Today is officially my last day of my off season. My official 22 week training plan for Ironman Texas begins tomorrow!
I have been thinking about my goals for the off season and I think that I have done a very good job at doing what I intended to do. I wanted to maintain a good base, while also allowing myself to enjoy the down time and not beat myself up for missed or shortened work outs. I have done exactly that. I also had an emphasis on strength training, and that has gone pretty well also.
The only thing that I might have done differently is get into the pool more - meaning, at all. I have not swam since AG Nationals on August 9. I am not too worried about this as it is the one discipline of the three that I can neglect and still do well. It's not like running, where if I even skip a week I feel like a newborn giraffe wobbling all over and having no clue what I am doing. Especially with the swim work outs planned in official training, I will be fine.
I am proud of my increased running volume and consistency. I have learned to love running again and so far in this 40 Day Running Streak I am doing with friends, I have only missed 2 days.. I plan to continue the Streak into my training plan until it is over, and then I will re-evaluate how much running I want to do. The plan only calls for three runs a week, and I know that I want more than that, but not necessarily every day like I am now. We'll see how it goes.
How am I feeling as I start official training? Awesome! No injuries, no nagging pains, or fatigue. I also feel that the work outs I do have been good. I am in good shape to start this plan. Mentally I am pumped to start. This makes it just that much more real for me! Only 153 more days until GO TIME!
So, if you need me, I will be pretty occupied until May 17 (the day AFTER the race). Happy Training and Racing!
AWESOME!!!!! This is going to be a great journey and I look forward to following along!
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