Plugging Along

It's been another busy week. At work, I'm transitioning to a new job focus. For 10+ of my 15 years at ERI, I've managed the day-to-day operations of inside sales. Now I'm passing off a lot of my daily tasks to someone else, and taking over outside sales. I'll be traveling more, re-negotiating and re-writing the contracts with our distributors and content producers, and growing that part of the business. We're also rolling out another online training option, which involves a lot of learning on my part; then I'll need to train the sales staff on the new options and manage the product launch. All of this thinking and learning has worn me out.

I also had a rehearsal and concert two evenings this week. As the first gig approached, I wondered why I was stupid/crazy/optimistic enough to even sign up for these a few weeks ago, knowing I'd have 12+ hours of workouts to fit in. But the material was low-key (Carnival of the Animals and Peter & the Wolf) and I really enjoyed myself. It was a welcome change from work and exercise. Plus, the money will buy me a new set of running shoes. Winning!

The easiest parts of my week were my workouts - which went well. No major breakthroughs this week, but I put good work in, which I'm sure will give rewards down the road.

Wednesday's long run (10.75) was thorougly enjoyable. Cardio-wise, I feel I could go forever. I'm not even tired after my long runs anymore, since I'm forcing myself to stay in Zone 2. (I remember the days of doing long runs on Saturday mornings, then coming home and sleeping the afternoon away because I was so worn out.) The usual aches and discomforts of long runs aren't setting in until mile 10 or so, whereas they used to show up at mile 6 or 7. And my Zone 2 pace is slowly getting a bit faster. More good news: I haven't had any knee pain during a workout in about two weeks.

I've been fighting a little head cold this week. Just a few years ago, a  cold would make me miserable for a week or more, then turn into sinusitis and bronchitis; now, it's just an inconvenience for a few days. Here's to being healthier! I don't have a runny nose, just some head congestion. The weirdest effect of it has been in the pool. When I flip-turn, I hear a little squeak from my sinuses. For the first 10 minutes of Thursday's swim, I couldn't figure out where this squeaking noise was coming from! First I thought it was my watch, then I thought it might be a clock buzzer, or maybe even a lifeguard whistle. But then I noticed it was happening only when I flipped. It was coming from inside my head! Weird.

Since it's raining again today, and I don't want to spend 3+ hours on the trainer, I've decided to ride tomorrow morning. I haven't ridden outdoors in 2 weeks. Last I heard, Ironman Texas is not an indoor race; so I'm flip-flopping my workouts for the weekend so I can ride outside. Why do I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I move workouts around? Tomorrow's scheduled run is just a recovery run to recuperate from the long ride; Monday is a rest day, so I will still have time to recover before starting next week's workouts. I guess it's just a mental adjustment. In the end, everything will get done and have the desired effect.