Off Season 2014 and Changes for 2015

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings


So...the 2014 season has come and gone and the year itself only has two weeks left. I always get very introspective this time of year. For some people it's their birthdays that signal the passing of time and thinking of the year ahead, for me it's the New Year.

After PRing at my last A Race of the season , it was time for a break where I let my body recover from a grueling season and thought about what went right and what went wrong.

So, I spent several weeks sitting on my ever-widening ass and eating all the junk food I could find. Sufficiently rested, November came and being an Ironman year, it was time to start on 2015.

The first big change is that I am now training with Team Amazing Day. Although Coach Karen was amazing and turned me into a long-distance triathlete (for which I can never thank her enough), I felt that it was time to move on after four seasons.

I am already seeing improvements after less than two months of MAF training and am excited to see what Coach Jenni can do with me.

As usual, I ran the Lake Placid Turkey Trot and amazingly set a race PR! I couldn't believe it since I was just easing back into training after the off-season, but there it is. In full disclosure, the fact that the streets were (mostly) clear and the temperature was in the mid-20s instead of single-digits helped.

Yes, I know my form looks horrible. Sprinting to the finish praying for the sweet release of death.

The other Off-Season thing to do is...SPONSORS! Unfortunately not as much good news there. I applied to the Coeur Sports team and just found out a couple hours ago that I didn't make it. I have to admit I was really upset not because I felt I "deserved" it or some such arrogance but simply because I honestly thought I had a very good chance of making the team. As I told Kebby, they treated me so well I felt like an honorary sponsored athlete this year and I will always speak well of them and wear all of their things. Of course I plan on re-applying next year. How can I not when their compression capris make my ass look like this?

Dr. Z would like to remind you all that you may look but not touch. 

I also re-applied to Skratch as I'm hoping to continue my relationship with them as a Taste Agent, but they haven't chosen their team yet. Hopefully I'll have better news there.

Also, I've rainbow-ed my hair. It's a lot of upkeep because the chlorine in the pool keeps stripping it out, but I LOVE it.

So where does this leave me for 2015? I have a new coach who is already piling on the volume higher than I've ever done in December before, will evidently be paying out-of-pocket for my amazing training wardrobe, and am hoping to continue with Skratch. I will also be doing my earliest triathlon ever, which right now is looking like the very brutal (Here! Have a 55-degree swim! And the HILLIEST BIKE COURSE EVER!) Harryman downstate in May.

A lot of new things this year, including more strength training than I've ever done, and an introduction to paddles in swim training (Ruling in favor of - LOVE!). I'm excited to see what it all brings. I have this weird feeling of starting a long journey that while I don't know the destination, I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride.