Weird Week

It's been an odd week of training this week. Nothing's felt right. Everything's just felt...off. Not necessarily bad or poor or anything, but just not..familiar. Not sure what to attribute this to. I'm getting plenty of rest...my nutrition hasn't been any different...I don't feel overtrained or in a rut or anything. And I can't really explain how I've been feeling. Just...unfamiliar or something. It's kind of irritating.

Some remarks:

Monday was a 35 minute threshold run: 10 minutes stupid easy, 20 minutes at 8:00/mile pace, then 5-10 minute cool down. My dog Jackson joined me, and dude is out. of. shape. The first 10 minutes he's all pulling and hopping around, happy to be there. Then we start the actual run - only 20 minutes long, and little by little he's slowing down until he's behind me. And finally I'm pulling his running harness actually over the top of his head because he's going so slow. Hilarious. So Jack's now going to run with me twice a week. I told him by Ironman I expect him to keep up.

Tuesday I took Ol' Blue into the shop for a tune-up - I had some shifting issues on my long ride on Saturday, and after all this friggin' rain and muck I told them to take the drive train apart and clean it up. So I'll pick the bike up today and be ready to ride tomorrow. Meanwhile I was at the pool yesterday for what was probably the crappiest swim workout of all time. I don't know if I was underfueled - I suspect that's part of it - or what, but I had zero energy, and my form turned to crap in no time. Then, to top everthing off, this:

Closed Circuit to this dude: I've seen you at the pool once or twice, and have been impressed by the perfect roundness of your gigantic midsection. How it doesn't hang so much as jut, and appears hard and pregnant. It's a physical phenomenon that I can't help but find fascinating. I also enjoy your Mario Bros. look; you've got that mustache going just right man. I'm usually busy, so only in passing have I noticed how you sort of lumber down the lane, pushing water out of your way as you go. Good for you; whatever you're doing in there, I hope it's working for you and you're having a good workout. But dude, today when you got out of the pool, you changed my life. Here me now: Your 1979 althetic shorts, the ones that are a little too short up the leg to be appropriate and with that handy back pocket, they rocked my world. But that they were white. And cotton. And you were wearing them in the pool. Sans undergarments. Well listen man. I can't get that image out of my head. You revealed quite a bit about yourself in that moment, and I don't know if I'll ever recover. So I hold you and your tighty white shorts responsible for my crappy swim workout. Don't know how I'd be expected to focus after that, anyway.