Finally back in the water

So running and biking have been going well, got into another 10 mile run this weekend and a very tough 50 mile ride in the wind. But I haven't been in the water since October. Simple reason: I don't like swimming that much. If it weren't for triathlons, I would rarely ever swim laps. I really need to get over to the Gulf for some open water swims this summer, which are better than the pool, but just barely.

So yesterday I went to the pool and swam 1500 yards, like a rock. Part of it was the 10 mile run Saturday and 50 mile ride Sunday, but most of it was not having swum in 3+ months. I am not looking forward to the 3000-4000 meter swims I need to work up to for B2B. But as I've said before, at least the swim will be with the tide coming in so it should be the fastest 2.4 mile swim I can find.

I just started re-reading Going Long which I read about a year ago. I didn't read it as closely then as I am now, and I like what it's saying. The authors are 2 of the more respected tri coaches around and know what they are talking about. The one big thing I like is they say to concentrate on you 'key workouts', ie, your long run, bike and swim each week and not so much on the total mileage of each. They also recommend doing the long bike on the weekend and your long run during the week, preferably Wednesday. Training for the 1/2 IMs I've done, I also was doing both on the weekends and struggled getting through the Sunday workout. Their rationale is to be fresh for your long workouts, which makes sense to me. The tough part will be getting in the really long runs in the middle of the summer. Here is central Florida, there is no cool time of the day during July, August and September. Either you go in the morning when it's extremely humid and hot or during late afternoon/early evening whens it incredibly hot and humid. Most likely I will opt for the morning runs.

The race is just over 9 months away and my formal training(ie structured weeks/months) hasn't even begun. But now that I'm signed up, it feels much more real and I'm starting to put together my schedule. Don't want to start too soon and burn out but also don't want to wait and rush the long stuff. Hopefully by the end of February I will have a rough schedule of what I'll be doing the rest of the year.....stay tuned.