Day 59 (Sun - 2/28)

I was feeling a little bad about the number of rest days in a row I took. However, I am feeling great that the desk is in place and we are starting to develop some household management streams around it. (i.e. mail, bill paying, phone set up, etc.) So I wanted to make sure I got a run in, and seeing that it is the last day of month two I decided it should probably be a long and slow.

The run felt pretty rocky. I could feel that I had taken a little too much rest time (I have read that you start loosing fit after around 3 days of inactivity) and I mistimed eating lunch that lead to food cramps 1 mile in. My 5K split was honest, nothing to write home about, but I had to pull way back on the second 5K split (like 10:00 miles for the second 5K).

After wrapping around the last bend finishing off the 10K I had planned I decided to try and bring my average mile back to respectable by tacking on an additional 1.2 mile or so which I finished off nicely. That led to another and another. I got a little carried away and really pushed the distance.

In the end it was 10 miles in 1:35:00 (9:33 miles). My first double digit run, but it was a big stretch. I won’t be attempting another run like this for a couple weeks. No complaints from the legs other than general soreness. The right Soleus / Achilles area is feeling just fine, but after I cooled down my back started acting up. Most likely because I hadn’t built up appropriately to this distance (and because I spent the better part of my rest days either shoveling snow, lifting/assembling/moving furniture, or lifting/playing with the buggo).

10 miles sounds great, but I need to stay smarter than to go out so big so fast. The next time I run this distance I will be ready for it and it will feel great too.

Day 58 (Sat - 2/17)

Today was a great day with the buggo and my wife, but there was no workout. I was going to try to get on the bike during nap but ended up taking a nap myself. I need to get on a better sleep schedule in order to make my training work.

My dad came over after nap time and we assembled the desk and moved the computer down stairs. We all think this will work out very well in our home. Installing the child proof locks on a few of the cabinets was the hardest part. I think they make the installation instructions parent proof.

Tomorrow will be a turning point day now that the desk is together. I need to either get out for a run, or let the momentum slip away. If I can get out for a run and get the rest of the laundry done, it will be a very productive weekend indeed.

Day 57 (Fri - 2/26)

The desk arrived on schedule and my pop brought over a pick up truck to help load it off the freight truck and bring it into the house. It was in 3 packages and loading it into the house went smoothly. The heaviest piece was very manageable with two.

That lifting was all that I was able to get in today. Assembly and moving the computer and files out of the office and into the new desk will take most of my focus this weekend. I am starting to feel rusty.

We had a U-Mass MBA class come to the hospital today to discuss technologies and their application in healthcare. This is the second year they have come for a visit. The presentation and resulting conversation was good and I thing everyone got something out of it.

Day 56 (Thurs - 2/25)

Today was a planned rest day. I had an evening meeting scheduled at one of the provider practices. The meeting went well, and I am encouraged at the possibilities for the project at work.

Tomorrow will be difficult to work in a workout. The desk we ordered on Day 49 is going to arrive tomorrow so there will be some lifting and assembly, but there will be no biking or running.

Day 55 (Wed - 2/24)

The recovery ride I had planned today was replaced by a full body workout. We received several inches of wet heavy snow. So I tried to turn my shovel into a full body gym. I fell asleep early on the couch. My legs feel good. No soreness, but my legs and arms are feeling a little tired.

I ordered a wetsuit tonight. I was torn between the full and john, but ended up ordering the full. I figure that I will try out the full and if I don’t like it I will exchange it for the john. Today was the last day of the Xterra 50% off sale and my folks were able to pitch in for a birthday gift, so I was able to go for the Vortex 3 – full suit. I ended up between sizes and went for the larger size due to my legs which are not exactly small. I am excited to try it on. Xterra has some of the best exchange practices in the market. I have 30 days to return/exchange it and can even take it for a few swims. Too bad everything is covered in snow and ice. The shower will have to do for the trial.

