January Round Up

Well, the start to the year was a touch rough due to travel and time zones and whatnot, but it wasn't terrible. I've had worse, let's just say that.

And on a side note ... BeginnerTriathlete, which I'd been using to log my stuff digitally forever, recently ceased, so my numbers (particularly the time ones) might be the slightest bit off thanks to having to calculate everything by hand.

I'm just grateful that I've always kept physical training logs, too.

Swimming: 1700m (1.06 mi)
Cycling: 16.99 mi
Running:  14.39 mi

Lifting: eleven sessions (2:20)

Other: six sessions hockey (6:03), 31 walks (17:19)

The pool at my regular gym is FINALLY back open after a long renovation, so let's pray it stays that way. Swimming, however, still remains the hardest to get back to ... though cycling is following behind it. However, I did actually get back on my trainer for the first time in almost a year so hooray for that?

I finally started running again (after taking most of December off for illness) a few days into January and was consistent with it until a minor slip the last week. But still, I'll take it.

I need to figure out a way to lift regularly and consistently at home that's not with a program that requires five or more days per week, because I'm just not back to that point yet.

Hockey season continues (though we have an "Olympic break" of our own thanks to the Super Bowl and then President's Day back-to-back weekends) and the goal of walking at least a mile every day has been successful.

Hoping for a higher numbers in the main three (plus lifting) for February despite the shorter month ...

2026 Goals

... truth be told, I wonder if I should even set 2026 goals given that I failed SO HORRIBLY at the one goal I had set out for myself last year, which was to end the year feeling better and stronger than when I started it.

Yeah. That happened.

But something needs to change. And badly.

Especially because any base-building that I should have been starting for Roth? Hasn't happened. And the loose logistics I started looking into in late September-early October spiked my anxiety horribly, realizing that I'm already so incredibly behind. So, I've made the tough decision to defer the race a year. Yes, it means I won't be racing on my birthday, but that's okay. Even better, probably, since I can in theory enjoy the day in success. And I can figure out the logistics (and lodging and whether I'll need to rent a car and actually TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE RACED IT BEFORE) well ahead of time. Because racing a 140.6 is hard; racing it in a different country where you don't speak the language? Yeah. A whole 'nother level of fun.

But. I did register for USAT Sprint Nationals.

I don't know if I mentioned it here or not, but Brineman was a USAT regional championship and a few months after the race, I got an email saying I qualified for USAT Nationals - sprint and Olympic, but I don't like the Olympic distance. I initially thought oh fuck no, but after dwelling on it ... it probably is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my slow(er) ass, so I bit the bullet.

So the plan (goal, if you will) for this year? Get back into the routine of swim/bike/run. Focus on getting some speed back, and then, post-nats, work on getting my endurance back for Roth. Because speed is necessary for Roth given the shorter time cut.

I did actually sketch out a few official fitness-y goals, and they are:
- perform one pull-up
- perform 10 strict push-ups
- run a sub-10 5K again (stretch: sub-9)
- finish above 75% (have 25% of the field below me) at sprint nats (because if I go, I don't want to embarrass myself)

And definitely be a healthier version of myself at the end of the year. Because this? Is unsustainable.

December and 2025 Round Up

... I don't even want to write this post if that tells you anything.

Swimming: 0m (0mi)
Cycling: 0m
Running: 9.92 mi
Lifting: eight sessions (3:32)
Other: one session ARCTrainer (:15), six sessions hockey (5:47), one session ice skating (:20), seven walks (3:04)

Terrible month to cap off a terrible year. I also did get sick - I felt it coming in early December and I told myself I just had to get through Goal Digger (mid-December hockey tournament). Well, I played that tournament sick and then proceeded to take basically the rest of the month off due to being sick. Of which I still kind of am (but almost better).

This is the worst year of swim mileage - by far - since I've started seriously tracking things. Actually ... probably the worst year with everything.

So it's no surprise that I tumbled even further from where I was at the end of last year. I thought I was in the worst shape of my life then? 2025 decided to take that as a challenge, apparently.

In that sense, December was a perfect microcosm of the year - complete fucking trash.