Off-Season Training Done ... Bring on 2014

After completing the Philadelphia Marathon on November 17th I consciously shut down my training and racing in a very real way with a simple goal - refresh the body and mind. For the first time in a long time the plan was to embrace the off season. I have a big agenda for 2014 (separate post for that) and I wanted to make sure I started the year in a good place, ready to put in the work.

In order to put the Type-A personality aside I had to consciously deal with the reality of being "out of shape," a bit heavier, and without the endorphins associated with my normal workout routine. And deal with it I did. As I write this, I am nowhere near peak fitness and five pounds heavier than I was six weeks ago. So, congratulations to me, I can successfully get out of shape!!! As for the feel-goodness that comes from training ... let's just say I'm ready to get out there and get 'er done.

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But just getting "out of shape" wasn't the point. The point was to get ready for racing in 2014. These six weeks were not just the end of 2013  but also the beginning of 2014. There were four things I wanted to accomplish in my down time - heal the body, take a mental break, get other stuff done, get stronger. How did I do?

Letting the body heal itself - With one exception my body feels better than it has in a few years. My legs are the exact opposite of heavy; most all of the minor aches and pains have gone away; I haven't needed the services of my chiropractor for 5+ weeks and counting. Even the shoulder strain that happened while moving a desk at work in late November is long gone. The problem is, the one exception is a recurring calf issue that has me away from running for almost two weeks now. It's a whole lot better but not 100%. Thus, I'm not running and will continue to fight the urge to run until it is completely healed. Better to miss a few weeks of running in December and January than in April or May. Due to injury I give myself an Off Season Mark of C.

Taking a mental break - For 5 weeks I trained when I felt like it with little or no intensity. I swam a little, ran a little, and rode outside whenever I could. Last week I started to get it together and did keep to a truncated training week schedule. On Thanksgiving morning I ran the Pumpkin Pie 5k in 27:xx, with no Garmin and no heart rate monitor. The only "mistake" of too much intensity was at the xMas City 5 Mile Run where I ran faster than I promised myself I would. It didn't feel bad and it was maybe 90 seconds slower than I could have done if I really pushed it. Being that I am ready to get to work, I give myself an Off Season Mark of A.

Getting other stuff done - I'm a pack rat. For years I've held onto stuff that I really didn't need to and this off season I changed most (some) of that. Over the past six weeks I went through the mess in the basement closet and got rid of a lot of the unnecessary clutter. Along with the cleanup I managed to read a few books, get caught up on my Feedly read list, visited the Weavers Way Co-op Grocery Store, better organize my digital life, got my money's worth of my Netflix subscription, and get caught up on my sleep. Not everything I want to do, but more than I realistically expected. Off Season Mark - A

Time to focus like it's game 7 of the World Series

Get strong - A few days after the marathon I got back into the gym and started the process of rebuilding some strength. As a former gym rat doing this has never been a problem. Over these last 6 weeks I have slowly increased the workload, sticking with mainly the big, multi-joint exercises. I'm stronger than I was last year at this time and almost back to where I was in 2013 when the strength work took a back seat to more specific triathlon training. Off Season Mark - A+

Overall - Starting the year feeling genuinely refreshed is a good feeling.This calf thing is a real bitch. I really find that I'm fighting my inner urge to just start training, assuming that it will just work itself out. Because that always works. Overall Off Season Mark - A-.

So here we sit at the beginning of 2014 and I enter my base training feeling really good, but not yet running. While it sucks, I'm trying to be ok with it. It feels like taking a step backwards will help me move forward and reach my racing goals this year. Time to focus like Andy Pettitte in Game 7 of the World Series.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon