Rounding Errors

I used to work out longer, swim further, bike further and run faster before I started logging my workouts.  I'm a "Silver" member at http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ which just means I paid more than the free and bronze members and less than the gold.  I think I will go for gold next year, especailly since it is an olympic year.

Okay, back to the issue of logging, most triathletes I talk to that have trained or are training for the 140.6 distance races say they trained for about 96 weeks with an average of 14-16 hour weeks peeking at 47 hours.  However, most logs for 140.6 distance triathletes tend to have a lot of 8-12 hour weeks with spikes toward 16-18 toward the time they become afraid and ride their bike a bunch.

I'm at that point where I'm afraid and will spend the next month and a half riding my bike every second I can...but my logs will probably tell you that I only rode a bit more than before.

There are things that we round up - time training, distance, number of people finishing behind us in races, the wind speed, rainfall.  There are things we round down, our resting heart rate, our finish position, all our run times, and most commonly, the time it takes to swim 100 yards.

It's funny that this rounding starts to affect other areas of our life.  How much time do we spend with our families? How many days have my girls been sick.  How many times have I been interupted while writing this by my little one who is supposed to stay in bed (feels like 7 but only 1).

So I guess logging is what keeps me honest and connected with reality.  Maybe I need to log other things that are important to me, like playing with the girls, helping around the house, talking with my wife.  Or should I live in fantasy land until after my big race and then face reality...better start logging today.

Oh, and I do want to make a shamless plug...tonight I was doing dishes and I used the new dish soap I bought the other night.  Even though the stinky stuff we have been using isn't gone yet, I've been using this for the past two nights.  It smells so great I haven't drained it yet and keep stopping by to smell.  It's Meyer's Clean Day (the add is for 6 bottles) but I just bought one at Winco.