Day 54 (Tues - 2/23)

Well, even with the longer than expected bike ride Flash and I got out for a pretty solid run. We hit the first mile in 6:57 (benchmark one achieved). We put it into a climbing pace to tackle the first of 3 steep short hills and then settled into a recovery pace for 4 minutes. We finished off mile 2 in 8:49. I tried to pick up the pace for the final mile of the 5K distance but the second of the three steep hills slowed me down. We finished off mile three in 8:33 which gave us a 5K time of 24:19 (8:06 miles). We picked up the pace and finished mile four in 7:55 and the last .42 in 3:00. The last mile is primarily flat after steep hill three, and it is pretty amazing how a sub 8:00 pace feels different after working up a hill. Our total time for the full 4.42 miles was 35:14 (7:58 miles – benchmark 2 achieved).

I am not sure, but I think Flash got something out of today’s run. He lead the pace most of the run, but he wasn’t as talkative. Maybe in the next 50 days I will be able to push him once or twice.

My legs are sore tonight especially on the outside of my right Achilles tendon area (just up and back from the ankle bone). Similar to Day 25 I think it is actually the Soleus (lower calf that runs in to and in back of the tendon), but I will be keeping a close eye on this area. The left area that bothered me on Day 25 is feeling fatigued but not sore. In light of this I am planning a slow and short recovery ride tomorrow and a rest day on Thursday.

I am getting back into Thrive and reading up on alkaline forming foods and the benefit to managing pH in the body. Much of the material revolves around a general principal I believe: “Take steps to allow your body to correct itself.” In this case, if you help keep your pH in balance you reduce the stress on other systems allowing them to focus on correcting as they were meant to instead of maintaining which can lead to burn out.

I feel really good about being able to run a mile distance under 7:00 and continue at a sub 8:00 over a 4+ mile run. That was an impossible dream 54 days ago. I guess it is time to do some work in the visualization department.

Day 53 (Mon - 2/22)

I talked with Flash today while we set up a friend with a training bike who is planning on participating in her first triathlon this season. We discussed some goals for our scheduled run tomorrow. I told him about the first mile split I had a few days back and we decided that even with the hills we should look for the following benchmarks on our next 4.42 mile run: another first mile split under 7:00 and an overall pace of under 8:00 miles.

I was so excited that I decided to make the bike ride I had planned for this evening a short and fast ride. I planned to push hard and finish up in 20 minutes so the legs would be fresh for tomorrow. Well, the bike is my favorite event, and it felt pretty good to be pushing hard, so the next thing I knew an hour had gone by. So I got in an hour ride in the 20 mph plus gearing. The ride felt really good, but I wonder what I will have in my tank for the run tomorrow.

Speaking of milestones, the buggo put his first poopy in the potty today and earned himself a Cranky the Crane. We put Cranky on display last night to help motivate him and motivate him it did. I have never seen an individual so inspired to drop a duce in the porcelain basket. Congratulations to him and hopefully my wife and I can build some momentum with him to making this a regular occurrence. Here is a toast to breaking down barriers and hitting milestones.

Day 52 (Sun - 2/21)

I stretched the legs a bit today and decided it should be a rest day so I can hit the bike hard tomorrow (although I should really hit the core).

It is the last day of the staycation and I organized our book shelves by creating a list of all the books we are looking to sell/donate/recycle. We pulled them off the shelves and re-arranged things a little. The kiddo was happy to play at the house in the morning and after his nap we went to the “book store and the DVD store” (AKA Barns and Nobel) and then got Pizza for dinner. It was a happy end to a great vacation.

I am not necessarily rested, but am certainly reframed and ready to work through this career growth milestone with renewed intensity.

For now it is time to kick off the week with some sleep.

Day 51 (Sat - 2/20)

We are getting together tonight with a group of friends that have not been all together in a few years. I am really looking forward to it. My mom and dad will be watching the buggo tonight so we wanted to be sure to get out with him this morning.

We set off for the dump later than expected and earlier than needed. We then headed over to Staples to purchase the fireproof safe and then headed over to the running site where we were to meet up with Duce.

