Week off? Tri ... again.

ahh.
Spin class last night was wonderful.
The run today, wonderful (despite the 30mph gusts). Yes, I think the week off was a good thing.
Week off?

Oh, let me back up.

6 weeks ago I signed up for swim classes, determined to be better prepared for an olympic xterra triathlon this year. My first and only sprint tri 2 years ago was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience but the pain of getting through it, w/ really poor training and virtually no swim training left a lingering impression on me. Reservoir water does not taste good.

Back up a little more.

2 years ago I was in "good shape". I lifted weights 2x/day 4-5x/week and did spin classes and a kick a$$ strength conditioning class 3-4x/week plus some long difficult hikes and mountain bike rides on the weekends. I thought that would be enough to get me easily through a sprint tri. As for swimming, I thought having all the upper body strength, I could at least pull my body through the water and make it ok.
WRONG ... Maybe I'll stick to running.
Fast forward to last Thanksgiving. Having kicked a$$ on my first half marathon in September and certifiably "hooked" on longer distances I was ready to re-introduce triathlon into my vocabulary. I would love to get into adventure racing; eco-challenges really get my heart thumping. Hold on there cowboy, I can barely afford new running shoes and don't yet know how to correctly swim. Yeah, I can still enjoy watching and reading about adventure racing for a few more years. Let's learn how to swim, get educated about triathlon specific training and set some serious goals.

Back to 6 weeks ago.
I've been dropping the weight lifting and adding in swim and bike progressively more each week. First lesson learned, schedule swim and chest workout on same day. Otherwise I'll be too sore from one to do the other. Second, I hate spin class w/ out clip-in pedals. I think my big toenail is coming off from pulling up too hard in the stupid pedal baskets.
So anyway, things have been going well, some definite muscle soreness in the legs where my bike legs haven't been used for the last 6 months and in my back where my swim muscles never existed. Some days, my legs are concrete; meaning, cut the running mileage down slightly as I add on the biking mileage and STAY AWAY from squats til the next off-season. Shoulders are very sore; meaning, stay away from shoulder exercises in the gym as I increase the swimming workouts. I'm very tired all day; meaning, eat more and, ironically, lay off the coffee.
I am learning, documenting, reading, listening and tweaking every week.

Last week started off strong. Tuesday, I went through a hunger phase satisfied only with chocolate and one piece turned into 12 .... turned into .... lost count.
Hmm, it's 2pm, this should all digest by 5 so I'll go run right after work.
5pm, off and running. Damn my stomach hurts. It's alright Matthew, stick w/ it. It's not like I'm going to feel great every run I do. Just keep going, run through the pain, it's good to know you can if you had to.
6pm, done, wash off in the sink, wife's here to pick me up and off to my boy's kindergarten concert. I feel kinda ok, not near as bad as earlier. Concert .... "entertaining". How can you not smile at a bunch of 5 & 6yr olds singing wildly out of tune w/ the attention span of a rock.
9pm......I DO NOT FEEL GOOD.
I'll omit the theatrics of all the different types of restroom breaks I took all night. Just know that it was not because of my overactive bladder.

Long story short - week off. (of course I can say that now that I've told the long story)

Ok, back in saddle. Pick up where I left off, minus the candy binges.