With my triumphant return (hah!) to the blogging world, I decided to keep the theme going and got off my butt to do a run last a couple days ago. Just a short three mile run to test out the ITB and to get my heart doing something more than keeping me alive as I sit on my butt getting fatter. In summary:

1. My ITB is indeed not healed. It doesn’t kill me when I run, but it’s still not right. I think if I try and just run through it, it’s going to get worse.
2. My comfortable pace has slowed down somewhere between 30-45 seconds per mile or so. Purely based on RPE and not looking at heart rate or anything.
3. Looking at heart rate, my average heart rate for my comfortable run is 20 beats higher for what’s ultimately a slower pace.

So there you have it. Com posted not too long ago about not slacking in the off-season and not letting all your hard work go to waste. Well, I’m living proof that indeed, it doesn’t take much time for your body to go from an all time high to a average at best level. So if you’re able, by all means keep it going!

Looks like it’s at least a few more days of rest and good eats for me.

Despite my attempt to feign death (pun intended for the probably one person who reads this that will get that joke), it’s come out that I am still alive. Wow. I think I’ve taken almost a month off blogging. That must bring my slacking to some sort of all time record.

I’m still here. Still living “the good life” which is to say that I’m living the lazy and overall unhealthy lifestyle that most Americans live. I didn’t sign up for Ironman Florida for next year, so at the current moment, I am sans-Ironman in 2006. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t be doing one next year. At this time a year ago, I was sans-Ironman for 2005 and I still ended up at Wisconsin. But it’s going to be a busy year in 2006. I’ll be getting married, will need to plan a honeymoon, and am likely taking a couple weeks off in the fall to visit my grandmother overseas for her 90th birthday. So there will be limited vacation time and time to get all the work done that needs to get for a 140.6 mile race. If indeed it will happen in 2006, it’s going to take some creative planning.

Again, I apologize for not being around. I haven’t totally deserted you guys, but I have refrained from posting for the most part. I have tried leaving comments for you all a bunch of times and I’ve written a few half posts, but generally end up closing my posting window because it is somewhat awkward coming back to “the group” after having taken so much time off. Not to mention that my current lifestyle is about the total opposite lifestyle then that during the season so I really feel that I don’t have much to say that is post worthy. So I’m sorry Wil for not posting about your success at the Chicago Marathon and I’m sorry Shelley for not congratulating you on your Ironman Hawaii adventure… and to the rest who have had your own major and minor victories. I haven’t “virtually” been there, but I have been there in spirit!

On a better note, the itch is coming back. I am feeling recharged these days and the thought of starting to get back into the routine is growing and hopefully will soon snowball into something a little more tangible. After all, you can only eat so much food, play so many computer games, and watch so much TV before even that becomes old. With the cooperation of my ITB, I should be back soon.