Training and Fuel Prices

I skipped my swim workout this morning, because I overslept and hit traffic on the way to the gym. By the time I got there it was too late to workout. Heavy traffic does not usually occur that early like it did today. I have noticed that here in Los Angeles the traffic patterns shift when gas prices rise. When the price of gas is high, more people try to beat traffic and leave for work earlier. All this does of course is cause the traffic jams start earlier. It also means that traffic is lighter in the evening, because people are leaving work earlier. Used to be that the traffic on the Santa Monica freeway did not lighten up until at least 8:00pm. Now it is flowing pretty good at 7:30pm.

One of the side benefits of training has been saving at the pump. When I leave early, it means I spend less time on the freeway, and thus I burn less gas. It is spring now though, and I have probably made up the difference because I have been driving my BMW M Roadster exclusively. Not only does it take premium fuel, but it only gets around 20 miles to the gallon. When you spend a significant portion of your day commuting, you have to love what you drive. At the end of the month, when I see all the fuel charges I'll probably have to go back to driving my Sentra.

I got my USA Triathlon membership today. My plan is to do at least three triathlons this year, so the membership cost should be worth it. One cool thing is that if you complete at least three USAT sanctioned events in the year you get a national ranking at the end of the season. Sure, I may be the very last, but that is still cool!

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