Red Red Whine

In yesterday's post I related how I had a bad race in Branson last Sunday. I was pretty disappointed, during, and after, the race. Heck! I'm still a little disappointed right now. But I own that bad race.

I talked about how my back tightened up and made it hard to get good deep breaths. At one point I thought I might die, but I realized it would be a slow death, slow enough to let me finish the race, so I might as well keep moving. I think the reason my back gave me that trouble on the run is because I didn't train enough on the bike. I think my back was reacting to being in the aero position for so long, which it's not accustomed to doing.

I also know that if I'm really honest I'd say I don't really 'train', but rather, 'exercise'. Even though I track my times and efforts and all that, it's been a while since I've put that information to use. That's the main problem with my swim. I'm happy to just knock out a certain distance. I need to incorporate some time goals and work to achieve them. Space and time, just like that famous triathlete Einstein told us about.

Even in the midst of that run last Lord's Day, I remembered something I read the night before. I ran across an article on some triathlon site about things to remember on race day. Probably a little late to start getting ready for a race the night before, but the last thing on the list was something like, "Be thankful you are able to race." So I had to give thanks for being out there, even as a man with a prosthetic leg passed me. Props to him.

So what now? Man, last Sunday I said I was never doing a triathlon again! Today I'm looking at full Ironman races and trying to decide which would work out best for me. Actually, I think if I get into a full Ironman I want to meet some intermediate goals before I even sign up. But that's tricky, because a lot of these races fill up so fast. And I'm disappointed that the St. George race in Utah is now a half Ironman. Wisconsin sells out the day registration opens (what is it with that race?). So maybe TX or Louisville? Any thoughts?

At any rate, I did work out today for the first time since last Sunday. Squats, deadlift, and crunches. Twenty-four minutes all together. I recorded the weights and sets, but it was really just a light set to get back into the swing of things. Let's see if I can get any better at the next workout.

ps. BTW, normally you can follow me on Twitter, @kenkenkenusa, but yesterday I broke my iPhone (I know, I'm very sad). My son and I decided to go shoot skeet. At one point we were messing with the cord you pull, and I set the launcher. Cut to the launcher getting released and hitting me in the leg. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I thought, "That didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." And then, "Oh crap! My phone is in my pocket." Sure enough the screen got shattered. It still displays the time and the lock screen photo, but I can't "Slide to unlock." So, we may make a trip to the Apple store tomorrow.