February update

Winter training is going well, and the focus on the bike is really paying off. I don't use a power meter, but I can tell from the increased cadences at the same resistance and gears and heartrates that I am making progress. This week, I increased the resistance on the trainer another full turn, so I'm now working the same workouts a full two turns more resistance than last year at this time. That's progress.

I wanted to start swimming at the beginning of February, and I did actually start. BUT....I had some "crunching" in my shoulder that shouldn't be there and has never been there before, so I put off the start two weeks to make sure that doesn't come back. I think my strength training worked better than expected, especially the "swim pull" exercise, that my muscles are stronger than the stabilizers in the shoulder can handle. Also, I've always had a bit of cross-over in my stroke and not enough hip roll, so it's a matter of getting new and improved form before summer workouts begin. With better from, specifically not crossing over the center line, my hand entering the water flat rather than thumb-first, and a better hip roll combined with bi-lateral breathing, that "crunching" should go away. The 500's I swam before the crunching arrived were at about 7:45, and I swam two of them, so my times are better than normal for this time of the year. That leaves me some extra training time to continue focus on the bike and work on the improved stroke form.

With the swim shoulder problem, I've stopped lifting weights earlier than expected, and I'm filling that 45 minutes with running. I'm doing a definite training no-no by basically doubling my run volume in a week's time, but so far my body is handling it. I'm really tired, but my body is handling it. The runs are doable and close to my times in October, so that's good. All the biking is keeping my run times down pretty good. Unfortunately, I'm not doing enough back-country skiing to match last year, and that skiing is a really good endurance workout....only three days on the slopes so far this year because we didn't have enough snow until early January.

Overall, I'm really excited about where my bike is at, and satisified with my run. I'm anxious about what will happen with my swim, though.

As far as race planning, I have three races picked out right now. My reserve drill schedule is putting a huge damper on the races. My big races are normally at the end of August, but this year I'll be on my two-week training exercise at that time. So, I'm doing the Janet's Tri in West Yellowstone in June, followed the next week by a race in Jordanelle, UT that I'm excited about. I"m thinking about a race in Idaho Falls in mid-July, but the course is kind of strange....a 1,000ft climb on the bike and a six-loop run with a 300ft climb in it.....definitely not what excites me but could be painful in a good way....last year's winner had a 2:35 in the Olympic Distance so it's definitely challenging.

This weekend is three days of cross-country skiing with the family in Island Park and Harriman State Park. Last year was awesome, and this year should be better because Paul is a bit older!