Roaming Dogs and Chinese Proverbs

Hey!

Today was a one of those days. You know...the kind of day where you cross paths with a roaming dog a half mile into your run. I have strong feelings about roaming dogs that date back to my days in Corpus Christi, TX. Long, traumatic story short - pit bulls suck and dogs should be kept on leashes. And the storm canals in Corpus are disgusting. Barf. 

That's where I'm at. Work was a total bummer, my new running shirt didn't perform (more on that later), but you know what? Tomorrow's a new day. It's still unwritten, as they say. Here's a random picture I found of me after a race this August (still rocking the Hawaii tan...sigh):

"Close your mouth sweetie, you look like a trout."

Anyway! Let's get to it. 

Gear

As planned, I took stock of my current gear. This whole "on-a-budget" thing is going to be tricky, but such is life. I decided that I'll need to bite the bullet and get a new bike trainer. Just took a peek for Zwift Hub's on eBay and there's nothing there. Probably my blog doesn't garner enough readers to convince Zwift to send me a trainer to review. 

Speaking of bikes - I'm working with a Giant Contend 3. It's definitely entry level but gets the job done. I have a pair of Shimano cycling shoes and random odds and end accessories. 

I'm all set with running gear since that's my main sport. Today I tried out a new running shirt I picked up off the Lululemon "We Made Too Much" rack this weekend: the SenseKnit Running Long Sleeve. PSA it sucks. Do not buy. As you recall, my run was very short on account of the scary dogs. Somehow the shirt managed to twist all around my arms over the course of the jaunt. It was very boa constrictor-y. No good.

As far as swim gear goes - I don't know where my swim briefs and goggles are, so I'll have to pick those up soon. Earth shattering, I know!

I've been using an Apple Watch SE for my training needs. I actually really like it for fitness tracking and have found it to perform well in the pool, on the bike, and on runs. A multisport fitness mode was added in a recent update but I have yet to try that out. Overall, this has been a great training tool. I do know that the battery will become a problem as my training sessions grow longer. I have my eyes on an Apple Watch Ultra (I'm so good at budgeting). I've heard good things! Using an Apple Watch as my primary (well, only) training device probably makes me seem super amateur. That doesn't bother me though, it's nice having Spotify on my wrist.

I still need to get a pair of sunglasses and, if I'm dreaming big, a pair of prescription training glasses. Roka makes some cool specs that I've been eyeing for the past few months. Does spending HSA money count against the budget thing? 

Otherwise I think I'm pretty much set on the gear front. For now! 

Other launch plan updates

• Still waiting on HR to give me the scoop on the Life Time membership
  
• Played around with ChatGPT yesterday. I had it make me a bibliography of the latest triathlon training research. I haven't read any of it yet, but that did make the sourcing of articles pretty easy! I'll probably narrow the list down to the most compelling and useful articles, and then do some citation path following to see what else is relevant. 
• Not related, but ChatGPT is insane. Mind boggling. I had it writing lesson plans for me and they weren't half bad. 
• I found The Triathlete's Training Bible - 4th Edition by Joe Friel in my book bin. I forgot that I had bought this a couple of years ago during my last triathlon ambition. I'll lean on this to craft my plan

Triathlon goal discussion

During some casual researching yesterday, I found that the average qualifying times for the Ironman World Championships out of Ironman Wisconsin for males age 24-29 range from 9:30-9:56, roughly. So, that's my goal time. Realistic? Probably not. Still gonna go for it? Absolutely. Naivety is probably on my side here. 

Random musings

I love this Chinese proverb: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. 

There's been a lot of reflecting happening in my life lately. Today is the last day of dry January (and my first successful attempt at dry Jan, at that!), career turbulence, new goals, financial things, life; it becomes easy, albeit self-defeating, to wish you had started that blog earlier, went to the gym sooner, called your family and friends more often, adopted a new perspective on work, not gotten trashed at a new friend's b-day party (whoops!)...How about just starting again today? 

On THAT note: 

Till next time, friends!

<3 Tyler