So last weekend I started biking again.  Better late than never, but even I know there is not much I can do now that will get me ready for a good race in Kalmar.  But I can do what I can to make sure I will enjoy my day.

After my last two rides I have noticed that my hands go numb, and my back tightens up making it harder to breathe. Today I met up with Leon and I think we found the problem areas to work on. I will meet with Leon twice next week and one last time a week before Kalmar.  It’s only been a few hours since we met, but I can really feel a difference just sitting at my desk and walking around the office. I will try to be better at my stretching and exercises, go for some longer rides and see what happens next Monday when we meet up again.

Tonight will be my first triathlon workout in 11 months.  I won’t get much swimming in myself, but I will be coaching (or giving) tips to those that show up. But after about 45-60 min in the water, we will bike 30-40 min out of town, and then head back to the lake (60-80 min total), park the bikes and then run 5-10 km. I am hoping it will give me the kick in the butt I need.

For the next three weeks I plan on focusing on long rides with low pulse.  I am not so worried about my heart or my legs, but I need to get my back use to the idea of sitting in the aggressive position of a triathlon bike.  I don’t think I will stress so much over long runs, but instead keep doing longer and longer swimruns.  I am currently up to 13 km, but should be able to get up to 15-16km a few times.  Just need to make sure I can find a time and a partner to go out with. Running in a wetsuit is not easy, and the swims break up the workout so it fun to be out and about. I will stick with the crossfit workouts that fit in my schedule until Aug 7th. Then from the 8th through the 15th I will just be swimming, biking and running to keep the feeling.

I don’t plan on starving myself the next three weeks to go lose weight, but I will put an extra effort in to not drink or eat junk food until after the race. It’s funny how the mind works.  13 months ago when I registered for my second IM, I was ready to take a 3-4 week rest, and then get back to work. I was going to get down to 82-84 kg.  I was going to get my marathon time down under 4 hours, I was going to bike better and faster.  I was really really set on getting under 11 hours.  But 3-4 weeks turned into 5-6 weeks that turned into 3 months, that just kept going. But now that Kalmar is knocking on the door, I kind of regret that I lost the edge. I regret that I let myself go the way I did.  Going from 88 to 100+ kg in just 6 weeks was too easy. In some small way I think being chosen for the Worlds in long distance triathlon broke my spirit more than I was willing to admit way back when.

I was asked by a friend if I wanted to do an Ironman with him when he turns 40.  That would make me 49.  I said sure why not. No pressure to get 16+ hours of training in for the next 6-8 years, but who knows what will happen on the 15th. I might be inspired to workout like a crazy man again, just for the fun of it.

The best thing that came out of this winter is my new found love for Swimrun training and crossfit.  Both are social activities that don’t have to take a lot of time unless you want them to take longer.