It's on...

So this is officially the start of my second season of triathlon. I am definitely happy with how my first season shaped up considering I had no expectations for myself and really had no idea what I could accomplish. This year will be quite a bit different as I have set the bar pretty high and am planning on working harder/smarter than I ever have.

This past week training has been hit or miss for me. I tried to get in most of my workouts but moving took up a lot of time and energy. Yesterday I kicked off the new year with a 2.5 hour mountain bike around my new place. There are some killer trails practically right out my back door. There is one climb that is very similar to black mountain and will be perfect when I am training for Xterra.

Today is the first day of my specific training for the 70.3 on 3/31. I have my plan for the next 5 weeks and I am really looking forward to it. It's definitely longer workouts than I have ever done before. I knocked out 4k yards this morning at Masters and felt pretty good and will be hitting the trainer tonight.

so everybody does it... New years resolutions. I don't know if the following things are resolutions but they are things I want to improve on/change in 2007 in hopes that it will make me heathier, faster, and stronger.

1. Cut way back on the caffeine.

I know I drink way too much coffee right now and it's not just for the caffeine fix. I love coffee and esspresso. I would say I average between 3-6 cups a day, and some days more. I usually have atleast one diet coke a day too. Since it's gotten cooler I often have a cup of coffee in the afternoon and another in the evening. It's no suprise I have had some trouble getting to sleep as of late. So the plan is to cut back on the coffee to 2 cups a day (one before morning workout and then another once I get to work), completely elminate any kind of soda, and no caffeine after noon. I even bought some Decaf and have been getting Decaf when I go out and get coffee.

2. Cut back on the drinking.

Anybody that knows me knows that I enjoy drinking beer and the occasionl whiskey. It's easy to justify knocking back a couple of beers on weekends after a hard workout but I am curious to see what happens if I really reduce my intake. I am not planning on totally eliminating alcohol because there has to be some balance. But in weeks leading up races and time of really intense training there will be no drinking. Leading up to the 70.3 the plan is to not have any alochol after 2/4 (superbowl) and 3/31 (race day). With the Chargers in the playoffs many of my friends will be having parties that I will definitely be attending, but still keeping things in moderation. There will be no drinking during the week from here on out. This is more of an experiment than anything. I want to see if I feel a noticable difference in how I feel and how I recover.

3. Really focus on recovery

I have a tendency to want to do too much and by doing this I probably don't let my body adequately recover. I have already scheduled massages/adjustments every 2 weeks from this Friday through March. Regular massage and chiropractic work has done wonders for me. The neck problems I used to have a year and half ago are pretty much non existant. I also want to get more sleep. I am going to try and sleep in on weekends prior to my big workouts. I have a problem sleeping in. Even when I have nothing to do I am usually up by 630 am. I would love to sleep until about 8 or 9 and then head out the door for my weekend workouts around 10. I also want to try and take 45-60 minute naps on the weekends post workout.

I think that's it. I am really looking forward to 2007.