Roadmap

I’m getting the pieces together. The various workout parts are starting to come together into more of a unified (yet flexible) plan. My nutrition is more consistent and I know what I need to “fix.” My support network is taking shape. I’m feeling more focused. Now I just hope my knees will keep me in the game.

On Friday, I decided I had to make the transition from practicing rotations and other swimming drills to some sort of real swimming stroke no matter how messy. And I did. I have a much better understanding of how to rotate my body when swimming. I don’t do it well and swimming 25 yards is exhausting, but this is a major breakthrough. I will work on making it smoother and easier and I may take a private swim lesson. At this point, I think a lesson can have a bigger impact.

On Saturday I planned a club ride for 11 am. The late start gave it time to warm up and I had the opportunity to go to the gym and do a core/upper body workout. I had 8 riders join me, including 3 on one bike! We have a family in our club that rides a custom built triple—daddy in front, mommy in the middle and daughter in the back. You can imagine the gawking, comments and questions they get wherever they ride. It’s quite a sight to see. It was a warm winter day and a great ride, including a rest stop at the Stone Barns Café, which is one of my favorite places in Westchester County. The ride was a 22 mile loop from a high school, with a beautiful turf track. I’m going to look into shortening the ride so we can start doing bricks—ride then run workouts.

Today a bunch of triathletes from the club had a meet-up. There were 9 of us, and we ranged from ironmen to first timers, competers and completers. We happen to have a very talented triathlete/coach (Coach A) in the club and he was offering some great advice about how to get a training program started. One of the points that Coach A stressed was the need to make a plan that fits into your life and then to discuss it with your significant other, because if you don’t have the support at home, it ain’t gonna work. I am very lucky that not only is DH a triathlete as well, but he has always been behind me 100%. We are on the same page. I’m really focusing on tweaking our food and nutrition, and he has picked up the slack around the house with both of us spending more time at the gym.

The next piece I need to put into play is Dab the Wussy (Once a Week, Do What Sucks at the Body Shop Until Your Eyeballs Hurt). It’s not too early to start doing bricks, or swimming after almost any other workout.

At our little meet-up, we introduced ourselves and told out personal triathlete “stories.” It made me realize how far I’ve come in the last few years. More importantly, registering for a triathlon after a 21 year hiatus has given me a new direction. I know where I’m going and I have aroadmap to get there.