Open Water = Terrifying

Well, first I didn't get into the NYC Marathon, I'm a bit disappointed, but it's probably best, not sure I would have been ready for a marathon in November. Just sitting at home relaxing a bit, had the best weekend! Started off with a happy hour with Matthew and Omar. We went to this place by school, I think we ran out at about 3:16, I mean some days are just like that and with the sun out, how could we resist! We walked through the doors of this Heuriger and it was like walking into a whole new world, we were sitting in a beautiful garden looking out into the vineyards and I wasn't really drinking = white wine spritzer... kind of afternoon. We were having such a great time, but realized we needed food and for some reason fried meat and potatoes just wasn't going to work. We ended up grabbing a taxi and having a delicious tapas dinner at Bodego Marques, the food never tasted so good! I'm sure the sun and wine helped. It was great because I was home and in bed before 10:00, that's my kind of night!

I was up and out the door by 5:55 for a super hilly 4 hour ride, I was trying to figure out how I could ride up to Kahlenberg and over to work and avoid tram tracks. I did manage to figure out a way and got in some great hills along the way, but was TIRED on the hills! I need to work on that as much as I can before the races that are coming up. I smashed my ribs into my bike pump while trying to pump up my tires, I would explain how, but I just don't exactly know, but anyways, it hurts to breathe deep, but I don't have to breathe entirely shallow, but it is definitely painful. The riding was ok, but the hour run after was pretty painful. I finished up around 11:00ish and lounged around the house for a bit and then went out to the Prater to lay out in the sun. I was surprised to find that at 1:00 in the afternoon at the Prater, where there are small children and families relaxing and playing in the sun, there are also prostitutes. Have never seen them in Vienna in 3 years and certainly was not expecting to see it in the middle of the day in a child friendly area! I was SHOCKED. Well, I was able to move past it and find a grassy area and lay down, read my book and actually fall asleep. It was perfect! Sunday I woke up with my ribs still a bit sore, the night before I debated going into AKHA, but I HATE that place and will avoid it at all costs, so I just decided to self diagnose and take the same drugs that I took when I cracked my ribs a few years ago playing soccer. It helped. I met Steph and Mel at Edison's, this great new place by my house for brunch and then we set out to find where I had been before to do an open water swim. We found it really easily and I eventually got my wetsuit on and did a quick swim. It was terrifying. There is not ONE thing I like about open water swimming, literally everything about it terrifies me. But, this place was really easy to get to and not too many boats, and the boats that were there were paddle boats and/or slow moving. There is a little pedestrian bridge that I think keeps some of the bigger boats and the sail boats away, so that is nice, but it's still scary to be out there with boats. I was hit by the boat last year and it just scares me now. And, I was coughing like crazy and it hurt to breathe, so I just went a short distance. In my mind though, it was really helpful, I just need to get out there a bunch more before the race, which is three weeks from today. Scary. Tomorrow is a cooking class, I was looking forward to it, and I guess I still am, but the planning/organizing of it became difficult and annoying. Matthew and Omar must be annoyed too, they did the menu planning and recipes and all that. Ugh. But, it will be fun. I'm sure of it! We have Tuesday off and I leave for Sofia, Bulgaria early Friday night, so it is going to be a very busy week! I think the next month or so is going to fly by. I can't wait for my mom to get here May 15!

Just another day...

Well, it's about 9:15 at night and I am STRUGGLING to stay awake. Things are going okay, training is exhausting. I am averaging between 15 - 20 hours a week and really, really, really need to get out in the open water! I did a long ride the other day and managed 90km in less than 3.5 hours, so I'm pretty happy with that, can pretty comfortably finish the whole swim distance and the runs are only up to around two hours, which is fine. But, I am definitely tired at the end of the night! I bought this groupon coupon for five meals for a family of four to be delivered. I was cracking up when I saw the amount of food they brought on Monday night! I have NO idea how I will eat it all, but so far what I have had is good. The recipes are pretty easy, or at least my rough translation of them are easy enough. I had a few friends over for dinner last night and tried to make the fish and it didn't quite look right, but tasted ok. I think it was mostly an operator error, not the food or the recipe... I needed a different type of pan. At least that is what I am telling myself. It is pretty fun to have all the different foods to try, it's not necessarily Paleo friendly, so I am having to make some adjustments. And, with my increase in training some of the foods that used to be pretty limited are now allowed. I went and visited a friend and previewed the Zurich Ironman bike course last weekend. First of all, the visit with my friend was GREAT! It was someone I haven't seen since my first year in Dubai, so it's just been forever. I loved spending time with her, we had a great drive on the bike course and also went out for a few drinks, one at this great panorama view place and then this really cute wine/cheese place. I loved Zurich. We also went with her family on some hikes/walks around the lake right in Zurich and then on Sunday this lake that was a bit farther away, but it was beautiful! They lived in this really great place with a big yard, such a change from Dubai, and then right at the bottom of this amazing area to trail run. Which I did one morning and managed to get myself quite lost, but did eventually make it back to their house. Her kids were so great, all about the same ages as my niece and nephews. Kids are SO much fun to be around! So, the course seems like it will be ok. I need to get out and do some hills. Nothing will compare to the Nice course, but... it definitely has some long hills and climbs that I would probably be more worried about had I not done Nice. I do need to get out on my bike and hit the hills... and also start with some open water training, like I said. Ugh. The weather was gorgeous today, and yesterday I ran home from work and was able to figure out a way to ride my bike to work and avoid having to ride along the tram tracks, I have such a fear of falling into the tracks and just crashing. So, that means I can ride to/from work and get up a bit later and get ready at work. And/or have my bike at work and ready to go for my long rides right at 3:15. This weekend I am home and am planning on trying out the route to work as part of my 4:45 ride (then a 45 minute run...) and also getting out in the open water Saturday and Sunday. I already did two swims this week, but need to take advantage of the weather and am hoping to convince some friends to come hang out on the shore and get a tan while I swim and then join them. We'll see what happens. We are also doing a cooking class on Monday next week, seemed like a great idea when we thought of it, but somehow planning it is stressing me out. But, right now everything seems to be stressing me out. I'm really looking forward to the weekend! I am definitely at that training point that is my near exhaustion all the time while I adjust to this increase in training hours. I know I will get used to it, but for now, it's off to bed at 9:30, so I can get up and ride at 5:15, work all day, then run home... it really is a never ending cycle that I both love and hate. I am feeling good about the biking and running, but still terrified of the swim. And, I have a race in less than a month. Hm, night time for me. Oh, and I thought I was going to find out about the NYC marathon tonight, but apparently they do the drawing today, or well, did the drawing, but we can't log in and find out till tomorrow at 10:00am EST. So, I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow... then start begging for the time off work.

