This Year Sucks (Mike)

Assuming you read the title to this post, you're aware it's not going to be full of a lot of ra-ra aint training grand and all my goals are in sight kind of talk.  It's not and all my year-long goals are now well out of reach.  Ah, but you knew that.  So, maybe, you're here to read about my misfortunes and revel in my demise.  For shame.

This year has been one of the most challenging of my thirty-three (yeah, I'm old - what of it?).  Working part of every week out of town has made me mix up and maintain a flexible training schedule....flexibility, something I lack physically and don't enjoy in my training.  I'm very routine.  I know...how boring.  But, I like to compare training data and find a good routine gives me more comparable results to test.  Yes, I get too involved in my numbers for a fat kid that sucks.  Now comes the cerise sur le gateau - I got the gout!  Yeah, gout.  For those who don't know what gout is:  it's a kind of arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation.  It's a very painful condition that doctors equivalate on the pain scale to child birth.  Not fun.  I was down all last week and spent Thursday - Sunday on the couch essentially immobile.  I'm on medication now and improving, but likely out of action for several more weeks.  And it's the worst time of year to be down...July...Tour de France time.  So I sit and watch each stage of the Tour in agony wishing I could be out on my bike getting in some good exercise.  It makes me mad.  Side story:  when I was in my early teens playing baseball my mother was being an absolute annoyance one day at the ball field and I finally asked "what's your deal?"  Her response:  "you play better when you're mad."  Thanks mom...I think I hit two homeruns that day.  Well, I'm mad.  So when I come back from this bout of misfortune, expect a strong effort.  Like I said last week, I'm ready to come out of this thing like Lance Armstrong with one testicle...but with two.  I devised the training schedule posted below.  Most certainly, I will not keep to it as I always overshoot, but let's see how it goes.  I struggle to perform any cardio functions in the mornings, but hope I can mix in some short runs to get active and get my days going.  A good month for me is usally 20 miles running and 100 miles on the bike and now I'm trying to get all that running and 60% of the cycling done each week, plus a couple swim sessions!  Too ambitious.  Not realistic.  I at least need a rest day built in here somewhere....most likely I'll combine Saturday and Sunday and alternate with either a Long Ride or 10k Run and take either Saturday or Sunday off each week.  But, as I sit on the couch and dream of healthier days...any fraction of this schedule would be better than where I sit now.

To the healthy I say, get out and enjoy your good health.  It is a blessing and fortune.