A New Start

Kinda seems like this fall I fell off of the planet.  With the business of our summer, fall came in, all slow, and tired-like.  Resting its lazy head on my lap, and saying, “Let’s take some time to chill.” 

And I did just that.  Had some great down time.  Ran when I felt like it.  A lot of days with no route in mind, no Garmin to track my mileage.  Just me, my Vibrams, and the road.  Biking the same way.  No agenda really, just enjoying some time to tootle (yes, I said tootle) around with nowhere specific to go, no time to beat.  It was great!  I loved having the time to acclimate my feet to running in my Five-Fingers.  And even though I was used to running in my Newton’s, which seemed pretty minimalist, I love the way my feet feel on the ground in the 5-Fingers.  I was also happy to have the opportunity to try on all the different varieties of the shoe, as the ones I thought I might have wanted ended up not being the ones that felt the best to me.  As for running a marathon in them, we will see.  I am up to about 8 miles in them before I switch out for my Newton’s if I am running longer.  I swore I would never run in anything other than Newton, but the Vibrams are giving them a run for their money!!

I just came off a detox cleanse last week…boy was that something. 

    A few days of fasting, so to say, clearing out my mind and body.  I was thankful for real food come the 5^th day!!  I am re-committed to my Vegan diet, and clean eating.  Ready to try some great new recipes. Also ready to get back into the “swing of things” as far as my training.

I sat down over the last weekend going over races, and schedules, and am finalizing my races for the next year.  It will be a lot of fun for me this coming year, with Greg deciding to jump in the ring, and start racing as well.  His new Tri bike has been ordered and is on its way.  We should be receiving it into the bike shop within the next 2-3 weeks.  WooHoo for the Hub’s!  I am REALLY hoping that the snow doesn’t hit before he and I can get in at least ONE ride after he gets it. Fingers crossed!!

I am still contemplating racing IMCdA again in 2011, among the other races already spreading their fingers over my Spring/Summer/Fall 2011 calendar.  Guess I will have to make up my mind here pretty soon.  Keep ya posted!

Training officially starts back up today, and I am excited to be working with 2 new swim coaches.  One who just finished the Ironman World Championship in Kona last month with an awesome 9:48 finish! Two days a week, at 6am!  That’s something I will be getting used to.  6am workouts in the winter!  Summer great!  But something about getting out of my warm bed, pulling myself from under my down comforter and into a cold pool at 6am in the morning is just frightful to me.  BRRRRR!   Especially since the snow will be flying soon.  I have always had the luxury of getting in my workouts on my own time, any time of the day, but I am dedicated to my new workout time….at least 2 days a week for swimming.  The biking and running…maybe not so early!

So my few weeks of laziness will now come to an end as I hit the road again.  Back in the saddle.  It will feel good, and as much as I enjoyed some time off, I am even more-so looking forward to training again.  Once again pushing to see where my body can take me in the year to come!