I made this list a couple of years ago but decided to post it here. Now that it's December, these movies can help you get into the Christmas spirit. On to the holiday movie picks:
Molly's holiday movie guide
There are certain holiday movies and specials that simply must be watched every year. It just wouldn't be the same without them. Having many cable channels and the help of a DVR has made this task easier than ever. Usually my indoor bike rides in December are spent catching up on these Christmas classics. You may or may not agree with my "must watch" list, but I will try and give reasons for my choices as well as ones I have left out. For those of you who didn't know me in my former life, I used to be a film geek. Now I'm just a geek in general.
A Christmas Story
This one is just too easy. First of all, it is on TNT for 24 hours straight from Christmas eve through Christmas day, not to mention the multiple airings before that... although it does seem to have gotten less air time in the last few years. Second of all: it is simply the best Christmas movie ever made. I loved this movie so much when I was a kid that I used to ask to rent it year-round.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Oh, Clark W. Griswold, you've done it again. From uprooting the giant family Christmas tree to getting trapped in the attic to dealing with infamous cousin Eddie, this is another one that just can't be missed. And it really made up for the atrocity that was European Vacation.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Who among us doesn't feel for Charlie and his tiny little tree? And isn't it just like Linus to tell us what it's really all about?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Sure, we're all a little weirded out by the Island of Misfit Toys and the fact that for some strange reason they are ruled by a lion (and just what exactly was wrong with the doll?) But we still enjoy the freakiness of Yukon Cornellius and Herbie, the elf who wants to be a dentist (I actually met a guy who looked like Herbie... seriously) and of course cheer when Rudolph triumphs in the end. Also this was always the most fun song to sing back in elementary school. "Like a lightbulb!"
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The cartoon one, not the crappy live-action one. Though heartwarming, those Who's down in Whoville sure are a forgiving bunch. Whether he gave back Christmas or not, I'm guessing that in real life this one would end with more of an angry mob scene.
Muppet Christmas Carol
I'm a huge fan of the Muppets. I'm also a big fan of Christmas. This one was easy. Although slightly bittersweet, as it was the first movie where Kermit was voiced by Steve Whitmire. R.I.P. Jim Henson
Muppet Family Christmas
This lesser known classic came out in the mid-80's and includes Muppet Show Muppets, Sesame Street Muppets and Fraggle Rock Muppets. Not to mention an adorable flashback to Muppet Babies. Any Muppet fan's dream. And as Animal said: "Peace on Earth. Gimme presents!"
The Christmas Toy
Another Henson creation. Sort of like Toy Story with new toy vs. old toy, only with old school puppets instead of computer animation and no Tom Hanks.
Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas
Either you know what I'm talking about here, or you think I'm crazy. Riverbottom Nightmare Band had some pretty rockin' 70's outfits in this one. It's also fun to watch otter puppets go down slides and sing songs about puttin' holes in the washtub.
A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
This one just came out a couple of years ago, but it has found a prominent place on my list. It does get a little creepy though with a beefed up Beaker as bodyguard and a Sam the Eagle who I think might be on E.
Home Alone
I actually still have my ticket stub from seeing this movie when I was 10. (that was when I started hanging onto them... and no, I'm not a hoarder... I swear) Admit it: no matter how old you get you still enjoy it. You just have to not think about what a weirdo Macaulay Culkin turned into.
Elf
The new classic. Just the right mix of regular Will Ferrell antics and genuine Christmas spirit. And it makes you wonder what spaghetti with maple syrup might taste like.
Scrooged
Bill Murray in the modern-day (well, late 80's anyway) fairy-tale. Did you ever really stop and think about what a great story it is? It almost makes me want to read the book.
The Santa Clause
For some reason I actually like Tim Allen movies. I have no defense.
Die Hard
I know, you probably read that and thought to yourself, "what?" Then slowly it dawned on you that yes, this movie takes place on Christmas eve. This is my brother's favorite Christmas movie. It's been around for 20 years and it's still awesome.
Honorable mention:
Frosty the Snowman
I know, it's sort of a classic. But this one just doesn't seem to translate into adult-hood as well as a lot of the others. Frosty seems a little on the slow side, and little Karen seems a bit over-dramatic over the loss of a new friend she's known for like 3 hours.
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Another one that just doesn't hold my attention anymore. I can't get through it every year.
