Like a dolphin!

Last night I had an event for work, which included supper. The staff did "all right" accommodating for me. However, think of this scenario:
A room full of "the good ol' boys" club of agrologists (ie. fairly conservative farms who all have trucks and absolutely LOVE their Canadian beef) mingling with alcohol and talk of the disappearing family farm. The announcer then asks the TWO people who requested vegan or vegetarian meals to please raise their hands. I am not usually meek about my diet, but I did not want to raise my hand. I'm not sure if lynching is outlawed for herbivores! So I felt a little silly after that, having had everyone judge me based on my choice of diet. However, I went on as if nothing happened and I got my food first.

The staff then brought out this TINY bit of couscous with some tofu on top of it. I have to admit the tofu was very tasty (apparently much more tasty than the salmon that everyone else ate), but there just wasn't enough. I even loaded up on salad and veggies from the buffet. Plain and simply there was not enough protein to fuel my ever-increasing training. However, there was not much I could do about it. I got home after 9:30 from the boring-ass meeting and bedtime these days is 10:00 in order to easily facilitate the 6:00 wake-up time.

So I went to bed hungry and got up hungry. I didn't eat until after swimming, which is probably why I felt so sluggish in the pool. Actually, sluggish doesn't quite describe it. It was more like I felt completely unmotivated to keep up with my lane-mates. So I lagged behind and barely pushed hard enough to breathe hard at the end of a lap. I did slug out about 2900m, but I didn't even feel like I had worked out by the end of it. It could also be that my muscles just aren't where my lungs are, in terms of endurance.

Tomorrow is my first race of the season - a short indoor triathlon. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so I can't help but feel tempted to just skip it and do my own duathlon outside, but I helped to organize it so I can't really bail even if I wanted to. It should be fun anyway. It's always a nice reunion of the triathlon community. I am going to eat so much food tonight! Here I come with carbo-loading and lots of protein!

Days off just feel good.

Getting back into training is really hard on my body. I never really realized it before. I guess it's because I don't usually stop training once I start, but two colds in the last 3 months have really kicked my butt. So I'm really trying to get back into biking to work everyday, training on top of that, working hard at work, and having an active social life. I have come to realize that I may just burn out and that is exactly why it is important that I have days off like today.

Wednesdays are mixed for me. I am up at 5am (or 5:09 after I press snooze on my alarm clock) to do my radio show at 6. It's a lot of work and dedication, but I love it. It energizes me, at least for the morning. I have been driving to my show, which makes the whole thing more enjoyable because then I don't have to worry about clothing to wear while I'm biking, music that I want to play, and anything I need to take to the office. This way I load my car and away I go. It also saves me a lot of energy, which is what Wednesdays are all about for me right now. I get to catch up on my protein and iron.

Yesterday I felt extremely weak after biking home from work and this is what I've been experiencing for the past few days. I was craving greens and made a huge salad. I couldn't help but wonder if I'm getting enough iron these days or if my body is just in a period of adjustment to new schedules and immense, intense exercising. I'm going to give my body until the end of next week and if nothing happens, I'm going to go get my vitamin and mineral levels tested, go to the naturopath, and see if there's something else I can do.

Basically, I'm really happy for my day off today.