Its that time of year again....

racing season is right around the corner! despite the fact that the weekend forcast includes snow, in a few short months, Ill be back on course with a hectic racing schedule, culminating in Louisville Kentucky, for Ironman #3. Its been an interesting off season since my last IM. I started ( and now am almost done with) the second year of my PhD which has been surprisingly difficult. the extra exhaustion caused by worrying about whether or not I will really ever understand statistical genetics made getting up at 5:30 in the morning for whatever exercise in self loathing ive come up with extra difficult.

That aside, I also have been battleing with my IT band "syndrome" , which really makes it sounds like some sort of mental disorder... its been touch and go, but I think I am on the right track. Lots of lateral motion excercises to get my hips stronger.

And i guess the other two things to note. 1) I ran my first stand alone marathon ( no swimming or biking involved) and I had mixed feelings. And 2) I hired a coach.

As far as the marathon goes... i felt it was alot less stressful than triathlon. No worrying about flat tires, forgetting goggles or some freak bike accident that could send you flying over your handlebars and into a ditch. Running only allows your to enjoy the simplicity of the whole thing. All you need is a pair of shoes. But on the other hand, i was bored out of my frickin mind. How do people race like this? I feel like one of the things i enjoy the most about triathlon is that feeling you get when you run (or fall) out of the water, rip your goggles off and hear the crowd on either side as you run into transition. You run a triathlon for those moments... and to push yourself through that feeling when you think you legs are going to fall off when you get off the bike and realize you still have to run. Unfortunatly, during a marathon, i didnt have those moments so mentally the time just dragged on.

And heres the shout out to Coach Steve!! wooot woot . I found him on tri-ecoach.com and have been working with him since December. I needed help getting through my off season in an effecient way and to really focus back on the basics. My issue has never been endurance. I could run for days. Myreal reason is using my 4'11 frame to its best advantae, and, in the quickest way possible.. the latter being the hard part. When your turn over has to be twice as fast as as almost everyone else on the course you also wear yourself out twice as fast, and therefore, slow down.

So I needed help refocusing. I needed to really take a hard look at my workouts and see if I were really using my time to its best advantage, and its turns out, according to coach, i wasnt. We have taken the duration of some of my workouts down a notch ( for now) and added some serious intensity in its place. All in all its been great. I am really starting to notice a difference and I have high hopes for the season. now, if i can only get my IT band to cooperate.

Ok- so the plan for the blog this year is to keep people updated, but also to provide links to articles or anything I may find interesting ...hope you all enjoy!!