Down for the Count

This was my office for week one of the off season.

In comparison to the length of the "season" my time off is incredibly short.  That said when you go from training 25+ hours a week to ZERO, three weeks is closer to eternity.  QT2 athletes get very serious about the off season. It isn't a time to swim, bike, run, jog as you want. It is a time to do none of this - not easy, not light, not at all. Get the drift?! I know the body needs serious time to heel but I certainly created havoc for Tim. No matter how many times I begged to go for an easy jog the answer was always the same: "no." I never got an explanation, just a "no" or sometimes he'd spice things up with a longer "absolutely not" response.

For the first week it was very easy to chillax. Following Ironman my brother and I took off for Cumbuco.  Cumbuco is a very small beach community with fierce trade winds that draws in kite surfers from near and far. Besides one post race recovery float (how could I resist - check out the pool/scenery at our hotel) the entire week was dedicated to making sure the beach chairs didn't fly away.

I am very appreciative for my time in Cumbuco, as it allowed me to experience Brazil outside of Fortaleza.  There were several more "is this for real" moments, but by weeks end we were no longer taken back by the sights and sounds that are Brazil! I mean it isn't every day you seen painted donkeys on the beach, or chilling next to the market.

After playing Ironman sherpa for a week it was fun watching Matthew surf in the open ocean - it is after all where he feels most alive.

Despite the 30+ hours of taxi's, flights & trains I was ready to get home by weeks end. United States of America, you sure are a wonderful place to call home!

I had two more weeks to get fat and out of shape.  I fought Tim over and over but he was there to remind me that my body gave me 3 Ironmans in 7 months. So like-it-or-not it was time to repair and rejuvenate.  As Thanksgiving neared I finally got Tim to crack and let me run a turkey trot Thanksgiving morning. I drove down to San Jose to toe the line in the Silicon Valley Elite 5k road race. I warned the race director that my performance would be ugly, and even if I was still fit I had no business racing professional runners who specialize in races with a duration of under 15minutes.  They insisted I join them so I jumped on it, swallowed my pride, and gave it my all. Yippee, I was after all finally running again.
My performance was just as pathetic as anticipated but I loved every second of it. These girls are the real deal!  Thank you to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and race director Carl. From the second we arrived Wednesday evening they rolled out the red carpet. (If only Ironman showed this kind of love towards their professionals).   This short 3.1 miles hurt like hell. After a short cool down it was back to the couch for a few more days.

My time off made me realize how many hours there actually are in a day! It isn't easy for me to kick back and chill, but it sure is nice to have energy and not feel like I'm part zombie.  I offer you 10 things that are different during the off season:

1) I read more over the last 3 weeks than I have all year;
2) Slept in until 8 or 9am every morning! That's 4 hours longer than normal. If only we could stock pile sleep;
3) Stayed up past 9pm. (maybe this is why #2 was possible);
4) I finally unpacked boxes from my move 2+ years ago and turned my second bedroom into a bedroom/office instead of a large storage closet;
5) Shopped in real stores. Amazon is my savior, but it sure is nice to actually see what I am buying before it shows up at my doorstep;
6) Found time for arts & crafts and baking fun things I never would of indulged in while trying to make race weight. Who am I?!?!
7) Ate a normal volume of food - as in 3 meals a day instead of 8;
8) I had enough energy to walk across the grocery store parking lot vs circling 10 times waiting for the closest possible place to park;
9) Enjoyed daily coffee and wine dates with friends. Let me tell you, I soaked this up, and enjoyed time to just relax without rushing off the my next workout or work....all the while thinking "so this is what normal people do;" and
10) I found time to update my blog twice in one week!

With that's it's time to get back to work. Tomorrow my 2015 season begins. Goals are set. Time to DWIT (do what it takes) to reach them!