Monday Musings: 2017 "Adventures"

Well, my first week as an entrepreneur FLEW by.  I was a little concerned about not having a regular routine but I've enjoyed being able to do what I want when I want.  It has helped that I have an exam to study for.  I've spent most of my last week with my nose in various text books preparing for my personal training certification.  Can I just say that it's flipping HARD???  This old brain of mine isn't used to working this way, ha ha.

Anyway, on to the FUN stuff:  the HAPPENINGS for 2017.

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, you know that I am a very goal oriented person.   Every year without fail, I have a small list of goals, mostly athletic, some personal.  This is the first time in the entire 5 years that I've been writing this blog, that I DO NOT have any athletic goals.   I'm not chasing a certain race time or aiming to crack the top 5 in my AG.  Nope.  My only goal is to STAY HEALTHY.

Last year's injury really did a number on me both mentally and physically.  Yes, I still stayed active but I stopped pushing myself.  All of last years unsettledness / busy-ness tired me out to the point where I stopped caring and stopped taking care of my SELF.  That resulted in weight gain and lost fitness.  I am starting this year the heaviest I have been in the last 5 years.  I'm not the slowest I've been in the last 5 years but I'm not far off.   So, I know I have work to do.

I'd be lying if I said that my injury doesn't weigh in the back of my mind.  I want to start running fast again but I'm afraid that I'll re-injure myself and I can't face that again.  Those were some dark times that I don't care to ever see again.  I know right now that I don't really NEED to work on any speed.  It's still early.  So, I will continue to challenge myself in the gym and run hills when I'm out pounding the pavement.  My legs need to be strong again before I attempt to push them.  I'm currently working with a powerlifter (YEAH!) who has gotten my deadlift and squat form pretty much perfect.  He's really making me focus on feeling the movement vs. watching myself DO the movement, which is exactly what I need.  I need that mind / muscle connection.

As for races this year, right now I've committed to two:  Tremblant 70.3 and Lake Placid 70.3.  If all goes well and I stay injury free, I suspect that I will probably have a pretty solid race at Placid as I think it will take me that long to really dial in my run speed.   There is another adventure that I am super excited about.  My friend Lauren is doing The Canada Max Extreme Triathlon with her hubby and they needed a swimmer and someone to pace her for the last 8km UP the mountain in Lac Megantic.  So I volunteered to pace her and G said he'd do the swim since we were going to be out there anyway, ha ha.  So now they have a team.  I think this is going to be an amazing experience.  They also have a sprint race on the Saturday which I am seriously contemplating.

I'm easing back into a pretty solid training routine.  My run mileage is coming along nicely but of course that means I've slacked off on the bike.  That's ok.  I will have plenty of time to build that fitness when I'm in Florida.   As for swimming, well I haven't done that since before Christmas.  I'm not allowed in the pool for two weeks while this heals:

It's my fourth tattoo and I absolutely love it.   Unfortunately it's kept me out of the pool for the last week and a bit.  My last swim was December 21st so getting back into the water later on this week is really going to suck.

It's been a LONG time since I've done a training recap so I'm due!   This is what I got up to last week:

Monday:  OFF
Tuesday:  10.8km run + 1 hour strength
Wednesday:  1 hour ride
Thursday:  10km run + 1 hour strength
Friday:  20 minute recovery ride that was foiled by a flat tire!
Saturday:  2 hour ride
Sunday:  18.6km run.

Total time:  9 hours.

Pretty happy about that.  Once I get to Florida, I suspect my weekly training hours will be between 12-15 hours / week.  I upgraded my Training Peaks account so I can schedule my workouts and monitor my fitness / fatigue.  I know it will be way too easy for me to want to get out and do something every day so I will have to watch it.

Only 18 more days until we leave!

How was your week of training?

Coach PK xo