99% Practice, 1% Theory

For those of you not familiar with yoga, the title of this post is from Ashtanga Yoga. I love this saying and I think it applies to everything in life; especially for us triathletes during the off season. I sometimes find myself focusing so much on the planning, analyzing numbers and data, obsessing over equipment and gear that I lose sight that this is just a small part of the picture (the 1%). The 99% is where the good stuff happens. Getting in the pool, hitting the road, skiing all winter ....those are the things that are going to make a huge difference in my races. So all though I am still in the off season I am going to try to focus more on doing then thinking. Of course, a structured training plan is important for peaking at my races but right now I just want to get out for a run, drop in on a yoga or spin class and not think so much about it.

Marathon Training Started Without Me!

Oh no! I somehow missed my start date for my marathon training plan! Surprise, surprise....this still shows that I am not 100% focused. I am not too worried as this plan is 20-weeks and I usually just do a 16-week plan. I won't fight the structure though. Seeing my workouts really helps me motivated. I should probably go on-line and register as well, but............I am not sure that I am all the way there yet.
So today's workout will be 6-miles. I better get my butt home, get geared up and dig out my headlamp.
I did officially sign up for the 10-mile Kingdom Swim (http://www.kingdomswim.org/) on July 24th (my 29th birthday). I am determined to do the full 10 without a wetsuit as opposed to doing the 3 with a wetsuit like I did last year. It will be interesting to see how I hold up without the wetsuit. It still amazes me how much faster I am with it.
But now I am a RUNNER! Must stay in that runner mindset and not get distracted dreaming of open H20 and long bike rides.

2010 Season

Sadly, I will not be doing an Ironman this season. It has been so tempting to sign up for one but it is not financially responsible. My main focus will be saving and planning for our wedding but of course I still want to keep training and racing. All of the races will be local and in the Northeast. I also want to only do a few races so that I can really train! I always get sucked in to doing sprints every weekend and it ends up cutting out a lot of my training time. I am getting really excited for the upcoming season and training is becoming natural again.

Focus #1 (December-March)
March 28, 2010
Ocean Drive Marathon, Cape May, NJ: I love this race. It is so laid back, affordable and keeps me training through the winter. I will run, ski, and lift this winter!
http://www.odmarathon.com/

Focus #2 (March-June)
Get on the Bike!!!
June 26th: RaceVermont 1/2 (First time this race is being held)
(will get in a sprint also but main focus is the 1/2

July: 10 mile open swim (Kingdom Swim) I just had to throw that in there. Hopefully I will train for it. It will be fun regardless.

Focus #3 (June-August)
Speed.
I want to break 2:30 in the Olympic Distance at the Vermont Sun
August 8th, 2010

And if I can pull it off, finish with the Vermont Sun 1/2.
http://www.rushtonsports.com/

Focus #4 (September)
Get married, mountain bike, and play!

I think this season will be a great time to really lay an awesome solid foundation. I am also hoping to do some tri training events locally. More on that later!

One last bike ride!

Yeah! Warm weather made its way to VT yesterday. It was impossible to resist so I got out on my cross bike for what may be one of the last rides of the year. Training is so much easier with temps in the 60's!

Into the Swing of the Things-Setting Goals

So I've been getting out there running. It took having my parents here for the weekend to get me back on the road. Once I got out and the heart started pumping I felt great. I even got myself out in the dark and very cold weather. It is so hard to keep motivated here during the winter so I think blogging will help keep me accoutable. I also hit the weights which is one of my faviorte ways to workout. I am going to work on putting together a great winter strength training routine.

I have alot of different goals I am formulating in my mind. Hofefully I will have some all together and post soon. Although it is a tough time to get outside, it is a great time for dreaming and planning!