Week 1 Has Begun!

Week 1 has begun in my quest to earn a prefix to my Ironman title... DOUBLE!

I've been working out for a few weeks now, but this week marks the start of my peak training program  for the double.  Everything is feeling really great right now... my body is really waking up from a long, easy off-season.  One of my favorite feelings that comes with the early stages of this type of training is how my legs feel!  It's a hard thing to describe (some of you may know what I mean though), but my legs are beginning to feel like they have springs in them... it's mainly due to the increased bloodflow when recovering from a workout, but as I sit here typing this it seems that my legs are yelling at me to go for a run!

I won't be talking about every specific detail of my workouts, but I had my first BAD swimming cramp last week.  Quite literally felt like someone reached inside my thigh and pulled on my hamstring as hard as they could!!  My leg instantly locked up, and that was the end of my workouts for that day.. fortunately, it's been feeling just fine since then.  Didn't have the best diet or drink enough water that day, so that's likely the cause.

My base training is well underway now, and I'll be starting my first of four build phases of training in late February.  With that said, and as some of you may know, I got my Endurance Planner training software and it is proving to be a great tool!  The capabilities and control that you have with it is definitely the biggest benefit... I'll be tracking everything from body weight to gear usage to various performance measures (such as, heartrate and capable endurance pace with each sport).  The quick snapshot below outlines the training volume (time) for each discipline.. you can see some of the build periods and low-priority races in different spots.

This will be tweaked quite a bit eventually though, since I'm not quite happy with how I designed a mid-season peak (seen as the sharp dip in volume in the middle). The last "mini-build" you see at the end is after the Double Iron, acting for my final race of the season, the Iron-Star 1/2 Iron. 

As promised, here's a list of my most-definite/definite races for the season.  I'll likely have 3-4 more races mixed in there somewhere to keep it exciting and mix up the training.  Hoping to be in Houson for the Clear Lake olympic as well!  Who's with me?!

•  Spring Fling sprint  (May 1 - Gainesville, GA)
•  West Point Lake olympic  (June 12  - LaGrange, GA)
•  VA Double Iron  (October 8-9  -  Lake Anna State Park,  VA)
•  Iron Star 1/2... apparently renamed to Oil Man Texas  -  (Nov 6  -  Conroe, TX)

One more note, I went to get an early massage by Eileen Steil last week... she'll be my masseuse for this season, and an amazing one at that.  I strongly recommend her to all of you in Atlanta, especially if you're physically active and need some quick muscle recovery and/or fixing.  Equally important as the massage, I had a great chat with her regarding ultra-distance (longer than Ironman) training and races and got a wealth of information... keep in mind this is a deca-Iron finisher (the ONLY American woman to do so, btw), so she knows a thing or two to say the least.   One of the best pieces of information I got from her was the need for external support and motivation.  It's going to be a painstakingly trying 9 months, equally physical and mental.  With the unfaltering support from my parents, brother, Allison, David, workout partners, and all the rest of you interested in my progress... I don't think I could be in a better position with support and motivation.  I genuinely appreciate you, and hope that you enjoy following me through the best and worst of it!

Till next time... stay healthy & be happy