Medals and massage

I finally have my TriWoman finisher’s medals engraved.  When I say finally, I mean I finally have number one engraved but since it took so long to get around to it, I had number two engraved at the same time.  I decided I should get off my jacksy, and have medals one and two done before I get number three in 2.5 weeks’ time.  LOL!  Now I just need to figure out where I will hang them. 

They look great; here is a photo of the handiwork:

In other news, I am getting weekly massages now.  We have two sports masseuses who are awesome (one is more awesome but that is life) and come into work on alternating weeks.  Tomorrow Paula will be smoothing me out post-race.  Last week it was Kirsten doing post-race and pre-race.  The joys of having two triathlons on back-to-back weekends means an almost weekly massage, and it is good for my muscles so I will continue with it.

I am back to swim training tonight, after three days of rest from swimming.  Doing a hard pool coaching session the day before a tri is probably not ideal (especially with only 16 hours of rest in between) but that is how my schedule pans out so it is just tough!  I will make sure there are no freestyle sprints or long distance sessions before the next and final two triathlons of the season – I want to kick some jacksy and get a PR at Mission Bay on 18 April.

I have also had the last two days off training, as two back-to-backs have left me physically exhausted (Monday) and mentally exhausted (Tuesday).  I did a lot of walking both days, had spas and did some aqua jogging but was just too tired to actually train properly.  I wanted to get back into it last night but I was just too tired.  I fell asleep on the train and woke up three stations past my usual one, which was not cool.  I am definitely beginning to plead post-race stupidity syndrome – caused by my suspicion that your body is diverting all its energy and resources away from your brain, in order to repair your muscles. 

Lucky for me I have the day off after both the next two events – I have people to take to medical appointments in the afternoons but at least I get to sleep in, relax and recover the next morning.  The best part is that there will be no post-race stupidity at work as I will not be there, struggling to stay focussed and awake when all I really want to do is eat and sleep!

I have 2.5 weeks until number six and 3.5 weeks until number seven.  Wahoo!  The next one is the longest distance to date by 1km and tonnes of hills, but I cannot see that being a huge dramatic problem.  I would rather take a bit longer at that one, and save myself for the super-duper sprint one the following weekend, which will be my PR event for the season.  The next few weeks will be all about bike sprints, bike hills, increasing my swim endurance, and dropping my run time. 

I have a funny feeling that I will be making good use of my windtrainer and virtualrider DVD, especially since it decided to start raining again this afternoon.  At least it is a pool session tonight, and I have treadmills at the gym to run on if it is hosing down outside.  One day I may have to race in the rain but for now, I would quite like to avoid drowning my Asics, thanks very much!

So what the hang am I going to do in the off season?  Fun runs and bike events, of course, interspersed with wind trainer and treadmill sessions, pool swims and whatever else I can think of.  I miss Salsa, Bachata and Bellydance, which I gave up to pursue triathlon.  So, more dancing is on the cards.  More Yoga.  More Pilates.  Basically, I'm going to become a dancing and fitness machine.

My first fun run is a 10km in Rotorua in May (part of the Marathon) and with a four-day weekend I will have days off either side and many hot pools at my disposal. In addition, I will get to see lots of geothermal stuff, which is one of my interests besides triathlon, fitness, dancing, music, Pilates, scrapbooking, travel and photography. I will of course take photos of that geothermal stuff to scrapbook later.

My second fun run will be 10km at funrun pink in Melbourne in August. Then, either another 10km or a half Marathon later in the year. Triathlon season kicks back up around October/November so there's six months to start training for sprint and Olympic distance events. I'll still do super sprint and fun distances, but the key to my Ironman New Zealand 2012 plan is to get sprints and olys knocked off at the end of this year so I can do half irons next year and then Irons from 2012.

That's the plan...stay tuned!