Post-Ironman Week

A week of rest; a week of wine; a week of productivity; and, without a doubt, a week of fun! It's been almost a week since we raced IM Arizona, and I feel I've accomplished quite a bit.

After returning from Tempe on Tuesday, Amanda and I jumped right back into the chores and duties that were waiting for us. While Amanda spent her time preparing for a real estate closing, and juggling various doctor appointments and tests, I threw myself into a few chores around the house, filing our 2007 taxes, and consuming a bit of red wine with friends.

Tuesday evening and (yes, I was late) Wednesday afternoon were spent in front of the computer, as I toiled away with Turbo Tax and a calculator. This is the first time I've ever missed the official deadline, but the consolation was that I got them done within a 24-hour grace period. Next year's goal is to submit them in March!

Wednesday evening was Amanda's book club. As there are no men allowed, I joined Simon, Karla and Amélie for a nice dinner at their house. As always it was good to catch up with Simon, to down some good red wine, and to spend a bit of time around a couple of really sweet and energetic little girls (not so little anymore though!).

Thursday was another indoor day. I actually did not leave the house until 6:00pm, when I took the dogs for a short walk around the neighborhood. That was the only time I managed to get out of my pajamas that day. Before I sound like too much of a slacker, I should say that I did manage to take care of several indoor chores, mostly related to cleaning up, tending to some athletes I coach, responding to emails, and updating the blog. Very relaxing it was.

Friday morning was the first day back on the job. Sort of. Amanda and I arose very early to join Dave Scott for his strength and conditioning class. It starts at 7:00am, so I was duely impressed that we made it. The class is really great. We used to do this two to three times per week a few years ago. The group is different now, and the challenges slightly modified, but it's still a great way to tune up the body. As our first bout of exercise since Arizona, we took it pretty easy, mostly just enjoying the movement of the body. After that we knocked out an easy twenty-minute swim. Pretty nice morning.

I spent the rest of the day doing yard work, garage work, and a bit more house work. My good friend Andy came down to spend the day with us. He's interviewing at a local shop, so he hung out at Casa Lovato. That evening we zipped over to the semi-annual, mostly world famous Jawad Sushi Party. This was yet another great opportunity to drink some tasty wine, and catch up with some good folks. Shout out to Bolder and the other bloggers who were there!

This morning came mighty early, as Amanda and I made our way to the 9 News Health Fair to draw some blood. And I mean that literally. We figured it would be a good idea for us both to test the full spectrum, from Thyroid funcition to Cholesterol to Hematocrit and Iron.

Last thing was that I got back on the bike today. It's always a big question mark as to how quickly or slowly I'll recover from an Ironman. Two years ago, with a second-place finish in Arizona, I bounced back very quickly. Within the five weeks post-race, I had already done two half ironmans, one half marathon, and a five-mile race. Last year, after a harder effort, I took five weeks before I jumped back into race mode. Even with the longer down time, I had a very blah race.

While I was certainly hoping for another win this year in Tempe, I suppose my consolation prize is knowing that with an easier effort, I seem to be on the speedy recovery plan again. I guess I'll just have to finalize the rest of the race schedule now.