My wife and the buggo were going to go for a walk while Duce and I went for a quick and short run. I wanted to be sure I hit the first mile in under 8:00. I accidentally go my markers mixed up and hit the 1.13 mile mark at 7:50 (6:56 miles) which is redefining my perceptions of what I can do in the running portion of the triathlon. I guess next time I should look to make sure I hit the first mile in under 7:00. We continued on and Duce started letting me go so he could reel me in while he worked some intervals. I eased up for the next two minutes and started in on another solid pace for 8 minutes. I eased up for two and then took it home to the end of the 5K marker (which ended up being 3.4 miles from our extended start). We finished off the 3.4 miles in 26:16 (7:44 miles) and slowed it into the aerobic zone for a 1.35 mile cool down which we finished in 12:19 (9:07 miles). The overall run finish was 4.75 miles in 38:35 (8:07 miles). I feel really good about this. I think Duce got something out of the pace also which felt good. This was the first time I felt like I wasn’t really slowing him down.

During the 1.35 mile cool down Duce gave me some really good organizational tips and offered to send me some of his tools for work. I can wait to start putting them in place. I love the fact that my support network for training is the same as my support network for every aspect of life.

We hung out for a while talking and playing with the kiddo (throwing stones on the ice and talking about where the turtles live in the winter). It was a really nice time and set up the rest of the day beautifully.

Day 50 (Fri - 2/19)

Staycation day 2 started with a twist. Instead of staying home and painting I drove my wife and the kiddo to a gathering and went out to run some errands. I picked up some organizational containers at Target; shopped for wireless print servers and fireproof safes at Staples; tried on some running shoes at Dicks and watched Tiger apologize; tried on some wet suits at a local bike shop; and hit the super market before heading back to pick up my wife and kiddo. It has been so long since I did so much shopping in one outing. Those with kids will understand.

It was all very productive, especially the wetsuit fitting. I really like the mobility in the farmer john style suites as opposed to the full suits. I also learned that I am a ML and just outside a MT (the MT was a little hard to breathe in). I did a little online shopping and it looks like I could get a suit for $180.00. I have no budget for this but my wife told me that she would be willing to look at this after we get our taxes done. I now really want to get them done.

The shoes were OK, but nothing worth jumping at. After talking with the staff there I learned that the wear on the bottom of the shoe can be used to indicate if you pronate. We flipped my shoe over and there was a defined wear line running from the outside heal to the ball of the foot and through the big toe area (very central in the shoe). I was told this indicates that a neutral shoe would be best. I tried a few on and liked the feel of the sole, but did not like the way they cut across the toes.

I hit the bike for a recover ride and moved in the 18mph gearing for 30 minutes. I was expecting to be sorer than I am after yesterdays run. That is good news as Duce called and is looking to run tomorrow.

Day 49 (Thurs - 2/18)

Today was the first day of our staycation and what a day it was. We ordered the desk from an online retailer. Same model as the one at the local furniture shop, just $400.00 less. It means that we will have to arrange to unload it from a freight truck, but in order to save $400.00 I am willing to do some lifting, and thankfully my dad is also.

I got out for a run after the kiddo whet down for a nap. I wanted it to be a slow and long and wanted it to be really long. I ended up doing 8.8 miles in 1:20:52 (9:10 miles) which is another “longest run ever” and it felt great. The trail was really muddy and there were snow dirfts to maneuver around every 10 feet on the back section. It felt like fun.

I can now say with little doubt that my aerobic pace is between 9:00 and 9:10 depending on the day and conditions. I am feeling really good about that it is below the 10:00 mark that I though it was and that I now have a base line to improve. The goal is to get this to 8:20. I hit the “growth” section of the run at around the 7.4 mile mark (this was back at the 5 mile mark in January). I am beginning to believe that a 13.1 mile run is not as daunting as it seemed on day one.

