DESIRE

Back into the swing of things, and it feels great! Morning workouts followed by a huge bowl of Special K Red Berries and off to school! 2.5 weeks of relaxation and restoration at home was amazing and it feels great to come back with energy and enthusiasm to train hard and work hard (school wise too). The toughest thing about taking such amounts of time off (and I did do at least 30 min of aerobic activity 5-6 days of the week) is the overwhelming thought that I am losing all my fitness. In actuality I knew I wasn't going to lose all of it but heading out for a run after 5 straight days on the indoor bike trainer isn't the most uplifting and energizing running experience. After just one week of returning to training hard I feel great, some of my runs have been a little slower but that's expected and I tend to run slower when its only 30 degrees outside. My legs just get too cold.

Next weekend I am heading up to a mountain ski chalet in Davis, WV with a group of friends for a ski weekend. It should be a great weekend and I know my legs will get some good strength workouts with all the snowboarding I'll be doing but I would love to get some running in as well. Of course that also depends on the conditions of the mountain roads in town and the weather to an extent but I hope I can make it happen.

Over the past week I patiently contemplated my one word for this year. This word appeared a few times while reading throughout the week and I think it really sums up a little of everything I want to focus on throughout the year. "For where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also..." - the word I have chosen is DESIRE. Desire to train hard, eat right, live well, be happy, have fun, follow my heart, and achieve my goals. As long as I treasure what is most important my desire can help me achieve that which I set forth to do.

I have also been thinking about and planning my racing calendar for the year. With a few races set - the most important one has yet to be decided upon - a half-ironman! For awhile I was thinking Providence 70.3 but more recently I am leaning more toward the Augusta 70.3 due to the late season date and location. Though this is only 2 weeks after The Nation's Tri I think if I plan it out I can get a good peak for both of them.

I am well into The Triathletes Training Bible and have began playing around with trainingpeaks.com. I have yet to sit and write out an annual training plan but I know basically what it will look like and what things in my workout schema I can change or adapt. I do love the book and all the training/racing tips and advice it has to offer. Do you use any software for creating a training plan or do you do it old school and use a notebook?