Indoor Cycling

Today was a rather hectic day. I woke up with the twins this morning to take them to school instead of the standard 4:30 a.m. start for swim practice. They had to stay up late to finish a school project. After taking them to school, I immediately had to go back to the house to do a thorough cleaning for a showing at 10:00 a.m. I can only pray and hope! Anyway, in a nutshell, I didn't get to get in a workout. Our training schedule called for a 40 minute spin with some standard weight training. As you can see, I got in the spinning at home around 7:00 p.m. and it was a pretty good workout. I also got some sit ups and push ups to go along with.

Troy has still yet to get started on our program and I'm feeling that he's rather stressed over work, life in general, and the fact that he has another one on the way in about 9 months! Right now is the perfect time for him to be digging in physically in order to relieve that stress that'll build up and get an unhealthy hold of him. I'm a bit worried about him but don't want to press any issue at this point. He'll get it going and he'll realize it's a much better coping mechanism.

Hang in there T!

Tuesday & Gloomy

Okay I'll admit it, I'm in a slump training-wise. Troy, by his own admission, is in a slump too. I don't know if it's because of the season being cold, the actual weather, life circumstances, or what. But the fact of the matter is, we're slumping right now. However, I have been reading and researching a lot about taking some down time and the off-season programs. Maybe this is my subconscious forcing me to take a mental and physical break. Whatever the case, I've read that it's good for my body, my mind, my spirit, and my recovery. So I'm just passing off the fact that I feel a little guilty and unnerved by not doing much training.

I've decided (and not yet discussed this with Troy) that I'm going to continue to take a slight break until after Thanksgiving. After the holiday is when I plan to kick in to high gear for the off-season training regimen. I believe that Troy will be okay with this as he's needed this time to mentally and physically re-group. For that matter, so have I! However, I DO miss the euphoric and spiritual feeling that I get when I'm out in the out doors training on my own or with my brother. It's a special time for me and I'm already anxious to get past the winter and move into spring so I can hone in on the events I want to tackle. I'm preparing and focusing on '09 being a break out year in many respects - starting with my training. It's going to be good. I'm going to see that it's good, and I'm focusing on the fact that it will be good.

God is good - so why shouldn't next year be?

Off-Season Training Program

In my research and constant looking to stay up with what's going on in the training world, I put this off-season training schedule together for Troy and myself. I figured I'd share this with the blogosphere to let you see what we're going to be up to while training.

I just sent this over to Troy and haven't yet received his word on what he thinks of the schedule. I think he'll be okay with it, or he better anyway. He doesn't have much choice in that he hasn't been doing a whole lot training-wise. I'm hoping he gets going and jumps back in as diligently has he has in the past. I know it's a bit hard for Troy because we've not yet set a date as to when we're targeting our next triathlon. He works off of clear and set goals as do I. Therefore, we really need to get together and find what we're going to shoot for.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy looking at what we've got scheduled for the next 16 weeks.

A Message To A Mother

Mom, this one is for you! This is specifically to show you that Troy and I are fine. . . even though we didn't post anything yesterday!

Yesterday was a "chill" day. Troy nor I did anything active yesterday because we're still in the rest period. I find that I get extremely antsy when I haven't done any sort of workout during the day. Does that mean I'm addicted to the training? I don't think so, but I DO get a wonderful feeling out of the training process and I've trained my body over the last many months to respond quite favorably. However, getting to that point has been a very long journey. Troy has gotten (and continues to get) to that same place physically. His weight continues to stay down and he continues to steadily drop weight slowly - which is the best and most healthy way to do it. I feel like this time, after all of the "dieting" that he's done, the hard work will continue to pay off and he'll keep his weight down once and for all. I'm so proud of that guy! He's truly a trooper on so many levels!

Now it's time to go for a long 45 mile ride. We're slowly easing into our off-season training regimen. I'm ready and about to start honing in on our next race. Watch for the count down over to the right.

Post-ride update:

Went on a leisurely 33 mile ride in perfect weather. This was our first ride since the triathlon.

Thursday Morning Swim

This morning was another early wake up in order to get the girls to their swim practice. I too got in another workout, but this time it wasn't a swim AND some weight training. I just swam for about 35 minutes and made a conscious effort not to swim too hard. I had a good workout, took a shower, and got ready by the time the girls were finished. I took them to school and now my day has truly begun. I must say, I'm very tired from being up late last night and could really use a nap.

Troy and I start some light workouts next week to ease into some off-season core and strength building work. Lots of time spent indoors. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I'll take it over the alternative.

A Bit Antsy!

Okay, so I'm a bit antsy. I told Troy and myself I would take a week off to rest before off-season training began. Well, I guess I lied. This morning, I had to take Shelby to swim practice at 5:00 a.m. That meant we had to wake up at 4:30 to get going. I figured that I had to be there anyway to take her to school afterward, so why not get in a workout. It felt quite good to get back into it after a few days of recovery. The workout was deliberately not very intense. Just a nice "get back into the swing of things" type of deal. I swam for 40 minutes then got out and had a light upper body weight workout. It was nice.

Training in the off-season will be more geared toward building strength through weights rather than an in-season type of endurance regimen. Troy and I will do a lot of weight training, treadmill running and sprints, recumbent bike, and some other cross-training types of things. Just a lot of different stuff to keep us interested and motivated and keep the winter fat at bay. Troy's still steadily dropping weight and I want to make sure that we stay diligent in our fitness routine especially through the holidays. That's where you can lose it the quickest!

Still looking for that first triathlon to put on the schedule so we have something to shoot for. We haven't decided yet. However, the countdown will begin soon!

Resting

It's Tuesday and Troy and I are still in "rest" mode. Troy hasn't been feeling too well and and I believe that it's because his body takes a bit longer to recuperate from such a taxing event. We had our culinary "cheat" day and are back on our nutrition plan of healthy eating, but we've decided to take a physical rest period of about a week before we move into our off-season training program. Off-season will consist of a lot of weight training, treadmills, and stationary bikes - along with some swimming mixed in. We're going to be spending a lot of time inside but won't necessarily have to go to the extreme intensity that we've had to go before to get ready for a race.

                                                                

It's a mentality and a lifestyle and one that we enjoy for our physical and mental health. Now on to next season!

The attached picture is of Troy and I just before the Suncoast race. The water was cold, thus the wet suits. We look like a couple of cut-rate, back alley, ghetto-fabulous super heros!