If I keep the growth up I will hit my first 13+ mile run sometime in April. In past years this is when I started my training for the season. I feel so much more prepared. I think there are a few keys that have been critical so far and I plan to continue dialing them in:
- Support network
- Nutrition and recovery
- Training methods and form

I read a really interesting article about visualization training. Apparently there is a good deal of research regarding how your body responds to stimulus from a subconscious level and that by using visualization training you can begin to adjust what your subconscious considers to be “normal”. For example, if you have always visualized yourself as a sprinter and not a distance runner (as I have). Then your body responds differently when faced with a 3 mile run than if you have always visualized yourself as a distance runner. Your subconscious responded differently depending on your perception of yourself. Now there is plenty of physical training that is required also, but it is important to no neglect the effort that is needed in reframing your subconscious as your training takes effect. The more relaxed athlete typically has the better performance and that edge might just come from the subconscious.

I am starting to visualize that 70.3 clock as I cross the finish line “5:43:20”.

Day 48 (Wed - 2/17)

I packed my clothes hoping I would be able to get out for a run at work, or at least a chance to work out a bit at the health center. However, deep down I knew that with the short week there would be little chance to break away. It was overall a pretty productive day and last night I came to a new realization.

In our culture, when we are asked “what do you do” (AKA: “who are you”) we typically answer with our job title or a brief description of our current occupation. I was meditating on that question and came to a new conclusion. What do I do? Well, I am a father, a husband, and an amateur athlete. Making that statement or reframing my perspective on this provides me with a feeling of freedom. If I loose my job or decide to peruse other interests I will not loose “what I do” or “what I am” in the process because “what I do” is more central (core) than my occupation is.

I know it seems small, but it is amazing what impact a small shift in our perceptions has on our realities. With the personal cost of risk being lowered at work I can shift from a protectionist posture (“we can’t do that because…”) to a more risk taking “move it forward” leader (“I will clear the barriers to move this forward despite the risk it may not be perfect”).

This is not to say that all of a sudden I no longer care about my job or am cavalier about the decisions I make. On the contrary I need to work in order to support what I do and being an athlete I naturally want to excel at whatever I spend my time doing (and 40 + hours a week is no small amount of time). My occupation must fulfill the requirements to be placed in my window of success (time with family, impact on organization, provisions for family) and this job does that. I am motivated by my project and the room for growth. It is simply a relief that as I grow and make mistakes I will not risk loosing myself in the process.

I have had the ineffective, disorganized, and delegation conversation with two trusted mentors who both gave me sound advice and their votes of confidence that I am not ineffective, just going through a process that sometimes hurts like change does.

I am looking forward to my staycation when I plan to get myself rooted in my new framing. Chalk today up to a rest day.

Day 47 (Tues - 2/16)

Only two days of work this week and already I am feeling overwhelmed. Actually I am feeling ineffective; disorganized; and am struggling with delegation. I recognize that I am hitting a phase in my career where I stop being the one actually doing the work and start becoming the person looked to in order to “get things done” by my staff/team/etc. This process is not without pain and I am no exception to the process. It is a positive that I am going through it, but change feels like… well sometimes if feels like that first run, it hurts like hell.

I stopped in to see my manager to discuss these items (ineffective, disorganized, and delegation) and asked if I could set up a meeting to discuss methods used by others in our organization who seem to have it together in these respects. She said that would not be a problem, however, her feedback indicated that she felt I was being too hard on myself.

I got out of work late and tried to keep thing at home moving toward getting the house in order. Essentially what we are doing is transforming our office upstairs into our kiddo’s room; moving the office downstairs; and keeping bedroom 3 open for the buggette when she arrives.

Day 46 (Mon - 2/15)

It was hard, but I was able to keep myself off the bike tonight. We spent much of the day catching up on housework and my wife and I went furniture shopping for a desk. We left the kiddo with my mom and dad and went looking for a nice piece of furniture to “hide/lock” our computer in that can be downstairs with young ones running around. My requirement is that it has to hide all wires and act as the central station for all communication in and out of the house. That includes e-mail; snail-mail; telephone; etc.

We found a nice piece at a local furniture shop but it was a little out of the price range. After spending some time looking at Staples for less expensive options we decided to grab lunch and think the purchase over for a few days.

The legs feel pretty good, but the rest of me is tired.

