Setting a new level

It is not easy to balance the needs of a 3 month old daughter, a wife who expects me to be a doting husband and parent and a work environment that is 30% harder in this economy than a year ago. I am easily 50% more occupied than I was when I was a pre-injury Ironman level age grouper.

That being said, I have finally extracted myself from being a new parent/hard working business person to renewed triathlete. Luckily I refused to completely give in to Common Man Syndrome over the last year, so my return to the teams active roster has not been a complete shambles.

My first time back in Open Water I swam about a mile and felt pretty good. I think getting back up to two 2 mile swims a week OW with an extra 1.5 -2 miles each week in pool drills will get me back up to at least the same level I was at before. I really don't need 5-6 miles of swimming a week right now, nor later, but the endurance will help me when start picking up sprint distance speed for when I do decide to race again.

My run distances are not very far but my pace time is inline with my usual endurance training paces. Now its just a matter of building back up to a level where a 10-15 mile run is a non-issue. In this aspect I do believe that running long will help with my overall speed at shorter distances.

Cycling is another matter. I have not been riding outdoors yet, riding much at all due to the time it takes away from the family. I am starting back with the team rides this weekend but I won't be pushing the distances for a couple months at least. I will be working on speed, cadence and endurance at a shorter distance of 30-50 miles.

There's treasure everywhere.