Cool Stuff March

Wow. Much activity. So stuff. Yeah.

This month was jam packed with lots of activity and fun and parties and work deadlines and races and training and trips and OMG. I am actually in better shape than I thought I would be, but that doesn’t mean it’s not time to get real in the whole foods parking lot in April to try and start the approach to Tri Season #1 and have a body a little more like an athlete than a frat boy.

In terms of run/bike/swim, the ol’ bod held up rather well. I think the week of vacation with activity, but not formal training really helped me. I stayed injury-free all month and my heel seems to be in recovery. Still not sure what happened, but a steady diet of shoe rotation and massage seems to have fixed the issue.

I ran a not-so-good race, but I was pretty happy with my not-so-good race time considering the trauma. I had a great… bike race? outdoor timed venture with other people? supported ride? where I confirmed that my bike and brick fitness is coming along pretty nicely.

Training hours were lower than February, but I knew that would be the case. They were 7, 10, and 8 respectively since vacation, and while I’d like to be doing a little more sometimes, I feel like I’m doing ok. I have been working on doing QUALITY riding instead of just getting on the bike and pedaling, I’ve incorporated run speedwork back in my life and done 25 miles per week of running, and though I’ve completely let swimming take a backseat, I don’t feel like it’s hurt me (much). The weights – well, I’ve done them, but I’ve been inconsistent.

My eating went to shit. Let’s just be honest. I probably had more sweets this month than I normally eat in all the other months of the year. For birthday things and party things and outing things and everyone just really wanted to shove cupcakes in my mouth this month and frankly, I didn’t argue. They were delicious.

I also spent quite a few late nights up drinking more than I should. I have a tolerance for some alcohol in my life as a treat, but this got beyond ridiculous with some 12+ hour days of partying on the weekends.

I regret nothing. I had an awesome month, and ate and drank so many fantastic things and had SUCH fun times. But, truth be told, it’s time to break out of that pleasure haze and get to work.

I’m still trying to figure out what April will be. I know it will be these things:

1. Sugar Detox. No sugar minus a few exceptions: a) getting a small fro yo once every week or two. I know this sounds like a cop out, but this ONE dessert actually keeps us from a lot of other crap. b) my dad’s birthday and easter are this month. I’ll probably have a small bite of some desert here too. But that is the extent of it. Also, bike snacks only count if I’m pedaling (eating 15 jellybeans before I get on the bike is NOT OK).

2. 20 out of 21 meals + all snacks = healthy food. I get to pick one meal a week that has: a) fried food b) refined grains c) other crap that makes me consider it not healthy. If someone gives me pizza on Monday and I eat it, that’s my meal for the week.

3. Taking care of myself to not get stressed/burnt. I have two back to back races (a half this weekend and a 10 miler next), and I don’t plan on jogging either of them. I’ll show up to each and see how I feel, but if I feel good, I’m going to race.

4. Figuring out what needs attention in the next 5 weeks before Texasman X-50. So far, that list has open water swimming and outdoor riding/hill work on it. Implied is maintaining a good volume of running.

And now, let’s move onto COOL STUFF MARCH! Here are the highlights…

Half Marathon in The Woodlands