My second day of “back to training” week was a success. The biggest part of the success was actually making it to the pool! Over the past 6 weeks or so, I had tried over and over again to get my butt to the pool. However, I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed at 6am “just for fun.” Alas, I didn’t. My training buddies, who are still training for a Half IM in November were rather unsympathetic to my need for more sleep. But they had no choice. So I had a blissful 6 weeks of not getting up at 6am to hit the poo.

This morning, though, was another story. I woke up when my alarm went off and I was ready: my swim bag was already packed and I even made a smoothie before I went. By the end of the 2000m swim, I was starving. My training buddy asked me why I hadn’t eaten. It’s because my stomach gets upset, I get cramps, and I burp up whatever I had eaten earlier and it’s just unpleasant.

Low and behold, active.com had an article about it in the email they sent out called “Breakfast and Recovery Strategies for Swimmers.” I couldn’t believe it… sometimes I think that there are no coincidences in this crazy world. They told me what I already knew: an athlete should not work out without eating food first. In the article, they said even a small snack will help, like a banana and a spoon of peanut butter, applesauce and two graham crackers, raisins and pretzels, or cereal with low-fat milk (soy or rice milk for me). I think that I will try these small snack foods because I take my dog for a short walk before I go to the pool and could easily eat some pretzels and raisins while doing that. I thought I was doing pretty good just making sure I had my post-workout smoothie in the car ready to be consumed while driving home. I also had a piece of toast with peanut butter before hopping on my bike to go to work.

This just reinforces what I already know: to be a triathlete, you must be organized and prepared. I’m still working on that.

For the past several weeks, I have been happily in untraining mode. I have been drinking beer and wine without worrying about calories or whether I have to get up early the next day. I have been generally eating whatever I feel like, including french fries, potato chips, and soy ice cream. My bikes and runs have been mellow and I didn’t even keep track of them! I have no idea how far I ran or biked and I often didn’t even know how long they took. I just went and enjoyed. It was great. Yoga practice was frequent as was walking the dog. It was lovely.

This morning, though, was the beginning of my training plan for Ironman Part Deux. It is less than 9 months away and we all know that a lot can happen in nine months! I am currently easing myself back into training – 5 workouts a week with 2 days off. That is pretty sweet to me. I still get some time to myself and with my puppy. It’s for 6 weeks that I do that. 6 weeks after that is up to 7 times a week, according to my coach’s Macrocycle schedule. Right now I’m increasing my distance and then I’ll be increasing intensity of the workouts. I have my schedule until Christmas, so I can plan everything around that.

I have decided this time to do things a little bit differently: I’m combining some club workouts with my own schedule. I am going to swim with the Saskatoon Tri Club on Fridays for something different. On Tuesdays, starting in November, I’m going to do a coached spin class for bikers. On Thursdays, I’m doing an advanced yoga class. In between those, I’ll be doing my own coached program set up by my coach and buddy, Dan.

This morning’s 6km run wasn’t too bad, but my IT band and knee were sore again. As was my right ankle. I think I need new shoes in addition to a massage. So I’m planning to get both this week. I am only running once a week right now, which is good. I got into an ice-cold shower right after the run and did some yoga after that, which helped a bit, but on my bike commute to work, I could feel the elastic bands in my knee feeling a bit tighter than I would like. I have no idea what the ankle bit is about. I think it’s protesting because it wants new shoes.