Jingle All the Way
Yep, you read that right. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (before he started being a governor and took away our hopes for a True Lies 2), Jake Lloyd (the kid who ruined the new Star Wars trilogy) and Sinbad, who I actually can't figure out why he's famous. I actually saw this one in theaters, folks. I was a lot younger so I think my mom gave me the money for it, so I wasn't actually the one paying. Does that help at all?
A Very Brady Christmas
This one came out when I was totally into watching the Brady reruns. Even if it had a fake Cindy. (seriously, was Susan Olsen really that busy?) You have to wonder if even the writers cringed as they typed out this huge display of corniness. Mike Brady becomes trapped in a collapsing building (on Christmas day, no less) and is only able to free himself when he hears his family singing "Oh Come all Ye Faithful" outside. This one also led to the very brief drama "The Brady's" with such gems as Bobby becoming paralyzed from a race car accident and my personal favorite, Marcia (fake Marcia) being an alcoholic. Classic.
Yes, there is a glaring omition here. It's a Wonderful Life. I've actually only seen it once. I should probably sit down and watch it again.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Let the indoor riding begin
I suppose it had to happen sometime. The weather had held out as unseasonably warm and dry for far too long to last, especially this time of year. For the past few days we've been stuck in a haze of drizzle that doesn't seem to want to go away. Sun? What sun? It hasn't been that cold yet, but that part is coming. However, they seem to keep getting the forecast slightly wrong. While today has certainly been just as windy as predicted, I was pretty sure I was going to be dealing with at least rain, and possibly even some snow. Right now there is neither. If I'd been willing to deal with the wind, I would've been able to do my long ride outside. But with snow predicted, I woke up early and got on the trainer in the dark. I haven't yet settled on a TV series to get into for my long winter of training rides, so for some reason I decided that today I'd finally watch the movie Gone With the Wind. I had 4 hours to kill, and that just about fit the bill and was offered up On Demand. Obviously it is just one of those movies that you always hear about but have never actually seen. I even went to film school and didn't see it. We did watch Citizen Kane in class, but not this one. Far better though was when we got much later in the film history time line and watched Terminator, but anyway...
The ride passed by faster than you'd think 4 hours would take, and now I've finally seen Gone With the Wind. Would you like a movie review? The CGI was incredible. Okay, just kidding. Well, I'd say it was pretty decent for about 2 hours. Then I just kind of got tired of what a bitch Scarlett is. From a purely technical standpoint, it's pretty incredible what they could do in the 30's. But seriously, give me a main character I can actually get behind. I mean - spoiler alert! - her daughter dies when you get close to the end. I didn't really feel sorry for her loss. But hey, it got me through my morning ride and now I can go back to my normal routine of watching mostly movies that would have no chance of ever being nominated for an Academy Award.
And after that, I was outside to the not rain or snow, but lots and lots of wind. I actually got a little nervous running near the trees, but the fact that I'm typing this now shows that obviously I survived the outing. Again, barely more than a walk so it seemed, but done anyway.
You know, I'd been so looking forward to all of these long workouts and really being in training again. I was just about to jump out of my skin towards the end of my break, but now that I actually am training, my motivation has completely disappeared. I don't know what it is, but it's not fun. I'm doing it all anyway, but with the season still so far away it just feels like going through the motions more than anything. We'll see if it changes at all.
So completely unrelated, but the other night I was watching the show The Biggest Loser. I'm always fascinated by these weight loss shows, and I've been watching this one from the beginning. Admittedly, now that they stretch the whole thing out into 2-hour episodes each week, while filling in the time with roughly 20 minutes worth of actual content, you don't so much have to watch it as just have it on in the background and get the results of the weigh-ins. Honestly, it's the same thing every week. They work out, somebody blurts out some astonishingly personal baggage in an emotional breakdown during a hard workout, there is some stupid challenge that is never worth watching, the weigh-in takes up about 40 minutes of the whole show and then the voting off someone at the end takes care of another 20 minutes. But really it's all about how much weight they lose in the end. When the show first started, the heaviest contestant by far was just over 400 pounds. I mean, one of the women, although short, was a whopping 167. Now the lighter people seem to be in the lower 300's, while most of the contestants are over 400 pounds. This year they have the all-time heaviest contestant, who also happens to be a woman, who started the show at 476.
