Undead bookends

The week that was, where do I start to describe it?

Instead of the obvious place (the beginning), or even the creative point (the end, Memento style), let's go back an extra week and start there - why not?

Mark it in your calendar dear reader, Monday - the 11th of June was the where my Ironman training stepped up. This was the first week where I hit multiple, serious sessions and got a taste of the consistent effort that will be required from here on. Monday evening swim session; Tuesday was an early run set with an evening windtrainer to cap the day. On Wednesday I and my boardshorts were back in the pool and Thursday night was another run. Friday was a day of rest; Saturday I had the bike on the windtrainer in the garage for an 80km virtual hill ride and closed the week with a long out and back 18km run and managed to record a decent negative split.
Awesome week? You bet!
More importantly, I still felt pretty good at the end. A steady build in the coming weeks and months and I was starting to feel pretty optimistic.
Little premature? You bet!

Thus we come to the week of the living dead.
As is common in most good films of this genre, the week began normally enough - no hint of the carnage to follow. Bright shiny day and lots happy faces all round. Monday I had to drop The Boy at school and so had to catch transport to work, but that was cool, as I got to read my copy of Aus Triathlon & Multi-Sport magazine and catch up on my Draw Something games. It also meant I got a pretty good long walk in as I made my way to the pool and smashed a great swim set after work. At home later I got my gear together for another double session Tuesday. With that I turned in for the night and so ends act one, as we see our characters resting easy.

It was another typical Tuesday morning, I awoke early that day to make three lunches and one breakfast. I ate the one breakfast and packed one lunch. The bag was quite full and rather heavy but that was cool because it had everything I'd need for the day. Kissed the wife Good-bye and was out the door into the cold morning air on the bike by 5:20am, even though I had pre-organised for today, I was already running late. Not too late, just a little late, just enough to give the viewer a hint of trouble brewing.
I arrived and locked my bike at MSAC in time...to see my run group heading off without me (Insert dramatic music)
Fortunately, I had seen the direction they were travelling (opposite to normal), and was able to perform a quick change to my running gear (thank you transition training!) and dump my bag in a locker. As I rushed out to catch the group I spotted one of the other coaches who had also arrived late, she had also been unaware of the different location of the day's run so I guess it was lucky I was still there.
We ran together during the warm-up run and spotted the group silhouetted by headlights on the other side of Albert Park lake. Spurred on by this, and seeing how far in front they were I pushed the pace a little and actually distanced my coach!
Ok, so we were only supposed to be warming up and she was likely being the sensible one, but after last week I took this as another sign of how great I was tracking.
We caught the group before the main set and got things underway. This day I found I was able to push the pace AND hold it for the entire session. So what if I was late this morning, I got in a solid 10km as well as a 13km ride, all before 9am!

Back at my locker in MSAC, and about to get changed to complete the journey to the office I was surprised by a phone call. It's the wife, there is a problem at home, The Boy is sick and has to stay home from school today, seems he's picked up that gastro bug that's been going round. The problem is that the wife has to work and can't stay home with him. Being in the IT industry I have the power to work from home occasionally, something the wife's retail job doesn't allow. I suggest I exercise my power and change my course for home.

Forty-five minutes later I arrive back where I started and find there's been a new development, the girl will also be staying home today. Turns out she hadn't been just putting on an act and was actually sick as well so this would be a party for three. My smooth sailing day is slowly unravelling but I am still not able to see the horror that is coming.
The kids are settling in to a day on the couch in their PJs, playing electronic games to distract them and numb the tummy aches and the wife heads out the door to restock our supply of toilet paper. I decide to grab a quick bite to refuel and switch on the computer ready to e-commute to the office for the day. This wasn't part of the plan for the week, but, I got my run in and an extra solid ride so all was not lost. And, since the wife's shift was not a long one today, I could still arrange to get to the evening windtrainer and thereby remain on track.
It was whilst waiting for the missus to return from the TP run that I first noticed the something was off. I'd eaten breakfast (early, I know) and I'd just had a snack recently, I shouldn't still be feeling these hunger pains...

