All good things must come to an end

Hello to September! And the heat - oh jeez, this is the time of year that I kind of hate living in Southern CA.  As the rest of the US begins to cool down a bit, I always brace myself for hot weather and the Santa Ana winds.  It was a relatively mild summer until the past few weeks - right as I had to start wearing 'professional' clothes.  Nothing like sweat dripping down your back while you mingle with new parents.  Ah, well, these are relatively small problems in the grand scheme of things.

Now that the school year is fairly well underway, August seems a bit of a blur to me.  We returned from Colorado travels and a very lazy schedule and eased back into the swing of things, to a certain degree.  I tried to prepare somewhat for school while still taking advantage of opportunities to take an afternoon nap here and there.  When I wasn't napping, I attended a conference that was south and west of Pasadena, and while it was a bit of work for me, we enjoyed being so close to the water for a few days and taking long walks along Manhattan, Redondo and Hermosa Beach.

(I suspect that, if we could live next to the water, we'd never ever contemplate living anywhere else.) 

I also tried to capitalize on the summer schedule by visiting LA places like Watts Towers, my first time to one of those "LA Institutions".  It was unbelievable to find something so fanciful in the midst of the city - it seemed totally out of place, and maybe that made it seem even more wonderful.

I also discovered that LACMA is a fantastic museum to visit with small children - who knew?  That made me appreciate it even more than I usually do.  And on a hot holiday weekend, it is hard to beat a museum!

I also returned to some regular form of exercise in the swim/bike/run mode for much of August.  I hadn't planned on a fall race since I always fall off the training wagon in September/October.  Last year, I managed the Malibu Tri in September after taking more or less the entire month of August off, and then I struggled through the La Jolla Canyon Trail race.  After Vineman, I swore that racing was over for the year, but then a discounted entry got the better of me, so I signed up for a final triathlon in October.  No trail races this year, sadly enough, since the two that I would have enjoyed racing are both canceled.  Still, signing up for the October tri pushed me to get back into the training groove, and August wasn't too bad with multiple trips to the pool and a good handful of rides and runs.  

September, however, has been a real kick in the pants.  The heat, can I complain about it any more?  It has sucked away all of my desire to do anything outside.  Even swimming feels too hot (whine, whine, whine).  Plus, a late summer/early fall cold knocked me on my ass.  I'm recovering, which is good, because I leave for a class trip tomorrow, and the idea of being sick while spending 5 days camping did not appeal.  Hopefully, when I return from the trip, I'll bounce back to a regular training schedule.  

That said, I'm also okay taking a bit of a break from structured training as I focus on the new academic year and get to know the kiddos in my classes.  That, right now, will be more than enough for me to manage.