The trip to Mexico certainly helped to shorten the month, and I will have to remember that for next year.
The swims are long, but since I am at the start of the cycle and swimming is the easiest on the body it is a great way to start. You can never get too much technique work when it comes to swimming!

Thomas said...

It always used to annoy me that people were constantly moaning about January. Since my birthday happens to fall on that month, it is my favourite.

Starting at the opposite end of the pool? Wow, you're really going for the adventure this time round, aren't you?

Keith power said...

I think your talking about the wrong brother