The last weekend in June was my birthday, and my parents threw me a fantastic 3-day bash. It was a combined birthday-engagement-sister's engagement party, along with the celebration of the end of my mom's period of mourning for my grandmother. There was lots of food and lots of drink.
That Friday, we got to our hotel in the afternoon. After a brief excursion for a soggy churro from a sketchy street vendor, I hopped in the small (~15 yards) hotel pool for a quick swim. I had a lane to myself, which was nice, but it felt a bit like a hamster wheel. Following that, we went out for drinks, and then to my dad's favorite restaurant, Keen's steakhouse. I had some phenomenal steak and more drinks.
On Saturday, we slept late and went out for brunch. I had about 3 days' worth of calories in a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with bacon. Totally worth it.
In the afternoon, we visited the Intrepid museum, which was very interesting. It was cool to walk around the different spaces in the aircraft carrier and to learn how they were used in the past. It helped that I have my own private tour guide/history buff/fiance.
Saturday evening, we had another extravagant dinner/drinks adventure at a top restaurant in Manhattan. We ate fabulous seafood. Afterwards, a bunch of friends joined us to celebrate at a bar downtown.
Sunday morning, we had a big family brunch. It was delicious, although I was worn out from the weekend.
The weekend definitely took a lot out of me (energy-wise; calorically, it put a lot into me). I tried to pick up my training as soon as I got home, and didn't do too bad a job.
Last week's training included 3:45:00 on the bike trainer (oy. Lots of Netflix), 11.1 miles running, and 1.8 miles swimming. I've already exceeded my 2012 totals, and it's only halfway through the year!
Running in the heat has been exceedingly difficult. It hurts to go out, even in the morning, or late in the evening. It's hot and sweaty and it's so humid I can't breathe. I feel like every step is a struggle, even when I'm barely breaking 13-minute miles. I'm trying hard not to get upset about weak mileage and speed, but it's tough. At least, I got out today (mid-day, but was "only" 85 degrees with 55% humidity) and did a "normal"-speed run, although the effort was much more than normal. It felt like a longer race effort, but at least I know I can still move at 11:30 min/mi.
My sleep was interrupted one night by a school-related nightmare. I dreamed that I was driving to work, but I was going to be late! I wouldn't be so late that I'd miss anything, and I hoped I could get there before anyone noticed. Then, the traffic got worse. I eventually arrived at school around 7:45, just in time for homeroom, but I kept getting held up by little obstacles and issues. By the time I got to my classroom, class had already started, and someone else had to cover the start of class for me!
Yep, that's me. Even in July, I have nightmares about being late to work.
I'm hoping that the race next week will be early enough that I won't over heat or feel awful. As usual, I have different tiers of goals, so that I will be motivated to push myself, but not discouraged if it doesn't go perfectly. My A+ goal (3:17:00) is if I have my best ever swim, best ever bike, and best ever run. It's unlikely, although it would be the equivalent of my awesome performance in the sprint tri last month. My A goal is the "real" goal, the more realistic time of 3:30:00. It's a 34-minute improvement from the same race in 2009. It requires everything to go smoothly, but not perfectly. My B goal is 3:56:00, an 8-minute improvement from last time. This is if I'm not feeling great, or have a weak performance in one of the events. My C goal is 4:22, the slowest time I could reasonably get, which allows for a complete meltdown in 2-3 events. I don't think that'll happen, but anything is possible on race day.
I am as anxious for the triathlon as I am excited to get on my cruise ship immediately afterwards. I am also a little nervous about the logistics, although I do have about 3-4 hours between the end of the race (B-C goal time) and the time I should get to the ship. Then, all I have to do for 7 days is eat as many meals as I can find and drink lots of frozen coconut-y things.
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