Donald Westlake RIP

Friday am zoomed off to the pool. It didn't go quite as well as the previous swim, but it was still ok. Did some kick, 250 m warmup, kick, 250 m in 50 m intervals on 1:15, rest, kick, same intervals again going ouch on the last one, kick, cooled down a bit, then into the dive tank for core work. Let's call this .5 hr. Afterward went upstairs for my date with the number. They keep moving the scale around. It says 230.

Sat was my rest day, and the first day without a workout in a while. Hung out, did some shopping, discovered Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, and watched the whole first season. Can't wait for season 2 to come out on DVD. Then for fun foolishness, watched Mamma Mia. I'm sorry Susi, I can still sing along to most of the music. And did. I have no shame.

It took a little while to get going today. I knew it would warm up to about -8 or -10 C this afternoon, so I was in no hurry to get to my brick. Once on the bike it took a while to warm up. My legs felt heavy and slow, especially the right one. I discovered this during one leg drill. Did way better with the left than the right, no idea why.

Then did 8 x 5/3, alternating between big gear hill climbing, and small gear speed work. No bike computer, so no idea about cadence. I did visit Bow Cycle yesterday, and ordered a new one. I did a bit of research on the iBike. Cool as it would be to report watts, I can't really justify spending that kind of money right now. And besides, they didn't have one at a cheaper price that only measures two digits, which is probably all I need. According to the heart rate monitor average hr was 110 on the bike. What with long warmup, main set, and cooldown, I was 100 min on the bike,or 1.66 hrs.

Then out into a nice sunny day for 20 min run after a 2:30 transition. Average hr for the run was 138, but every time I looked at it, it was in the mid 140's. The first few minutes of the run felt heavy and slow, but then picked up. Most of the time I felt bouncy and energetic, and could have continued at this pace for a while longer. I was just a bit slower a pace than what Julie dragged me through last week. Just a wee bit, probably not even 50 m.

It was a sad day for me to discover Donald Westlake died of a heart attack. John Dortmunder and Andrew Kelp are two of my favourite characters in the world and now there will be no more of their adventures. Go find Drowned Hopes. Oh, and as a hint, one of the chapters in that book overlaps a chapter in a book by a different author, telling the same scene from a different point of view. I nearly peed myself. John found himself in the most incredible situations and Westlake made it seems so real. Like being recruited by nuns to kidnap another nun back from her father and along the way runs into a mercenary army, or stealing a bank no really the whole bank, or accidently stealing a ruby the size of your fist, or breaking into the Watergate hotel, or so many others.

Go dig up, High Adventure, or, Dancing Aztecs. It might take a bit of doing now, but if they don't cure you of depression, there's no hope for you. He wrote lots of books under other names. There's one called The Axe, that gives advice on how to deal with a recession. Cold blooded advice. I think his particular genius was writing bar scenes with inane conversation from the regulars. Or, the opening from Dancing Aztecs. I just went to reread it, and came back with a smile. So will you.

And maybe,just maybe, some of the latest CD purchases will cheer up Susi - Alejandro Escovedo, Paco De Lucia, Colin James and the Little Big Band 3, Johnny Winter, and other stuff.

Weekly Totals
Swim 1.75 hr
Bike 4.91 hr
Run 1.1 hr
Total 7.75 hr