January in review: Hey, it wasn’t that terrible!

Hours this month. I wish there had been more running. =(

In many ways, January was a comedy of errors with fighting a cold, temporarily being a one-car couple, family in town, late nights – you name it. But looking at my training totals for the month, I don’t think it was actually THAT bad, considering.

I swam a bunch, I biked a bunch, and I even started running short distances very slowly again. My yoga practice still leaves a lot to be desired, but I did do some pre-hab and lift some weights, so the supplemental training wasn’t a total wash.

My monthly totals were:

Swim: 6 times, all in the pool, for 18,800 meters (11.75 miles, thanks Daily Mile) in just a smidgen less than 8 hours. I lost one swim to a sick day and one to a car-shopping day, but I still got some decent pool time in for this early in the pre-season. That 18,800 meters works out to 3200 meters (2 miles) 5 out of the 6 times, and having to cut one swim 400 meters short because I derped around and got to the pool too late. I would have swam an extra 400 somewhere in there, but… eh. Once I start racing and lake swimming again I won’t have an even number anyway.

Week on, week off.

Compared to last January: I also swam 6 times last year, but did less distance each time and overall, so I'm about 1.5 hours and 4,400 meters ahead of this time last year. Yay!

Bike: 10 times, all on the trainer, for a total of 15 hours, 20 minutes. While I’m time crunched in the morning, I can go a bit longer in the evenings, and have been trying to make each trainer ride at least 1:15. Plus, I have been adding to my “long” weekend rides a bit at a time, working up to 2 hours this past Saturday. It all adds up, and I feel good about where I am at this point in the season. I feel like I’m a stronger rider since getting my fluid trainer. I guess riding the hills in the spring will tell.

Compared to last January: I rode three more times and for 5 more hours last year. So I'm a bit behind, but feeling stronger.

Run: My biggest headache. I managed 7 runs, 4 on the treadmill and 3 on the road, for 16.5 total miles in a hair less than 3 hours. I am trying to be positive about being able to run again after my IT bands left me in so much pain this fall. I get the odd twinge but haven’t felt actual pain in a while, knock wood, so that’s something. I’m going to keep going cautiously and slowly, and keep trying to strengthen those glute and hip muscles, so I can be back to my normal running self as soon as possible.

Week by week.

Compared to last January: This really isn’t apples to apples, but last January I managed 105 miles. Without any IT band pain. But I'm NOT going to get discouraged. 16.5 miles this month is still about 14.5 more than I have been doing. I'll get there.

Pre-hab: I logged 11 sessions. Assuming that’s divided equally between hips, glutes and ankles/arches/feet, that’s almost a full rotation a week. Which is better than the nothing I was doing!

Yoga: Only once. ONCE! I am better than this and I know better than to skimp on the yoga. I HAVE to make this a priority this month.

Weights/plyo: Three weights sessions and two supplementary plyo sessions. Not terrible, but I’d like to double that for February.

So my January was on track in some areas and a bit behind in other areas, but I feel good about the month as a whole. Now to keep chugging away for February.