I've got to take care...

I'm good at handling stress, I think better than most. But right now I'm getting a little stressed. I can tell because when I get home I want to eat sugary comfort food, which I did tonight. Cup cakes, cookies and Oreo ice cream. Eating refined sugars is the worse thing to do because I find overloading on sugar weakens my immune system.

Right now I can feel that I'm on the verge of getting sick. To get ready to go to California I've got lots to do, work and triathlon wise. Work wise I have lots of paperwork to do and meetings to attend before I leave. Triathlon wise, I have make sure I have everything I need and that I don't forget anything. I started by boxing up my bike for shipping this morning.

I find packing a bike stressful. It's not something you can do quickly and be confident it was done correctly. I take my time to make sure everything is strapped down properly and nothing, like spokes, are in harms way when the box bounces around. I decided to ship the bike Fedex rather than take it with me on the plane. With the way security is now and the fact I'm flying Air Canada, the worst airline in the world, anything can happen.

Just to be safe, I shipped it today to arrive tomorrow. A day earlier than I need it. That way, I can check tomorrow to make sure it arrived safe and sound. It's critical I have the bike in Palm Springs by Friday, as the Tour de Palm Springs is Saturday morning.

I also have to make sure that I know where I'm going when I get to California. I still have lots of careful packing to do and finish planning my travel itinerary. I haven't yet figured out where I'm going or where I'll staying after I leave my Uncles condo in Palm Springs. Do I go to San Diego or Los Angeles, or both? What to do? What to do?

Tonight was my speed bike session. I used my Trek road bike. I didn't feel like doing it, but did it anyway. I had a terrible ride, no leg strength and it was hard to get the heart rate up without major pain. It's the same old, same old.

If my riding doesn't improve dramatically in California, I need to speak to Mark Allen. Frankly, I'm very worried that something is wrong and I don't know what it is. Maybe it's nothing other than fatigue and with tapering my legs are going to bounce back. I hope that's all it is.

I got an email from the China organizers today. They saw my blog and my personal transformation and wanted me to supply more information and photo's that they could share with the Chinese media. They had a list of questions and asked that I keep my answers brief because the had to translate into Chinese.

One of the questions was "what's your favourite food" and I put down "wagon wheels" with a brief description that they are the equivalent of moon pies in the U.S. I got an email back and she said "yes, we have wagon wheels here in China, they're called Choco Pies". Wow!!! I can see it now, after the race it will be "beer and Choco Pies". I can hardly wait.

Oh yeah, they had one other question, "do you like Chinese food?" and I said "yes". Then it asked "what type of Chinese food". I said all, but I did pause, I was thinking "I'll eat anything, except cat and dog and the stuff they have on Fear Factor", but I didn't write it down, I had a twinge it wouldn't be appropriate. I remember watching a TV show where they said Chinese people will eat anything with legs, except a table and anything with wings, except an airplane.

The plan for the rest of the night is to relax, stay away from the computer and refined sugars. Then get a good night sleep and hopefully my immune system will be feeling stronger tomorrow. Right now I've got a slight dry cough that I don't want to grow into something more.

Speed Bike - 1:02:00 / 30.23 km / 29.85 kph / 121 avg hr