I'm Cool!

Last night after the 7th/8th grade dance, I picked up Nick and took him home to get stuff for a sleepover. Then we got back in the car to go pick up the other two boys. On the way, my iPod played Dire Straights' Money for Nothing. You know, it has that great opening drum solo, followed by a guitar solo. Upon hearing it for the first time, Nick says, "That's awesome!" I burst out laughing. "Why are you laughing?" "Because I NEVER said that about the music my father played." Which is true. However the real truth was that I was bursting with a great feeling of acceptance. My son thinks I'm cool!!! Well...maybe he thinks the music is cool. No...I like the former. We payed the opening another three times. Then we picked up the other boys and played it again. Those two are in the back yelling, "That's sick!" and playing air drums and guitar. Btw, "sick" is really good. In fact, better than "awesome." My son's friends think I'm cool! I still laugh at the scene and my reaction. I guess most parents have an innate desire to be friends with their kids. Made my day.

As for training, it's been a bit all over the place. I've been dealing with a host of injuries- hamstring, quad, knee, SI joints. So I've been on my bike just four times in the last two months. Running has been better, about 2-3 times per week. I can still build into a good run, to the point where I feel I could hold 7:15-7:30 forever. However I haven't been longer than 5 miles in the last month.

My big focus has been in the pool. I've done 65,000 yards in the last 5 weeks, with the max at 17,000 yards three weeks ago. I've been using paddles for the first time in decades, just once per week, not too hard, and no more than 1000 yards. As long as my shoulders hold up, I think the added strength will make a big difference.

In total, I'm at just 5-6 hours per week, and there are no double sessions. I'm just now beginning to add some strength work and weekly structure. I realized I needed a break from the training grind, especially considering I have 10 months to my target race. I'm going to build weekly hours gradually, without hitting my max until May or June. Last year I did 11-12 hours from November through March, then cut down to 10. It was too much. In the next few months, I'm also going to go through phases of focusing on certain sports. Lately, it's been swimming. I'll soon ramp up the running with a focus on the Cape 10 miler in early February. Then I'll back off on the run and have a two month bike focus. I think this plan will keep me fresher for the season without sacrificing results.

Congrats to those who raced Kona last week, and good luck to those @ the Great Floridian this weekend. That was my first ironman, 10 years ago this week.