Being productive

Over the weekend, I cleaned my entire apartment. Actually, I unpacked my apartment. I had been wanting to do this since I moved in, but instead, I swam. and biked. and ran. So, this past weekend, I finally opened the door of that scary spare bedroom where boxes were piled and shit was scattered. And I converted that room into a closet! It took me 16 hours, but at the end of the day, I had this...

I ran for an hour on Sunday.

On Monday, I went for a short run and lifted weights on my lunch hour.

Then I came home and shaved my head. Seriously.

Tuesday, I ventured to Masters practice. 4:30 am came so quickly! After a thorough warm-up, Coach Aaron asked how I was feeling. After a little grunt, he let us in on the workout: 14x100 on 1:25, 1 min rest, then 10x100 on 1:20 where we could use fins, if desired. After six, I stopped. He asked if I was ok..."um, i just need like two weeks where you don't kick my ass. i need a break." So I moved over to the 12x100 on 1:30 lane to finish that first half of the set then put the fins on and led the lane for the 100s on 1:20.

Tuesday evening, I was innocently cracked out on FB when I got a PM from the crossfit instructor in town...which led to me committing to my first session on Wednesday morning.

Bright (actually, it was dark) and early, I was up and on my way to get "Rainerized". Ha. We started with a couple stretches, squats, abs, back, a run around the parking lot...then to the WOD which was lots of squats, pull-ups and push-ups. Those pull-ups kicked. my. ass. And hour and a half later, my arms were still shaky.

But, I had a ride scheduled with Judi and Mary. So, I ate and pumped my tires and lubed my chain and geared up. It was cold and windy out there!

We all met at Judi's and rode down to the river and across the ferry to KY so we could cruise down Rte. 8. It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside! The leaves are all changing and farmland is still green. It was a great ride with great company. I'd forgotten just how much I love my road bike.

This morning, I skipped out on swim practice. Simply because I was tired. And there was a very cuddly, snoring pug in my bed that really didn't want to get up. And because I know that soon, I'll be in full swim, bike, run mode. And I don't want to wish I'd really taken advantage of the few short weeks I get as rest.

I've never quite felt like this before. I'm usually so ready to be training for something. Anything. Yes, there's the 10k on Thanksgiving. And there's a 5k here or there. And then the HOS 200 and then Triple T. I know training will resume soon...but frankly, it's just been a HARD year, moreso mentally than physically, and I just need a break.

So, I'm taking it. And I don't feel guilty.

Especially considering I got am email from coach E this morn saying training starts Mon.

Aftermath

My legs still aren't right. My stomach isn't either. Nor are my lats...or my breathing...or my food consumption or sleep or thoughts or motivation.

I travelled back from Cali On Tuesday. I arrived home just after midnight and after spending all day on airplanes and in airports, I absolutely had to shower. It was like heaven sleeping with my little munchkin, Clubber. She cuddled so tight to me.
I
awoke a little groggy on Wednesday and headed to work...where I got chewed out for leaving confidential information on my desk before I left. I didn't even have an excuse. Except that my head was a clusterfuck the day I left the office for the last time. And I'd intended to be back on Monday. But Monday came and I called in sick. I didn't bother explaining to my boss that the guy I was dating is a total psychopath and that I was suffering from shock when I left...and that I'm still grieving the loss of something and someone that never existed. Head up. And back to work.

And after work, I went for a run. My legs are still heavy and tight. Four miles and I was done. But it felt good to sweat, even if just a little.

I was awake until almost 11pm, which is about two hours post normal bedtime. I'm still adjusting back to EST.

My alarm sounded at 5:30 and I'd never felt so grateful that it just so happens to be the week the pool is scheduled for routine maintenace and is closed where I swim Masters. Instead, I dragged my ass out to the 20 meter pool at Urban. It took a full 1000 before I even started to feel comfortable. My breathing isn't right. My stroke feels off.

This too shall pass. The legs will come around. The stroke will come back. Recovery will occur.

Tom just apologized for the uncertainty regarding the time frame for our long run this weekend. LOL. Life is pretty uncertain right now...and I'm pretty OK not knowing whether the run will be at 8am or 9:30am on Saturday morning. I'm even OK not knowing where I'll be living this summer. I'm OK just floating along, not fighting life, seeing where it might just take me.