Why You So Juneathon?

1 Month until the Philly Olympic Triathlon.
Got in a brick workout this morning.

I'm expecting this will be my most confident and enjoyable triathlon yet.
I'm gonna push hard and want to FINALLY break 2:30.
I think my PR is 2:34, something nice like that.

However, my running is SLOW this year!
That's the effect of trying to burn 10min/mi pace into my legs' memory.
Hopefully a few targeted speedwork sessions, about 2 weeks out, will wake them up.
Pretty sure my run needs to be sub-7:30min/mi over the 10K. We'll see.

Neighbors
This afternoon I had to hand out pool tags to the people on my street.
Our neighborhood pool opens this weekend! I hope it's cold!

Problem with pool tag distribution is that it puts you in a position where you may need to TALK to your neighbors.
It's always preferable if you can avoid some of the neighbors:

• Crazy Cat Lady
• Lady that likes to date sex offenders
• Lady that's addicted to pain killers

Luckily, I avoided all of THEM.

I did not avoid my next-door neighbor. He answered the door looking like a cracked-out Charlie Sheen.
Great guy, but.

I just wanted that conversation to end. And next time, maybe I won't knock.
I'll just leave the stuff outside the door.

And then I got stuck talking to one of our newest neighbors.
After she ignored me during initial attempts to say, "Hi," I decided she'd be just fine as a head-nod acknowledged neighbor.

She reinforced that relationship by becoming the 4th consecutive occupant of the house that does not weed their landscaping.

But today, she really wanted to talk. Like walk out and shut the door behind her to talk.

I'm not the best social person and she removed any shred of comfort.

Asked me a dozen questions about the pool.

Her: "....and how many guests can you bring?"

Me: "Here's your pool tags."

Her: "...can my daughter invite 10 friends?"

Me: "Um, here's a pool information packet, you can read it at your leisure."

Her: More questions about guests. Doubting my answers based upon experience.

Me: "Um. I've lived here for about 7 years. And I've been playing in this neighborhood for about 25."

Her: "Playing?"

Me: "I believe that's what kids do."

Her: "But you're not a kid."

Me: "I'm not really interested in calculating the exact range of years that were spent playing. It's easier to just lump it into one statement."

When do kids stop playing anyway?
Like, 12 or 13?

I think it was 18 for me. Probably because of video games.

Hell, and I do still enjoy a solid game of Duck Duck Goose.

The nice thing about our neighborhood pool. Nobody uses it.

But, WE do! It's like a private pool that 150 other families pay to maintain. :-)

But, none of that has anything to do with Juneathon.

Juneathon

Juneathon is the warm weather, older sibling of Janathon.

It is a worldwide competition. The entire month of June.

Exercise every day. Blog about it every day. And record your workouts in an online training system.

The primary competition is won by the people that run everyday, and run the most total miles.

But, you don't want to win THAT competition (the people running 150-mile weeks make it difficult).

The REAL competition is against yourself.

Holding you accountable. Keeping extra eyes on your training.

Janathon was a ton of fun.

January is a tough month to run everyday.

June can't be much easier but for completely different weather reasons.

So go ahead. Check it out.

It's fun. It's hosted in England. You'll get to see weird new words and phrases.

Like "full stop" means "period."

Juneathon begins June 1st, but if you're interested, get setup today.

It takes just a few seconds to register for the competition.

It takes a few minutes, however, to sign up for the online training system: RunningFreeOnline.

So, best to take care of that stuff early.

Wrap

Less than 1 month until the Liberty Island Swim!

Bummed out by this:

I rarely reward myself after a race.

But, I had planned to buy this very ice cream as a post-race award.

Imagine my dismay when I learned today that we already own, and are eating, some. Oh well.

And then there's also the small matter of.

Stress.

I have almost zero stress in my life.

Life could always be worse. That's all you need to know.

But, there are a few very specific triggers.

I encountered one tonight. A new addition to the collection of junk in the basement:

I love Christmas.

I do not love junk. But, here we are with more junk in the house.

And while this little guy will serve us very well on Dec. 25th, the remaining 364.25 days of the year, it will elevate my blood pressure.

I'll finish by saying that tomorrow is bittersweet.

I'm gonna be playing grown-up all day, so I won't get to see my family.

I WILL get to sing my heart out at a concert, though, to end the night.

That will be among a big crowd.

And so it won't be a repeat of my American Idols fails!