February Numbers

Another month is done! And what a great month to have over with. This means we are entering March, and with March comes warmer temperatures and the chance to take the bike off the trainer and get some cold windy rides in. My neoprene shoe covers and balaclava are resting in my bike helmet, just jonesin to get used. It looks like we may be near 40 by the end of the week so that may become a reality.

That's not to say the February was without its merits. It was a good month for me. It marked my return to full time training and several running milestones that seemed well out of reach just a month or two ago. Here's a breakdown of my training numbers for the short month:

Bike:	17h 40m - 339.29 Mi
Run:	9h 17m 42s - 66.49 Mi
Swim:	16h 18m 52s - 49800 Yd

Bike mileage was more than double what it was last month. That means I spent some quality time with the trainer. I discovered the TV shows Fringe and Chuck and am currently satisfying my inner nerd with episodes of Smallville.

Running-wise I was able to leave those run/walk intervals behind for good and build my mileage up safely. I only had one minor violation of the 10% rule, but I iced and stretched the crap out of things as a precaution and the hip is cooperating with me thus far.

Swimming was solid month as well. I was only 200 yds short of having my second ever 50000 yd month. If we hadn't stopped today to do some more underwater videotaping I would have made it for sure. I can't complain though. The video is really cool and insightful.

Next month should bring about a few changes. I am at the end of my 2nd 8-week swim focus block so I will be time trialing sometime this week. After that I haven't really come to a decision on how I want to attack the swim training. I will probably drop the monthly yardage to 40000 or so and shift my focus to long endurance efforts in addition to the speed/drill work. In the bigger picture that yardage may get reduced further as the focus on biking takes over. Of course that is very dependent on the weather. After the sucktastic winter went through I can only hope that we have a nice spring.

It's good to have a solid month under my belt. Like I said a few posts ago I am starting to feel like a triathlete again, and that's a good thing considering the first race of the year is just 2 months away. I might have to sniff out a local 5 or 10k before that just whet my racing appetite. We shall see.