Back to the Grind Stone

Over the last few weeks I have gotten back to some resemblance of triathlon training. It feels good, but I won’t lie and say it’s been easy. Getting back to work can be tough after a long break of unstructured “exercise”. The 2009 XTERRA World Championships were 12 weeks ago and it has been good to take some down time before ramping things up again for 2010. Here is a quick run-down of what I’ve been up to the last 12 week.

The first two weeks after Worlds I did nothing at all. I took the time off from training and put it to good use by reviewing my 2009 season from top to bottom. I wanted to identify the areas were I made progress, let slide, and what I need to do over my off-season to make 2010 my best season yet. The following 6 weeks I (Nov-mid Dec) I focused on developing a solid foundation of strength. I hit the pool for 45-75 minutes immediately followed by the weights for 45 minutes at a whack, 6 days a week. The swimming was to build volume and strength by swimming endurance paced sets and a lot of pulling. The weights were intended to offset any imbalances that occur throughout the race season as well as to build some basic strength across the entire body. Big weights, low reps, a lot of sets. Solid. I also ran 4-6 miles every other day and squeezed in a couple easy rides each week as well.

Then the week of Christmas I took completely off so I could be with Kathy in the hospital while she had her back surgery. I just hung out all week with her, 3 days in the hospital (including overnights) and the rest of the week at home, watching movies, playing games, and keeping her spirits up while she was recovering. The next week, New Years, I got some exercise with a few random workouts while keeping busy with work and Kathy.

The week of January 4th marked the beginning of “training” for my 2010 XTERRA campaign. The last two weeks I have gotten back to regular training in my Phase 1, Base Prep, mode. The general overview is swim-bike-run 5 days each plus 3 days weight training now focusing on “tri-specific” exercises. Also in the mix is some cross-training via skate skiing, snowshoeing and yoga.

The majority of my 2010 planning is complete. Coach Kathy and I have my plan pretty much dialed in now. Races have been selected, training plans created, and goals set. I will be getting into these features a bit more thoroughly in the coming weeks. In the mean time, it’s back to work. The XTERRA West Cup in Vegas is only 14 weeks away!