Woohoo Summer!

So far, summer has been amazing. All 4 days of it. I could get to like this.

Friday, school let out, and I got a hug or two, but mostly saw the backsides of a lot of kids as they sprinted off as fast as they could. I, on the other hand, was asked to not "go crazy", but "do the best I can scraping mounting tape off the walls." After an hour of scraping, I was starting to go crazy, especially after being told, "this isn't good enough, but don't go crazy". I walked out of there and didn't look back. I love my job, but I had spending hours scraping tape off the wall.

I drove directly to the pool, and put in a solid 2000 yd workout. It felt nice (and I confirmed that my engagement ring would be safe on my finger while swimming).

Friday night EMS was busy, a little sad, and a little disturbing, but I'll share that story next time. I also had a Saturday standby, so I was at EMS until about 4PM Saturday. That left me with enough time Saturday to relax, rest, and eat. Tim and I had a nice dinner, at the dining room table like fancy people.

Sunday, I failed at an 8-mile run. I forgot to bring water with me, and it was just too hot. I took the heart rate monitor, just for fun, and noticed that my heart rate was getting pretty high at the halfway point. I assumed it was due to the heat, and turned back early to finish up at 5.3 miles. I justified it by saying that I'll deal with the summer heat and keep my joints healthy by doing longer short runs and shorter long runs. Besides, I'm in much better shape than 2009, when I last did the NYC Tri.

After my run, Tim and I piled into the car and drove to LI to explore wedding venues. Like dress shopping, it was less thrilling than I had imagined. We looked at two different places, both of which would be fine for the wedding. Neither was perfect, but both were satisfactory. I think the party will be awesome at either place (or, somewhere completely different, that we look at in two weeks). Dinner with parents, then back to NJ.

Yesterday, I met a colleague (it's summer, I should probably just call her a friend) for a bike ride. We did an easy 20-miler on the canal path, and it was a blast. Riding is so much more fun when I can chat the whole time. Afterwards, we went back to my apartment, where Tim had made us caprese sandwiches. I even managed a 1.5-mile run in the evening, as the heat was breaking, and before my core workout. I managed to catch a few raindrops, and it felt good.

In between those two workouts, Tim and I went registry shopping. At first, we were baffled by the sheer variety of dishes and flatware, but we ended up having a fantastic time wandering around Crate and Barrel and making a wish list. Hopefully, this time next year, I will be the proud owner of a new blender, rice cooker, and cooking torch. Also, some dishes and a bar set. Also, the time in which to experiment with creme brulee and martinis.

This morning's interval run was tough, but a lot of fun, and I did a good job up until the last interval. The heat was really getting to me. I know I need to drink a lot of water in this heat, so that's a big focus this week. I'm feeling really sluggish while running outside, so I hope I acclimate to the summer daytime weather soon. I have a big workout load anticipated for this week, so I need to take it easy so I don't burn out.

This week (starting the week on Monday), I have already completed nearly 2 hours of biking, nearly 1 hour of running, and 15 minutes of weightlifting, for a total of 3 hours of training. My goal this summer is to build up to 12 hours per week, so I'm off to a good start. It's challenging balancing motivation with overtraining, but I think I've learned a lot this year.

Upcoming workouts:
Today - 1500 yd swim
Tomorrow - 4 mi easy run, core workout
Thursday - 2 hour bike ride, 1 hour swim
Friday - 8 mile run
Sunday - 30:00 trainer/4 mile run brick

This week, I am hoping for a total of 10.5 hours of training. Whew.