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Monthly Summary – May 2013

May was not the easiest month.  I don’t often get too personal on this blog.  At least not personal outside of the effects my life has on my training (or the effects my training has on my life).  In general, I’m a more private person than that and opening up – especially in such a public forum – doesn’t come naturally to me.

But earlier this month my grandpa passed away.  I was close with my grandfather my whole life.  He and my grandmother moved to Southern California when I was a kid and we got to spend a lot of time with them over the years.  Even during the nearly 20 years that I lived outside of Southern California, I saw them regularly.  Since we moved to LA in 2009, there were many times that Elizabeth and I drove down to Orange County to see them for lunch or dinner or a holiday or just a quick visit on our way down to see my parents in San Diego.  I feel really fortunate that I was able to spend as much time with them as I did.  My grandma passed away in 2010 and I knew theoretically that at some point my grandpa would die too.  But it never seemed that way.

Running, as usual, was my therapy this month.  Earlier in the month, I felt exhausted and was getting extremely frustrated with running.  In the final days of my grandpa’s life and after he died, the running became easier.  I was seeing running from a new perspective, realizing each time I went out that the only thing that really matters was that on that day, I could run.

I console myself by telling myself that while it wasn’t expected, when the end actually came, it was time.  He lived a long, full, fulfilling life.  I can only hope that when I’m 93 I can look back and tell myself that I lived a life like his.  Even if that makes it somewhat easier to accept, it’s not going to make me any less sad.  We all loved you Grandpa and we’ll miss you dearly.

Here’s May:

Swim: 13,100 meters

Cycling (outdoors): 0.0 miles

Cycling (indoors): 0:00 (hours)

Run: 249.5 miles

Total Run Elevation Gain: 53,951 feet

Strength Training/Yoga: 2 sessions

Approximate monthly total training time: 51.85 hours

Weight: Low/mid-160s-(ish).  In other words, I don’t really know.  I got on a scale a few times last weekend and my weight fluctuated from 159 to 167 – on the same scale, over the course of 3 days.  How can I begin to know if any of that is real?  Whatever. I will say that I feel a little less lean that I think I was before AC or the Bear.  Maybe that’s just me.  And even if it’s not, will it even matter??