Top of the Key

Here we go again.  Week 1 of Base in prep for Ironman Arizona.  I’m feeling really good coming off Ironman last week.  So I’ll be slowly moving into my plan.  Right now it’s a guide.  I swam this morning, 1100 yards.  Really focused on drills and getting my feel back in the water.  Biked up to the gym.  When I stop to think about it, I can’t figure out why I drive to our gym.  It’s about 1 mile from our house.  So today I cleared the cobwebs off my mountain bike and cruised up to the gym.

Ran 4 miles this afternoon.  Heart rate was really high, just getting back to the feel for running will take a few days.  I’m not worried about it.  What I put my body through last week, and I’m not talking about Ironman.  The 1/2 pan of brownies Suzy made for me, or the ice cream, or the 5 cups of coffee each day…and a few cocktails.  Not the norm for me, so it’s good to be back home and in the routine.  The past 3 nights have been healthy meals.  Saturday we had fish tacos, Sunday was Burgers (grass fed 96% lean beef) with grilled sweet potatoes and grilled peppers, and then tonight we had chicken sausage with broccoli,  sundried tomoatoes, spinach and basmati rice leftover from the fish taco night…good stuff.

Time to Reflect and Refocus:
I’ve now had a few days to reflect on the race, what went well, not so well, etc…  On my run today, I realized that during the marathon portion of CDA, I didn’t once use the mantra’s i had been training with all season.  I didn’t once say to myself that “i’m tougher than this” or think of one song that would pull me through long training days.  So  I really failed in this aspect.  Not for IMAZ though, I have a renewed focus and energy now which I’m hoping will carry me to new heights in November.

I also want to focus on drills in the pool again, stretching, and gym workouts 1 to 2 times per week.  This is sure to mix up the monotony of training and what’s to come.  At least for the next few weeks this will be my goal.

Tomorrow I start back on the PowerCranks.  Low mileage, low intensity, build up the legs and hip flexors again which I believe have helped me get to this point.

Focus…needs a little work!