Monsters, Mainsets, Music

And no, NOT House Monsters.

Life is riveting, I tell you. I blame it on the general fatigue that's been ever increasing day-by-day. Last week, I gave myself until Thursday the 16th before I started feeling it, and then the weekend before it hit me full on. At this point, I'm nearly used to the constant-needing-of-a-nap. I keep reminding myself, though, that there are no easy days in Ironman training. Only days with less work...and the only reason there is less work is because the previous day(s) were hard.

Circle of life, my friends.

Errrr, wrong analogy. But something like that.

Because this is about survival, enduring, pushing past the hardship and beyond what you though possible, into the impossible. I guarantee you that the herds of wildebeests sweeping majestically across the plains are thinking something along those lines (ie: survival). Sure, they're being chased by a lion or some sort of hungry animal - but they're still fighting for survival.
Tabbitha has clearly lost that flight or fight ideal. She's got the right idea, though.

Some days I feel like the wildebeest, and others I feel like the lion. On the one hand, I'm chased by the Ironman Fear Monster; Coeur d'Alene is less than 65 days away (or something like that. I prefer NOT to know, thank you very much). On the other hand, this is my choice! I signed up, I want to do it...its something that I'm working my literal and figurative butt off for. I'm hungry for it, in every sense of the word. So I embrace the challenge, the hurt, the fatigue, the self-discovery...the rewards. And press on, knowing that in the end I'll do the best that I can.

Luckily, at the end of the race, the participants don't get eaten. Yeah - that's another good thing.

Other happening bits of my life? During Monday's Masters swim, I lead 2850 of the 3000 meter main set. But with 150 to go, I felt a tapping on my toes. My wheels had come off - I was spent. 9 X 300 had me toasted, and my arms decided to stop. I paused at the wall to allow two guys to pass, and then as best as I could, jumped on the back of their train. Staying on feet (and we all know how much I hate feet) became my mission, and I fought as hard as I could to remain in the bubbles of a friendly draft.

It wasn't pretty, but I did it. Its Wednesday now and I'm swimming in a little over 3 hours. And my arms still hate me.

In happier news, I organized my gear closet, put away all the triathlon-related crap, errr, stuff that was cluttering our house (read: living room, dining room, front entry, kitchen), and finally found the song on i tunes that was repeating itself over and over and over again in my head during yesterday's 3-hour ride. I'm ashamed to admit that "Hot Little Pony" by Far was the culprit.

Don't judge me (too harshly) - I swear that I only heard it once on the radio...and then wham! It got stuck.

But that's life. We do what we can with what we've got available. And if raunchy songs get stuck in our heads, well, at least I can learn the lyrics and sing along. Because there's nothing worse than having a song stuck in your head than having a song stuck in your head that you don't know the words to. That's just annoying.

Circle of life, my friends. Let's push on, endure, and grow together. Hopefully a little better than my tomato plant though.