Back At It (Slowly)

Seems like I am FINALLY getting over this cold!  The nurse at the health center warned me that people have been reporting the cough sticking around for weeks, but mine seems to be letting up (fingers crossed).  I made it through ANOTHER whole week with no exercise and lots of couch time, but it was definitely getting to me.

Fresh from the dryer laundry makes an excellent blanket

So when I woke up on Monday morning feeling significantly better, I was ready to get back to it!  I decided to start slow with a trainer ride, which was definitely a good idea -- after 20 minutes at a moderate pace I was out of breath and coughing again.  But if still felt good to be moving!  Today, I took a zumba class with a friend.  It was really fun, but again my chest and breathing didn't feel right.  Another reminder to take it slow.

Which brings me to my plan for the off season.  At this point I'm not planning any big spring races, but I want to have some fun and set myself up well for the summer and fall.  My goal is to stay in good enough shape to be able to complete a half marathon or a sprint tri on a week's notice while maintaining a real "off season" balance where training doesn't take over my life.  So my plan is to try to keep a swim/bike/run base while mixing things up a little:

run: 2x week (including one "long-ish" run)

bike: 1x week

swim: 1x week

something different (workout class, lifting, etc): 1x week

total rest day: 1x week

free space (to be allocated to any other category) 1x week

But I'm sure you all know but now that even in the "off season" I can't stay away from the races.  So here's the Nov-Dec lineup:

November 28: North Shore Turkey Trot 10K

December 1: Cambridge 5K Yulefest

December 8: Winter Classic 5K

December 15: Somerville Jingle Bell Run 5K

That's all for now!  Back soon with a full Chicago recap.