Anyway, like I said, it's really all about how much they lose in the end, which can be pretty incredible. But the night before Thanksgiving they had a "where are they now?" show and featured a bunch of past contestants. Most are doing pretty well, although all seem to be at least a little bit heavier than they showed up to the final weigh-in. But they showed one guy who did the Beach to Battleship iron-distance race just a few weeks ago, and then they showed Matt Hoover, who competed in Kona through a celebrity spot. Unfortunately, he missed the cut-off by a little over 3 minutes. This feature also brought back my own painful memory on the day, as they showed him standing on the shore waiting to get in the water on race day, and I heard Mike Reilly's voice in the background saying, "Who's going to be an Ironman today?" Oh yeah, I remember that exact moment. Not me. Not that day. I hoped that might spark some motivation, but not so much so far. It will get easier, right?
The ride passed by faster than you'd think 4 hours would take, and now I've finally seen Gone With the Wind. Would you like a movie review? The CGI was incredible. Okay, just kidding. Well, I'd say it was pretty decent for about 2 hours. Then I just kind of got tired of what a bitch Scarlett is. From a purely technical standpoint, it's pretty incredible what they could do in the 30's. But seriously, give me a main character I can actually get behind. I mean - spoiler alert! - her daughter dies when you get close to the end. I didn't really feel sorry for her loss. But hey, it got me through my morning ride and now I can go back to my normal routine of watching mostly movies that would have no chance of ever being nominated for an Academy Award.
And after that, I was outside to the not rain or snow, but lots and lots of wind. I actually got a little nervous running near the trees, but the fact that I'm typing this now shows that obviously I survived the outing. Again, barely more than a walk so it seemed, but done anyway.
You know, I'd been so looking forward to all of these long workouts and really being in training again. I was just about to jump out of my skin towards the end of my break, but now that I actually am training, my motivation has completely disappeared. I don't know what it is, but it's not fun. I'm doing it all anyway, but with the season still so far away it just feels like going through the motions more than anything. We'll see if it changes at all.
So completely unrelated, but the other night I was watching the show The Biggest Loser. I'm always fascinated by these weight loss shows, and I've been watching this one from the beginning. Admittedly, now that they stretch the whole thing out into 2-hour episodes each week, while filling in the time with roughly 20 minutes worth of actual content, you don't so much have to watch it as just have it on in the background and get the results of the weigh-ins. Honestly, it's the same thing every week. They work out, somebody blurts out some astonishingly personal baggage in an emotional breakdown during a hard workout, there is some stupid challenge that is never worth watching, the weigh-in takes up about 40 minutes of the whole show and then the voting off someone at the end takes care of another 20 minutes. But really it's all about how much weight they lose in the end. When the show first started, the heaviest contestant by far was just over 400 pounds. I mean, one of the women, although short, was a whopping 167. Now the lighter people seem to be in the lower 300's, while most of the contestants are over 400 pounds. This year they have the all-time heaviest contestant, who also happens to be a woman, who started the show at 476.
Anyway, like I said, it's really all about how much they lose in the end, which can be pretty incredible. But the night before Thanksgiving they had a "where are they now?" show and featured a bunch of past contestants. Most are doing pretty well, although all seem to be at least a little bit heavier than they showed up to the final weigh-in. But they showed one guy who did the Beach to Battleship iron-distance race just a few weeks ago, and then they showed Matt Hoover, who competed in Kona through a celebrity spot. Unfortunately, he missed the cut-off by a little over 3 minutes. This feature also brought back my own painful memory on the day, as they showed him standing on the shore waiting to get in the water on race day, and I heard Mike Reilly's voice in the background saying, "Who's going to be an Ironman today?" Oh yeah, I remember that exact moment. Not me. Not that day. I hoped that might spark some motivation, but not so much so far. It will get easier, right?
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The post-swim sniffles
I have been trying to figure out exactly what swimming yardage line you need to cross before you get stuck with a runny nose for the rest of the day. 2500 yards? Nope, free and clear. 3500 yards? Not sure, haven't swum that distance in a while. 4200 yards? You're in trouble. For some reason, in spite of otherwise moderate swim yardage totals, today I found myself staring at a 2.4 mile swim workout, 10 days into training and months and months removed from my races. I wasn't so thrilled about it. I think I have this workout since I get to avoid the pool on Thanksgiving morning, which now makes it worthwhile. The pool is open tomorrow, but I'm glad that I won't have to worry about fighting for a lane between the regular swimmers and the swim team practice which for some reason will be in there tomorrow morning. I hate crowded pools. Fortunately, I don't often have to deal with them. Except today, but I had a feeling it might be crowded so I made sure to get in the water at 5am, when I was sure to get my pick of lanes. Only when I was done was it crowded.
