I think I have a case of the "Mondays"

Even though it's Tuesday, and I had a great weekend. I just don't want to be here at all, and can't seem to get my butt in gear. As I'm prone to do, though, I'm noticing the various "office-isms" around me today. Like, how far down the hall does someone need to be that you are okay in not acknowledging them? Not a good friend, but someone that you talked to once near the coffee pot, or saw out in town once and shared a brief "hello." If I'm in a good mood (not having the "Mondays") I stretch it out to maybe 50-75 feet. Today, it's about 10 feet. Just not feeling the workplace chit-chat today. If only the cafeteria had blueberry pancakes this morning like they advertised!

So, I'm leaving the men's room, and notice that once again the habitual bathroom phone guy is in clear violation of the "don't talk to someone on the phone when you are dropping a deuce" rule. I have noted him doing this probably once a week for months. I can't imagine how irritated I would be if I was the person on the other end. I would certainly hang up and tell him to call back after he left the stink room. Am I too sensitive? While I'm on the corporate toilet subject, what is more distracting/disturbing to you as you attempt a twosie:

- Pre-warmed seat (indicating someone just left)

- A stray butt hair still clinging to the seat rim for dear life

- The ass sweat remnants of a difficult or extended movement prior to your arrival

- What appears to be a desperate attempt of a muddy-footed squirrel to avoid being flushed down

- Splatter (you know what I'm talking about)

I hate the pre-warmed seat, but I think the splatter is probably the worst for me. I don't make a habit of cleaning under the seat before I recline, so I will start to fear that there's some dookie spray dangerously close to my nether regions. Not so great.

Sorry if I spoiled any one's lunch, dinner, or even tomorrow's breakfast. Now, on to fitness...

Mendy and I met for our hot date at lunch. The temp was about 80, with winds around 3-5mph. Felt hotter, though, and both of us had to pee. Well, I didn't have to later on, but that's another (self incriminating) story. I still feel beat from this weekend, and am still not caught up on the hydration thing. Funny, the mojitos didn't seem to help in that area. Weird...

800m warm up

2 x 800m @ 2:40 & 2:43

400m recovery between each

4 x 400m @ 1:17 1:17 1:21 1:18

400m recovery between each

4 x 200m @ :32 :32 :32 :33

200m recovery between each

400m cool down

My legs feel like I've had some really deep muscle cramps in them, and they just don't seem to want to cooperate. The 200's were honestly the only thing that felt decent, and that's probably because by the time my legs started to complain it was over.

Stupid running! I'm going back to cycling I think.

I got stood up

Well, it's Tuesday, and that means a hot date at lunch. I was there, but Mendy decided she would rather mess up her leg in the pool the other day than do track work with me today. It was still a hot date though; it's about a million degrees on the track, hazy sun, and humid as can be. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. It's about 82 deg, 3-5mph winds, and it feels really humid. Maybe the haze is making it feel worse than it really is.

After taking yesterday off of exercise and enjoying a blistering hot lunch of Thai food (and I'm not joking - I eat it 15 x "Thai hot") with my friend The G-Man, I was extremely aware this morning as all the Thai food left my system. I'm glad it did, because that would not have been fun on the track. I changed clothes, dropped my stuff off at the car, and decided to run to the track as a warm up. About half way there I decided that it was a bit long for a warm up run at about a mile, but it saves the wear and tear on my car by driving such a short distance. I was going to do Chris's recent workout (800x2, 400x4, 200x6), but I decided that may take too long and I just didn't feel up to it, so I cut off the 200s. Here are my times:

.97 mile warm up @ 7:08 (7:19/mile)
800m @ 2:45 (5:24/mile)
400m recovery
800m @ 2:45 (5:29/mile)
400m recovery
400m @ 1:15 (5:11/mile)
400m recovery
400m @ 1:15 (5:08/mile)
400m recovery
400m @ 1:18 (5:30/mile)
400m recovery
400m @ 1:15 (5:15/mile)
.97 mile cool down @ 8:27 (8:42/mile)

Fairly consistent pace, I guess. I wasn't pushing as hard as I could, but rather focusing on heel strike and pushing off with my big toe to even my stride. The variance between same time/different pace laps is probably due to using the Garmin. I'm just too damn fast for the satellites to track! LOL No, seriously, I think the Garmin just skips sometimes and guesstimates the pace based on where you are and how long it took. Not so accurate when you are running in loops.