It was with some defiance, and some would say a good measure of stupidity, that I next attempted the quell the growing discomfort in my stomach with a peanut butter and cheese sandwich (actually, it was two of them - I know...) This would probably be the scene where some hapless character has decided to investigate that noise in the dark, discovers the light is faulty but proceeds regardless. They remain blissfully unaware that you, the viewer, are yelling at the screen, pointing out the obvious. I can't hear your cries of warning and I ensure I finish both sandwiches and wash them down with a bit of apple juice.

Unsurprising, this meal does not make me feel any better and I begin to deteriorate fairly quickly. Quite soon I'm regretting my remonstration of the girl when she refused to get up "off her lazy ass and feed her pets" as my words come back to haunt me from the other side of the coin. When the wife does return I am forced to concede, today will not be a "work-from-home" day, and how glad I am that she brought back the 12 roll economy pack. A few phone calls later and she too is staying home, she will be looking after the rest of us. There will be no work produced by this family today.

Now, my wife is a strong woman, she can handle the task, besides, she doesn't start to feel ill until well after midday.

It's been several years for me, but when my foolish defiance from earlier makes its reappearance with such a flourish I must now also reset the clock on my no-vomit record. Curled up on the bathroom mat, empty and feeling like death I'm left wondering how this day turned around so quickly and definitively. It started out so promising, but the day has become extended periods of unconsciousness in bed, punctuated with moaning shuffling visits to purge and culminates with one such session where I found myself on the toilet, clutching fast to a bucket whilst riding out an earthquake. The zombie apocalypse must surely have arrived.

Tuesday was followed by Wednesday (I know, right) which became a day of recovery where again the whole family remained home. I did have to find the strength to get the girl to her school musical auditions on public transport, but at least we were all on the mend.
Well, all except for the wife. As I said earlier, she's a strong woman and she had put in a good fight but she was beginning to lose the war.
Thursday, the kids returned to school and I got back to work, albeit by logging in from home as I returned the favour of Tuesday and nurse the wife.
Friday came and went, I spent the day on location in the office today, but still didn't feel up to any training yet.
Saturday had a long ride scheduled and I had grand plans to do another marathon session in the garage on the windtrainer. I set the bike up, prepared my nutrition and set the alarm, only to change plans in the dark of the morning. I just couldn't face 3-4 hours in the saddle, my - um, let's say resolve, was weak. The highlight of the day was the email I received today. A GPS running app I had discovered several months ago on the iTunes store had just made it into the Android Play store. I paid my money and downloaded my copy of "Zombies! Run" and spent the evening transferring some choice tunes to my phone in preparation for the long run set for Sunday morning.

I finally reopened my training account shortly after sunrise on Sunday as I headed out for my first run with headphones for quite a while. I started my Garmin and began my first mission on my new app. Through my headphones I heard helicopter pilot talking to me and the radio operator bringing us into some remote base. As I ran down my street, I heard the rocket attack strike our helicopter and our crash landing. Running passed the local shopping strip the radio operator at the base told me that a nearby zombie hoard had heard our crash landing and were approaching, Run!
It was less than a km from home that I first heard them coming for me and had to pick up the pace to escape, not fast enough though, I had to drop and item I had collected to distract them.
Turns out, you really need to sprint to evade zombies...

I was supposed to go for a 19km run, I ended up with a little over 22km recorded on my app, in a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and change. During that time, I completed my mission on Zombies! Run, picked up 42 virtual items to build my base and out sprinted the zombie hoard 11 times. Each attack requires you to increase your pace by 20% for about a minute. What better incentive to get some intervals into your long run than being chased by the undead!?

So, that was the week that was, a week I suggest was bookended by the the living dead. It started with me feeling like one of their number, and ended with me smashing out a solid run whilst racing against them.

I admit, they did catch my twice but I'm pretty sure I got home safe.
I know I lost some skin during my run, sure, but that's only because I tripped.
This doesn't look like a bite to you does it?

Let me pick your brain...