I should have swam, instead

Funny how plans can take on a mind of their own. So, tomorrow I'm going to wolf down some Thai food with Eric, Chris, and Mendy. That means my normally scheduled Friday pool suffering has to shift. That means the brick I was thinking of doing after work had to move, too. So, the plan was to knock out the brick at lunch, and then swim after work as early as possible so Mendy could get to the tri clinic.

It was all going to plan, until I got a flat. See, the last time I rode my tri bike, I broke a spoke on my training set of wheels (yes, I'm that freakin' awesome!), so I had to mount a spare wheel. This was the first time riding it, and the wheel, tube, tire, and cassette (gears) went together moments before the ride. I normally have zero time to spare on a lunch brick, doing about 13.3 miles on the bike and 2.4 on the run. As soon as the road started feeling bumpy and the bike started to fishtail, I knew what it was. Damnit!!! So, do I change it and go home? Do I walk it home and use my sailor words the whole way? Do I quickly change it and continue with the brick? I chose the last option, but cut the bike route short (to 9.5 miles).

As if that wasn't enough, at the turn-around point on the bike I went to take a drink from my bottle, and sprayed Powerade right into my eye and all over my body and the bike. Are you serious? I was mad enough to quit, but I didn't. I could still salvage this! I hammered it home and went out for the run, which actually went rather well. The weather was beautiful (71-72) with almost no wind! And my run time was only 13 seconds slower than the stupid morning run I did yesterday, and that was without cycling prior. Yay!

Another interesting thing happened. Some mystery box arrived at our house around lunch time.

I wonder what the contents could really be?

It's probably not a prom dress; we are WAY too old for that, and still too cool to be chaperons to a prom. Hmmm, maybe Mendy can fill you all in this evening...

Update: nevermind! Swimming still sucks worse than changing a tube in the middle of a ride. Doing speed intervals when you are dog-tired, after doing a bunch of pull ups, is worse than changing tubes and attempting to blind yourself with blue, sugary, electrolyte drink!