The 2011 Santa Fe triathlon

I was very excited about this years Santa Fe triathlon. The Santa Fe tri is a really well put on event. I was particularly motivated because last year I had a break through performance & I was excited to see if I could beat last years PR that I had set. I was so excited I registered for this event the day registration opened. As motivated as I was to race this weekend I've decided to sit this race out.

This whole week I've been exhausted. I've needed a couple more hours a day of sleep than I usually need to function I'm groggy & yawn all day no matter how much more sleep I get. I've wanted to eat more too, I'm not sure if that's because my body is needing more food because my metabolic rate has increased or if it's because I'm tired & I have a tendency to turn to food for emotional & physical support. I'm definitely a food addict, but I haven't yet figured out if I'm wanting the extra food this last week & a half for physical or emotional reasons. I believe the reason all this exhaustion & hunger has popped up is two-fold:
1) I started a new & intense swim program with a local masters swim club
2) I just entered the build phase of Ironman training & am starting to add some higher intensity training to my workout regimen while still training long Iron distances.

After much thought I've decided my body is too tired to race at the Santa Fe triathlon this weekend. I could have raced & then skipped a few Iron specific workouts to allow my body to recover & heal, but my main goal is Ironman Arizona. I don't want to take anything away from my Iron training, not even a couple days. I'm to OCD to feel comfortable with skipping workouts for a race that takes 7 months to train for.

There is another very big reason I'm not racing this weekend. As any triathletes know, triathlon is an incredibly expensive sport. The bikes, tires, tubes, chain, shoes, heart rate monitors, GPS units, power taps, internet training logs, Gatorade, Power Bars, Power Gels, swim club fees, gym fees, travel expenses, hotels, fuel for vehicles, eating out, & coaches (I'm actually self coached right now, but most triathletes are coached), etc. My family & I are making some really big life style changes this week. I'll address our new financial & lifestyle changes my family & I have just recently adopted in another blog post. Most who know me will be shocked about what's to come. I'm shocked. I'll give you a couple words as a hint: Dave Ramsey.

To be continued.........