Oh Thank Heaven...

In only four days, I've had seven large Slurpees. A Slurpee is similar to a Slushie. It seems I always need a vice, I've now substituted beer for Slurpees.

I come by it honestly. It's been so hot and I'm craving a cold Slurpee after training. I also come from Winnipeg, which is the "Slurpee Capital of the World".

Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia. It's important to remember, Winnipeg is one cold place for 5-6 months a year, I remember living there and it being -30C or below for 30 days straight.

Slurpees are offered in many but not all covered countries. Canadians purchase an average of 30 million drinks per year. Despite its status as a very cold city and with a population of only 700,000,^[3]Winnipeg, MB was crowned the Slurpee Capital of the World for the eleventh time in a row in 2010. 7-Eleven stores across Winnipeg sell an average of 188,833 Slurpee drinks per month. The rest of Canada sells an average of 179,700 per month, which makes Winnipegers the world leader of Slurpee sales.

Right now I'm experiencing the weirdest thing. I've been training hard and put in over 400 kms this week, I'm eating okay and a couple of days ago my weight hit 187 lbs. Seven pounds higher than I want it. Yet, my clothes feel looser and I think my body looks around 182 lbs in the mirror. I will say I think my face is a little "puffy" and looks like I'm around 187 lbs.

I guess the one thing I should keep in mind is that my increased weight may be due to water retention. I've been eating salty sunflower seeds, salty potato chips and yesterday we went to a movie and I had a big bag of salty popcorn. It's also been hot and I find when it's hot my body also retains water.

Today I had a decent speed work session. It wasn't easy and I was dreading it all day. The main set was 3 x 1600 meters. I finally pushed myself out the door at 5:00 pm and drove to the track. One of the best parts was it rained most of the day and it wasn't too hot outside.

I love running and yet I dread speed work. The first 1600 meters I averaged a 3:49 / 6:09 pace and felt like going home afterwards. I stayed motivated by telling myself, "this is a critical workout leading up to IMLP and now is the time to dig down deep, Suck it up, and do it".

The second 1600 meters I also averaged a 3:49 / 6:09 pace. Even though it was not hot out, I was sweating profusely, to the point where my socks and shoes were wet. As always, I try to make my last set my fastest and I did it. The last 1600 was at a 3:40 / 5:58 pace.

By the time I did my 10 minute warm down at a 5:26 / 8:46 pace, my legs were sore from the lactic acid build up. There's no greater feeling than finishing a speed work session and knowing you left it all on the track.

I was so sweaty that my truck seat was soaked by the time I got home. Even 4 hours later when I went for a Slurpee, I walked into the store with sweat stains on the back of my shirt and shorts.

This is where leather seats would have been nice, unfortunately Alice didn't want me to get leather because when she wears shorts on a hot day, her legs "stick" to the seats. It just shows you I CAN be considerate once in a while. The rest of the night was a coma sleep after my sugary Slurpee and a chocolate chip muffin.

I also want to thank John Proc for his IT prowess and finding out my Triathlon Toons website wasn't credit card secure. Finally John has made himself useful and it's fixed now and the site is secure.

I think I'm going to buy John a new light saber for the next nerdy Star Wars convention he attends. Just kidding, that's too expensive, but I will supply him all the beer he can drink the next time he comes to my place, that shouldn't cost me much.

Speed Work - 57:53 / 12:28 km / 4:43 pace