Third weekend off!

I'm celebrating my third weekend off since Ironman. It really feels like it was a long time ago that the Ironman was finished...

I have been relishing my self-imposed hiatus from Ironman living. I'll be starting week number four this week.

My theory has been that, in any sports season, the professional athletes always take a month or two of complete rest before they get back to it. While I am still doing a little running and have a marathon at the end of the month, I'm not sticking to a schedule other than running with my clinic, and that's helpful from a purely social level, as I enjoy chatting with them all as they get ready for their marathons. It's fun, for a few weeks, to have no consideration of my own training while I'm able to focus on my clinic folks. Actually, I find it quite relaxing and enjoyable.

After I get back, I'm working on a "training camp" of flexibility and strength workout. Again, following the theory of professional sports athletes, I want to spend the fall and winter with a fairly "rigorous" (although that seems somewhat paradoxical) flexibility schedule by taking on a 30-day yoga challenge... My goal is to enter the base training in January with greater flexibility and strength (core and upper body especially) than ever. I'll maintain a swim/bike/run program throughout the fall, but it will largely be centered around technique and skill improvement and little actual fitness training. I'll leave that to the yoga and strength work.

After my break, the focus will also be on a solid nutrition plan and modification. My personal feeling is that this will be the best time to work on habits and lifestyle changes, because the "regular season" will be a tough time to stick to a schedule.

I also registered for the Oliver Half Ironman in June this week....

Am I getting started on this all too soon? That's my biggest fear. I'm trying to balance the planning with other activity and fun, so that I am not always locked into the triathlon life. But now I realize that it is this life that I enjoy. I like being an Ironman athlete, and doing what it takes to get ready.

I have been asking the question, "what's going to be different this year?" Well, first of all, this is the first year that I'll be training for Ironman on the heels of a previous Ironman, so I'm building on the training experience and development that I put in this past year. That's exciting. I'm starting off at an advantage.

Some other things, though, are more and more peace and trust in my decisions. I'm not doubting my choices, nor my lifestyle. I know this is what I like to do and I can go about it unapologetically. I also know I'm "built" for the sport, in other words, I can handle the training and I've shown that to myself.

A new job and some degree of stability don't hurt.

I also approach this with an open mind, and a knowledge that events and circumstances over the year will affect how my life and training go, and I can accept that. In fact, I expect the unforeseen now.

For this weekend, though, I am sleeping in and enjoying some walks on the beach! It's fall outside and the temperature is falling slightly, but I love it...