Milestones and next steps

So, not to be too self congratulatory, but I noticed just now that yesterday was my 100th post, and that sometime during the day was our 3,000th visitor, not bad for a few months. I can't wait to see where I'll be 100 posts from now. Thanks for being such great readers, just knowing you're there to share this journey with makes the bad days better, and the good ones great. So thanks.

Ok, now onto some real news:

- It is our standard practice to take at least a day off after a race to recuperate from the effort. We did just that yesterday and for good reason: Just walking yesterday was tiring and painful. Some races I feel great the next day, some I feel awful. The day after my first half-marathon I walked like an old man, and took a 6 hour nap. The day after the second one I went for a short jog. You just never know.

- The day off after the race is always accompanied by almost uncontrollable hunger. Thankfully, I had my willpower cranked up to 11, and managed to avoid binging. In fact, in the couple of days since the race, I've lost a couple pounds. I usually do, and the hard part is not eating too much due to the increased metabolism as my body replaces glycogen and heals sore muscles. I'm really locking down on my intake, with a goal of 305 before I get any of my craving (aka fast food) foods again.

- We hit the bike today for a nice little 7 mile ride. Started slow, but picked it up to average 16 mph for the second half of the ride. I've gotten some good advice from the Beginner Triathlete folks who live in Boston area about hill training. We'll be adding that into our training as early as this weekend.

- We're going to settle on another sprint triathlon and get it scheduled this week. I like having races scheduled closer together than we'd previously planned. It's been about money as opposed to athletic readiness that had limited our schedule, but we're going to do our best to get another race or two in. Rach is upset about her slow swim and nearly giving up, so she wants so revenge. I told you she was competitive.

- Tyler Wright has returned home to Western Canada to enjoy his summer and continue training. I should hear from him any day, and as soon as I do, so will you.

- While neither Rach or I came home with any divisional awards, for the first time ever we came home with some post race raffle prizes. I won a Nathan Speed 2 hydration belt, which holds 2 small bottles and has a pouch for goo packets or other race food. I also won a large container of chocolate Hammer Gel and a bottle of electrolyte tabs, so I shouldn't have to buy goo packs for the remainder of the season. Rach won a Nathan Quickdraw handheld bottle. I actually have one of these already and LOVE it, so I know she's going to like hers.