Ok ... its the end of January and I'm done with my first month of training. I had originally planned on posting about the work I did this month: total number of hours, total distances, etc. Then I saw this video: Sh*t Triathletes Say (which is absolutely hilarious). So instead of recreating the video I'll go ahead and talk about how much of a learning experience the last month has been (and yes fun too). By the way, is this carbon?
The biggest difference between this month and any other training I've ever done is the focus on drill work. If I'm in the pool, half of the distance is on drills and most of that work is the drills that I suck at the most. Sooner or later it will click. Until then, i'm reminded just how much Micheal Phelps and I don't have in common. If I'm on the bike, I'm working on pedal efficiency and being fluid through the entire revolution. All of this is pretty foreign to me but there is huge value in it. Whoever said work smarter not harder was definitely onto something. Yes yes, the hard is coming but for now I get to pretend to be smart. Have you gone gluten free?
The next thing I've learned is how important not having to do this alone really is. Two hour trainer sessions on Saturday morning would suck pretty bad by yourself, but when there are 11 other people showing up to do the same thing (as well as teammates in other garages doing the same exact workout), it stops being a workout and becomes a social gathering. When we're done we go inside and eat breakfast and drink coffee. Group runs? Same thing. My favorite so far was my first headlamp run at the =PR= store at the Reston Town Center. I text my coach and ask if we are still running to which he replied "yes." I felt it was better to not ask my prepared follow up question of "but its 45 degrees and raining, are you sure?" Figured it would be best to keep my mouth shut, show up, and run. Turned out to be a really awesome run. The accountability is amazing, bottom line. I hear Crowie trains with this stuff.
Finally ... BALANCE. This is hard. I need to work on this the most, especially as the hours start to build. Figuring out what time of day to do each workout, am I eating enough on certain days, am I sleeping enough (the answer to this question is always no), can I move this here and do that tomorrow? This will be the never ending battle. To ensure that there is at least some non-IM time I let some friends talk me into playing Skeeball on Thursday nights and just this Tuesday had an awesome night out at a Country Bar. However, line dancing after a threshold spin session was kinda brutal. But the rules of engagement for these nights out are simple: no talking or thinking about IMLP and have a few beers. I totally bonked during the run.
"There are two types of pain in this world: the temporary pain of discipline or the permanent pain of regret."
One month down ... 5.5 to go
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