Inspired. Not.

It has occurred to me that I might be the most boring person alive right now.

I want to write something riveting, but I am rivet-less. Forgive me, and I will forgive you for skimming my lackluster blog posts of late!

The most exciting thing that happened this week is watching the race in Kona unfold. I almost wet my freaking pants when Raeleart caught up with Macca. Holy SHIT that was a great race. I must say, I wanted Macca to win. I am a sucker for his cocky  bad-boyishness. Plus, he executed such a great race, how could I not want him to win? That said, I think Raeleart did everything he could to get Macca, and I respect him for it. He had no choice but to turn on the jets and run him down, but he just didn't have enough left in the can once he did so. (Boy, he has a nice chest though, huh? Ummm, so sexy compared to Macca with his shirt stuffed with ice....) Of course, Crowie will always be a first true love. The guy has class. And he can close. He just couldn't close the deal this time--even with a 2:41 marathon. 

On the women's side I will say that I was just as shocked as everyone else when Chrissy pulled out. We have heard nothing of her since then, really. Did she turn out to get really really sick? I want to know! With her out, the women's race became a race--or at least I thought it would be a race. Turns out Carfrae just crushed it, and it wasn't a race at all. I still can't believe she ran 2:53, and I LOVE that she was going for sub 2:50. She rocks. I was also inspired by Dibens. She is like the Crowie equivalent in my opinion-classy, determined, and a rock star. I was coached by Cait Snow at one point, and so I always watch her carefully too. I never think Cait will be able to pull it out off the bike because she is so far back. but then she DOES, every time. She ran from 31st to 8th on Sunday. That is just freaking incredible. JUST INCREDIBLE! She has run that fast before, of course. Certainly her run in 2008 at Lake Placid  was equally impressive (and a course record). She is still so young, too. She will be a serious WC contender soon, I think.

The second most exciting thing that happened to me this week is that I ripped out the ten tons of weeds and scraggle from my garden, and prepared the soil to receive the bulbs I ordered from Van Engelen. I like this flower farm b/c you can get bulbs in bulk, and so they are less expensive than purchasing them at your local garden shop. They also have awesome variety, and their bulbs are healthy and fresh.

I have a narcissus bulb fly problem that I can never quite get rid of. These little pests LOOK just like honeybees, but they are flies. The female lays her eggs at the base of the daffodil leaves, and then the eggs hatch and bore down into the bulb and make it mushy. They turn into maggots, and then usually one maggot wins out and inhabits the bulb. Then said maggot pupates and emerges in the early summer as a duplicitous faux honeybee, and the process starts all over again. So this week I have been digging up my bulbs from summers past, checking them for health, and then chucking or replanting as needed.

Here is a really gross picture of the mush they make.
Does that make you want to hurl, or what? That used to be a beautiful fresh daffodil bulb! Little fuckers.

So are you thoroughly bored yet?

I have also been, drumrolllllllll, reading.
I have read a lot of cheesy fiction (like some Madeline Wickham, aka Sophie Kinsella) and some more serious, literary fiction (People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks). Both good reads--but I am admittedly somewhat of a book slut and I like most everything.

I have also been reading triathlon books. This week's reads included Phil Maffetone's book Endurance Training and Racing and also Brad Kearns' Breakthrough Triathlon Training. 

Both books warrent full book reviews, but I have yet to get to that. I will, though.

For those of you who just want a thumbs up or down? I say thumbs down to Maffetone and thumbs up to Kearn. There is some worthiness in Maffetone, and some annoying b.s. in Kearn, but in general, that is where the thumbs go for these two, in m.h.o.

Maffetone was the coach of Mark Allen, so yah, it takes balls to pan his book and philosophy, but this is my blog, so I can do what I want, right? My basic beef is that he is of the slow and long camp. I have never been a fan of that camp, whether it works or not. Anyway, Maffetone never acknowledges that it is not only "anaerobic" work (by which I think he means aerobic work that is done at a high intensity--since we all know that true anaerobic work can only last about 20 seconds at a time...) that can be a player in injury or over-training. Long long hours logged are equally dangerous--some would argue MORE dangerous. He also has a way of calculating max heart rate that is mystifying; not based on the individual but on a generic formula. Ummmm.... how could someone so respected suggest such a thing? It is common knowledge that we each have a unique max heart rate and using a formula rather than a max heart test to determine zones can result in the use of numbers that are wildly out of whack. I imagine that he doesn't worry about the unique aspect of max heart rate because he is suggesting athletes run/bike/swim in such a low zone that is simply doesn't matter: low is LOW.

Kearns' book was more appealing to me if for no other reason that it didn't smack of quackery (as aspects of Maffetone did). Kearns believes in a holistic approach to training--which I don't believe is especially novel--but I do think he had something to say nevertheless. He really gets at the idea that success is not possible if we don't reassess and temper our Type A, obsessive ways. This definitely struck a chord with me. The book is addressed to the typical triathlete--driven, obsessive, compulsive, competitive, perfectionist. He encourages us to rediscover the joy in our training and racing, and suggests that if we don't, we will never realize our potential as triathletes.

So, perhaps, there is my very first goal for 2011. I aim to cherish my training and racing--and not measure my success based solely on numbers and placings. This is easier said than done, of course--which is the rub.

More next time in the ever so exciting adventures of Mary is BORING! :)