Christmas In July

Maybe it's the general delirium I'm in from getting very little sleep due to worrying about a sick cat, who, by the way, seems to be doing a little better from the chemo, but I'm doing a Christmas in July post before July is over and August is here. Maybe it's because I've been praying that Phantom would still be here and healed of cancer by Christmas so Christmas has been on my mind. Maybe I just want presents and to sit on Santa's lap again. Who knows. When I get my sanity back I will let you know.

I'm posting one of my favorites in the Rudolph the Red nose reindeer movie. I've even been listening to an occasional Christmas song on my Iphone when I'm running. Mainly because I don't have any playlists set up on my phone and don't know how to set them up or even if that is possible so I'm at the mercy of whichever song randomly comes up. Not even in any order necessarily.

This may be due to lack of sleep as well.

I apologize for my disappearance act on the blog and then reappearing suddenly with a lame youtube of my favorite Rudolph song. I hope you like it as much as I do. You'll probably remember it anyway.

Here's another favorite and one I can relate to! Yes, it's kind of lame too!

I'll try to do better next time. When I get caught up on sleep.

How Far Behind I Am - A Comparison

Image from iamtri.com

Last week was the 2nd week of my Ironman 70.3 training plan. I didn't exactly do a great job following it. To see just how far behind I am in training, I decided to do a comparison of what was on the plan to what I actually did that day.

Below is the comparison of the actual training plan and what I actually did...

                          The 70.3 Plan                                        What I actually did that day

Monday           1000 yd swim                                          8 miles on spin bike = 30 minutes
                         20 mile bike                                             Treadmill brick run .5 miles = 5 min.

Tuesday           1250 yd swim                                          Nothing
                          45 min run

Wednesday       25 mile bike                                             2 mile run aprox 20 minutes
                                                                                       

Thursday          1000 yd swim                                          6 miles on spin bike aprox 20 min                            
                           35 min run                                               4 mile = 40 min run

Friday                                                                              .5 mile run on treadmill = 5 min

Saturday           55 min run                                               Run 1 hr

Sunday             30 mile bike                                             Bike on spin bike 1 hour = aprox. 17 miles

I did core and weights on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday which is not included on the plan.

Total workout hours on plan = Swim aprox  1 hr 15 min to 1hr 30 min
                                                   Bike aprox    4 /12 to 5 hrs
                                                   Run  aprox   2hrs 10 min

                                                     Total aprox 7:30 to  8 hrs

Total I actually did last week = Swim aprox   0 hrs
                                                   Bike aprox    1 hr 50 min (all on spin bike)
                                                   Run aprox     2hr 10 min
                 
                                                     Total aprox 4 hrs

With weights, core workouts and elliptical added in I did aprox 7 1/2 hours last week so I got the number of training hours in, but not in the areas I was suppose to be working on. (which is very important when you are in the middle of a half ironman.)

It's clear I've got a lot of work to do especially swimming and biking. Not surprising that I have the run hours down plus some (since I ran 13 miles a couple of weeks ago already), but 0 swim hours.

That's so me!

Actually I don't feel so bad now that I've done the above comparison because I'm not as behind as I thought I was. The training plan doesn't include weights, which I do four times a week and core too. The plan also doesn't include brick (bike then run) workouts which I do every Thursday and sometimes after I do a long bike on Saturday or Sunday as well.

The 70.3 Ironman isn't until the end of October so I still have plenty of time. It was tough for me to focus last week because I was so worried about my cat, Phantom. He is doing great this week and seems to be handling the chemo drugs well. I've actually gotten some sleep the past three days. And when I sleep, everybody around here sleeps, husband and cats. (well maybe not the cats at 5 am).

Image from quotesvalley.com

Sleep helps me train better too. Maybe I should add it to the training plan!

Image from zazzle.com

Sunday By The Numbers

Sleep deprivation, unhealthy eating, very little exercise, another long road trip - That was what my Sunday was like. On a positive note we did have to come back for a second showing on the house. This couple seems really interested. We have another showing tomorrow with different people so that makes three total showings on Sunday and Monday.

Also, we are taking Phantom, the cat to an animal Oncologist Tuesday to see if there is anything else we can do for him. Fingers crossed! I went by the vet and picked up his x-rays and they've already faxed everything else over. This was not how I saw my summer going, but you have to be flexible and adapt to whatever life brings you. Poor Phantom has been great during the process and I know he doesn't like going to the vet or long car rides.

Someday soon I'm going to need a vacation from this vacation.

Here's my Sunday by the numbers:

10 Minute miles. About the pace of my run today. Okay, I lie! It was really more like an 11 minute mile pace (my legs felt like wet noodles), but since this numbers post starts with 10, I'll just say 10 minute miles.

9 The number of times I've tried to call and/or text the Boy with no response. Could he possibly be IGNORING me??

8 Minutes. The amount of time it took for Phantom to stop watching me from his car carrier so I could eat my sausage and egg biscuit without torturing him this morning on the way to Birmingham.

7 The number of times I got up to check on Phantom during the night.

6 O'clock. About the time Cadence decided to loudly throw up and wake us up. Like I was sleeping! Ha!

5 Hours. About the total amount of sleep we got Saturday night if that much.

4 Hours. The amount of time in the car driving back to Birmingham.

3 Miles. The length of my "long" run today squeezed in between house showings and vet visit to get Phantom's records.

2 House showings. Both with small, very wild children who went after the cat.

1 Bottle of wine. Yes! Bring it on!

0 The number of long runs or bike rides the entire weekend. My training plan is SCREWED!!