I'm not sure why it happened. It could be a lot of things and the combination of a lot of things. Starts with the Ironman being over, there is always that post Ironman-depression. Moves into the less training and less endorphin highs.
Then I'm eating okay but starting to snack and diet plays a part for sure. Today I had some pistachios and pork rinds. Salty stuff.
It's that time of year, I tend to get the November, December blues. I usually get out of it by mid-January. This year I avoid the November blues with the nice Scottsdale weather and sunshine.
This has also been a busy and pressure filled year at work. We are just coming into the holiday season and I think my mind knows that and is starting to decompress a bit. We've been doing nothing but accomplishing great stuff and that doesn't come easy. Mentally I'm ready for the Christmas break.
Personally I'm also starting to think of my New Years goals. Since I was probably around 19 years old I set yearly goals for myself. Not so much resolutions. I gave up on resolutions per see. These are goals that include physical, mental, spiritual, financial, career and family.
I'm starting to reflect on the past year. What I did well, what needs improving and what I want it to "look" like. I need to visualize it. I need to see it in my minds eye and that can't be force fed, it takes time to reflect.
Around noon Alice and I dropped Alyssa off at the airport. She's off to visit family and friends. We had lunch there which was crazy expensive. Three people at Swiss Chalet for $53. Crazy.
Anyways, I was beat. On the way home we did some grocery shopping and all I wanted to do was get home and sleep. Which I did. For 3 hours and when I woke up I was a new man. Albeit it took a while to get up. Nothing like falling asleep in the afternoon and waking up in the dark.
I felt so good when I woke up I felt like cleaning out my closet. I have so much old clothing in there that I can't even find shirts to wear. Seems I always end up going to the old faithful shirts anyway so why have so many?
With 4 green garbage bags in hand I got started. It wasn't easy. I'm going to drop them off at the Salvation Army. It will be Christmas come early for some. There is some good stuff in those bags.
The hard part was deciding which shirts to throw out. It sounds easy but it's not. Especially when you have something emotionally invested in them like a triathlon race. The non triathlon shirts are easy to throw away. It's the ones with a logo and if they have an Ironman M-Dot logo it's near impossible to throw away.
It probably took me 3 hours but I managed to figure out a system. It was based on comfort, then appearance. I also saw some clothes that I've had for over 10 years that I still wear but I threw them out. I felt out with the past that far back, in with the present. Other than my old jean jacket even though it's about 4 sizes to large and doesn't fit. That is a "legacy piece" of clothing. Something Reid or future generations would find cool.
In all I think I threw away 2 Ironman shirts and it was TOUGH. I'm sure I'll be driving through downtown Toronto and under on of the off ramps I'll see a guy with a cardboard sign begging cars for money and he'll be wearing one of my Ironman shirts.
Next stop was my dresser drawers which is socks, underwear and training clothes. Each drawer represents something. I threw out a bunch of cycling and running stuff. Either it was too big or in the case of cycling the shorts were torn and I just didn't have the nerve to throw them out. Like my Ironman Kona cycling shorts. Even though I can't wear them with the ripped crotch.
I can't begin to count how many swim caps I threw away and that was hard. I don't know why, they are cheap rubber, but they are hard to throw out for sure.
By the time I was done it was near 11:30 pm and it feel great. It's like cleansing the soul when you throw stuff away. It's like a new beginning of sorts. I really liked cleaning the room.
As a matter of fact I'm going to continue it throughout the house. There is room after room of junk that we have collected. My rule is that if I forgot I have something or I haven't used it in a year or more...it's gone.
I do have to be careful though. If I think it can be a legacy piece I need to keep it. I learned that lesson the hard way. When I moved from Winnipeg to Burlington I threw out my first Macintosh SE and my high School Football Helmet. To this day I regret doing that, they were legacy pieces. Live and learn.
No training today. Just some sleep and recovery is what I needed.
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AWESOME - that is all!
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