RECAP:
This was week #2 of my end of season break.  I'm trying to spend a little bit of time away from triathlon for a few weeks.  The end of the season was a tad disappointing so I need some time to clear my head and get off the grid for a while.  The focus and dedication that it takes to go all year long is draining so I feel that it's important to let things decompress.  I find that I've got a lot of time on my hands when I'm not in training mode.  I'm also rediscovering some activities that I enjoy doing but don't have the time or energy for while in season.  Lately I've started playing poker, football, and basketball.  I'm also building a deck with Watkins.   This has gotten me to start thinking about what I plan on doing after triathlon.  With our first child on the way in March I feel as though I've only got a few more years of putting in 20+ hrs a week of training.  After a couple of years we are potentially planning to have another child and at that point I'd like to make sure that I'm around the house more.  I think that would be a good time for me to transition from triathlon to something else that has a high fun factor but a low footprint on my schedule.  I really enjoy team sports so I think my mid to late thirties will be focused on getting my game back in basketball, football and softball.  I'll keep my aerobic fitness in maintenance mode with mountain biking since that's also another high fun factor sport.  I'm sure that I'll make a return to triathlon at some point but it probably won't be until my late 40s to early 50s when my children are at an age where they may be training for endurance sports.

This past week I only got in one swim and two lifting sessions.  My strength is better than ever with leg press and I feel like this will help me for next season on the bike.  I got in some football and basketball on the weekend and had quite a lot of fun trying to regain my coordination.  If you don't use it you most certainly lose it.  It doesn't take too long to get it back though.  I played pretty well for being away for about a year.

Jen's brother Bert came into town for the holiday.  We hung out in Charlotte on Thursday and spent Friday night and Saturday in Charleston at the beach.  Charleston is a great city with tons of history.  We went to Magnolia Gardens on Saturday and took a tour for a few hours.  On Saturday night we came back to Charlotte and had dinner at Cantina.  Can't beat their chimichanga, guacamole, salsa, and margaritas!

One last thing of importance that happened last week was that I finally got my braces off!!  Five years ago (Jan 2004), I decided to get braces to straighten my teeth and improve my bite to avoid problems down the road.  I was told it was going to take about two years and I opted to go with Invisilign which is like a clear plastic covering over your teeth that changes every two weeks and works just like traditional braces but is less noticable.  The other advantage is that you can take them off to eat and brush/floss your teeth.  I ended up being in those for 3 years and then had to move to traditional braces for what was supposed to be 10 weeks and turned into nearly 2 more years.  Needless to say, I was very pumped on Monday to have gotten my braces off.  Some of the adjustment sessions were way more painful than any triathlon so at least it built up my pain tolerance.

Next week I plan on getting in a little more triathlon training and a little less junk food and alcohol consumption!!