Triathlon/ Half marathon training

I'm making up for seven months (or was it eight?) lost time by training for a half marathon yet again.  Hopefully third time will be the charm.  I'm trying to stave off repetitive motion injuries by simultaneously though slowly training for a triathlon farther in the future.

So I need to learn to swim freestyle/crawl with actual breathing instead of popping my head out, gasping for breath, and going off track.  I also need to get over my... Er, dislike, in lieu of a stronger word, cyclists, specifically the mobs that take over the entire path and act like a cyclist or, gods forbid, runner who is headed the other way, hugging the farthest edge of the trail, is somehow wrong.  And refuse to cede any ground, making you jump or swerve off the path.  Or get aggressively angry when you don't and they have to duck closer to their pals who are taking up the rest if the path.  It's not just guys, either, middle-aged women do this with a look of pure outrage that someone challenged their ownership of the whole road.  Then there are the trailing lines.of little kids and careening bike trailers to dodge, but that's a different animal than whatever makes Minnesotans in packs feel so entitled to taking over the WHOLE road, or park, or whatever. 

I suspect it's the same personality training that makes them so legendarily terrible at merging.  Packs of bikers and runners don't do this in all other states- maybe some, but definitely not all.

...so yeah, I have to find some way to get the cycling training in without becoming a total jerk as a kneejerk response.  The gym bikes have been one such option, but I've got to go outstate, I think...

We went trail running last weekend, and got covered in wood ticks.  Forgot about that part.  DEET next time...  It was fun, though.  Pix above.  I've never been to Harmon Farms in spring.  It was green and cool, perfect weather, and we managed to be there between two groups of mountain bikers, avoiding danger for all of us on the single tracks.

I ran six miles this weekend and although very slow, and waiting for a thunderstorm that did not materialize, it did not kill me.  I'm waiting to see if the tight spots in my glutes, where I was injurec, are bad pain in formation or manageable soreness.  Hopefully not...

Next up is joining the Clarion West writethon to add some writing goals to the madness.  It must be early summer, cos it feels manageable.  Right now, anyway...