The Start of a New Year!

As just about everyone who knows me well knows, the holidays are always a little bit of a downer for me on the exercise and work interest fronts. In fact, I think that I always seem to get a little bit depressed from about the middle of November through New Year's. I don' t know if it's because I have a mild case of seasonal affect disorder, or if it's just because the days grow shorter and the whole country's mood shifts away from working and more toward "taking it easy."

Whatever it is, it's always had an effect on me. I sleep a little harder (not better). My exercise regimen drops off, and I seem to lose interest in a lot of things that previously interested me (like my triathlon stuff!). Anyhoo . . . my training was dropping off steadily after IM Moo in early September. I kept it together long enough to get in one last Olympic distance race at the Toyota U.S. Open in Dallas, but after that, I really fell off. I had work commitments that took some time away . . . I had home life commitments that took some time away . . . and quite frankly, I didn't feel like doing much. So, from about November 1, 2007 through New Year's Day, I probably rode my bike a total of 10 or 11 times. I ran probably about 15 times, and I have totally stopped swimming.

The goal, post-IM, was to ramp down the swimming and cycling just a bit, and ramp UP the running. It is clearly my weakest sport, and I have GOT to get better. Since I plan on doing another Ironman in either 2009 or 2010, I need to get a solid run base down. That means sacrificing my racing, even short distance for a couple of years. I'll still race (mostly shorter distance races) and still go hard, but I'm guessing that I won't compete much for hardware over the next couple of years. My biking will suffer a bit unless I can get my weight back down (I'm up to 215 -- Yikes!!!).

Anyway . . . for anyone still interested in reading, here's how things have been since New Year's Day:

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Morning
Easy treadmill run . . . 2.5 miles (heart rate at 135 or lower)
10 minutes of stretching
15 minutes of abdominal exercises
3 sets of 10 push-ups (easy work to start building shoulder and chest muscles)

Evening
Easy trail run at Town Lake Trail . . . 3.2 miles (HR at 147 or lower)

Total SBR: 5.7 miles running

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Morning
Easy treadmill run . . . 2.5 miles (HR at 135 or lower)
10 minutes of stretching
15 minutes of abdominal exercises
3 sets of 10 push-ups

Evening
One-hour spin class

Total SBR: 2.5 miles running, <>20 miles biking


Friday, January 4, 2008

Morning
Easy treadmill run . . . 3.5 miles (HR at 135 or lower)
10 minutes of stretching
15 minutes of abdominal exercises
3 sets of 10 push-ups

Evening
Easy trail run at Town Lake Trail . . . 3.2 miles (HR at 147 or lower)

Total SBR: 6.7 miles running

Saturday, January 5, 2008

32 mile bike ride at South MoPac (4 loops)

Total SBR: 32 miles biking

Weekly Totals

Swim: None
Bike: <>52 miles
Run: 14.9 miles
Strength/Core: 1 hour 30 minutes