Training Tuesday: What I'm Doing Instead

My triathlon season is officially over and I have zero race commitments until Sept. 7, 2014.

I just have that little Ironman thing looming ahead like a slow-motion collision I can't react to fast enough. But training doesn't start until 24 weeks from the race, so right now, my training schedule is a big, empty calendar.

Honestly, I'm trying to keep things light and easy. I want to maintain my base without injuring myself. To that end, I'm seeing a physical therapist three times a week to straighten out the pain I'm feeling behind my knee.

I continue to go to CrossFit Endurance training twice a week to work on my strength and, well, endurance.

I swim, bike and run one day a week, focusing on speed intervals and drills.

But instead of training twice a day and running on my lunch break, I've been doing lots of other fun things.

Like actually going out to lunch. I won a free month of lunches from Roti during a grand opening event and have gone there almost daily. No shame.

And reading books ... even if they are triathlon related. I'm researching the Hanson method for a spring marathon, which would mean I'd start training next month.

I'm also baking a lot more.

And making chefy dinners for Tim and I.

Drinking hard apple cider.

And going to fun events I've always wanted to get to, like the Chicago Food Swap.

Part of me is enjoying this brief respite, while the other part of me is completely freaking out about the lack of training volume and intensity. I also stopped weighing myself this month and am a bit concerned about what will happen at the end of October as I pair decreased training with all those free Roti lunches.

Time will tell, of course, how this all pans out.

Do you take an "off season"? Do you rest completely, or do something else?