Day 45 (Sun - 2/14)

I got in a 10K (6 miles) run this afternoon. I planned to run it as a fast pace and see what I could do expecting to be in with a 8:30 pace or so, but my legs felt like bricks. The first 5K went well, but I was definitely off pace and feeling like there was little left in the tank to pick up the second 5K. I ended the 6.05 mile run in 54:29 (9:00 miles). I think I may be hitting my first training plateau. Either that or I am overdoing the training and I am in danger of falling into grey area training (where little is gained since your body is in a constant state of recovery).

I think I will stay off the bike tomorrow and get the house reset for the week. I am due for a couple of rest days; I have the day off from work and will be taking Thursday and Friday off as a miniature staycation with the family. We are working on getting the house in order before the arrival of our second buggo, or should I say buggette.

Day 44 (Sat - 2/13)

It was a great rest day. The kiddo and I got out to the dump and met Popi at the library. We took a family trip to the grocery store and stocked up on nutritional staples and had dinner out. The only thing that could have improved the day is if there were a few more hours so my wife and I would have time to watch short track skating and get to bed early.

The legs really appreciated the rest day. We will see if I can get them moving tomorrow.

Day 43 (Fri - 2/12)

Flash and I got out for a 4.42 mile loop which we finished in 37:30.

I took mile splits and this is how we shaped up:
-Mile 1: 7:52
-Mile 2: 8:37
-Mile 3: 9:09
-Mile 4: 8:02
-Last .42 miles: 3:48

My legs felt like jelly after the first mile. This has been the most intense and longest week of training yet. Tomorrow will definitely be a rest day. I had personal bests at the 7+ mile loop (8:49 miles) and the 4+ mile loop (7:58 miles); logged 16+ miles of running on the week; got in 1:40:00 on the bike with sprints.

It has been a good week but I feel like my nutrition was a little off due to the stress levels at work. I have a few days off next week, so I can recover then. The Olympics start tonight, so I am pretty sure I will be receiving a good dose of motivation.

Day 42 (Thurs - 2/11)

I got on the bike for close to an hour. It felt a little like a recovery ride. I felt steady in the 18 mph gearing and jumped into the 20 mph for a minute sprint here and there. I felt a little sluggish in the legs, but I think that is coming from not getting to bed early enough. I have been up late getting some extra work in. I can’t let this become a habit.

The kiddo learned a new trick. My wife taught him that climbing on my back while I do push ups is “helping” daddy. He gets so proud when he does it that I can’t stop smiling even though push ups are an area where I am really weak.

Day 41 (Wed - 2/10)

Flash and I got out for a run today, and it was a fast one. I tried to let the volume of work I feel piling up around me motivate me to get out hard today. We covered the first mile in 7 minutes 20 seconds (the fastest mile I have on record ever). The rest of the run felt good with a recovery pace between miles 1 and 2 after pushing hard up the first hill. At mile 2 I tried to pick up the pace again. At this point Flash asked if I wanted to push it to the stop sign again. I smiled and told him that I thought I had just picked up the pace, but found a little something extra to give us a solid pace through the stop sign. While going up the second hill I needed to shorten up my strides but was able to up the tempo to keep pace with Flash. We turned onto the last mile with 9 minutes to hit our goal pace. In the end we finished off the 4.42 miles in 35:14 (7:58 miles).

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have hit a run like this averaging sub eights. Switching between long and slow runs and short and fast seems to be paying off. I wish I didn’t have to cancel the run I had scheduled for tomorrow, but sometimes work happens.

Day 40 (Tues - 2/9)

We had a hectic day at work today with no run. Our planned run tomorrow might get snowed out. If it does I am going to do some weight training instead.

I got in a solid hour of trucks with the kiddo. His play is developing to a really fun point. I just put him down for bed and it is now time to go watch the Biggest Looser with my wife and get some core training in.

On a side note: Flash continues to post sub 15 minute training swims.

Day 39 (Mon - 2/8)

I got on the bike tonight. Everything felt really good after the run yesterday so I decided to push a little on the trainer. I spent 30 minutes in my 18 mph gearing then dropped into a sprint interval set. I shifted into the big ring and performed 8 sets of 20 second all out push with 10 second passive rest. When I finished that I was burning so I dropped to the middle ring and set into my 20 mph gearing for a 15 minute cool down. The 20 mph gearing felt really comfortable after sprinting in the larger ring.

