Lately I’ve been in the so called “Base Period” of training.
My two big A races back in October (1/2 IM) and Marathon (December) netted PRs and signified the end of a successful season. Now my goals are months away
It has been quite a while since I have experienced this…
In June 2009 I started training for the ACT ½ IM… then immediately into Marathon training…

While training for the marathon I decided to sign up for
Desert RATS 2010… Well… having never done an ultra… the thought of basically doing a few of them in a week (RATS) scared me into signing up for a few. Which I did last year leading up to RATS. Once that was over tri season was in full swing… which in turn ran into running season again last fall. 18 solid months of build/race/repeat…. Whew!

to that end… and with some seriously tired running legs… I did the following:
1. Pilates
2. Absoloution (another core fitness class)
3. Yoga
4. Started swimming with the masters group
5. Had my highest swim yardage output ever
6. Bought some new tri/swim gear (Aero Helmet/Paddles)
7. Had the lowest run mileage output in the past 2 years
8. Had a solid cycling month
9. Well rounded and consistent strength training.
January Totals:
Swim: 20K (highest ever!)
Bike: 443
Run: 131
Weights: 10 hours
Now it’s February… I do feel a bit more rested… ready to continue with this “base phase” (and run a marathon – but just as training). Feeling like some additional core and leg strength will go a long way… to helping me go a long way later in the season.