No Motivation

It has been two weeks since the Shamrock Half Marathon and I'm sad to say my training has been less then spectacular. In all honesty it has been sporadic at best. I've tried to get a fair amount of cycling in to ensure I don't have the same hatred for the bike portion of White Lake Half as I did in 2007. I'm wondering if my lack of motivation is due to the cumulative effect of these factors:

Fatigue - The week following Shamrock you could not find a muscle in my legs that wasn't sore. Even as I write this I can still feel some residual tendonitis in my right knee. I've taken the time off to rest and stretch my hips in hopes to release the tension.

Allergies - When I began solid/lengthy triathlon training about two years ago I noticed long workouts would leave me short of breath in the evenings. It was as if I had irritated my lungs. I couldn't breathe deeply without triggering a cough. I did research last year and uncovered I might be suffering from exercise-induced asthma. This year I began suffering from the same symptoms without long training sessions or weeks. But the coughing coincided with the height of DC's much hyped Cherry Blossoms, which is a wonderful world of pollen. About two weeks ago I performed a 10-day trial of Claritin Allergy. I noticed my breathing was corrected, my itchy eyes were no more, and I did not randomly sneeze. However, I lacked serious motivation and spent most of the week resting on the couch after work.

Work - I've had a rough go the past few weeks dealing with residents, contractors, and projects. All of which is usually spread out over time but came together in a perfect storm that tested my mental toughness. This probably didn't help the whole allergy issue either. Each day was leaving me mentally drained by quitting time.

Life - March had some turmoil in terms of living arrangements. I moved again (but still in Arlington) and had to reinvent where I workout and when. I haven't figured it all out yet. There is still unfinished business concerning my past living arrangement that will probably require more of my free time.

With all these factors I'm concerned about my performance at Rumpass in Bumpass Sprint on Sunday. Top that with this being my first triathlon without a taper and you can't expect much as far as setting a new PR. I hope to benchmark myself given this is the same course as the Giant Acorn Sprint I raced last October. The major difference will be this race's water temperature is 60 vs the mid-70s of October.