I am very encouraged by the way my body seems to be recovering lately from the longer and more intense workouts. I think the diet might be taking affect. I need to hold back just a bit though. I am still in the building part of the season.

Day 38 (Sun - 2/7)

Duce was able to meet me during nap time for a run today. I was ten minutes late which counts as a miss on my new month resolution for meeting within five minutes of a meeting start time. He let me off the hook easy.

I told him that today was my long and slow day and that I was looking to log the 7.4 mile route. So, we took off talking about work, home, sports, etc. I kept up the conversation for the first quarter mile or so then started loosing wind and fading behind his pace. As we circled the 1.5 mile marker I realized we were in the high eights, not the low nines. Duce started to widen the gap and I had to hold back the urge to try and catch him. I knew we were setting a fast pace for me to finish and he was most likely getting in some intervals on the run. Sure enough he held up for me just after the 3 mile marker which we hit at 25:40 (8:33 miles for the first 5K). He ran with me side by side as we talked a bit more for the next mile then started in on another interval set. I felt his tempo increase and again had to resist running too far outside of my pace. (I can’t wait until I am right there with him.) We crossed the 6.07 mile marker at 53:28 (8:49 miles for the 10K distance). That meant the second 3.07 was finished in 27:48 (9:03 miles for the second 5K). Duce finished ahead of me by 2 minutes or more and peeled off so he could make it home in time for the Bruins game. I took the corner and headed out for the last 1.33 miles. I opened my stride, engaged my core, and felt very strong over that last loop. I was back around in 11:47 (8:52 miles for the last sprint). I felt really good to have sub nines in my legs at the end of the run.

Total stats on the run: 7.4 miles in 1:05:15 averaging 8:49 miles. It always amazes me to see what Duce can pull out of me. On a much windier day I ran my average miles 18 seconds faster which lowered my total time for the run by over 2 minutes simply by chasing a running partner willing to get out with me. Nothing beats a good support network.

On the family front, we had a family outing in the morning which the buggo really enjoyed and invited my Dad over for the first half of the big game. He had gotten out for a training run today also and felt really good. Hearing about him getting out just makes me more motivated to get in the work and the recovery needed to perform well this season. After all, goal 1 is to get to the starting line healthy. If done correctly everything else will fall into place.

Day 37 (Sat - 2/6)

It has been a good rest day. I got in around 30 minutes of core this evening while watching Kitchen Nightmares with my wife who earlier in the day said I could get a wetsuit.

Actually, what she said while day-dreaming about warmer weather was “with your wetsuit you will be able to get in to open water swims earlier in the season, so we should plan to start going to a beach as soon as it is warm enough”. I took that to mean “you should start shopping for a wetsuit”. I have a feeling it will not fit into the budget this year, but since we were day-dreaming, I might as well do a little window shopping.

We stayed up late discussing our triathlon goals for future seasons which was really exciting. As for this season, I have a run planned with Duce tomorrow and am looking forward to it.

Day 36 (Fri - 2/5)

Everyone is feeling much better today. I went into work feeling good, even though my stomach isn’t one hundred percent. I packed my running clothes not knowing what to expect, but I felt like I had at least a 1 mile run in me and I knew Flash would understand if I didn’t have the energy for our normal route.

Just before lunch I checked in with my wife and everyone at home was feeling good, I had caught up on some important work items, and was feeling very positive about the run, although still a little apprehensive about how much energy I was going to have. Flash and I had to start from a different place as I had forgotten my hat and gloves at my desk (again) which tacked on a little over a tenth of a mile to the route. I thought “well, if I am going to run out of energy quick, might as will kick up the intensity and get the most out of it” and we hit a pretty good pace.

