October

Most of my training these days is spent in the pool and in the weight room. My goal for the next two months is to improve my efficiencies in the water and improve my overall body strength. I've asked a friend to meet me in the weight room every Tuesday and Thursday morning (add a 3rd day by myself)and so far the accountability of "having to meet someone" is proving beneficial. It has become too easy to stay at home and do some work or answer e-mails. The weight routine for this month is adaption. I'm getting my muscles and ligaments ready for the harder work which will come.

In the pool I have incorporated a lot of drill work. I purchased a snorkel from Finis and have used the aides to allow me to focus on the benefit of each drill. With very little work I have noticed a dramatic improvement in the manner in which I move through the water. The combination of strength training (which includes core work) has already shown benefits in my average 100 pacing and I haven't even worked on speed.

I also plan to bike 2-3 times a week. The weather will dictate what type of riding a do (indoors on the computrainer) or outdoors. My goal is to improving pedaling efficiencies and build base (same as it is most years).

No running this month as I'm still dealing with some side effects from the medication I took. The antibiotics I was on has a side effect of severe muscle cramping. A bunch of the local triathletes play on a kick ball team and while I was running to first the other night both my quads seized on me. I'm off the meds now but the quads still aren't happy. I'm trying to decide what to do next.

Kona is this weekend and we had our annual Kona send off bash for local athletes going to the race. The event was well attended and based on the number of bottles of wine (20) and beer bottles (48) everyone had a good time. This affair is a great way for the local athletes to come together one last time before going into hibernation for the winter.