January 24

Do you know how in your mind you picture a good workout or result and when it comes time to deliver you just don’t have it? For some reason that has been the sum of my week. Earlier in the week I had some sessions where I just didn’t feel like I had the gas to get thru a very easy workout. Same thing yesterday with my swim. I had 1,000 yards scheduled (which should be easy) and did complete it in 23 minutes, but it was a difficult finish. That could also be contributed to the fact that my company bought us Chinese Food for lunch and of course I indulged about 90 minutes prior to hitting the water. So after promising to eat a good dinner in preparation for my Saturday run what do we do? We go out with a few other families and have some beers and Mexican! It was good, but once again not the best of willpower.
My intentions this morning were to do at least 6 miles easy, but when the alarm went off, the first thing I did was hit snooze, and second thing was I debated my sanity as to why I want to get up at 6am on one of the few days I can sleep in. However the overall goal got me out of the bed within 15 minutes. Once I was up and caffeinated I realized it was raining so I changed my plan of action. The run today was only 3 miles but I did it at 29min, which for me is good. Any sub 10 minute mile time is a good pace, but for three miles I will take it every day. I qualify for the plodder club, not the gazelle club but I hope that plays into my cards for the longer distance race later this year.
So the goal for the last month and a half has been to get out, load up on some easy pace workouts in all three disciplines, and get on a semi schedule to prep for the year. Any improvements in fitness or form were an afterthought. Now the fun begins. Next Tuesday I start the “official” plan for the year with a 9 week half-marathon workup for the ING Atlanta in March. After a week off from that it’s off to the full 70.3 plan. I am looking forward to it all, but I think I am coming closer to grips as to the challenge that is ahead. I am not a gifted high speed runner or cyclist, and it is going to take a lot of patience to get where I need to be. However I am fully confident that I will get there and work thru the challenges of time, training, family, and reality.

January 21

It has been a little more than a week since the last update and a lot has happened. Not all that much on the training end, but small things like a new President for our country among other things. Hopefully the refreshed leadership will roll over to refresh my diet. Who knows!
Since the last update I have been able to do a few varieties of spin/swim and spin/run. I am going to try and run for a few minutes after all my rides even if it is not a formal brick. I had a real hard time at Tugaloo last year coming off the bike and into the run and it kept me from hitting any kind of stride during the entire run. We shall see. I would like to have had more workouts over the past 11 days, but I had a sales conference that took up 2 ½ days last week, combined with a trip out of town last weekend. I still feel good about my workload since this is really more about waking up the body at this point in time, not about serious planned work.
So, since my last update on 1/6 I have had 6 workouts. The 7th was a 45min spin class and 250m in the pool. (I wanted to hit 500 but did not feel good in the pool that day). The 8th was 3.1 miles on the treadmill with some intervals at 6.6, 7.0, 7.6, and 8.0 mph; total run time was 31 minutes. On the 10th I was able to get out on the road for a 5 miler. The 12th had my second spin class of the year (45 min) and did 10 minutes running after. The 16th I was able to run a mile and then swim my first mile of the year (30:19). The swim felt great, but I was coasting most of the time, not pushing the pace at all. This Monday I also got another 45 min spin class with a 10 min run after and felt good as well.
I will drop back in later this week and update.