Listening to My Body

When my alarm went off this morning, I barely had the energy to hit snooze. I'm pretty tired most mornings, but this was different. I thought about trying to get to the pool, but my body was telling me to shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. I don't often listen to my body very well. I once ran and biked on a stress fracture for almost two weeks before finally going to the doctor, and I wasn't even very athletic at the time. So I set the alarm for two hours later and went back to sleep. It's been over a month since I last slept in so it felt really good.

I decided to be productive and take care of a few things I've been meaning to do. I started with a little excursion to Cadence Cycling, a very cool (and very dangerous) cycling and multisport store in Tribeca. If JackRabbit was burning a hole in my wallet, this place could fully melt it. The primary reason - triathlon bikes. I really want a tri bike. And I really want one now. If the tri bike fairy wants to drop one off for me, I'll take the bike pictured here. Thinking about these bikes and looking at them are two different things. It was actually hard to leave the store without one, but I settled for some basics and did find an incredible pair of tri-specific cycling shoes, the Sidi T2. I'm in need of new shoes and I think these will do the trick.

I needed new tires so after my fantasy trip to Cadence, I spent about two hours trying to figure out what the heck to buy. I stopped at my local bike shop and looked online, and it was like reading a foreign language. I had gotten a recommendation from a friend over the weekend, but it's not that simple. It turns out my virtual swim coach is also very helpful with bike advice. Thanks Jeff, yet again. One of these days I'll figure out what I'm doing and won't have 1,000 questions a day. My new tires will be here Wednesday. It will probably take me an hour to get them on my bike, but I'm looking forward to the practice. I figure the more prepared I am, the less chance I have of getting a flat during the race.

I couldn't take a full rest day so I went out for a short run tonight. It turned out to be a bit of a bust. I didn't realize how hot and humid it was and I think my legs were still tired from yesterday's ride. Keeping up a slower than usual pace was a struggle, so I stopped after 3 miles. After a little break, I put in one more mile, which was actually better since I was warmed up. I may need to start running in the early morning and swimming in the evening to beat the heat. It's a small sacrifice to make to be sure I stay on track. I'll re-evaluate that plan in a few days and let you know if it works.

Running
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 34:39