Things to work on

I finally got my haircut this week!  Usually I post some pictures, but I haven't really taken any and am to lazy to do so for the time being.  It is pretty similar to my last few cuts.  I contemplated going a little shorter, but lost the nerve.  One of these days I'll do something different.  It was really nice to have it cut.  It was out of control and it had been since late July since I cut/highlighted it last.  That's a long time.  And the nice thing about being here is the salons/spas are much less expensive.  The total for my cut/highlights was over $100 less than in NJ.   So maybe I'll get my hair cut more than 2x a year now.

Training is coming along pretty well.  My IT band has started bothering me a little.  Not so much that I can't run or bike, but enough that I notice my left side aching along the IT band from the hip down to the knee.  I'm trying to foam roll a little more regularly, but I'm sure stretching more would help to.  One of these days I should go get a massage too.  Other than the IT Band troubles, training is good.  I did the most training this week (in terms of hours) since sometime back in 2008.  Since 2008 was a good season for me, and 2009 and 2010 not as much, I see it as a good sign.  I've been very consistently training week in and week out, but also not doing too much for this early.  My first race isn't until mid May and my first goal race isn't until July.  I feel good about where I am in my training and fitness.  Which is a nice feeling because it's been a couple years since I felt that way. 

There are always things I can work on though.  Here's some of the main ones:
-Mountain Biking:  Duh!  In order to race well in Xterra, I need to get good at mountain biking.  This will come from experience (getting out the door) and a little bit of fearlessness.
-Biking in general:  Since I worked hard to improve my swim a few years ago, biking has become my biggest weakness.  I have biked more than I ever have in the winter before.  Not that I am biking that much, but it is an improvement.  I need to get comfortable riding longer.  Right now 3 hours is a long ride for me. 
-Stretching: I used to be good at doing this regularly, and I think it would make a big difference in keeping my IT band healthy
-Not hitting the snooze button:  I like going to masters swim in the am (especially the one that starts at 5:45 vs the one at 5:15) and feel great when I do go, but I have a bad habit of hitting the snooze button and then turning my alarm off and sleeping for a couple more hours.  It is definitely a habit i want to break, because I like swimming early and feel I improve the most when I swim with a group
-Staying within myself and my pace when I need to
-Thinking I can only swim or run a certain pace, and then letting it become a self fulfilling prophesy.  Instead of thinking I can only swim at 1:20 for 100 yds because I tell myself I just don't swim much faster for 100 than I do for any distance, why not think I can swim 1:15, or 1:10, and then do it?
-I'm sure there are plenty others, I just don't feel like writing a longer list right now and these are the main ones.

The last few days, some of these think became a little more clear to me.  I read in Matt's blog about his swim lesson and how he swam a 100 yd PR of 1:16. First, I was extremely impressed by his improvement. I remember swimming with him when he was a beginner and that is an amazing improvement.  Then I thought to myself, I wonder if I could swim that fast right now.  I'm not sure what my fasted 100 was, I'm thinking I may have gone 1:21 in a meter pool at some point, but drafting like crazy behind the person ahead of me.  The fastest I think I ever did on my own (no drafting/pacing) was probably a 1:24 or 1:25.  And since I moved to CO and adjusted to the altitude and have had to figure out just how fast I'm going with the change from a meter pool to a yard pool, I'm pretty sure I haven't been under 1:20 in the yard pool.  So, in my next swim I decided to do 4 100's and wondering if I would be able to swim 1:16.  And all 4 were were between 1:16 and 1:18.  So perhaps if I go in thinking I can swim a 1:12 or 1:10, maybe I can.  Obviously I can't think, I'd like to swim under 50 and it will magically happen, but it is easy, especially in something like swimming, to get stuck swimming a certain pace because that's all you think you can do.  My limit for the past few years has been around the 1:30/100 mark in the meter pool.  I suppose switching to yards and not having a good grasp on what times are good yet is a good thing.

I rode with my team on Saturday morning.  It was a small group, 6 of us to start and then 5 after a short while.  Within the first hour, I found I was going to hard for what I am capable of right now because I wanted to keep up with the front of the group.  I realized I needed to back off to an easier pace so I wouldn't completely lose it physically for the second half of the ride.  I wasn't out to see how fast I could ride or how many watts I could put up, I just wanted to finish the ride without feeling like I was going to die.  My need to keep up in the first hour took a toll on my legs and I was exhausted the rest of the day.  So next time, I'll stay where I need to be.  Group workouts can be a great thing.  They can push you harder than you ever thought you could go and be a great social outlet.  But they can also push you too hard at the wrong times and it's important to know when to go hard and when to do your own thing.

And to finish off the post, I had another great trail run with Frito today at Deer Creek Canyon Park.  It was still pretty icy and I did fall once--hard on my rear end and right arm because I broke my concentration and hit an icy patch.  The good think about the ice and snow is that hardly anyone was in the park.  There is one trail down close to the parking lot that had a decent amount of foot traffic--it always does, but other than that it was like the park was ours. I am looking for ward to the ice melting, so I can focus on running instead of staying upright.