I don't know why we float but I like this buoyancy

Wow, three days late this time and two workouts short? Uh oh :) Finished with a much-needed recovery week, which realistically consisted of five days of training sandwiched by two weeks at the River.

The basics as always: 6.7 hours, 6700 yards in the pool, 3 hours on the bike, 10 miles of running. Long ride of 1:30, long run of under an hour. Pretty weak? Perhaps, but like I said, much-needed. After a lot of training and a lot of stress last week (see previous post), I needed both a mental and physical break. And it worked out perfectly.

My big annual report for work was done and out the door on Monday. After that, the stress of work faded away somewhat. I still had a presentation to prepare for a conference in Tucson (Arizona Hydrological Society), but after 7 years of putting together talks in front of groups I don't know, it really wasn't a big deal. So yeah, Tuesday of preparing for the presentation, Wednesday practicing at the office (free lunch!), and Thursday and Friday at the conference (read "more free lunch"). It is weird to go to professional conferences these days and I recognize a significant portion of the audience. I guess that is the point. Too bad I am TERRIBLE with names. My conversations usually start out with, "uh, didn't I meet you at that conference at that place last year?" Oh well :) Training during the week was nothing really notable. A few swims and some easy runs. Although...I was shocked when I convinced myself to go swimming after the conference on Thursday instead of hanging around for free food and drinks! Who does that?

Friday was a half-day at the conference, followed by a trip to "the River." Spent a lot of time hanging out at "the sandbar" recovering from the night before. Lots of great food, horseshoes, catching up with old friends, and making a few new ones. The girls are really starting to enjoy themselves in the sand and water, just like me when I was a kid I suppose. Too bad water for me now typically involves a pool with a black line to follow (although I admit, we're working our way out of our love-hate relationship). The River for kids can be summed up as follows:






















































Wake up, then repeat :)

I did manage a good brick workout on Sunday morning. 90 minutes on the mountain bike (only dirt roads and jeep trails out here) and 45 minutes running. Good stuff. The long weekend reminded me that life tends to get challenging, and you end up burnt out (whether it's work, school, training, etc.). It's great to step back, take a deep breath, get reminded of the important things. Mind and body are resilient if you listen to them. And more often than not, you're ready to charge back into your passions.

Returned to Tucson to see that my coach delivered my next five weeks of training. It is a good thing I feel refreshed, because I've got some work to do! Increasing from 9 workouts/week to 12, and everything is getting longer as well (up over 20 hours/week very soon). I'm ready to go. After my first 3-a-day in a long time (plus core/stretching) yesterday, I am excited to be re-focused and take on the tasks at hand.