We hit the first mile marker in under 8 minutes and attacked the first hill of the course. We kept the regained our rhythm within 50 yards and were back to relatively quick pace (relative for my previous runs on this course, for Flash I am sure it was a moderate at best pace). At mile 2 I decided to push out for a half mile and opened my stride a little while keeping the same rhythm. For a moment Flash gave me the illusion that I was pushing him. Just so he didn’t blow my doors off I let him know that I only intending to keep this pace to a marker about a half mile up the road. We hit the 3 mile marker in 24:00 exactly (8:00 miles over 3 miles!) and headed up the last of the hills on the route. I had a more in the tank than I normally do at this stage of the run and attacked the hills the best that I could. When we turned the corner for the home stretch I started thinking that we might make it in under 36:57 (my course record without the extra tenth), but even with a last push we missed by 23 seconds.

I was a little disappointed at that miss but realized that because we came so close to a course record and added a tenth that probably meant our pace would calculate to a personal best. As it turns out it did. We finished off 4.52 miles in 37:19 (8:15 miles). I am starting to believe that with training, my body my very well be capable of being in “running” shape. I know I am better built for sprinting and biking, but with the new information, partners, and coaching I think there is room in my calves for “running” to be become a “strength” (50th percentile or better which is between 7:30 and 8:30 miles depending on the race).

I am planning a rest day tomorrow so I can get out for a long and slow run on Sunday.

Day 35 (Thurs - 2/4)

Sometimes life gets in the way. I stayed up way too late doing work and my wife came down with a stomach bug late last night. When we woke this morning I wasn’t feeling very good either. We were not sure if it was something we ate or not, but she had it worse than I did. The kiddo seems to be getting away with not catching it and I have made it my mission that he does not. I stayed home from work to take care of my family and myself. I felt that by doing so I could help my wife recover faster, help myself recover faster, help keep the kiddo well and avoid infecting co-workers.

I was able to get some work done at home and after nap time everyone was feeling much better. Not so good that I had a workout in me, but good enough to consider not canceling the run I have scheduled for tomorrow with Flash. We will see how tomorrow morning goes. One day at a time.

Day 34 (Wed - 2/3)

Tonight I had the kiddo down for bed at a decent hour. This allowed my wife and I time to chat before she headed to bed early leaving me with plenty of time to get in the work out I had planned. However, the late night last night took its toll and I fell asleep on the couch while watching The National Parks: America's Best Idea on PBS. I don’t feel let down at all. As I relaxed I could feel my legs begin a recovery process they were robbed of last night. The extra day of rest may ultimately prove a good thing.

The 30 minute ride and 30 minutes of core will be there tomorrow night. I may even get a quick run it at lunch depending on how well the recovery takes.

Day 33 (Tues - 2/2)

Today was more or less a rest day. I spent the time catching up on my share of the housework and catching up with the family. We baked cookies and brought them over to my folk’s house after dinner. It was a pleasant evening and refreshing in many ways.

However, I am going to be up way too late performing some work that needs to be done tonight. Better get to it.

I am hoping to get in a 30 minute bike ride and 30 minutes of core tomorrow night.

Day 32 (Mon - 2/1)

Last night we had to bail at the last minute yesterday on plans to meet my parents for dinner due to the kiddo getting down for a late nap and cutting it short. It was a tough call, but the right thing to do for the kiddo. He is feeling much better for it today.

The legs are feeling remarkably good today considering yesterdays distance. I followed some of the recovery recommendations made in Thrive and they seem to be paying off. I found some coconut water at a local market over the weekend and have been trying that in place of other sports drinks. Apparently coconut water has more electrolytes and doesn’t come with all the artificial preservatives and sugars. The taste of the coconut water isn’t as good as the sports drinks, but the brand I bought is tolerable as it is blended with other fruit juices.

I took a recovery ride tonight for 30 minutes that kept me in the 18 mph gearing. (Not bad considering Sunday’s run.) I spent an extra 5 minutes sprinting in the 20 mph gearing but that was just for fun.

Also, I have a new month’s resolution. Be at meetings within 5 minutes of their scheduled start time. I have been doing much worse than that and I need to get better at this in order to feel good about work and ultimately be able to get home to my family earlier.