Summary of Jan/Feb for 2025 vs 2024:
Swim: Well I'd like to have been at 30k for February but my right shoulder/arm problems, that started last October, were a persistent problem throughout January and February and as a result I'm 36% behind last year's swim volume--and that was relatively weak. So not where I want to be at all.
I had originally thought of 2025 as a swim-centric year--really focusing on my open water swim races but with the advent of my 29,029-focus, my swim will have to take a back seat in 2025. The good news is my shoulder finally seems to be under control after really resting from swimming and PT for a stretch in February (nicely coincided with our Super Bowl/Florida trip) and then modifying my PT activities seems to really have helped.
I went to see my ortho to see if a cortisone injection made sense but he ruled it out after X-raying and examining me. It seems like my bursitis is gone for the most part and I just have some lingering tendonitis in my bicep tendon. He gave me some prescription strength anti-inflammatory and I've been doing red-light therapy on a daily basis as well. In any event, I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I did a couple of short swims at the end of February and felt much stronger (1:50/100). I feel like I can begin to swim in earnest now and am hopeful to get into the 20-30k range for March.
Bike: I'm essentially replicating 2024 so far--my bike is in maintenance mode with a lot of Z1/low Z2 riding. I'm confident my high end will be there when I start prepping for my Triathlons as the year progresses.
Walk/Run: this will be my prime focus out through the Snow Basin 29,029 in early August. I'm up 25% in volume vs last year and expect that delta to even grow as we role into the Spring. Tomorrow, we are going to "Release the Kraken" and officially launch my 29,029 build--basically a 5-month focused effort to get to where I need to be to climb 30,000 vertical in 36 hours.
Tomorrow, I'm getting up early (3:30am) and heading down to Shenandoah national to do a Vertical Ascent Speed test and then the next day I'll do a longer hike on the trails down there. More on how this rolls tomorrow! Very excited to flip into "Beast-Mode"!
Other/PT: As I mentioned I backed off for a couple of weeks in February to calm my shoulder/arm down, but I still managed 14 hours in February, after a big effort in January. I'm down 19% relative to last year but this still is a big priority and I suspect the gap to 2025 will diminish in March and April.
Training Time: I'm still pushing the big numbers (at least for a 67-year old with an artificial knee). I'm up about 7% vs last year--which had a pretty heavy workload and through the end of February I've been averaging about 4.1 hours/day and nearly 29 hours/week.
I generally feel great and feel like I'm in a nice improving fitness groove at this point! Onwards and Upwards!
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