Shoulder Season = Near Term Plans

Here it is September and post-Labor Day. That means almost all the way back to the grind. I say "almost" because I still have some fishing to do, but otherwise summer is over. My season did not go as planned, ending quite earlier than expected. Even the September Xterra I was hoping to do in Park City at the end of this month got pre-empted (this one by Marine Corps Reserve).

So what am I going to do? I figure for the month of September I'll concentrate on running every day at lunch, starting at three miles per run per day last week and ending at six miles per run for five runs per week at the end of the month. The months of July and August were everything but triathlon it seems, and I gained alot of weight(!).

What to do during the shoulder season?

1. Take a break, number one, but already took a break(!) in July and August because I had other things that HAD to happen.

2. I can start hard into a new training schedule, but I'd peak mentally in February or so, and I'm not quite ready to get into something like that right now, anyway.

3. Take it easy but continue to exercise so that when I start up a new training cycle, I'm not starting from scratch and when it's time to put on skis, I can still get up and down the hill all day without a heart attack.

Option #3 with caveats it is!

During September and October, I will continue the transition to AmphibOps.com, too. That will take some time, and now is the time to do it before I get into a new training schedule. I'm about half way done with a planning book, too, and I hope to finish that by the end of October.

Somewhere in there, I want to review this past year and set up next year. My initial thoughts are the Boise 70.3, but I'm not sure I want to spend money on a big entrance fee for a race that could have any kind of weather. I also hope to get back into the August races because next year I'll be with a different unit and not have to travel all of August (yeah!). Then, I promise myself that I will do that Xterra in Park City in September!

But there's a lot of time between now and then. I always seem to peak in my training in late March, mentally for sure and probably physically, too. I need to figure out a way around that.

At least for September, I'll just be running and trying to get some weight off me. October will be more of the same and include some of the local trail run series. November will be the beginning of biking and swimming again, I think.