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A week of hours

I am racing an Ironman triathlon in, oh, 7.5 months. Plus two half-ironman-distance races, at least one shorter triathlon, and probably a couple of half-marathons between now and then. I've been running regularly, spinning and biking irregularly, and swimming NOT AT ALL since October. It's time to get my butt off the couch and my hand off the wine bottle. It's almost February. Jeesh.

I will be revealing my plans for getting back into awesome Ironwoman shape later (when I figure them out myself). But the first thing I decided for this year's training is the One-Hour Rule, which I mentioned in an earlier post.

I decided to make all of my workouts last at least an hour because I've gotten into the habit of copping out and doing the bare minimum. And so far, I've been sticking to the rule. Well, at least this week I have. OK, last week was bad, because I was traveling for work, and the only workout I did between Monday and Saturday was a 40-minute run on a hotel treadmill. But other than that, all of my runs, bikes, and spin classes have been at least 60 minutes. I did a three-hour ride and two-hour run over the weekend. Then I did an hour and a half on a spin bike on Monday! That shows mental fortitude right there, people. No more 45-minute spin classes for me.

I've also been very good about cutting out the weekday alcohol. That's a major source of unnecessary calories. So in two weeks, two small-but-big victories.

Next week I return to the pool! (Insert dramatic orchestral hits!) I will allow myself to keep my first few workouts under an hour. I just hope I can remember how to swim.

January 25, 2006 5:29 PM