I love the feeling of getting done with a race and transitioning to something new. I tend to get in a routine when training for a race – certain workouts on certain days of the week, a certain strength regime, etc. Then, after a race or when starting to train for a new race; that’s when I decide what changes I want to make and I find a new routine. In part I’m learning what works well for me, in part maybe it is indicative of a personality that enjoys change. I enjoy routine for sure (more than most), but I also like when that routine changes. 

As I wrote recently, I finished an Ironman race on November 18, 2018. Not long ago. I mostly took a week off of exercising. I walked a lot and did some diving, and towards the end of the week I went for a 40 minute pool swim and a 30 minute run. But after that week, it is time for me to begin training again. I have just a 15 week break between Ironman Cozumel and Ironman New Zealand. I have only done one Ironman race a year (and only 3 so far), so this close back to back is new to me. This is all just to explain why I’m jumping into another training plan. 

For a couple of years I have done my training plans a certain way, writing out the days of the week and all activities in a spreadsheet that took a few pages taped together for me to be able to follow it, as you can see here: 

Then, as I go, I write the workouts I actually do (because there is always some modification), along with occasional notes about how I am feeling and/or the food that goes along with how I’m feeling. That document looks like this (and here you can see some of my notes from a couple of weeks two years ago, training for my first Ironman). 

For this round I decided to combine the two! So I put my planned workouts into the document that I use to take notes on. That way I can still mark up as I modify, but have less paper around: 

Excited for what’s ahead for me and hope that you are excited about your current training plan or what you will be doing in 2019!