Great Training Day, and a Wallflower

Friday: Swim 1000y TT 20:45

Run 2m WU (7:31 pace), then

1m repeats

(6:44,6:22,7:31,6:12)

Saturday: Run Easy 2m with kids

Sunday: Sick (gave up after 3 unplanned stops in 1st mile of run)

Monday: Run 7m (59:59)

Stretch/core (30m)

Bike 21.8m (64 min)

Swim 1500y (500 wu, then

5x100

(1:42,1:36,1:34,1:32,1:33),

then 10x50 (all :41-46s)

Today was fun! I finally got to take my bike for her maiden voyage (why are things like bikes, and cars, always considered she's?) I learned how a bike is supposed to feel, finally. You see, my first tri bike came from ebay and naive me bought a 51cm bike because it was a good deal and it was a Cervelo and that was the only brand tri bike I ever had seen.

And funny thing is, I didn't even realize it was too small for me until probably 3 or 4 months after I bought it when I was complaining to my friend JM about how I couldn't stay aero for more than a minute or 2. That's when she informed me that for tri bikes size does matter... Light bulb moment! I see...

So today I took my properly fit bike for its maiden voyage and stayed aero the entire hour! I did realize that I need to lower the cockpit somehow; I didn't feel aero enough. Heh, maybe that's why I felt good for the whole hour. Hmmm. So I flipped the stem, and that lowered it by a couple of inches. I dropped the clip on aerobars (I am totally lusting after the HED aerobars with the third brake lever - I gotta get me one of those!) so that they are at a slightly negative slope. I've taken out all of the spacers. Any other suggestions???

I just finished reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I didn't realize it until I downloaded the photo that it is classified as "adolescent fiction." This is fitting, but I swear it was in the plain ole literature section not the teenager section at the local bookstore. Anyway, I guess in many ways I'm just an old adolescent anyhow...

The entire text is a series of letters (this kind of book has some special name which I'm probably supposed to remember from Ms Frucci's 10th grade English class, but - sorry Ms F - I have no clue what it is...) from a 10th grader named Charlie to a never-named recipient described only as someone who wouldn't sleep with a girl just because he could. Hmm.

Charlie is one messed up little dude. He's depressed and occasionally psychotic (in a seriously mental health need-a-psychiatrist kind of way). The story is about Charlie's first year of high school, a series of highs (some literally) and lows as he finds love in a group of friends, makes peace with his football hero brother and older sister, experiments with pot and LSD, and laments the loss of his Aunt Helen. There is an overwhelming sense that there is something more to Charlie that forces his social awkwardness, and that something finally is revealed in the last 10 pages (but ya have to read it to find it out!).

It's a fun read that forces you to reminisce about high school; and, if you're like me, when you read those last 10 pages you suddenly can identify wholeheartedly with the troubled Charlie. Grab a copy and see for yourself!

Thanks for joining me for My Daily Spin.