Anyway, after that 4200 yards of drills, some breath control sets and some painfully slow 800's since I was finishing up about twice the distance I've been swimming lately, I was out of the water and into the shower to rid myself of the chlorine as best I could. The sniffling was almost immediate. Why does that happen? I can't stand it. And there is nothing that can be done. It won't be gone until I wake up tomorrow morning. It is also accompanied by excessive sneezing. I once tried using nasal spray to remedy the issue, but I only succeeded in watering things down enough that my nose was just running uncontrollably. As if I need anything to make me less attractive. I've heard rumors of salt water pools that are quite nice on the skin. Too bad mine isn't one of them.
Anyway, that was enough pointless rambling for today, don't you think? And please, nobody suggest that I get myself some nose plugs for my swim workouts.
Anyway, after that 4200 yards of drills, some breath control sets and some painfully slow 800's since I was finishing up about twice the distance I've been swimming lately, I was out of the water and into the shower to rid myself of the chlorine as best I could. The sniffling was almost immediate. Why does that happen? I can't stand it. And there is nothing that can be done. It won't be gone until I wake up tomorrow morning. It is also accompanied by excessive sneezing. I once tried using nasal spray to remedy the issue, but I only succeeded in watering things down enough that my nose was just running uncontrollably. As if I need anything to make me less attractive. I've heard rumors of salt water pools that are quite nice on the skin. Too bad mine isn't one of them.
Anyway, that was enough pointless rambling for today, don't you think? And please, nobody suggest that I get myself some nose plugs for my swim workouts.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Week 2 begins
Week 2 has begun. Mondays are always the easiest, and today was just a swim with some drills and some lifting. I happened to run into an old friend of mine who taught me an ab workout I am pretty sure I'll be feeling tomorrow and probably even a couple of days after that, but it was good. This particular friend I've known since we were probably 3 or 4, so it's fun to run into people like that. Also funny that the two girls beating themselves up in the weight room used to be the same 2 girls who used to sit around eating Doritos. But hey, we also played outside a lot and rode our bikes all over town back before it was too scary to let kids leave the driveway on their bikes. When I think about sending my 7-year old niece to ride across town on her bike, sans helmet, I can't even imagine such a thing. And yet when I was her age I would routinely ride through the center of town to get to a nearby friend's house. Darn traffic ruins everything.
I had also forgotten to mention that yesterday when I was out on my bike, which was fairly late in the afternoon, I seemed to have picked a time where everyone in town was out for a walk. I guess I can't blame them, given the fact that we've been particularly lucky with the weather lately, but it's just unusual for me to come across so many other people out and about when I'm doing my training. And not only was everyone walking their dogs, but I actually saw someone out walking their miniature horse. Or maybe it was a pony. I'm not really sure. I just know that the only thing stranger than that I've seen as far as walking animals was years ago when I saw someone out walking their monkey (why does that sound dirty?) It was less than a mile from my house and I only saw it that one time.
Also on the agenda for this week is Thanksgiving. How did that happen already? But who can think about Thanksgiving when it seems the whole world just wants us to skip straight ahead from Halloween to Christmas? Seriously, why does it all have to start so early? Do you start celebrating Halloween the minute Labor Day ends? Let's just get right into 4th of July the minute Memorial Day is over. Really, it's just getting a little out of hand. But anyway... Thanksgiving will be spent where it always has been, at my grandmother's house. Oh, I guess way back when my dad's parents were still alive we had Thanksgiving with them a couple of times, but mostly it has always been at Nana's. Oh, and also except for that one that I spent at Denny's with my cousins when I lived in Los Angeles. I was 21 years old, I wasn't going to cook a turkey. I'm not sure how many of us there are going to be this year, but it should be plenty, as usual. Either way there will be lots of turkey, which is all I really care about.
I had also forgotten to mention that yesterday when I was out on my bike, which was fairly late in the afternoon, I seemed to have picked a time where everyone in town was out for a walk. I guess I can't blame them, given the fact that we've been particularly lucky with the weather lately, but it's just unusual for me to come across so many other people out and about when I'm doing my training. And not only was everyone walking their dogs, but I actually saw someone out walking their miniature horse. Or maybe it was a pony. I'm not really sure. I just know that the only thing stranger than that I've seen as far as walking animals was years ago when I saw someone out walking their monkey (why does that sound dirty?) It was less than a mile from my house and I only saw it that one time.
