January Challenge = Complete

The January Challenge of swimming 50,000 yards has been accomplished already. I'm at 51,200 yards for the month...by far my biggest month ever and I am starting to feel better in the water. Masters is working out well, and we have another swim on Sunday, so I'll be over 55,000 yards for the month. I also received some new Brooks running shoes in the mail yesterday so I took them out for their maiden voyage today with the pups. I ended up running 7.1 miles at a 6:35 pace and I was really just enjoying the run. I didn't look down to see the pace, just to see the distance, it didn't seem too cold and we had a nice run with the sun out. I should head to bed...gotta get up early to get on the trainer. I know it's in my head, but lifting is feeling awesome and I definitely remember why I used to love it so much! Alright core work and then bed, maybe an ice cream bar too?

The 2010 Focus

I'll get to the focus in a bit...but until then here is an update. The swim challenge is coming along well, I'm at over 43,000 yards which means I have 7,000 to go. This really isn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be, and I haven't had to make that much of an extra effort to get the yards in. The masters swim class has been great! It's made me get into the water at least 3 times a week, and not for just a 2,000-2,500 yard workout...each time we get in the water I know it's going to be 3500+ yards...and probably more like 4000+ yards each time which for me is solid. My times in the water have been getting better too, so I'm excited to see how this plays out in races this summer.

I have been thinking a lot about my summer schedule and have a decent idea as to what my races will be. I think I've spread them out pretty well, and will try to "race" myself into the shape that I want to be in. I have learned a lot about myself, and know more about what my body can handle. Since I'm racing Ironman Arizona so late in the year it allows me time to get some good fitness in, and to get some good races to try some different things.

I'm really going to focus on a few things this year:

• Being smart- when I say I'm going to ride/run/swim "easy" I'm going to do it, when it says moderate...it means exactly that. And when something says HARD, I want to feel like I have nothing left after and push myself beyond where I thought I could go.
• Nutrition - I don't eat poorly, but there is always something that you can do better. I have been talking with Wanner a lot about nutrition and he truly believes that I can take my racing to a whole new level if I eat right. I believe he's right, and I'm giving it my best effort. It won't be perfect...nothing is...but I need to take the interest in what I'm putting into my body so that I can get the most out of it.
• Recovery - part of recovery that I really want to work on is refueling after workouts. I've been doing better with that by going to workouts prepared with a post-workout drink...the drink of choice right now is Chocolate Soymilk (it's only $1.99 at Whole Foods, it's organic, doesn't need to be refridgerated until opened, and doesn't taste bad either). I'm really trying to make sure I'm eating enough to fuel me throughout the day, and I'm working on taking my vitamins daily...multivitamin, D3, Flaxseed Oil, Glucosamine, Calcium...you get the picture. Under the recovery part as well I want to make sure I throw on my compression socks/calf sleeves, they do help and I need to keep doing that.
• Injury Prevention/Stretching - The Grid from Trigger Point Therapy will come in handy for this, it doesn't take long to roll, and I need to do this daily! Nothing more to say...Just Roll with It
• Strength Training - I need to get out of the mindset where I need to do a ton of weightlifting...I do need to do some for a variety of reasons, and it's going to help me.

Now that I have put these things out there hopefully it will help me stick to it! The hardest one being the strength training, not that I don't like to do it...because I love it, really I do...but because time becomes a factor. Luckily I have the things at home, and will be able to use them to my advantage.