The Training Season Has Begun

It's always an exciting time when the off-season is over and I get back into some hard training again but I forgot how much it can take out of me. It's been a while since I've had to push myself in training and I'm starting to feel the effects of a couple hard efforts. I did an hour easy run with the boys and Harley last Saturday followed by an hour of "Drop the Hammer" Coach Troy session and I forgot how much that can take out of you. Fortunately Amber has been on a smoothie kick and has been blending up all sorts of fruits and vegies which is outstanding for recovery. I've feel like my body is just soaking up all the nutrients in one drink and it's so much easier to drink vegies and fruit than eat it. I know I'm guilty of buying all sorts of good food just to watch it go to waste because it takes a lot of effort to prepare and eat it all. Now Amber and I can just blend it all up and drink it down, it's awesome.

This has been a tough week for a lot of people, it's been -30'c and colder and everyone is starting to feel the workouts take effect on their well rested bodies. I know of a couple people who have been sick this past week and I feel like I've been fighting something so I took two days off. I started to bounce back last night so I did 45kms of the Great White North course and felt fantastic. I'm still not in peak shape and I don't have my new bike yet but I managed to bang out the 45kms in 1:11.00, not bad for this time of year. Followed that up with a good swim with Bart and Robert this morning doing 5 x 5 sets of 50's going faster each set. It was good to get back to pushing in the pool again and 50's are a great way to jump back into some hard swimming. I'm swimming better than I have in a long time and I want to try to hold on to this fitness going into the spring/summer and hopefully not be so far behind everyone coming out of the water this year. This next week will be an 'endurance focused' week as I go into the next 5 mile Speed Revolution race. The race on the 28th is going to be a killer- Wapiti Hill Climb! 1 mile- 2%, 1 mile- 4%, 1 mile- 6%, 1 mile- 4%, and the final mile at 2%... yikes!