Water Under The Bridge

I can't believe it's been an entire week since I last updated The Daily Grind. I suppose it's simply an indication of how crazy mid-summer life can be. Let's not mix words here, it's a nice "crazy" - one with long, sunny days, big workouts, bbq dinners, home improvement projects, house guests, Friday nights, le tour, iced coffee... You name it. Cause it's all here, and it's what summer's all about.

So we've resumed training full steam ahead and things are going very well again. The week off to recover from our bout of overtraining did wonders for the mind and body. Now, each workout is of the quality we'd expect for this time of year.

Continuing along with sport-related news, I've finally gotten new orthotics for my freak-show feet. They're super light (cork) and have been built up such that I can totally replace the stock insoles in all my running shoes. This is nice because my previous orthotics (manufactured circa 1995) were (a) heavy, (b) too thin to replace the stock inserts in my running shoes yet too thick to put on top of them, making choosing the right socks more of an art than an option, and finally (c) heavy. Oh, and they absorbed road shock about as well as a steel anvil. So far, the first few runs with the new uberthotics have gone pretty swell, though there are some hotspots and pressure points on my right foot. I'm scheduled to get them tuned-up by the good doctor in a couple weeks, so we'll see how they break-in between now and then.

This Sunday we'll be trying out the new orthotics at the Pine Bush sprint triathlon - a practice race for me and my feet. I'll be going into the race with the intent to open things up as wide-open as possible in each of the disciplines - particularly in the run. The ultra-short swim and the reasonably flat and fast bike will serve as the perfect precursor for a fast 5k. The run in the triathlon (or, the second run in a duathlon) is consistently the point in the race where my mind decides to slip into auto-pilot and just "get through" to the finish. I'm hoping by being more aggressive (mentally) during this portion of the race, I'll move up a step on that podium.

And speaking of fast, there is of course the matter of The Man. The Man who totally did His thing today in Stage 10. Deus ex Machina.

Keep'em turning.