All dressed up and nowhere to go

What's worse than waking up before the crack of dawn to go for a swim?  Waking up before the crack of dawn and finding out the pool is closed!  I had good intentions this morning to swim, but it turns out there was an "issue" with the Lakewood Y pool.  Rats.  Wasted a good extra 1+ hour of sleep.

Last week was a trip, both literally and figuratively.  I was in Bend, OR for a few days and went for a swim.  Even though it's not a tremendously high elevation, Bend is at altitude.  I have enough trouble swimming that I don't need to be sucking air because the oxygen molecules are farther apart.  But at least it is a great pool and I had a good swim, 3600 meters' worth.   Other than my legs feeling a bit like concrete, my run in Bend wasn't bad.  I ran along the Deschutes River Trail, and it is quite scenic.  It's nice to be in the middle of town doing this, and feeling like you are a million miles away from civilization.  I also had a rude awakening, as I was passed on my run.  I'm not the fleetest of foot (never was, but I've gotten slower), but I am not used to being caught from behind when I run.  So, whenever that happens, it suprises me.  And the guy was not one of the lean, runner types either.  He just was a pretty fit regular-looking guy that was moving faster than I was.  Time to play more golf.

4 weeks 'til Wildflower!

Uh-oh! 5 weeks 'til Wildflower

Um... Yikes.  Several months ago, I signed up for Wildflower, figuring that it would be a good way to motivate myself to get back into shape.  Now, I'm less than 5 weeks out (33 days as of today).  I think it's going to be ugly.  The weather has not been very cooperative here.  The rain has been a constant, and it has been cold.  Saturday, I was going to ride for 3 hours outside, but when I woke up, it was pouring, and 39 degrees.  Not wishing to relive the Great Hypothermia ride, I chose to spend 2.5 hours on the CT, riding the Wildflower course.  It's hard!  I have ridden the CT course several times before, but found an updated one, which looks like the course profile on the website, so I uploaded it on Friday. 

Right now, I know that the swim is doable, but won't be in record time, and the bike is doable, but also not in record time.  My concern at this point is the run after the bike.  I haven't felt much like running in the cold rain, so haven't been doing enough of it.  I'm planning to try and put some miles in while in Bend this week, and see if I can get a bit of confidence off of that.