reflect

2017 Triathlon Season

Today was a wrap on the 2017 triathlon season!  Since my first one last year, I have fallen in love with this race.  I completed 3 Tris this year – one was suppose to be an ocean swim, but due to rough waters it was cancelled (Islandman Triathlon in Avalon); another in a pool which I’m not a fan of the serpentine style race (Lititz RecCenter Triathlon); and a lake which was awesome, even if my shoulder was acting up and I had to breast stroke the entire distance (Marshman Triathlon in Marsh Creek State Park).

Like all my half marathons, I really do need to start properly training for these events.  I do believe going to CrossFit a few times a week does help build strength and endurance, but CrossFit does not prepare you for sitting on a bike for extended period…Luckily you can swim however you want so there is always breast stroke. I would actually like to do better so I really need to start freestyling and conserving my energy for the other 2 legs.  Maybe next year I’ll properly plan and train for any Tris I decide to compete in….I do always say this for whatever race I sign up for…one day tho!

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Lititz Triathlon Recap

I do have one regret from last weekend’s triathlon…I should have gone harder. I’ve had the mentality lately of showing up and doing the work without pushing myself. Sunday’s race was no different. I swam and biked with minimal effort.

I am competitive but I’ve tried to keep it under control the last few years. It is more with myself than it is with other people. However, a little friendly competition isn’t going to hurt. The friend that got me into triathlons was doing this one. We both signed up last minute without any true training for the tri. But CrossFit trains you for anything, right?!

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Digestion: The basics to help fuel your daily grind

With all the stress I have in my life, the last thing I thought I was effecting was my digestion.  Hell, for the past few years I’ve completely shifted what I ate and how I thought about food.  I thought I was doing a pretty damn good job of eating the right foods to provide my body the fuel I needed to perform optimally. Enter NTA and a wrench in my daily grind…I have come to the realization that over at least the past 2 years I have been “thriving” off of cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline).

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Overtraining

CRAP! The Islandman Triathlon is officially less than 3 weeks away.  I am starting to freak out a little about the race.  Since signing up (February?) I haven’t had a game plan – real surprise there, right?  Even though this is nothing new (I have never truly stuck to any sort of training program), I thought this time would be different.  I do want to do really well, not trying to win awards here, but I do want to crush it to my own ability.  Either way, I know I will be able to cross that finish line.  The only possible disappointment I’ll have is when I don’t beat the three others that I’m doing it with.  But to my defense, they do have more experience with triathlons, access to a pool for training whenever they want, and are taller than me = longer running strides.

Last week was a short work week due to Memorial Day, so I thought I would have more time to do things I wanted to do.  It was 4 weeks to go until the triathlon.  Again, no real training plan so I didn’t think much of what I was doing every day.  Well I was totally wrong, I definitely over did it.  My body is SCREAMING at me this past weekend and still is today.  My quads and hip flexors are extremely tight.

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