Wow...the past month has just been a whirlwind. I worked absolutely crazy hours while training my tail off. So, 2015 has started and while my last post hinted at changes, so far I haven't made many. But let's do the tally for at least where triathlon is concerned:
What's Stayed the Same (Good):
- I'm a Skratchlab Taste Agent again! I just found out tonight that my sponsorship has been extended another year. I'm SO excited to be working with this company again. They're funny, know their shit, and their products rock!
- I still work from home. This really is what allows me to train for Ironman. I mean, I definitely COULD do what most people do and train at Ugly O'Clock in the morning and Tired O'Clock at night, but I'm glad I don't have to.
What's Stayed the Same (Bad):
- I still struggle with making smart food choices. Not only do I seriously love junk food (COME TO MOMMA, fries, pizza, and chips), I'm an "all or nothing" person and am having trouble deciding on a path to follow. I need to either buckle down, pick one, and see how my body responds, or just start making better decisions (doesn't take a brain surgeon to pick the house salad over a side order of fries, for example).
- I'm also still struggling with insomnia. Part of this is due to the extreme stress of my job lately, but even when I take Benadryl my sleep isn't all that great most nights. I've been resisting going on a prescription for it and am hoping that cleaning up my diet and making some changes at work will help.
What's Changed:
- Training with Team Amazing Day - As mentioned in an earlier post, I changed coaches at the end of 2014 and the TAD way of training has seriously rocked my body. I've been sore for three months straight - totally in the good way.
- Swimming with Masters - Although technically this started last year, it began right after my last triathlon for the year so it was part of the "off-season" in my mind. I've already seen so many gains from it. Unfortunately I'll only be going once a week this coming semester because of the new schedule, but it'll be a nice complement to the swims my coach is giving me.
- Training and Recovery Nutrition. One thing I've learned from TAD is that I was not using Skratch and nutrition enough (I had only been using them for super-long sessions). The same with recovery nutrition. Fueling myself correctly during and after even shorter sessions has made a huge difference in how I perform and recover.
What I Want to Change:
- My body comp. I put on spandex for the first time since September and it was a scary, scary sight. As I said above, I need to buckle down and choose a plan and stick with it. (The second option, just making "better choices," is too vague for someone like me.)
- My mental game. TAD has been awesome in this. They are always bringing us athletes amazing articles to read and think about in this arena. Still working on it though - just today Coach had to remind me to not look too far ahead. (Something that's literally part of my job.) Also working to take control and responsibility for my choices and life - Coach Katie has been instrumental in helping me realize that this is a very bad habit of mine.
- My swim. Between Masters and TAD introducing me to paddles, this is the one item on the list I feel I have already put changes in place to make happen. I haven't seen any big changes yet, but I feel like I'm laying the groundwork for them.
- My Bike. Once again, I've already put in some crazy hard trainer sessions to this end. (And learned I've been doing single-leg drills wrong all these years.) My hip flexors and quads would scream their agreement. My other plans are bike camp in the summer with the team and (hopefully) a power meter.
1 comment:
As I know, most bloggers deal with different topics. But only some bloggers try to go beyond the limits of blogging, stand upon the brim or creative writing
and come up with excellent pieces of writing. This blog belongs to the second type, cheers!
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