Finally! An update! I have practically gone off the grid the past few months. Part of the reason was just due to spending more time with friends and having fun since my season was over, but a lot of it was my need to maintain a little sanity. My coach decided a nice super long off season was in order and while I am not someone who normally has trouble taking time off, this length of time was going to be a bit more of a struggle. So, in order to not drive myself crazy reading about everyone getting back to training, all the races that were still going on, etc., etc., I decided to just step away from facebook, twitter, triathlon mags, triathlon website, and pretty much anything triathlon related for a while. I did of course keep up with my coaching activities. Writing training plans, holding post-season reviews, talking about pre-season schedules, welcoming new clients are always fun so there was no issue there! I also gave several talks this off-season.  One to a local triathlon club on off-season training tips. I travelled up to Syracuse to give a talk on getting the most out of your training at a seminar held at Morehouse HFC and spent some timing catching up with my friends from CNY try club who were so welcoming when I came up to race Syracuse 70.3.  And I assisted with a seminar on functional strength training in Doylestown at Fusion Fitness where I have been doing quite a bit of functional strength myself. While all the coaching business managed to keep me busy, my lack of training still gave me time to partake in all the typical triathlete off-season acitivites: catching up with friends, staying up later than normal, drinking a few extra glasses of wine, cleaning and organizing, cuddling on the couch with my cat, shopping (I love to shop..it's a good thing I don't normally have too much time for this!), enjoyed being outside for some hiking , MTBing, and snowshoeing when I felt like it and enjoying the holidays.  I enjoyed the break...for a bit. As I said, I am one of those athletes who really enjoy my off days and the typical little mini breaks which happen throughout the year. Don't get me wrong, I love to train hard and chase goals, but I don't feel the need to workout everyday or train hard all the time. I understand the importance of rest days and recovery time and I really need it too. I also spent quite a bit of time getting my health in check, making sure my iron levels were coming up and everything else was 100%.  I will definitely be keeping better track of all this throughout 2014.  Live and learn!  As my off-season lingered on, my wounds healed, my fatigue resided, I got fat (haha, just kidding but I felt like it!), and I got lazy. I started to become totally fine sitting on the sofa for hours. But I also started to get antsy. Unfortunately for my coach this meant receiving several panicky emails from me. When it felt like every single triathlete on the planet had returned to training, I was still continuing to get out of shape, get fat, and lose all my fitness..at least that what it felt like. But Coach held fast to his decision. Of course, I trust my coach and the plan so I stuck it out. Finally I got the go ahead. I had never been so excited to get back to training but I was also VERY scared. Just how out of shape was I? I could only imagine what kind of a slug I was going to feel like.  But you know what? It surprisingly wasn't that bad. Sure I am not super fit right now, but it is January so I don't expect to be or want to be. My energy levels are high, my motivation is high, and my recovery was time is good. In the end, I'm glad I stuck it out through this extra long break. I am starting this season extra refreshed, extra excited, and extra motivated. I finally sat down, charted out my goals for this season which I love to do, and thought about what I can do better this year to be successful.  Self reflection is so important to continued improvement.  My race schedule is in the works-still tweaking that one but I have some big plans! Here's to good 2014!

Off-season MTBing!

Couch time with my cat!

Hanging with friends at the Morehouse HFC seminar

Talking at the Functional Strength Training Seminar at Fusion Fitness

Not sure why I am sitting down...energy conservation?