It's been a busy week. The training continues to be there, but this week it has been a lot about parties.

Tuesday 12/16 - It started with a TNT alumni social at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek. I'm mentioning the social because that's what I ended up attending. Actually Tuesday night are when we do a spin workout, also at Sports basement. In order for me to get to Tuesday night workouts I have to leave work a little early. Typically this is not an issue, but sometimes things come up and I can't leave. Tuesday was one of those nights. Still though I had plans on going. When I went to get my gym bag however, I realized I had also forgotten my shoes. Well you can see where this is going. I blew off the workout and went to the party instead. I rightfully caught some flack from the team for that. I didn't feel completely lame though, I had done a swim workout in the morning before I went to work.

Wednesday 12/17 - I ended up running errands and doing fundraising stuff. No workout, LAME. In the evening I went to our first Ironteam dinner at Pasta Pomodora in San Francisco.

Thursday 12/18 - 42 mile bike ride. Something is bugging me on the bike. I have some tightness on the inside of my thigh that I think is contributing to some knee pain. I had some work done on it and I've been good about home treatment, but it's being a persistent little bastard. I'll take it easy by skipping the cycling for a week to see if it gets better. Thursday night was the end of season party for the marathon team (Team Oz, with a cause). We have had a great group this season and it was good to see everyone.

Friday 12/19 - 5:30 AM in the pool as usual. I'm sure I've said this before, but getting out the door for these workouts is the hardiest thing. I do these swims on my own so no one is out there waiting for me to show and that makes it more difficult. I am really enjoying the swims in the morning however. Once i get over there and in the pool moving it feels great.
After the store closed on Friday, I had a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society at the store. We hosted the Boxcar Theatre group for a live performance of an Edward Albee play "The American Dream" in our showroom. It was a great success and we had 70+ guests for the performance.

Saturday 12/20 - The team was in San Francisco this morning for "Bonk" day. I'm still not entirely sure of the entire workout, but I know what "bonk" means (no, get your mind out of the gutter). Bonking is a term used to describe the feeling you get when your body runs out of fuel. I guess the coaches are trying to prove a point or something. Obviously you get very weak and often shake from the exertion and get nauseous. Not a lot of fun and I'm sorry I missed it, NOT. Since Saturdays are hard for me, working and all, my plan is to do these workouts the following Wednesday or Thursday, so stay tuned. Although with the holidays this week and still feeling a little injured, I'm not sure I'll get to it this week.
Saturday night I had another party. This time it was our company Christmas party. Nobody scanned their butts on the copier as far as I know.

Sunday 12/21 - No more parties, please. This morning a few of us did a simulated open water swim at the pool at Heather Farm. For a couple of hours in the morning, they removed all the lane line and drooped in a couple of buoys for us to swim around. We worked on continuous swimming and also a few drills where we swim in close trying to distract each other. Each leg of a triathlon has it's challenges and there are several challenges during the swim. Your in water surrounded by hundreds of other swimmers flailing about. The water is dark and often cold. There are no walls to hold onto every 25 meters and you can't stand on the bottom. You have to get comfortable with being bumped into, kicked and hit all while your trying to keep a rhythm going and, oh yeah, breath.

Okay, I think I've written enough. I have to get better at doing this in smaller doses but more often. I'll try to be better about pictures too.