This will probably (and hopefully) be the easiest training week for some time. My only goal this week was to get through the pain of DOMS.

But before I get into that, Monday’s workout was waking up at 4:30 a.m. to drive Tif and Cait to the airport so they could head home to Austin. I had a great time celebrating my birthday with Katy and them over the weekend…even if I got bullied into a second 4,000-yard swim.

We did a number on some bottles. Proud of us. 😆 Although, the headache on Monday morning proved my partying and drinking days are safely behind me.

As to the rest of the week, it was all about getting back into weight training. I had planned to start on Tuesday, but the weather was really nice! There was still snow on the ground, but we warmed into the 50s. I decided I had to take advantage and went for a run instead. The beauty of the unstructured time of year is that there are no worries about swapping workouts around.

On Wednesday, it was time to grit my teeth and face the DOMS.

I haven’t done any lifting since the final build into Ironman 70.3 Florida last fall. Between the race and the holiday season, I have no regrets about taking some time off from the weights.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, those first upper and lower body workouts after a break? Goodness. I get DOMS really, really, really bad. Things are always sore on day 1 and even worse on day 2. I’ve tried all sorts of things over the years to try to stop it, but I’ve come to realize that the only way through the suck is to just grit my teeth and charge straight through.

As quickly as they come on, they end just as fast. Thankfully, once I get past this initial burst of suck, I never really feel too much soreness after weight training days…even in weeks when we are doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Wednesday, I did an upper body session targeting each muscle group at least once. Thursday, I did the same for all of the lower body muscle groups. And just as expected/planned, I was dragging around by Thursday night. Lower body always is more intense, and I have been walking around like an old man.

Friday and Saturday were very easy spins without anything beyond Z2. It’s not a workout, so it’s not on the TrainingPeaks graph above, but my massage gun and I have been spending a lot of time together this week.

On the bright side, I didn’t seem to lose much strength from what I was lifting last fall. I’m also at a new gym, so I spent a little extra time in both of these first sessions learning where everything is. I’m excited to get back after it for the rest of winter!

In hindsight, maybe I should have waited one more week to face the DOMS since I have to travel to Atlanta for work, and the usual routine will already be a little shaken up. But it’s almost like ripping off a band-aid. I just wanted it done.

When Sunday rolled around, it began what will probably be the coldest days of our entire winter here in Nashville. We might spend more than 80 consecutive hours below freezing, including a couple of mornings in the single digits. Not only that, I woke up to snow falling.

I hate the cold. Winter is so stupid.

I hate the treadmill as much as anybody, especially on Sundays when we normally do our longest run of the week. Call me a wimp all you want, but I just was not going to bundle up to run in that nonsense. I headed off to the gym and did 8 miles on the treadmill. It felt like it took a long time to get that done, but it was only an hour and fifteen minutes. If I had been outside, those 8 miles would have flown by. And I probably would have ended up running faster!

Away from training, I got an email from Ironman that for the second consecutive year, I’ve snagged silver All World Athlete status!

A year ago, I didn’t know if I would actually get this status until the very end of the season. This year? I’ve known since June that I’d have it back in 2025. It’s another example of the progression I’ve had in the past couple of years. 

I totally acknowledge AWA has undertones of a gimmicky loyalty program that incentivizes you to race Ironman events more often. But when race day rolls around, it’s hard to beat the low bib number, the spot for my bike by the exit of transition, and the yellow swim cap that makes it easier for Katy to spot me in the sea of green and pink caps.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day and a holiday from work. Look at these temperatures. 

I don’t care what our training plan says. I’m not jumping into that outdoor pool tomorrow. 😆