It's been a while since I've made a blog entry so here goes.
 
I took a break from serious training this past week. My knees were feeling a little loose and I was planning on starting the CTS Progressive Power series so I thought my body could use a little break. I know there are several of you who have problems taking a break from training to rest, but I do not. I love a good lazy week. Last week I only hit the bike twice and probably never went over 15mph, ran once at a slow 10 min/mile pace, and swam a few times at my normal pace (which is slow).
 
I picked up a copy of Total Immersion and my swimming is already getting better. I've cut about 7-8 strokes off my 25y distance (from 24+ to 16-17).  I'm not really much faster yet and it doesn't seem a whole lot easier but I'm sure those will come with time. When I'm in the pool I really have to focus or everything goes straight to $h*t. With months of hard training and focus, I might become a mediocre swimmer.
 
My first run this week was pretty good. A little faster than normal and the knees felt good throughout the run. Last year I picked up mileage too quickly and ended up with an ITB issue that lasted most of the summer. I think part of it was from too many miles too quickly and part was from running the 1/8th mile indoor track too much (too many turns in the same direction). I'm planning on doing Sprints this year so there should be no rush to build distance and I most likely won't push my runs much past the 5 mile marker.
 
I'm going to start the 8 week CTS program today. This program will take me to spring break (which is supposed to be another rest week but will likely end up being a hard week of cycling in the mountains with my brother, yes the perfect prep for flat road racing in central Ohio!).  The CTS videos claim to increase sustainable power output by 12%. I don't have a power tap so I won't be able to tell you guys if it worked but at least it will be 8 weeks of new videos. I'm sure you will all rest easier knowing that I'm not bored watching the same 2 videos every week in my basement.
 
Weight loss is also coming along nicely. I'm down about 10lbs from the holidays. I want to lose another 13-18 pounds before June which shouldn't be hard. I would like to keep my weight between 175 and 180 for racing (at 6'3" anything under 175 begins to look unhealthy).
 
That's all I got, nothing really clever to write about this time. I'll make the next entry more entertaining.