I either had heat stroke last night or was water logged. I went to work this morning and it felt like old times going to the washroom a few times after having my morning coffee. There's no worse feeling than feeling bloated. When I look at my gut in the mirror I don't know if it's fat or water retention. Actually I do, it's a bit of both.
For the first time this week I went into the office. I had to have a brief meeting with Chris and then report back to Wayne on the time lines for a new software integration. It was one of those strategic meetings and report backs that shows you're on the ball. I may not be working my ass off but I do know what the important stuff is and what will bring work in the door and make me successful. I've also come to realize that less is more. The less I work the more clear my head and the more effective I am. I've said recently, it's taken me a year but I'm really getting used to this lifestyle.
I got an email from Jamie saying he's decided not to do the race, which is a bummer. He's trained hard, he's in great shape and now he's having doubts. His original goal was to sign up for IMLP to get the fear put in him to get in shape. It worked. He's in great shape and I don't know his weight but it's low. It's a shame he doesn't want to do it, he's come so far.
My plan was too leave work early and run some errands. Before I did that I drove to Jamie's place to see what was up and if he was okay. I wasn't sure if he was lying under his desk in the fetal position or what. He seemed okay and in my estimation just being hard on himself about his fitness, not giving himself enough credit. He's definitely in shape to finish and I think he just needs to play the mental game and rid himself of the fear.
Ironman's are hard, period. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it being over. I didn't pressure or try to convince him differently, I've learnt that Jamie makes up his own mind and not to bother trying to change it. However, there was a glimmer of hope that he might reconsider when he mentioned that Barb wants to get away and they may come to Lake Placid anyway even if he doesn't race. I told him if he wants I can still take his bike on the rack with mine and make up his mind when he gets there.
I can guarantee you one thing, if he doesn't do this race he's going to regret it and he'll be telling me in the future he should have done it. The sad part is he's worked so hard, he's in better shape than probably at least half of the field and I told him that there will be fat old ladies finishing. Even in my mind, I'm there to finish and if it gets bad on the run, I'll get off the course and fall a sleep for a couple of hours. I'd love my time to be under 12 hours, however all I really care about is finishing.
There's nothing like finishing an Ironman. It's a self-confidence booster and gives you bragging rights at least for another year.
After leaving Jamie's I picked up a box of C02, then a fresh Keg, then some glide and finally stopped at the swimming store to get new hand paddles and a kick board. LA fitness doesn't supply kick boards. Unfortunately they didn't sell new straps for hand paddles and I was forced to buy all new ones.
My plan today was to do a swim, I mentally couldn't do it. I hate when that happens, it would be easier to do it than to think about doing it all day. I was just exhausted from yesterday's session. In fact my legs were so tired and somewhat sore that I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do anymore training before the race. I'd rather so up with over rested legs than under rested legs. I really do need to get to the pool though, if for nothing else but for the cool water on my legs as a recovery method.
Work wise it never fails before a vacation, I'm actually getting some emails and activity today. Not like a real person but for me three customer requests in one day is a lot.
In preparation for the race I'm taking vitamins and started taking Hammer Race Day boost. I've never used it before and it tastes awful, really awful. Like dry dead fish scales. It's potentially also the cause of my bloating. It has only two ingredients, sodium phosphate and glutamine. It is designed to regenerate ATP (whatever that is), buffer lactic acid and improve oxygen utilization. You take it for 4 days before the race and then you can't use it again for at least another 4 weeks cycle. I found out later that that have pills, dang, I got the powder and I have to mix it in warm water and fight my way through drinking it.
I can also tell my vitamin levels are down. Normally when I take vitamins I pee sunshine, which is the excess vitamins. Not today. I took vitamins yesterday and today there was no heavy yellow at all. Just shows me that my body needed them. Tonight I took another handful of all kinds of vitamins.
With no swim I decided to watch today's recording of the tour. It was 3 hours and I slept through most of it. I was tired. It was probably a good two hour sleep. Then I sabotaged myself by not getting to bed until 1:30 am. It never fails, all the good shows come on after midnight. The one I got hooked on was about Hitler and U.S. government profilers trying to dissect his personality. It was on PBS and very good. As I was lying there I was thinking, hey, I've got an Ironman coming up, sleep is important.
Finally, on the family front it looks like the kids are getting into going to Lake Placid. They were trying out the DVD system in my truck. I'd never tried it and they reported back that it worked. They then went and bought some DVD's for the ride. They then told me to pack light, they want to sit in the 3rd row back seats. It's like riding in a limo. The energy in the house is definitely up, everyone seems a little giddy and is teasing each other.
Food wise I'm eating a decent amount, not trying to go to light and staying away from food with no nutritional value. I don't want to un-carbo load and I don't want to eat to much. There's a fine line. My biggest win today was not on the food, it was not dropping the keg on my food or putting my back out trying to lift it out of the car.
No Training - Recovery
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