Off Season

My newest Splish swimsuit features a cute little penguin family huddled among snowflakes on the front - and the words "off season" spread to the limit across my not so petite bottom.

Off season - with Ironwoman Canada's help, I've been working on "getting it" a bit more this year.

After IMFL in 2007, my endorphins were running so high that I continued training as if another Ironman race was on the immediate schedule.

2008 ended with training efforts focused on late season half IMs and marathons.

My 2009 "A" race was IMUSA in July - followed by my final "B" race - the Giant Acorn Olympic race - in early October. Meaning that off season started earlier this year - and on a bit of an "off" note.

Alas, as well as the 2-5 pound weight gain fluctuation.

Even with a little extra pudge, I've been striving to understand and trust the benefits of off season. I'm still training 6-10 hours per week, but trying to make all those hours enjoyable.

I look forward to swim and bike workouts - without the pressure of upcoming races. I've been incredibly annoyed by rainy weekend weather forecasts. I've been itching to bike on beautiful days - but have cut workouts short - or even skipped workouts - if the weather was crappy.

But those nice bike riding days...have made my heart flutter. I've relished moments casually cruising through beautiful scenery or pushing harder speeds.

These past few weeks, I've started to feel a twinge bit more comfortable about running. I've headed out without my Garmin and enjoyed the cooler temperatures, the fall leaves - and lately - the Christmas lights. I've tried to focus on technique, no matter what the distance - hoping to create a new and better imprint.

Trust and acceptance - maybe a few months of physical and mental rest and rejuvination will actually be beneficial vs. detrimental for next season.

We'll see.

Feeling Better

2009 has been an interesting year so far.

The moments when things fell into place seemed to be outnumbered by those when things felt off - sometimes due to the physical, sometimes to the mental. IMUSA and the Giant Acorn being obvious examples.

After IMUSA, Ironwoman Canada told me that I needed to cut back. To allow myself to get worse before I could better again.

I did well with getting worse.

And the past week or so, I am finding that I am starting to feel better.

I am not failing as miserably at running. I even had my best 400 about a week and a half ago thanks to some individual attention from Ironwoman Canada. Then, at last week's track workout, Cupcake KO was a wonderful running buddy and pacer. Yesterday, Barracuda BL, the Should Be Sponsored Wife and I went for an easy run. Except none of us seemed to remember the easy part. Great weather and good company had us pushing the pace - maybe to enjoy the coffee reward at the finish.

Less time in the lap lane has been good for my shoulder. Today I had an encouraging Guppy workout. I may have even surprised Ironwoman Canada - she remarked a few times that I looked really good in the water. I almost kept up with one of my Guppy swimming heroes, Sharona, during a 50 sprint. Let's just forget the kicking drills for the moment...

Then there is the bike. I am grateful for a good bike year. This weekend's Seagull metric century ride (kudos to the Peddalin' SQ for completing the full century and achieving impressive TNT fundraising efforts) started off with a discouraging downpour (during which, Barracuda BL, the Should Be Sponsored Wife and I sat in the car and debated bagging the ride to shop instead). Alas, we braved the storm clouds and headed off for a fun day. I would love to do the ride in the future on a beautiful sunny day - but still enjoyed the smooth roads and pretty course. The first 17ish miles were casual. The next 23 included some tough pace line work. And after a decadent rest stop (picture: great band, river view, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream and apple pie), we completed the last 23 miles battling crazy cross and head winds.

While part of me would like to say I did the mile century, it was great to finish the ride feeling strong - those last 20 miles of a century can be brutal.

Then today, thanks to Columbus, I was able to join the Should Be Sponsored Wife and the RABA folks for Mondays with Mary. Though chilly, I loved the 35 mile route from Powhatan to Cartersville. Scenic foliage, fast flats, tough hills, challenging rollers and smooth roads - it was great. The Should Be Sponsored Wife was donning her new Fuji - which looked marvelous on her! We warmed up with soup and half-sandwiches afterwards - and I drove home feeling content, sleepy and...

happy.

Hibernating

Wow, I knew it had been awhile, but I didn't realize almost a month has passed since my last post.

I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Like I've found myself waivering on my goal to have no goals for December.

I am hoping this break will be a good thing. I've heard theories of the body and mind needing rest.

To regroup, repair, rejuvinate.

Then agian, I remember, triathlon does not come easy to me. I have to work hard, uh, so very hard, for even the smallest gains.

I remind myself - it is not like I am not training. But 15 hours per week dropped to 10 and is now hovering around the 7-8 hour mark. Where it will probably stay until January.

After some effort, my food consumption is finally rebalancing as well, though not until after a three pound weight gain (that feels more like twenty) that I am trying to graciously accept until my re-committment to training after the holidays.

I also wonder if this reduced exercise thing has played games with my immune system. I've been more sick this month than I've been in a few years.

So, we will see how this little experiment goes.

In the meantime, don't tell anyone, but I am secretly psyched because Sunday includes a great bike with the weekend posse - and a decent distance Christmas light run with the TRIgirls, too.

January - this may be the first year I actually look forward to your arrival.

Love Me Some Outdoors

This is so sad - I started this post several days ago, when it was a little more fresh in my mind. But between work and holiday preparations, I wasn't able to finish it until tonight (Thursday)! So please excuse this somewhat late account of last weekend's awesome bike ride!
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TRIDi, Popscr and REB60 invited me to join them on Saturday for a bike ride. Standing on my deck that morning watching while Buttercup and Fezzy took care of their business, I thought to myself, "It is going to be a chilly one!"

Since my Christmas list includes all sorts of items I never thought I'd ever need until this year, like arm warmers, bike shoe booties and such, I scoured my closet to figure out what to wear. Fleece lined exercise pants, gortex turtleneck, bicycle jersey, a pair of borrowed arm warmers, heavy fleece sweatshirt and TRIgirl bicycle jacket later - I headed off to meet the crew at TRIDi's house, feeling more like the Michelin man than anything.

My fellow bicyclists were waiting for me, ready to go and a little more properly dressed. We headed off to do two loops around TRIDi's house, including a few more trafficked roads (she being a daring traffic connoisseur).

It was cold at first. But about five miles into the ride, it didn't matter. My mega layered torso must have been radiating enough heat throughout my body that even my ungloved fingers were warm. While our speed seemed faster than what it actually was, I occasionally thought I heard a manic Annnn laugh in the distance.

The ride flew by. We did a little over twenty miles in about an hour and fifteen minutes. TRIDi, Popscr and REB60 plan on riding every Saturday, weather permitting, and don't seem to mind if I tag along. Which convinced me - I am going to ride outdoors with them as much as possible during this winter off-season.

I will miss the discussions and music of indoor cycling class, though I am keeping my fingers crossed that no one minds if I still drop in on really bad weather days.

And I hope they understand that I just can't resist the lure a good ole outdoor ride!