Upon finishing Wildflower, I decided I wanted to switch up my workout plan until I decide whether or not to pursue Vineman 70.3. My regimen has consisted of cardio, cardio, and more cardio, rightfully so in a triathlon training plan, but I’ve been jonesing for some strength training in the form of solo lifting sessions and my gym’s fantastic group classes.

I’m a little tired of tri training. Here during Wildflower’s bike leg, I had yet to learn of my sunburn.
Instead of feeling obligated to jump into Vineman training, I’m listening to my body’s needs, and I need to take a break from the endless cardio workouts. This week, I lifted for the first time in maybe a month: I can barely walk today. I take this as a sign that I need to work on my strength before resuming my triathlon training. I’m using this week’s workouts as an opportunity to focus on a few key high-quality cardio workouts. I went to spin this morning and plan on running a speedy five-miler tomorrow.
The endurance training isn’t really taking a break: Jesse and I are running the Horseshoe Lake Trail Run this weekend as an alternative to sticking around the City for Bay to Breakers madness, which we ran last year. I’m using this race simply as an excuse to explore a new trail, enjoy what will likely be a gorgeous day, and jump start training for the San Francisco Marathon.
When I do decide to resume triathlon training, I hope to be mentally and physically refreshed and stronger.
Changing it up can be so great for you. My forced rest from running has me feeling refreshed (except for the foot) and feel more excited for when I can get back to training again. Enjoy your much needed changeup.
That’s great (not the foot injury); glad you’re feeling refreshed.
Great idea! I always try to keep up with as much strength training as possible when I’m training for an endurance event, however this year I let it fall to the wayside a bit and I definitely paid for it. I’m taking 4 weeks off running and steady state cardio sessions and am just focusing on lifting heavy and doing some metabolic conditioning sessions for cardio, and I’m loving it!! Enjoy your lifting time ๐
I think you have the right idea! I’m a little sick of steady state cardio and think my body is definitely craving the strength and HIIT workouts.
Well I hope you enjoy them!! If you ever need some ideas for some good HIIT sessions let me know; I’ve got a stock pile ๐
My strength training routine has disappeared since traveling, and I REALLY miss feeling strong and super fit. I’m excited you’re running the SF Marathon, I would love to run it one day. Maybe next year!
Feeling soft/not strong is a terrible feeling. You should definitely run it! It’s a great race.
Way to listen to your body and mix things up! Good luck on it all! And btw, every time you write about ‘Vineman’ I always think it says Vietnam. It always intrigues me until I realize what it really says. You should do an ironman in Vietnam just so I can be satisfied, ok?
Better not to get burned out! Sometimes you push and push but get bored or burnt out. It is not worth it. Take it easy. Do some other things you enjoy and figure it out later! ๐ I am already day-dreaming of the things I am going to do when my IM is done!