Training begins tomorrow

As I write this, I’m eating peppermint bark from one of my favorite people. Not exactly healthy, but being that *real training* begins TOMORROW, I’m living it up tonight. I’m also having a glass of wine. 🙂

The past week has seen it’s fair share of workouts. I got two swims in: Wednesday saw an easy 600m and Sunday saw an 800m. I spent some time on a bike: last Saturday = 16 miles and a serious reality check. Damn you hills, damn you to hell. The fact that the bike portion of the triathlon is a “hilly” 30 kilometers only means I will be cursing the hills more as the weeks go on. Particularly because I have it in my head that I’ll start commuting to work (24 miles round-trip) as a means of training. Who is this person I’ve become?

Tomorrow marks the beginning of pre-season strength training. 8 weeks and counting until intensive training begins. I’m working with my coaches to see if additional work with a physical therapist will be neccessary. The swim and the bike don’t scare me — I’m just horribly out of cardio shape and that’s going to take some time to develop — but I AM terrified of the run and what it means for my joints. The phrase “pounding the pavement” came from somewhere, remember. I’ll be seeing my rheumatologist in February, so we’ll see how these next few weeks treat me. I’m glad I’m working with professionals — they’ll take good care of me! 🙂

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow evening holds for me. And away we go! Now back to the peppermint bark…