Monday Morning and Back to Training.

My normal schedule for training is Monday - Sunday with Saturday as my rest day mostly for errands and house/yard work. However, for last week I moved my Sunday run to Saturday for a much needed day of R&R where I drove across NC to do some SCUBA diving. It is another sport I love, despite that my body doesn't perform as well as I like, but I enjoy the silence underwater. Nothing but my bubbles and my thoughts.

Today is back to training and I am very excited. I have been following the run focused, 16 week training plan from beginner http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ ( I have posted a copy on an adjacent page). I am in week 3 of month 3;  with only 1 real work week left in the plan I have been thinking about new training plans. I have been thinking about skipping the end with the taper since I do not have an event at this time, so I may be done sooner.

As I finish my first training plan and am searching  I have a few thoughts about what I do and don't need.

• I do not need to move to intermediate level plans because I am still slow.  
• I do not need a race specific plan since I have no race.
• I need more structure. My current plan says swim 25 minutes, I need more planning than that. The running plan I have followed int he past from http://www.runnersworld.com/ have always had more details such as distance, description of workouts on speed work days, etc.

I do think that this plan has gotten me comfortable in the water and gotten me moving on my bike and I am happy, but I look forward to finding a more tailored plan.

On another note, I am looking for a 5k to run in so I can measure my progress since December. I am hoping to have cut 3+ minutes off my time. I have found a 3rd of July race an hour away but i can't find any info about it. I also have found a fun series triathlon. It is "non-competitive", not chip times (just stop watch and time are not posted), and only has a 200 meter swim (shorter than i have been training for). The entrance fee is only $20 and I this might be a good way to gauge my training. Lastly, there is also a tri on my birthday(8/15) and I though this might be a good present to myself. I was not planing to actually compete until next year but I think I will do the fun tri and am giving serious thought to the 8/15 event. In the meantime, back to work.