Beat the storm

Man, oh, man there's a storm brewing outside. I left work just before 5PM and the storm clouds were already starting to move in. Within a few minutes, I heard the first few rumblings of thunder. I've never riden home so fast in my life! I wasn't worried too much about rain (what's a little water?), but I was concerned about thunderstorms. Thankfully, my speedy legs got me home in a record 23 minutes. Oh, and to the cute guy on the road bike who drafted off me the entire way along Dundas: how are you going to explain to your friends that you drafted off a girl, ya wussie! Even after he commented to me at a red light how it was such a nice easy ride behind me and I replied that he should take a turn up front (which he didn't). He did give me a "Safe ride" good-bye as he turned off several blocks later, but that hardly compensates for the fact that I was doing all the work. Men! Sheesh!

I've been home for 30 minutes and it still hasn't rained. I hope it does because maybe this humidity will break a bit. But I'm also going out to see a play in the park, so it would be a shame if it rained. It's under a tent, but if there's lightning I don't know if they'll go on. I guess I'll find out when I get there!

I had a good workout this morning. I rode into the gym and then did a 30-minute Gravity class. I think I need to go up a level for the upper body stuff next week. And the ride home was intense, so I'm logging that in my training log as a "hard" effort instead of "medium" effort, which is what I usually log my commuting bike rides as.

Speaking of my training log, I was looking at my stats from June of 2004 and comparing them to June of 2005. I have almost doubled my training volume in all three disciplines over the same month last year. Granted, I spent most of last June recovering from the marathon at the end of May, but I did run three half-marathons this spring, so that's gotta count for something! Anyway, I'm more happy that I have stuck to my workout plans than anything else. What a huge difference having a goal makes! This time last year I had no racing goals, so my training really floundered. I'm anxious to test myself in two of the same races I did three years ago to see if I've improved. I don't have all my weight data from that period (I think I wasn't recording it back then), but I suspect that I was at least 10 pounds heavier. Hopefully that will translate into better race performances this year.

I ate fairly well today. All this training is tough on the appetite because I am burning so many calories and need to keep myself fueled so that I don't bonk. I had my protein shake after my workout. Breakfast consisted of a large coffee with 1% milk and a bagel with peanut butter. I got a second coffee at break but didn't get any kind of snack. I had my fave falafel pita with carrot sticks for lunch. I almost made it through a 1.5L bottle of water (maybe 300mL left). I did cave and have a rice crispy square this afternoon. Oh, I almost forgot: I did have one shortbread cookie at break because on of the guys in my class had some left over from our pot luck lunch yesterday [Secret: they were nowhere near as good as mine. Not enough butter - he must have used shortening, too]. Now, I have a Curry Chicken and Rice dinner in the nuker. It's not low-cal, maybe 430 calories, but pretty healthy. I think I might have to pour myself a glass of wine, too! Yes... yes I will!

I found out a bit more about my weekend Mystery Road Trip: camping is involved, so I have to make a trip to MEC at lunch tomorrow to get some gear. I'm going to be camping three times this summer, so I guess I should have my own stuff instead of borrowing. I'll probably just buy a sleeping bag and a matress pad. Oh, and a flashlight, too. I think there are about 12 of us going on the trip, so it will be loads of fun. And we're supposed to bring all our swiming, biking and running gear, so lots of physical activity. Fun times!

Work was OK today - I actually like teaching this class, so the day went by quickly.