Well, today's post isn't going to be a point counter-point about reality television, nor will it cover some new recipe with which I've been experimenting. Nope. Today will just cover some of my most recent workouts and my short-term plans. Yeah. Believe it or not, I've actually managed to do a little training. I've got some races in mind for this year, but haven't laid down the coin yet for any entry fees, so my training has been a little unfocused. Shoot. Up until a couple weeks ago, I really didn't have any kind of strategy.
At this point, I'm toying with the idea of doing a half-Ironman in July as my 'A' race. Sure, I'll have several other races and events peppered out through the spring and summer, but I'd like my fitness to peak in late July. I really like the concept of doing a modified version of the 20-week full Ironman training plan that I did last year - tweaking things just a bit to focus more on speed. I'll have to start that plan in late February or early March, so guess what I'll be up to until then. Go ahead. Guess. Okay, if you said 'losing weight' you'd be right on the money.
Leading up to the Ironman last September, I was weighing in at around 168. Sure, I'd come a long way from the 210 I was carrying when I started training a couple years ago, but there was still room for improvement. These days, I'm hovering at around 173. I'm not sure what caused the weight gain, although I have a feeling it may have something to do with all the cheesecakes I've been making or that little 'sausage wrapped in ham wrapped in bacon' adventure.
The bottom line is that I'd like to drop another 5-15 pounds in the next few months. I don't need to go too crazy, but it'll take some discipline to get down there in time for race season.
Anyway, until the next training plan kicks in, I'll be upping my volume, but keeping most of my workouts in the aerobic zones. I won't get too deep into the science of it, but strenuous anaerobic exercise - where you're constantly out of breath - doesn't burn fat as well as extended workouts at a lower intensity.
A perfect example of this type of workout is the 3-hour Spinerval workout I posted about a couple weeks ago. I ran through this DVD again yesterday evening, and left another nasty sweat puddle on the floor. Today, I had my first extended swim workout since last September. It was a series of 500-yard intervals in the pool. Tomorrow will be a lengthy run.
So far, increasing the workout time has felt great. It's nice to get back into a routine. I didn't realize how much I missed the feeling of fatigued legs and being truly tired at the end of the day.
I'll be back in a day or two to cover some of the diet adjustments I've made to hit my goal. Don't worry, it's nothing too extreme.
Later dudes.
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