Ramping back up.

Over the last couple of weeks since my last two races I have been doing a much lower volume of training. I don't think of it as slacking necessarily because I think it was partially needed for the sake of continuing to heal. I also think it was good to revisit what I used to do before I started training. I realize in the realm of race training I am an extreme n00b but what they say is true for anyone preparing for a race. It becomes your life to a degree.

Well, I'm back and ready for more. I already mentioned that I have a 10k in mind for late October. Now I've got a sprint tri in mind for mid-October two weeks before the 10k. I'm comfortable with the swim (400 m. in a 50-meter pool - hallelujah for no 16-length snake swim) and the run (5k). I just need to work on my bike (20k).

This week's workout continued:

Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 30 min. weights, 1.5 mile easy run
Thursday - rest
Friday - 30 min. weights, 6 mile bike
Saturday - 2 mile easy run

Really simple like I said, although I have been slowly increasing my weekly run distance over the last few weeks so that's something.

One thing I'm finding really difficult these days is locating training partners. Sure, I've been getting in on the tri club thing but they're all college students. That means they do a lot of their training during my work hours. I've missed probably five group rides in the last week and a half for this reason alone. I tried to meet up with some of them today and that didn't work out either.

My other friends are all in different places and on different schedules as well. I can handle running alone and sort of solve the swimming issue through attending coached practices, but biking alone is becoming a problem for me. I NEED a mentor, someone to show me what I'm doing right or wrong. I've been biking 100% alone since the beginning several months ago and at this point I feel like I've improved about as much as I can on my own. I need to learn from others now. However, for one reason or another I can't seem to find anyone to join up with who I won't slow down to a horrible degree. So I'm off for another lone bike ride tomorrow morning. It will be pretty and I'll enjoy the alone time but ultimately I'll wish I had a buddy.