2008-2009 Begins Tomorrow Officially

Well I am back into the swing of things. I am looking at 2008-2009 in a similar manner as perhaps I would have looked at business school a few years back. I am now officially over the "hey, isn't this great I am working out" sensation. I am more looking at this upcoming year as an opportunity to build off of last year's base and get better at multisports.

After the last race in mid September, I relaxed for a few weeks, got back into my work, spent a lot of time with the kids (giving Adrienne a break), and drank a few dozens bottles of wine. The time off helped me heal up the knee and seal up the preceding. I then started thinking about what I wanted to improve upon this year. I need to get stronger, faster, and be in better shape for my races. This seems simple enough, but in the sport of triathlon achieving those goals requires a lot of work. While last year I was seemingly holding on for dear life during my races, this year I would like to attack the races and push through my previous times.

Right now I am in the weight room for about an hour three days a week (M,W,F) for the first time in a few years. I am just working on basic movements such as bench press, squats, chin-ups, dips and a few others that work muscles I need for the race. On off days I am in the pool working on kicking drills for the swim. Although the swim is my strength, my kick is weak. I basically do a breast stroke kick right now, which I would like to correct. If I can get more proficient with my flutter kick and get stronger I think I can be a lot faster in training and that will translate to faster in the race. This my third week on the program and I feel a lot better. I am constantly sore, so I am certainly doing the right thing and I am starting to get better at the kick.

This is what I am calling my pre-training phase. Once I get comfortable at this level I will begin bringing actual workouts into play and maintaining what I have done so far. But that should fall into place later. In the meantime, I have my first phone conversation with my coach for 2009 so wish me luck.

Song in my head: Shimmer by Fuel