The Season Is Over, So What Now?

My racing season has been over for more then a week, so what now? For starters, I took an entire week off of running. It gave both my body and mind time to reset. I also started back up with my strength training regimen, hoped back on the bike, and started visiting the Urbandale pool again.

As stated in previous blog posts, my main focus this off season is to get my weight down below 220 lbs. I'm also working to maintain a solid base in all 3 of my triathlon disciplines while continuing to  improve my strength, especially core strength. Another focus is to spend some time relaxing with several hunting trips to my cabin as well as spending time with family for the holidays. It was a very intense year, and I want to enter next season fully refreshed and ready to continue my improvement.

My off season training will include the following:

• Swimming - 2 days per week
• Bicycling - 3 days per week
• Running - 3 days per week
• Strength Training - 4 days per week
• Walking - A LOT

Unlike in season training, this schedule will be much more flexible and fluid (not a big deal if I miss a workout or 2 each week). Also, I don't have set distances or times for each training session. With a focus on strength training, I have reduced the number of sessions per week from 6 to 4, but plan to make them longer and include core exercises during each session.

I am also starting to research and work on my training and racing nutrition. Erin bought me a book for my birthday that is all about fueling for triathlon training and races (from sprint distance to Ironman distance). Nutrition is the one area that I have the most room for improvement and I hope to learn and implement a lot of changes going into next year.

So what does next year have in store? I plan to share my tentative schedule in another blog post, but I will share that it does include completing my first ever marathon. My official 18 week marathon training program begins on February 7. From the time I started training nearly 3 years ago, my plan was always to run a marathon. I have a long road of training ahead, but I can honestly say that I feel excited and ready to focus on this next goal.