Saturday, November 9, 2013

When the race season is over…

It’s an odd feeling when you’ve been training for SO long and all of a sudden everything you’ve been training for is over and there is no more set workout schedule.  The next couple of weeks will have no structure in terms of working out which is a really good feeling after sticking to a plan for so long.   Since the marathon, workouts have and continue to consist of circuit/cardio lifting sessions, short easy runs with Brutus, easy swims, easy rides, elliptical sessions, and lots of long family walks enjoying the fall weather with my guys!  One or two more weeks of keeping my body moving and working on strength before we start an “off-season” strength plan from our coach!  And then come January, we will each be working one on one with our amazing coach, who I am so pumped to work with!  I suppose January is the real start of our journey to Lake Placid, and I can’t wait!

No weekend alarm clocks for awhile!!


After the Nation’s tri, I was focused on marathon training (which paid off!) and I neglected the pool for a good 2 months and my poor bike just sat inside lonely.  Getting back in the pool this past week felt surprisingly good!  I definitely didn’t feel as strong in the water as I did in September, but it felt really good to be back at the pool.  Unfortunately, this weather doesn’t make for very good outdoor dates with my bike, but that’s what the trainer is for!  I’ve definitely missed being in the saddle, but I know that I will have LOTS of quality time with my bike in 2014!

Time for some more dates with the pool!


These past two weekends have been so nice.  Today, we ate breakfast, made a grocery list & meal plan for the week, walked Brutus, grocery shopped and were back home before 9am…and now we have NO plans other than folding laundry and watching football!  No workouts that we HAVE to do and certainly no LONG workouts.  We will both hit the gym or hop on the bike trainer, but there is no rush and if we choose to take Brutus hiking instead, that’s ok!  I am really excited to get on a more structured workout schedule again, but I am really enjoying these few off weeks. 



My body is also appreciating this down time.  The same amount of sleep goes a lot longer when you aren’t putting in 50+ miles per week!  I am starting to feel so refreshed and I’m sure that I’m going to be SO ready to start working on speed for IMLP come January!  Until then, I will continue to work on strength and low impact workouts to prep my body for the upcoming journey! I plan to start incorporating more swims, weights, yoga, and easy rides as well as less running.  It’s going to be hard for me to run less, but I know that my body will appreciate the lower impact workouts and it will be ready to hit the pavement feeling strong when the time in the training schedule is right!! Although, I’m sure I will be incorporating a few 2-3 miles “yogs” (realllyyy easy & slow jogs) with Brutus each week…can’t let him get out of shape!! 

Gotta keep this guy in shape! :)


This is our first true “off-season” where we have to really focus on strength and maintaining fitness without burning ourselves out.  We have some BIG races next year and we’ve got to prepare our bodies for what’s to come.  We will continue to fuel our bodies with good real foods and keep our eyes on the prize, but we will also enjoy this “down time” that we have before training picks up and our focus shifts.  I know triathlons and marathons are not for everyone, but I am SO glad that we jumped in and went after our dreams.  I have found a true passion in triathlon and distance running this year and I could not be more excited to conquer my dream of becoming an Iron(wo)man!  The best part is that I get to share this passion and journey with my amazing husband!!  



Beyond just enjoying the off season for the reasons I’ve listed above, I am SO excited for the holidays with family.  I don’t get to see my brother and his beautiful family nearly enough.  We are busy, they are busy, and we don’t live particularly close so unfortunately that doesn’t add up to us seeing each other very often.  The good news is that we will get to see them over Thanksgiving AND over Christmas…I can’t wait!!! We will also get to see my amazing sister-in-law, Heather, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and I can’t forget the family dogs!!  We are so blessed with such an amazing family (I think I’ve said it before, but when we got married we joined two of the coolest & most loving families on the face of this earth!)


SO exicted to see these guys!!


It may only be November, but 2014 better get ready for the Nelsons!! We’ve got some serious goals to accomplish and we are going after them with everything we’ve got! 






How are you spending your holidays?

What are your goals for 2014?