It's kind of amazing to me that I've been here for a month already. Even better, this week I really felt like I was making progress. That is especially good considering the fact that over the past, um, many months I've felt as though I was going nowhere and sometimes even going backwards. I can't tell you the last time I saw a 1:25 run on the schedule and didn't approach it with absolute dread, but that was finally not the case this past week or so.
Swimming has even been going well, which is another amazing feat considering the fact that back in 2004 I made some great strides in swimming, as evidenced by the fact that that year at Timberman, after the race my father told me that he could no longer pick me out of the crowd of swimmers from fifty yards out in the water because I no longer looked like a flailing mess. My Ironman swim time then was better than it was this year, and pretty much the same as it's always been. So to see some good splits in the water is quite encouraging.
As for the bike, well, that's coming around, too. It's a very different kind of terrain than what I normally ride. Back home it is usually quite rolling, punctuated by some sharp, steep climbs and maybe a few slow, steady ones here and there. Here it's either flat or very long sections of slightly up followed by very long sections of slightly down. I'm sure I could find some serious climbs, but I believe the temperature is in the 20's atop Mt. Lemmon right now, so I think I'll wait on that. Anyway, the point is, biking is starting to feel pretty good, too. Biking has always come pretty easy to me, and while the first bunch of rides out here were less than stellar, the last couple of rides I've gone on have been quite encouraging. The only annoying part is that my heart rate is pretty low which means I have to work a lot harder. Annoying at times, but also means that I'm becoming stronger and more aerobically fit, so I guess I'll deal with it.
These first four weeks were all big training weeks, so I am very, very ready for a rest week. I'm definitely getting plenty of rest between workouts because I don't really have anywhere else I need to be but my legs are definitely starting to feel the cumulative fatigue of the near-100 hours of training I've put in over the past month. But it should also be noted that coming into this season I don't think I've been more well rested since I started training in the first place eight years ago or whenever it was. Maybe nine now? Of course I did not enjoy the reasons for the extended physical and mental break, but as a result I just don't feel the same kind of burnout I'd been feeling for quite a while. I don't think it's normal for me to be able to say that when I'm doing weekly six-hour long rides in January already, but even yesterday I felt like I easily just could've kept on going.
The last time I did this, coming out to Arizona to train, I was coming off what was and still is my most successful season ever. I thought it was going to kick-start even more improvements and set me even further ahead. Well, it didn't. I got a little bit overly focused on high expectations and wound up being disappointed in my race at Ironman Arizona. When I look back on it now, it seems ridiculous that I would've been disappointed in a result like that, but I was. But I also remember starting up with that big training in January when I was in Phoenix and wondering why the heck I was doing so much so early in the season. I was already burnt out after racing Lake Placid, Hawaii and Clearwater and not really taking a break at all. It's nice to be starting out much fresher, even if I am way less fit now than I was then.
Also, in case I hadn't mentioned it before, I vastly prefer Tucson to Phoenix. I picked Phoenix last time because that was where the race was, so why not train on the course? The truth is, find any stretch of barren, ugly highway with a slight incline and maybe that goes past a dump and you have the Ironman Arizona bike course. You don't need to train on it to do well on it. There are no tricks or turns, just desert. Not even pretty desert, really just dirt. But on that trip I did ride my bike down to Tucson one weekend and decided immediately that I'd picked the wrong city, and I knew if I ever returned, that was where I was going to go.
I still see on the news every morning how bad the weather is back east and it makes me wonder how I ever make it through with my sanity. This week alone I spent over 16 hours on my bike. Can you imagine trying to find 16 hours worth of entertainment to fill the time while pedaling nowhere in your basement? I've already exhausted almost every movie I ever even thought I might want to see on Netflix. I vastly prefer the outdoor version, even if it means that currently I am sporting a tan only on the lower half of my face. It remains to be seen though whether or not I make this a yearly event.
Now, of course Tucson isn't perfect. Like I said, some of the roads are in pretty bad shape and there is an extraordinarily large amount of broken glass scattered on the shoulders of the roads. Not to mention the dead coyote I've been riding past in the same spot all month long. Oh, and while the outdoor pool is nice and all, I did just see that it's supposed to be in the 20's at night this week due to a little cold front, which means I will be getting in and out of the pool and using the outdoor (well, unheated, of course there are walls and stuff) changing room for my morning swims. That's not going to be super fun. But, well, I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. After all, it still hasn't even rained. Supposedly it might tomorrow, but we'll see.
Anyway, everything is just going really well. I spent most of my last excursion like this sort of waiting for it to be over, and this time I'm just sort of amazed at how fast it's going by. My mom and my aunt are coming out to visit in a couple of weeks which should break up the trip nicely. Maybe I'll even venture by car past the 4-mile perimeter that includes all of the grocery stores and pools I need. Whole Foods is four miles away, Trader Joe's is two, and any number of others are even closer. The pool takes about a minute and fifteen seconds to drive to. I might walk there, but you know, there's a big hill and the fact that it's really cold in the morning. Besides, even with that I still haven't had to put gas in the car since the day I arrived in town. And I believe I already told you what terrible gas mileage the Xterra gets.
I apologize once again that there are no pictures to go along with this. When my mom comes I'm having her bring my camera cord so that you can finally see where I've been. Hot air balloons every Saturday morning when I start my ride, mountains in the background, pretty sunsets, not bad. Don't get me wrong, I love New Hampshire, but I'm currently really, really glad that I came out here. Especially when I almost changed my mind back in the fall. I saw four coyotes this morning on my run again, all separately at different times. Considering the fact that back home I've come across bears these little guys seem a lot less intimidating, and equally as uninterested in me.
I guess that's about it. Very excited for my rest week and my once-a-month day off. I just have to come up with something interesting to fill that time with. So far what I've come up with is washing my sheets. Very exciting. I never said I led a glamorous life, but it's getting me back in good shape which is really the entire point of this excursion.
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