Anyway, I feel beat now. My 301 shows 813 calories burned, so I need to replenish. Thank goodness I passed on the 200s! Next time I'm going to do a gel before track work. Looking toward tomorrow, I may do a brick or a long swim. Decisions, decisions...

Later

Shock and awe!

That was my reaction to what the scale told me this morning. I saw a number I haven't seen in maybe 7 years: 189.0! Last year at this time I was 206-209, depending on how much Mexican food I had eaten. I realize this is not a crazy amount of weight to lose in an entire year, but then again it has been entirely a by-product of a hard core training routine over the past year, so BACK OFF! ;-) Anyway, I figure I'm in the single digits for body fat at this point, and I may have 5 more pounds I could lose without loss of lean body mass. Hooray, me!

Mendy and I met for a hot date at lunch: track work in the 80 deg temps, but there was a "nice" 10-12 mph wind blowing. I opted not to do my old HS track team workout as detailed yesterday since I'm not a sprinter, and instead decided on 800 warm up, 400m x 2, 800 x 2, and 400 x 2, with all runs separated by a single 400m recovery lap. My times were better than estimated on the McMillan Running site, and I wound up with:
400 x 2 @ 4:28/mi & 5:02/mi (1:08 &1:16)
800 x 2 @ 5:54/mi & 6:00/mi (2:58 & 3:01)
400 x 2 @ 5:16/mi & 5:08/mi (1:20 & 1:20)

I would say I was between 7/10ths and 8/10ths pace at all times, and it sucked. But I need it, so I'll be incorporating some speed work in probably once a week. Stupid running! Other than the first 400, my pace was fairly consistent. One nice thing about running on a track is that I can concentrate on my stride and foot strike a lot, in short bursts during high intensity when form usually goes out the window.

Man, I'm HUNGRY! Garmin says 581 calories were burned, but I must have kept burning them after the track session was over. I ate half of a medium thin crust pizza and later a protein shake, but I feel like I could tear up some food right now. I think I will do just that!

Recovery, in many ways

Man, I felt like a bag full of hammered poop yesterday. All day. Grace woke us up way too early, and I was a touch dehydrated. I barely choked down a (WAY overpriced) steak at a nearby steakhouse for Mommie's day, and then Grace and I were able to enjoy a nap after a quick visit to the store. A bit better, but I think Mendy's suggestion of Mellow Mushroom pizza (and BPD alongside) were the ticket to recovery. Ah, better. But, still not great.

This morning was Black Monday at work. 70+ people got their lay-off notice, 50+ got absorbed into the outsource agreement we are almost 1/2 way into with EDS, about 40 got assigned to our operating companies, and maybe 50 of us (from my level up to senior exec) are retained into the Shared Services organization. Not sure if that had any bearing, but I felt like poo and had a nervous stomach/GI tract today. Oh well, I guess weight loss is good, right? Hydration must happen!

The weather was prime for a post-work ride, so I make plans. Didn't map anything out, but had an idea. I had hoped for a 35+ mile ride, but wound up with a 21+ mile ride. Not a bad distance TT, but I wasn't hammering, and could had held this average pace for much longer. Drat! Oh well, I wound up doing 21.73 miles in 1h 43s, for a 21.47mph average in a hilly route. Not bad, I guess. No aero wheels (Bonty Race Lites) and a non-aero helmet (Giro Transfer), on my tri bike. I'm loving my new 53/42 crank with 175mm arms! These are gonna kick so much booty on the flatter courses coming up.

Tomorrow is gonna be track work, I believe. I may do my old high school track workout of in-and-outs: 800m warm up, 100-100-100-100 sprint/recover intervals, 200-200 sprint/recover intervals, 300-100 sprint/walk interval, and 400 sprint, with a cool down. Man, that always kicked my butt! Maybe I'll do it twice, 'cause I'm an over-driven doofus. :-)

Later.