November

November is almost always a quiet month for me in terms of training and racing. In a few weeks I will officially begin training for next season, but for now I am lazy. Sometimes I do my workouts; sometimes I do not.

Lately I've been doing a lot of this:

Hazel is less happy about this development than I am. Here she is trying to communicate with me telepathically: NO more reading, Mom! Time to take me running in the woods! What's the deal here!!


When I'm not lounging in bed reading, I've been swimming and running a bit. My swimming is going well because I have been swimming with a Masters group that has me swimming more and swimming harder than I have for a long time. Running--not so much. I'm enjoying running, especially since it was taken from me (because of the stress fracture) for eight weeks. But my running is slowwwwwwww. Partially this is because it's supposed to be slow. It's November! Partly this is because when you don't run for 8 weeks you lose some (or a lot more than some) run fitness.

It's okay.
I'm keeping the faith that it will come back.

I haven't been biking much at all lately. I had a ton of fun with cyclocross, but I can feel that my mind and body want to shut it down for a few weeks now, before they have to gear up for real training again. So I'm letting them shut down. See how much wiser I'm getting in my old age?  I know. It's kind of stunning, really.

My favorite aspect of November is that it is generally a planning month.
I love planning.

I plan the garden for next spring, I plan my winter list of books to read, and I plan my next triathlon season.  I've officially decided that I am not training for an Ironman in 2013. I want to train for an Ironman, don't get me wrong. I love that training! But I think my body and mind need a break from it.  Lake Placid this year was hard... hard physically, of course, but mostly hard mentally. I wasn't in the game at all, especially for the run. Then very soon after Lake Placid I was diagnosed with the stress fracture.  I want to be one of those people who bounces back after a bad race and a bad injury; someone who triumphs by moving right on. That has been me in the past... but not so this time around. Maybe that's aging too?

I spent the fall playing--doing cyclocross--something totally new for me, and I think I'm going to keep up that idea of play during 2013.  That is not to say I am blowing off training or racing... not at all.  But I'm doing a few things I haven't done before, and I'm leaving the Ironman until 2014.

So, here it is! I know you have all been waiting with baited breath... my 2013 Racing Schedule!

January. a New Year's 5k. That should be interesting. Wellesley Masters Swim Meet
February. Cape Elizabeth 10 Miler. (some things never change) and the Foxboro 10 Miler (never done that one!)
March: Quincy Half Marathon and California 70.3
April: Break
May: Sudbury Sprint, Masters Swim Nationals in Indianapolis
June: Holliston Sprint, Patriot Half IM
July: Break!
August: OP 5k, Tri For Preservation Sprint, OOB 70.3
September: Pumpkinman Half IM
Sept-Dec: CROSS!

I like the 70.3 distance, so I'm kind of psyched to be racing four of them next season. I'm also super excited to venture to Indianapolis in May for Masters Swim Nationals. I'll be swimming 50/100/200 backstroke (the only events I can qualify in!) but I'm MORE excited to just view the scene. I love watching really gifted swimmers, and this is the venue for that! And, of course, I can't wait to tackle cyclocross again next fall.  I plan to move and shake my way up from the bottom of  cat 4. Woot!