Also on the agenda for this week is Thanksgiving. How did that happen already? But who can think about Thanksgiving when it seems the whole world just wants us to skip straight ahead from Halloween to Christmas? Seriously, why does it all have to start so early? Do you start celebrating Halloween the minute Labor Day ends? Let's just get right into 4th of July the minute Memorial Day is over. Really, it's just getting a little out of hand. But anyway... Thanksgiving will be spent where it always has been, at my grandmother's house. Oh, I guess way back when my dad's parents were still alive we had Thanksgiving with them a couple of times, but mostly it has always been at Nana's. Oh, and also except for that one that I spent at Denny's with my cousins when I lived in Los Angeles. I was 21 years old, I wasn't going to cook a turkey. I'm not sure how many of us there are going to be this year, but it should be plenty, as usual. Either way there will be lots of turkey, which is all I really care about.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
One week down...
...how many left to go? Let's not count right now. Week #1 is in the books. I swam, I rode outside and on the trainer, I ran, I even lifted weights. It's like I'm actually training for a triathlon. There wasn't much soreness to speak of, amazingly enough. I think I'm doing a fairly good job of hanging back and not trying to go too hard too soon. The first couple of days it was just nice to be back out and doing anything. Already that has somewhat deteriorated into, holy crap, how am I going to be able to do all of the things I want to do this season when I'm this slow!?!?!
You tend to forget how that happens every year. I think it's one of those aspects to the whole thing that you block out. Sort of like how for almost every single year of my entire life (at least the ones in which I've lived in the Northeast) the clocks change, it's November and suddenly it's just about dark by 4:00 in the afternoon. Like I said, I've experienced this phenomenon at least 25 years of my life, and yet every time it starts happening, I have to think to myself, "Does the sun seriously always set this early in November?" Yes. Yes it does. And just like that, after you take a long break from training, you come back slower. Wait, I'm seriously this slow after every off-season? Yes. Seriously. In fact, sometimes even worse. Wait, and I still can finish an Ironman with a pretty good time months later? Yes. It happens every year, but it still seems surprising. But being patient really sucks sometimes.
There wasn't too much exciting about my training this week. Running continues to be 100% pain-free, albeit 100% embarrassingly slow. I've done some swim drills to remind me how frustrating that aspect of my training can be. I've gone on some outrageously slow bike rides. I've had to figure out how to dress for sort of cold weather on the bike again, and so far I've managed to both over- and under-dress, but haven't quite nailed it just yet. I've actually enjoyed being in the weight room again, probably because right now the weights get to be really light.
But I guess now I should talk about my experimenting with Powercranks. So far it has basically just been an exercise in futility, as it is without a doubt the most frustrating thing I've tried to do probably since I was first taught how to swim fly. In both instances I just feel like my limbs are completely out of control and I can't seem to make them move the way they're supposed to. The plan is to start my rides on the Powercranks until I can't do it anymore and then move on to the regular cranks. This means that currently I have my old tri bike set up on the old trainer with the Powercranks with the pedals and saddle of my road bike while my regular tri bike sits and waits for me to be done with the ridiculous circus act. I don't know how anyone can ride those things outside. I think I'd kill myself. Supposedly eventually I'll even be able to handle my long rides on them, but of course the skeptic in me doesn't see that happening. So far I've topped out at close to 5 minutes on the crazy contraptions, and it certainly wasn't entirely spent pedaling like a normal person. But anyway, we'll see how that goes.
Yesterday was also my first long ride in what feels like an eternity. I was out on the road pretty early and got to ride one of my favorite loops. The only bad part was that it seems to get harder every time I ride it. That was followed up by a transition run in which I couldn't even walk slow enough to keep my heart rate down in the appropriate zone, but hey, at least I was out there. I've been quite lucky with the weather lately. It's been unseasonably sunny and with above average temperatures. Why those words never seem to cross the lips of the weather man in May and June I don't know, but I guess I'll take it while I can get it. Because once again, I'm thinking it's going to be a long winter.
