A new way.

As I mentioned in my last post... No Ironman this year. No Marathon... No BIG BIG race adventures.

Week 1 of the new year was fantastic. We got back from Mexico on Monday and started the week Tuesday morning with a run. Shane, the dogs & I. We had no plan, just got up, woke up a little and said, "Oh, why don't we go this loop." A nice easy 40ish minutes. Of course Baxter, after a week of exercising and running all over the beach seemed to have dropped the word "easy" from his dictionary. Little bastard... It used to be he thought 10+min miles were stupid. Now it's more like anything over 9min mile he thinks is dumb.....We followed it up by a Thursday run, same mindset, except I said we should add a 20min zone 3 in the middle.... It was fun to be challenged a little by Shane & Baxter... I'm hoping all this really helps me.

Friday night we met our friends Ric & Sara for Happy hour. Sara recently had some surgery on her mouth and is slowly getting back to running. We made plans on the fly to meet her for a nice, easy, slow run with her Saturday am. We met at about 8:30, no plans, no route.... no goal. We just trotted along (pulling Baxter back) making random turns for about an hour....

I headed back to Daniel to begin my strength training regimen on Tuesday & Thursday. I took a couple months off, and I could tell. More things hurt from getting weak, and I didn't feel as "stable" on my runs. Not to mention less power on the bike. Oh, and a little flabby, but yah.. whatever... He wasn't too hard on me - he's been rather, LAZY himself.

Then there is masters. I've been swimming with a group at noon for about a year now. The swim coach has helped me a lot with my stroke, and given me more confidence in myself (although I STILL think she thinks I'm faster than I am). It's perfectly convenient, just 15mins from my house, at noon. A nice break in the day. The old format was you go there, typically shared a lane with one other person and did the workout she gave. Your own time, own pace.

This year she decided to change the format a little. Make it a little more like a formal masters. We all start at 12. She puts you in the lane with people similar paces and gives you the workout and time intervals to do them on based on level. I was put in the lane with prolly the fastest guy in our group. Mind you, we are all triathletes, not real swimmers. So being in a fast lane is probably like being in a slow lane with a real masters group. I really think this new format will help me, push myself out of my comfort zone in the pool. I gives me someone to CHASE. In fact, my first 100 level 5 was a 1:24 - I think my fastest ever was a 1:21, IN A WETSUIT! To celebrate (and because I'm down to my last non-see-thru swimsuit) I ordered a few new suits. I haven't actually worn them in the POOL, but with the initial try-on - I am in LOVE. All for the bargain price of $20 EACH! I found them at swimoutlet.com..... I'm not convinced they will hold up forever, but to tell you the truth, neither do any of the other expensive suits I buy...

And, at least they are cute - so I'm happy :-) Full product review will be on http://www.allthingstriathlon.com/ as soon as I've tried them out in the pool!

We also got back on the bikes. Shane & I headed out for a bike ride at about 10am.... We woke up and then looked up the 41deg temps - Nah, no need to go out there an freeze. It was a great ride! We did one of our loops that takes about 1:40. We practiced pace line (2 people pace line). We traded off 1mile/1mile - and it worked out PERFECTLY. I can't wait to have more people to practice with... When it comes to Road riding, we're pretty ignorant. Thanks to my girl Supa for teaching me a few thing on the fly during El Tour.

Speaking of bikes... I'm DYING for a new road bike. My current bike is an 02' Cannondale. At the time it was fantastic. FAST, and light.... Now, lets jut say I'm REALLY feeling like it's holding me back. I feel so heavy climbing hills... and when I switch to my tri-bike... I feel light as a feather. I've got some feelers out trying to make something work (without dropping 5k that I don't have, but because I need such a small bike, it might be hard to come by. I'll keep you posted :-)

All in all it was a FANTASTIC week. We acted like NORMAL people (at least that is what we were telling ourselves). We went to a movie (Marley and Me... OMG... I read the book a couple years ago - but the movie is actually really really good!), woke up and exercised when we wanted. Walked out the door withOUT a plan. Stayed up past 9pm.

Acted like a normal, active person and still got in 8hours of effortless training :-) I'm a happy camper that is for sure!