Fresh Start

Well it's been a nice little vacation away from training, I have to admit. I spent last week in NJ, where it was brutally cold, and I had no interest in trying to go running on the ice, and then our friends from Jax came out for the weekend, so I indulged in far too many desserts - Grand Lux cookies, Sprinkles cupcakes, Paradise Bakery cookies, and the delicious pizza cookie from Oregano's... twice! Still, our bodies need some rest, and after about 10 days, and 10 extra lbs, I'm officially ready to start my 2009 Tri Season.

I'll be starting tomorrow with... (drum roll please!) a swim! That's right, it's time to get back into the pool. I am going to start by focusing on the Terry Laughlin drills - mainly to get my feel and lungs back, and then I'm going to start incorporating some of the drills from Lady Tiara's fabulous Swimming bible - which by the way, I will return eventually! This season, I'm going to be focusing on distance, rather than speed - though I plan on maintaining a more well-rounded swim approach this season, and incorporating more drills into my regular workouts. If I'm going to do Nathan's, I'm going to need to be able to swim 1500 straight like it's cake. I'll get there, I'm sure.

I'm excited about focusing on the bike again. Towards the end of last season, I was really peaking - at least for me. Every single ride (stationary or actual) was a personal best. I'd really like to work on my overall speed this season. I'm going to incorporate some fast sprints into my longer workouts (30 seconds every 5 minutes) and mix up both fast spins and heavy heavy gears. I'm positive I can take 30 seconds per mile off my time. I know it. I also want to ride more on my actual bike.

I'm fairly excited to run some shorter distances and see how it feels. I'm going to drop down to 3 miles, and start to re-build from there, but I think my stride is in a much better place. I've said it before, but the key to my success this summer is 1. Train outside at least once a week, and 2. Hills, hills, hills.

I can just feel that it's going to be a good season, and I'm looking forward to it! Next Stop - Tri for the Cure.