You tend to forget how that happens every year. I think it's one of those aspects to the whole thing that you block out. Sort of like how for almost every single year of my entire life (at least the ones in which I've lived in the Northeast) the clocks change, it's November and suddenly it's just about dark by 4:00 in the afternoon. Like I said, I've experienced this phenomenon at least 25 years of my life, and yet every time it starts happening, I have to think to myself, "Does the sun seriously always set this early in November?" Yes. Yes it does. And just like that, after you take a long break from training, you come back slower. Wait, I'm seriously this slow after every off-season? Yes. Seriously. In fact, sometimes even worse. Wait, and I still can finish an Ironman with a pretty good time months later? Yes. It happens every year, but it still seems surprising. But being patient really sucks sometimes.
There wasn't too much exciting about my training this week. Running continues to be 100% pain-free, albeit 100% embarrassingly slow. I've done some swim drills to remind me how frustrating that aspect of my training can be. I've gone on some outrageously slow bike rides. I've had to figure out how to dress for sort of cold weather on the bike again, and so far I've managed to both over- and under-dress, but haven't quite nailed it just yet. I've actually enjoyed being in the weight room again, probably because right now the weights get to be really light.
But I guess now I should talk about my experimenting with Powercranks. So far it has basically just been an exercise in futility, as it is without a doubt the most frustrating thing I've tried to do probably since I was first taught how to swim fly. In both instances I just feel like my limbs are completely out of control and I can't seem to make them move the way they're supposed to. The plan is to start my rides on the Powercranks until I can't do it anymore and then move on to the regular cranks. This means that currently I have my old tri bike set up on the old trainer with the Powercranks with the pedals and saddle of my road bike while my regular tri bike sits and waits for me to be done with the ridiculous circus act. I don't know how anyone can ride those things outside. I think I'd kill myself. Supposedly eventually I'll even be able to handle my long rides on them, but of course the skeptic in me doesn't see that happening. So far I've topped out at close to 5 minutes on the crazy contraptions, and it certainly wasn't entirely spent pedaling like a normal person. But anyway, we'll see how that goes.
Yesterday was also my first long ride in what feels like an eternity. I was out on the road pretty early and got to ride one of my favorite loops. The only bad part was that it seems to get harder every time I ride it. That was followed up by a transition run in which I couldn't even walk slow enough to keep my heart rate down in the appropriate zone, but hey, at least I was out there. I've been quite lucky with the weather lately. It's been unseasonably sunny and with above average temperatures. Why those words never seem to cross the lips of the weather man in May and June I don't know, but I guess I'll take it while I can get it. Because once again, I'm thinking it's going to be a long winter.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Day 1: anticipating the soreness
Today was the first day of "real" training for the season. Honestly though, it didn't really feel like it. For starters, my swim, while more difficult than what I've been doing, was actually less yardage than I've done in the last few workouts. We're literally talking about 150 yards less, but less is still less. It also involved a time trial effort, which went quite well for about the first 100 until I just had nothing to push with. Apparently that's just what's going to happen on my first attempt at a hard effort in anything in 5 weeks. But all in all, not a bad little workout and at least it felt like it had a purpose.
After that it was time to head to the weight room. I actually kind of missed lifting since it's been so long. I had 12 weeks of it to start last season, then I think maybe 2 weeks back at it in August, so this is not something that has been part of the normal rotation for a long time. I didn't feel like doing it, but once I got in there I actually kind of enjoyed it. It was all light and easy, so perhaps that's why. I even did some core work, which made me very aware that I hadn't done that in a long time, either. I feel nothing yet, but I am already dreading the soreness that awaits me when I wake up tomorrow morning and then get to bike and run. It's going to be great, though. I can't wait.
After that it was time to head to the weight room. I actually kind of missed lifting since it's been so long. I had 12 weeks of it to start last season, then I think maybe 2 weeks back at it in August, so this is not something that has been part of the normal rotation for a long time. I didn't feel like doing it, but once I got in there I actually kind of enjoyed it. It was all light and easy, so perhaps that's why. I even did some core work, which made me very aware that I hadn't done that in a long time, either. I feel nothing yet, but I am already dreading the soreness that awaits me when I wake up tomorrow morning and then get to bike and run. It's going to be great, though. I can't wait.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Last day of being a slug
The vacation is nearly over, and it was certainly a long one. I have never taken such a long stretch off with nearly no training probably since I started training in the first place. Even way back after my first tri season when I thought I was going to work in the movies, lived in Los Angeles and worked on sets for 12-18 hours a day I was still training for the Los Angeles Marathon (never ran it, moved home a few weeks before and didn't go back) and rode my bike down the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu on the weekends. That was 7 years ago, and I'm just now taking a real, serious break. Even in 2008 when I hurt myself and couldn't run for over a month, as soon as everything else was okay I wound up overcompensating by biking and swimming like crazy.
