Rest/Inspiration

I'm taking today as a rest day. I was up all night waiting to get my girlfriend and her daughters at the bus station from a trip they took, which had unscheduled delays. I was also tired and stiff from my run yesterday and I got killed at work, including a late call that pretty much shot any chance at a workout. Tomorrow is my 16 hour day. I am going to try to remember to take my bike to work and hopefully get to ride some during the down time. Worst comes to worst I get two rest days in a row.

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My brother over at TriMe has pneumonia and so hasn't been working out understandably. I talked to him the other night and he sounded sort of depressed. Hopefully the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees has him feeling a little better. I know when I am sick I feel as if I will never be well again. I look forward to reading more of his posts when he rejoins the training routine, although you could argue that rest is as much a part of training -- even resting from sickness -- as working out. I have read of many athletes who got sick and were forced to not train for an extended period, and then when they came back they were completely refreshed and set all kinds of personal records.

Feel better, Brother Jim.

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I have been reading some inspirational books about running and triathlons.

1. Transformed By Triathlon by Jane Booth is a fortish woman's account of going from a couple times a week swimmer to a triathlete in a year's time, including learning to run and getting on a bike for the first time since childhood -- a path very similar to mine. Well-written and interesting for its training and race details. (I am mailing my copy to my brother today, hopefully).

2. Becoming an Ironman: First Encounters with the Ultimate Endurance Event by Kara Doughlas Thom. This book is great. I bought it at Borders thinking the book was another one I had seen about people's first triathlons, and I almost took it back when I realized it was about Ironman Triathlons, which I have not considered myself interested in, but the book, which I am almost done with, is great reading. Very interesting and inspirational. It has sections on athletes over 50, people who did not finish, handicapped athletes, pros, and people in raced in the early days. Some great anecdotes. I particuarly enjoyed one racer's comments about the early days when there was no time limit or cutoff for the race. He says you know you are having a bad day when you see the paperboy delievering the morning paper that has the race results for the race you are still running in. I gathered from the stories there is a lot of walking in the marathon portion of the race. People also spend much more time in the transition areas than they do in the sprint triathlon transitions ( 20-45 minutes versus about two).

3. The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What 35 Years of Running Have Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart by Amby Burfoot. This is a very small, inspirational book about running, great for reading a chapter a night before bed.