I think its safe to say I did my job the past 6 weeks.
I got really out of shape. I consider myself off-seasoned.
Rather than complain about how crappy it feels to have an elephant stepping on me each time I do some sort of physical activity - I will highlight WHY I took a proper off-season.
I can’t get over how lightly the off-season is taken by many. Last year I fell victim to this. I rolled through post-Ironman Arizona, took 2 weeks “off-ish” and was feeling motivated and ready to roll for 2011 by mid-December. Two weeks is simply not enough down time for me. Ultimately the result was a sidelined injury by late April and the bulk of my season was spent nursing my hamstring back to health. Oy vey. Not my idea of a good time. Just ask Chris.
After Ironman Arizona I took a step back to reflect on what worked great in 2011, what needed improvement, and what simply, needed to go.
So - what did my 6 week off-season look like?
I slept in nearly every day, would leisurely make my way to the pool around 8am most days for 3k of pretty unstructured swimming. This was followed by a big breakfast, a big coffee, and usually a bit of bacon was involved. Mid-day was occupied with power-hiking. Power-hiking is my favorite off-season activity. Me and Madison would power up the hills of Missoula in the snow and get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Sometimes I would run, sometimes I was crawling on all fours. This would be followed up with a warm-up coffee. My late afternoons were spent cooking, socializing, cleaning out the closets, or napping. Every now and then a night out on the town was thrown in or it would be books in bed.
While the road back may be a bit longer for me - I think I will be better off in the long-term for my choices. It was fun to live like a normal person for a bit. But lets be honest - I am craving feeling like an athlete again. I love routine, my 8:30 bedtimes, painful massages, big days in the saddle, runs that hurt my lungs, and I even miss swim squad.
And so it all begins. 2012. Roll-on! Can’t wait to share what I have in store.
