last week of break...

so this is the last week of my fabulous winter break...it really has been a much needed mental refresh...i have been able to read over 10 books...get my two foot stack of back logged magazines down to just a few issues...go camping in the coldest weather i have ever been camping in...make some new recipes from said magazines and cookbooks...figure out my training schedule for the next six months....sign up for most of the races i will be doing in 2010....visit my parents for christmas in arizona (where i got a swim workout in on christmas day...how nice is that)...swim 10k in the pool (today!!)...get an appointment for a tattoo that i have wanted for three years...clean the house more than once....pet lots of cats...hang out with friends...take a lot of naps...and really just relax for the first time in a year...

while i have been frustrated (sorry j) that i had not been able to run at the pace and distance i had been in october...i have been able to get to some run practices and modify the workout a bit to make sure i am not hurting the foot i am supposed to be healing...(my pt says we are clear for 20 miles a week)...lately i have really been enjoying turning the pace down...and not being totally spent after a long run or track practice....now this does not mean that i am not working hard...believe me...i am...but i am working on my form more and keeping and holding it through the whole run...trying not to hunch forward...and just to relax and enjoy running...ETG and i ran our first "long" run of IMCdA training this friday....in the 50 degree rain at 5.45 in the morning...it was one of the best runs i have had in a long time...totally conversational...and really just a nice way to start the day...the trail around town lake was almost totally empty (there was a D. Ficker sighting!!!) and of course with great company...and a grapefruit/cranberry carboom...(omg soo good!!)

this last week of break is/was week one of IMCdA training...and i have successfully completed it...and it feels really good...today was the annual T3 100x100 in the pool...last year i was sad that i was not able to participate...so i was stoked when it fit into my schedule this week...and even more stoked that i was able to complete the distance...it is really just a challenge to see if i could do it...i tend to get bored with swim practice...but i did it...yeah 10k in the pool....6.2 mile...ha! makes that 2.4 mile swim for IM look easy...ok not really...

i have decided a few things about training this time around...and i am going to stick to them...i need to relax on my long runs...like i said before...it makes running so much more enjoyable...i'm not going to kill it every run practice either...i think this is going to help me not reach that point of fatigue where you just cry because you are so tired... :D and well i am going to be more diligent about my daily nutrition...and i am going to find a breakfast that works for mornings of the long stuff....carrie gave me a few erin bakers breakfast cookies...those were very yummy this weekend...i wonder if i can get them here in town somewhere...

so yeah great break...and great start to IM training for the second time around