Life in the fast lane...

Life is good. Really. It is. Doesn't always seem that way, but some days I can't believe how great things can be. Spring is here, apparently that means a bit of snow (on April Fool's Day), some sunny beautiful days, some pouring rain, a bit of everything I suppose.

Training is going ok, I was just in Turkey for a week, which I'll get too, but I got back on Friday and then attempted to do an indoor Olympic Distance Triathlon. It was pretty much a disaster, all of my own doing. The swim went fine, was actually quite easy (should be in a pool, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of the open water swims coming up), bike was HARD. I don't really know what I was thinking, I know that you have to drink water and/or sports drinks, and just because I didn't bring a water bottle with me to the gym, and I am on this "only buy bottled water in places that the water is not safe to drink" kick, and I didn't want to get off the bike to get a drink every 20 minutes or so, I tried to ride 40km really hard with only one gel and a few huge gulps of water halfway through. Needless to say, it was awful. The whole ride, I don't know what I was thinking, and then to try to run after?! What a mess. Just goes to show how important following a nutrition plan is. Besides that setback, training is continuing to go well, but it really is all consuming. While in Turkey I could only run, there was no place to swim and no bike at the gym. I decided to do some really hard interval training and weights, which was also a terrible idea, it just left me feeling too tired to do a proper Olympic Distance Practice Race. Ugh. This week is back to normal... oh wait, no it's not because I'll be gone again this weekend. I am flying out to Zurich to visit a friend and preview the race course. I am totally excited, but it's hard to fit in all the long workouts during the work week. We'll see how it goes!

Ok, so Vienna has been pretty busy so far. Steph and I have been going to a new church, which I like, but it is in the middle of the day on Sunday, which is a bit annoying, and I guess there is a new pastor that started today, but I wasn't there. Sounds like he is a bit more modern, we'll see. Easter markets were fun, the weather was great for a few days, so we went and picnicked in the park, which was super fun and relaxing, went to a bike thing at the Rathaus, Luis, our favorite bartender is back from Mexico, Tin Tan is a favorite once again! Had a few more Wein and Co. afternoons, Dr. Falafel every weekend, just the same old things I guess, but all is good.

I just got back from a great trip to Turkey with Jess. We met in Istanbul, spent most of the days just relaxing, walking around, shopping, eating and catching up. It was awesome! I love the food, people, everything about Istanbul. We then flew to Bodrum, which was SO relaxing. The hotel was beautiful and had a wellness center that we took full advantage of, we spent our days lounging in the sun and doing a whole lot of nothing. We did manage to drag ourselves out to the city one night and saw the castle, had an awesome Turkish dinner and wine, found a starbucks and some shisha at the ice cream place. A perfect way to end our trip.

This weekend was great too, like I said, the Olympic Distance Race was a two thumbs down event, but, it was followed by Dr. Falafel with Mel and Anika, then Wein and Co. and Levante with Matthew, so what's not to love about that day! Today was great too. I started off with a good long talk with my mom, I LOVE Vonage, and then I spent the whole day watching the Vienna half and full Marathon runners. Mel and I met just before 10:00 and watched Halle and Paula take 1st for men and 1st for women in the half marathon, I just can't believe how fast their legs move! Then we continued to stand and watch for another hour or so, we were right at the finish line, it was just amazing to watch so many people cross that line! We saw the first marathon finishers too, the Vienna City Marathon Record was broken, so exciting! Then Mel and I grabbed a quick lunch and I headed back to watch Anika cross the line, she did the relay. It was a bit weird not to be running. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't do it, who knows. Maybe next year. I talked with Anika for a while, then met up with Steph and Eddie and we all went to Motto, this great boat/cafe place and celebrated with some Prosecco and snacks. All in all, life is GOOD!

I have a busy month or so of travels coming up, my mom will be here soon, and I have a race May 20, sure hope I'm ready! Now it's off to bed, only 9:22 and I'm exhausted.