Massages & heating pads are awesome!

And so begins “official” IMS training. Coach Ed calls in winter marathon training, but it’s my official start. I’ve been pretty lazy for the last 3 weeks so this week is probably going to hurt.

I’ve posted my typical workout schedule for the winter. I am NOT looking forward to the AM workouts. All in all, once you take out the workouts, work, driving, and sleeping I have 2 hours a day to have a life. It’s for a good cause though - achieving my basic IMS goal: Finishing within 16 hour cut-off smiling and healthy.

So this lack of a life (and my anal-retentive/OCD personality) has made me make lists. I have grocery lists, menu lists, and separate packing lists for swim, spin, run, weights, and work. I keep track of what I eat, what exercise I do, and the delta of calories in/out. I have a shopping list for IMS to help monitor my spending. I have my 2009 race plan list. In other words, I am an MS Excel List Goddess – there’s pivot tables, graphs, links, etc.! Don’t say it, I know I’m a nerd!

The week is over and this is what I’ve learned:
- My body can’t take getting up at 5 AM everyday! No more morning strength training, I have to find a different time slot for that. I did buy some home equipment so I have no excuses!
- I must warm my core body temperature after the swim otherwise I will eat like a pig all day long!
- Got introduced to a nice trail run at Burke Lake – that will become a staple.
- Cycling is still my weakest link – this has to be my focus area and I have to keep working those dreaded hills.
- Coach Ed’s program works – the build week was challenging but I’m not in too much pain (thanks in part to a neck massage from Dude and a heating pad).
- The lists work – I haven’t forgotten a thing…yet!!

Other news: Airline tickets are “purchased” (gotta love frequent flyer miles) and hotel is booked.

In summary: Missed 2 work-outs (cycling & strength), burned over 8,500 calories, exercised for over 9 hours. Ready for Week Two.