Diligence

    Without swim gear, I have  been away from the water for 10 days, the longest stretch without swimming that I have had in a year and a half. I broke down and ordered goggles, cap, and hand paddles on Speedo's website. Happily, they were having a free shipping day today. Hopefully my gear will be here in a few days, but until then, I am still swimless.
    On the plus side, I really do need to be devoting more time to running and cycling. I have increased my cycling time and intensity, but I must confess that the running is not coming along as well as I would like. But this year, I am going to be steady and consistent, and not allow myself to over extend myself like I did last year. I keep re-examining my running issues last year, especially the leg cramps I had during my second trail half-marathon, and during the running leg of my 70.3, and I think I may have an idea of where I went wrong. My first half-marathon was The Wildwood Trail Half, not only a very steep course, steeper than a road race would be, but also the trail sloped to the side, so we were running at an odd angle for the majority of the race. I really think this put a bizarre stress load on my muscles that I couldn't quite recover from. So this year, any race longer than about 6 miles will be on the road or at worst on a relatively flat, dirt road. I need to focus on training like I will race, and the reality is that all the races I will run this year are merely long training sessions for the real deal. Yes, I wish I could build my running base as diligently as I have built my swim and cycle base. But, truth be told, I have a niggling fear that I will damage my knees if I run too much. So I am hoping to find the balance of enough, but not too much, a delicate balancing act, for sure.
    Another aspect I am adding into the training program is to run after nearly every cycling workout. I plan on running at least an easy mile on the treadmill after my longer cycling sessions, this will be in addition to my regular running. Yes, so far all my training has been inside. I am hampered by weather, lack of daylight, and absence of any street lights or sidewalks out in my neck of the woods. Soon there will be enough light that if I take my running gear to work with me I can do a run in town where there are pathways, as well as lighting if I stay out a bit late. That will be hard to fit in between swim sessions though. Damn, there just aren't enough hours in the day, or days in the week.