Watcha gonna do?

So today's big news is that the state universities in Arizona altered (reduced) their tuition surcharge requests and they were all adopted by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) with the exception of ASU. Not Good.

ASU had been requesting $1,200 per student and then last night reduced that amount to $600 for in state and $800 for out of state students. Today ABOR approved $510. At a school with over 60,000 students this means millions and millions of dollars in shortfall. This means more layoffs and/or furloughs. I was hoping to head into my big race weekend on a more positive note.

The good news is that my back is slowly getting better and I'm planning on racing this weekend. I'm also hoping to be able to enjoy some time away from work in the next couple of days when I'm sure people will be very distressed over this latest news. I think we are all ready for some closure one way or another. Like so many things it's the waiting that's killer.

Back in the pool

I got out for a light swim during lunch today. The outdoor pool at work opened this week and it was a brisk 68 degrees in the water. Thank god it was warm out today or I never would have made it. The good news was that I could swim - the bad news was that it hurt. I swam an easy 600 and then did some stretching. If the race were today I don't think I could do it, but the race is Saturday so I still have some time.

68 degree water is no joke. Especially without a wetsuit. No word on water temp in Vegas, but it's going to feel toasty after today's swim.

Enough w/ the doom and gloom

I'm getting psyched for this weekend.

This weekend I get to race - a real race, the kind where I get to swim fast, bike fast, and run fast. Oh, and it's on trails, someplace warm, that's a short drive, and I get a sweet vacation out of it.

I took Monday and Tuesday totally off to get my back to calm down. It's working and I have a lot more range of motion, but still not enough to race. I'm going to try and swim today and see if I can loosen it up some more and see where I'm at. My mental game is coming along nicely and I know I'll be ready to race come Saturday morning.

Today my off-season tri coach made an unexpected stop by my office and got me really fired up to bring it this weekend. This economy needs to turn around cause I could be sooo much faster if I worked out with Dameon. If Thursday's meeting goes well and I keep my job I've got a new bike lined up as well. I'm not going to jinx it, but it's going to be sweet.

Year two of racing XTERRA starts Saturday. Hell yea!!

Not Good

Yesterday was my last big workout before XTERRA West this coming weekend. I headed out to the McDowell Mtn. race park where they have a collection of awesome high speed loops for riding. A was going to hike with the dog while I practiced riding/running. When we arrived the paramedics were there along with the sheriff and life flight chopper. Word at the park was a rider was badly injured on one of the loops and having to be carried out and then flown out for treatment. It wasn't good. My thoughts go out to the rider and his family.

I hit the sport loop x 2 for a warmup and easy 6 miles. I got the feel of my recently tuned bike on the first 3 and tried to hammer the last 3 at race pace. I threw the bike in the car and hit the trail on foot for a fast 3 mile transition run. The sun was relentless and I could feel myself heating up much faster than I would have liked, but I held a great pace for the run.

I got the bike back out and hit the more technical section of trail with lots of good climbing. 4 miles of riding here at race pace and then 2 miles running, again at race pace. The mileage was pretty light today but I made up for it with the effort. Got home in time for some lunch and a dip in the pool.

This is where the trouble starts. After lunch I began working on our gutters which involved lots of overhead lifting, twisting, and balancing on a ladder. Post brick workout this was extra tough. I got everything installed just fine but when I went to hang the ladder back in the garage it got away from me and I tweaked my back. It didn't seem to bad at the time, but then came this morning...

My back is jacked up. It feels like two steel rods run on either side of my spine. I've had this happen before and recovery is slow. I hit the gym this morning to warm it up and do some yoga. I'm trying to stretch it out every hour here at the office, but it is still tight and sitting all day isn't going to help.

Goals for the week:

1. keep my job
2. get healthy for XTERRA Vegas
3. finish grad school application
4. be in a good mood for our long weekend vacation in Vegas
   

Saturday - 2800m swim
Sunday - 6 mile ride/3 mile run, 4 mile ride/2 mile run

WTF?

OK, this week is quickly getting crazy and it hasn't even started yet. A couple of updates:

• XTERRA Snow Valley is canceled? WTF? First they moved the date, OK I'm cool with that, but now they cancel the whole thing. At the same time your top 4 races count this year. How is anyone supposed to hit 4 races without flying all over the country?
• I find out Thursday afternoon if I still have a job. Months of waiting, ups/downs, and now it all comes down to this Thursday. Conveniently right before XTERRA Vegas. Here's hoping for some good news going into the weekend.
• With my employment status lurking and race schedule in jeopardy, this week has me distracted to say the least. I'm considering some big changes.

At this point I'm thinking of scrapping XTERRA and just doing some different and unique races for fun. Mega Colossus? 1/2 IM? Anyone know of other cool races to take my mind off everything here this week?

Friday - 20 mile road ride home

Wordle Cloud

Wordle is a cool utility I found working on a project for work. I used it to produce a word cloud of my blog. Awesome.

Wednesday: 40 miles road bike, 2 mile run
Thursday: Rest

Rolling

Monday - 2,800 in the pool (200, 400 pull, 400 pull w/paddles, 400 w/paddles, 400, 400 pull, 400 pull w/paddles, 200). A weekend of rest really paid off. I felt great in the pool. After work I ran a solid 4 miles with A. I was really feeling good on the run. It is so cool to feel fast and confident running - that's never been the case.

Tuesday - Worked out at the gym. 15 minutes of an intense pace on the stair machine, really pushed it lifting and doing core this morning. After work I went for an easy 1.5 mile run with the dog. It was a hot one today, 102! Some recovery lounging in the pool and time with the stick.

Wednesday - Part I is done: 20 mile road ride into work this morning. Riding the 20 home and then a transition run.

9 days until Vegas. 9 days.