Xmas Week

Hard to believe another Christmas is right around the corner. This school year has flown by! We're excited to spend Xmas with my familly and see all the little ones open up gifts. My sister's son, Brody, is especially going to be a riot watching him as he is 1 and a half.

It's always nice to have a break this time of year from school. I am really looking forward to getting in some good training and spending more time with Rachel and Kennedy.

This week I've had some good training sessions. A couple I'll share are I did a trainer session with the main set being 3 x 5 min. at 330+ watts with minimal recovery. I was able to hit some very solid numbers for this one. Next time I do this set I'll add another 5 min. interval or two.

Most of my running has been on the easier side. When I feel good I'll let myself run low to mid 6s, but other than that I just am logging miles on the run front. I'll start in with a more specific run workout each week next week. This time of year those sessions mostly come in the way of a tempo, progression, fartlek, or hill session. I'll start to increase my long run too.

Swim wise I have been just mixing it up doing a variety of sessions. This morning I did a main set with Ryan of 200 swim, 200 kick, 2 x (100s, 100k), and 2 x (50s, 50k). The kicks were done just under 1:00 per 50 and the swims were about 2:35 for the 200, 1:15 for the 100s, and :35 for the 50s. Nothing crazy fast, but just a nice tempo. Rest was pretty much the kicking. We then did 10 x 25 ON 30 sec. hitting each of them about 13-14 sec. I am a big believer on throwing a short set like this after a main set to really work on swimming fast, but not hard...almost stride outs after a run. I think it helps my economy in the water and allows those tempo paces to seem a bit easier. It is also good practice for getting out at the start of races.

That's about all for now.

Merry Christmas!

Back At It

Thanksgiving w/ Rachel's family

Kennedy's 1st Halloween

Sorry I've been away for so long. I've had a few requests to write again because I'm so interesting...haha, yeah right! I do enjoy writing, though, so I'll try to be more diligent with this. A lot has gone on in the last few months...most of it all being positive. Rachel and Kennedy are doing well. Kennedy is growing every day. She is such a good girl. We have been very fortunate with how easy going she is. She sleeps and eats well, smiles a ton, and brings a ton of joy to us. I can't wait to come home every day after school to see her bright smile.

Teaching and coaching are going well. I did a couple of low key fall events, a half marathon on Mackinac Island where I came 2nd place and the Iceman Mtn. bike race which got me hooked on mtn. biking so I'll continue that once a week or so throughout the year now (when snow isn't here! or maybe even then too:))

I am slowly getting back into training, but still doing a decent amount of work. Swimming pretty much normal volume, cycling is about 3 - 4 hours on trainer work, but all highly structured. Without being able to ride outside and log miles during the winter here, the only way to improve one's cycling is through really getting after it. A power meter is such a valuable tool for me during the winter. I am confident in my winter training plan as I've figured out a system that works and sees me entering Spring each year a little further ahead than the previous year. I'm back doing some resistance training and plan to keep that in the mix all year next year as I really think it helps me out.

I've been out twice on the xc skis. We have had a very mild winter so far so just recently we have had enough snow to get out. I look forward to skiing once or twice a week as it's great cross training and helps build the engine while being pretty easy on the body being a non impact activity. I plan to do 4-5 ski races this winter too. Hopefully I can fair well in a few of them and finish near the pointy end. Last year was a learning experience, but I feel like I have gotten better over last year and then roller skiing some this fall. My technique has a ways to go still, but engine wise I'm right there.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming holidays. It's always a blast seeing family and friends, not to mention some time off from school for some extra training and extra time with Rachel and Kennedy.

I hope you all are starting to prep your bodies for the real work to come after the New Year. It is the off season, but if you plan on improving from last season the time is NOW to train hard and work on your weaknesses.

Happy Holidays!