So I have come to realize what annoys/frustrates me the most in prepping for the ironman.  Waking up every morning and physically limping and waddling around for the first few minutes when I wake up.  I know it has to do with my clubbed foot but both my ankles act as if they can't bear my body weight and move.  I get this whether it was a heavy training day the day before or if its a lighter day.  I don't mind the work loads just this one thing.  Ok, enough with the complaining because I did sign up to do this.

On a happier note, I've been experimenting with new nutrition meals and snacks.  The one I'm trying out now is a recipe I came across online; energy protein balls.  It's actually a really simple recipe and no baking involved, a win for this guy!  All the recipe asks for is peanut butter, rolled oats, a fruit (we used dehydrated strawberries), vanilla whey protein powder, dark chocolate morsels, and milk.  You just mix it all together and stick it in the fridge for a half hour then start forming the balls.  Today is my first day using them but haven't noticed a change in energy just yet.  Although it makes for a really good tasting and convenient snack.  We'll see how I feel today after a swim workout, and run workout.  Even debating doing a light bike workout tonight at home but we will see if time allows for it.

Now that swim season has officially come to an end and I am no longer coaching water polo at the high school, I am able to really knuckle down and make serious gains in my training, especially in the aerobic area.  Last week and this week have already been brutal.  I've managed to squeeze extra workouts in and my body is feeling it.  Today will be a little crazy as my schedule got mixed up a bit today but I'm working on trying to be adaptive with it today.

Feels like, now that swimming is over, that other work is piling up quickly.  There are just not enough hours in the day to workout and accomplish everything I need to accomplish.  This is a short one for me but need to get back to work.

A new week brings new opportunities to get closer to my goal, being an ironman.  Last week, I was pleased with my longer run, logging up to an hour and 10 minutes on the treadmill.  This week will definitely be a more challenging one, with me adding more hill style bike workouts and more hill oriented runs on the treadmill.  My hope is that I can get out and do a little running outside just to regain the feel of running outdoors again as well.  The best part though, is that swimming is back in the mix!  The pool is available on Mondays and Fridays during my lunch period so I can get in and log a couple thousand yards for each day I'm in.  Not the ideal volume but its better than nothing.

I've slacked off a ton with my lifting and strength work.  My hope is that on Tuesdays-Thursdays I will be getting up in the earlier hours to do some lifting then, opening up lunches and evenings to work on swimming, biking or running.  This is going to be a busy week but I'm going into it with a much more positive attitude then before.  Happy training!

Training is quickly becoming my social life, or lack-there-of.  I have even tapped into my lunch hour to squeeze out either a 25-30 minute lift session or a 15-30 minute row, run, or swim.  The name of the game for me is to find any and all time to train and utilize it to the best of my ability.  I'm dreading the inevitability of morning workouts.  I am not nor have ever claimed to be a morning person but, as I look at my schedule, I may be able to squeeze an extra hour of workout time every morning if I manage to wake up at 4:30am and get right to it.

Who would have thought I would be sitting here thinking about getting up earlier to create more time in my day haha!  Hell, who would have thought I'd be trying to finish a full ironman.  I came across a quote yesterday that I had never seen before and stopped me in my tracks.  "Don't count the days, make the days count"~Cassius Clay.  This is definitely going to be my motto for the next several months as I seek to add more training time to my days.

Base 1 training has begun!  I completed my first week this past week and am into my second day on the second week.  It has been a huge jump in intensity from my prep stages.  I'm noticing a significant tightness behind my knees and into my calves.  I've been skimping quite a bit on stretching and rolling and keep telling myself that I need to take time out to do it but avoid it when the opportunity arises.  Perhaps writing this down will do a more effective job of guilting me into doing it. We will see though.

My base 1 training will be focusing on building up my mileage for both the bike and the run where I can fit it in.  Along with increasing mileage, I have added a rep to my weight program for all exercises and notice a difference in the work load just by adding 1 rep.  I decided to maintain the :15 rest between each set of lifts and anticipate that :15 will be the norm for me going forward.  I have also begun to reintroduce core work as it will be an integral part of my fitness and health.  With that said though, I only reintroduced core work yesterday.  I have also begun using Trainingpeaks to track my progress and am entirely in love with the program.  I don't plan on paying for a subscription but see myself caving in eventually.

People around me continue to be supportive.  Elizabeth has been so willing to pick up the slack at home and push me during times where I didn't want to put in the work.  She has certainly been my rock the past few weeks and I will definitely need her in the coming weeks and months when things get really tough.  My family is supportive as well but more from a distance.  I think my Mom is still fearful of what will happen and that concern has slowly slipped into my sister and Elizabeth's psyche. I know I have what it takes and will listen when things go seriously wrong, if they do.  Well back to training, time for a fartlek run.

Recovery week has begun!  My first one of my training season.  The plan this week is to slightly back down on the weights that I'm using for strength training while maintaing the same amount of reps for each exercise.  I'm hesitant to back completely off of weights this week as it may cause me to regress in any of the strength I have built up over the last 3 weeks.  Doing my first workout like this a a couple hours ago felt really easy and really enjoyable.  Workouts will not be nearly as long this week as they were in the past 3 weeks.  Next week I'll begin my base training which will really start making things real for me.

I'm looking forward to begin my first round of base training but am also nervous about getting the amount of free time to devote to training.  I'm also incredibly excited to get to this next stage to feel like I'm really building toward Madison.  I understand the value of the Prep stage but it gets incredibly stagnant and boring.  So this week will be all about stretching and staying active, and also saying goodbye to the relaxed life for 9 months.

So I'm now three weeks into training and am feeling really motivated and determined.  It's a far cry from how I was when I restarted.  The new trainer has definitely been a boost in my training morale. Training loads have slowly begun to change as well.

This past week I had to make some changes.  My last swim was last Monday for the foreseeable future as gym classes have raided the pool during my lunch hour.  So, in place of swimming, I'm going to move my leg strength workouts to Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays with uppper body strength work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  With this new plan, I can better address a lot of my leg strength concerns for Madison.  Along with this shift, I'm focusing core strength work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Hopefully this will address my weight and stability concerns.  With these shifts, I'll be placing my rest day on Fridays to help care for the dogs, saving my long workouts for Saturdays and Sundays.  It will be a work in progress for sure and most likely need to be adding AM workouts, possibly during winter break.

Outside of training, things are definitely stressful.  Prepping for this race has become a bit of a financial strain and logistics nightmare.  I fear that I have promised too many financial commitments and may not deliver.  These thoughts have weighed heavily in my mind as training begins to increase.  With the holidays and all the repairs/upgrades my bike needs, I just don't know what I'm going to do.  I'm losing sleep which doesn't help training and is keeping my mind drawn away from work, training, and my love.  I don't see things improving anytime soon.  I just don't know...