Last season it was 2 weeks totally off, then 1 week of barely anything. Last season I was not coming off of a huge build-up to Kona, but rather a season that completely fizzled out after some personal worst performances and one final sprint race that wound up getting canceled due to a hurricane. This time? 3 weeks totally off. 2 weeks with so little training it might as well have been totally off. Sometimes when you have a "vacation" coming up you fear that it will go by too fast. This one felt like it was never going to end. Don't get me wrong, that first week in Hawaii wasn't too bad. Breakfasts at Lava Java followed by pool or beach sunning, even time for an afternoon of surfing. The following week was spent in a fog while recovering from the time difference. Then it was just more like, ok, can I start training now?
I spend some days in the midst of heavy training wishing that I could just have 1 morning where I could wake up whenever and not have to worry about getting a workout in. After so many days of that in a row I've found that it's really not all that exciting. Although to be honest, I found myself trying to savor these last few days of it. In fact, yesterday I actually never even left the house and the pouring rain outside my window didn't make me unhappy not to have a long bike ride like I might on most Saturdays. But I'm sure I'll be better off when I start back up tomorrow. The volume won't be huge to start, but it will at least feel like something. I'll start eating right again (remember fruit?) actually going to bed and getting up early, my nostrils filled with chlorine, my hamper filled with workout clothes, 14 showers a week.... it'll all be there.
And I'm excited for it. I want it. I went on another run today and already my heart rate has dropped considerably and the pace is faster than my recovery runs before the stress fracture. I'm rested. I'm ready. It's only too bad it's probably about to get really cold out around here. It's ok though, because after getting incredibly sick of watching movies on the trainer I'm actually looking forward to it. I will surely regret that statement quite soon, but it is inevitable anyway.
This is it, 2010 starts tomorrow for me. I was excited about last year starting because I wanted to fix things, but I am way more excited for this season to start. I'm not scared about it like last year. It's going to be a good one.
One last, totally unrelated note: one of my car radio pre-sets has already started on the Christmas music. Why do they do this? I am not a Scrooge, but seriously, there are only so many Christmas songs. Why do you want to make me sick of them 2 weeks before we even get through Thanksgiving!?!?!
Last season it was 2 weeks totally off, then 1 week of barely anything. Last season I was not coming off of a huge build-up to Kona, but rather a season that completely fizzled out after some personal worst performances and one final sprint race that wound up getting canceled due to a hurricane. This time? 3 weeks totally off. 2 weeks with so little training it might as well have been totally off. Sometimes when you have a "vacation" coming up you fear that it will go by too fast. This one felt like it was never going to end. Don't get me wrong, that first week in Hawaii wasn't too bad. Breakfasts at Lava Java followed by pool or beach sunning, even time for an afternoon of surfing. The following week was spent in a fog while recovering from the time difference. Then it was just more like, ok, can I start training now?
I spend some days in the midst of heavy training wishing that I could just have 1 morning where I could wake up whenever and not have to worry about getting a workout in. After so many days of that in a row I've found that it's really not all that exciting. Although to be honest, I found myself trying to savor these last few days of it. In fact, yesterday I actually never even left the house and the pouring rain outside my window didn't make me unhappy not to have a long bike ride like I might on most Saturdays. But I'm sure I'll be better off when I start back up tomorrow. The volume won't be huge to start, but it will at least feel like something. I'll start eating right again (remember fruit?) actually going to bed and getting up early, my nostrils filled with chlorine, my hamper filled with workout clothes, 14 showers a week.... it'll all be there.
And I'm excited for it. I want it. I went on another run today and already my heart rate has dropped considerably and the pace is faster than my recovery runs before the stress fracture. I'm rested. I'm ready. It's only too bad it's probably about to get really cold out around here. It's ok though, because after getting incredibly sick of watching movies on the trainer I'm actually looking forward to it. I will surely regret that statement quite soon, but it is inevitable anyway.
This is it, 2010 starts tomorrow for me. I was excited about last year starting because I wanted to fix things, but I am way more excited for this season to start. I'm not scared about it like last year. It's going to be a good one.
One last, totally unrelated note: one of my car radio pre-sets has already started on the Christmas music. Why do they do this? I am not a Scrooge, but seriously, there are only so many Christmas songs. Why do you want to make me sick of them 2 weeks before we even get through Thanksgiving!?!?!
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