Orientation for the newbies is Saturday, then the gear clinic, then swim clinics. The only issue I’m having so far this year is trying to filter all the information I have in my head these days (yay coaching certification!) so as to only present newbie-appropriate information. At least with the return to the training fold I’m not feeling like a complete hypocrite this season (unlike last year’s lost season).

Should finally be the push I need to get back into my groove. I’ve missed that since the Ironman in 2010. Last year just fell apart completely, fitness wise, though I don’t regret taking the time to (sort of) prioritize dating over racing.

Next week will be 28 weeks out from the half, and the start of a new season for me. The following week I begin ‘formal’ coaching for the club newbies. Promises to be a busy and fun season.

That’s the short version.

My newbies finished their first race this past weekend. Got out there, took a bunch of pictures, wore down the battery (discovered the power saving settings a bit late), and generally had a good time seeing them finish their first race. Sad that I’ll be missing the party this weekend for them, but family duty calls – instead I’ll be down at the parental units’ place for a family reunion. Whee. I’m sure I’ll be happy to see them all once I’m down there, but in the meantime I’m just annoyed at the timing. First world problems. But the race was a good bit of enthusiasm to finish up the coaching exam, too. Almost there, just a couple more questions. Then comes to fun part of working on a new plan for next year’s newbies.

The boy. What to say there? I’m smitten. Really, really enjoying dating him. Makes me a bit frustrated that I own my apartment in a building that doesn’t allow dogs, as there’s no way to get out of here easily, and no way to move him in (were his job able to allow him to). Yeah, that smitten that we’ve talked moving in already. And I’d do it in a heartbeat, were I able to. I had a five year plan that I was developing before I met him to fix things here (kitchen!) and give myself some more options. That’s still here, but there’s more of a sense that it’s truly a five year plan with a more definite outcome than just ‘options’. Funny how that works.

In the meantime I’m spending a lot of time up at his university home (walking the dog). We’re running together in the mornings (he asked me to help him get started on running). Cooking more up there (I missed cooking for someone else – it tends to focus me more on doing something more than just convenience foods or last minute stuff). I’ve seen more movies in a theater in the last 2 months than I have in the last 3 years (when I can look at listings and think, ‘damn, seen all those already’ you know it’s bad). I actually miss sleeping next to him when I stay down here at home (he’s spoiling me there). So, yeah, smitten.

The course ended up being completely worth the time. It was a ton of information, which I’m still digesting, but again well worth it. Now I just need to finish reading the manual and fill in the quiz so I can finish that last part of the certification process. In the meantime, with the slow down in training, I’m also bailing on my first race. I’m just not ready for it, physically, so I’m aiming for the next one in June, a sprint here in downtown. I’m going to take the day after the May race off, however, as planned, so I can use that as a reading/quiz day and hopefully finish that up. It would be nice to be “Coach Moose” before the end of this year’s newbie program.

Sleep is mostly better, save when I’m sleeping over at the new boy’s place. Yup, seeing a new boy. He works for a local university as a resident director, so lives on campus, plus he has a dog, and no car (where I do have a car), so it’s just easier for me to stay over up there when we stay together. But that’s meant adjusting to a new bed, and a new person in said bed, and learning his/our sleeping patterns. I’m gradually learning it, but man those early mornings are tough. Thankfully the commute from his place in the morning is pretty smooth, so it’s been relatively easy to get up and get down here to SW to work out. When I don’t sleep in a bit, that is. Otherwise it’s going well. We’re taking thing slowly, trying not to rush into anything (though, yes, overnight stays are a part of that).

LJ (which I do still read daily) for some reason completely reset my theme today while I was at work. Found the one I was using and reapplied it, but that was annoying when I looked at my Fiends’ List this evening. Too few entries, and all the wrong colors. No thanks!

But, yeah, overstuffed. And that’s part of what I want to write about, but only once I have time. Maybe soon. Maybe not.

CPR class tomorrow, last thing I need to do before the training class to get the coaching certification. Watched the little videos, read the book, I think I’m ready.

Finished the sock on Monday and wore ‘em to work on Tuesday:

Very comfy – tiny stitches seem to be much better for comfort over long time periods/distances than the bigger ones. Go fig. I’ve cast on a cowl I got from one of my Unique Sheep sock clubs, finally (a men’s accessories club I got last year – this’ll be the first project I’m doing from it!). Finally re-read the pattern and seem to make sense of it, so I’m going for it. Unfortunately it’s not a travel or transit friendly project (very involved pattern), so I hauled out the sock yarn last night and am trying to decide on some patterning to do this time around on the top of the sock & the leg. Plus I am signed up for a men’s sweater class at Stitch DC next month, and of the three choices for patterns chose the Alberta striped vest. Figure it was worth the investment to learn at least two new skills – two yarn knitting and sweater shaping.

Housekeeper came Wednesday. Pleased with the cleaning job, amused at playing “where did this get put in the kitchen”. She moved everything, of course, to clean under and around, and didn’t seem to note where things had been. Similarly on the dining room table where I had far too much junk out to begin with. So, my take away is to reduce the amount of stuff out on surfaces so she doesn’t have to move as much. The cleaner look will be more pleasant anyway, and having the discipline of her coming in every other week should help with that.

Saw another play at Arena Stage this evening. It’s the local theater here in my neighborhood, about 3 blocks from my apartment, and they specialize in American theater. They completely redid the space, gutting the buildings and building a large shell over the whole of it, even adding a third theater. Took ‘em a couple of years and this year is the first season back in the new/old space. The renovation also seems to have influenced the quality of the work at the theater, which is much better than it used to be. Previously things were hit or miss (I walked out of one at intermission when the “crimson carpet” they rolled out was day-glo pink; seriously, high school productions do better than that), but I’ve enjoyed each of the productions they’ve done so far this season. I’m glad I bought season tickets, and bought two of them so I can take a guest, it’s been a good investment, and one I’ll repeat next season.

I’m debating a Body Electric retreat in August at Wildwood. They have a price break on the class price through the end of the month, just need to check the budget and the leave situation. Been feeling a craving for some BE work, and it would be nice to get back out to SF for a bit before and after again.

Been trying to dig up more stuff on stability training for my newbies. I’m late, thanks to the brain drain of the last month, but finding some good stuff to share with them now. Also starting to make more use of the USA Triathlon web site, which is actually pretty darned useful. I’d skimmed it before, but never really dug into the articles. And since I’m going to be partially signing my life away to them after April, I figured I should get more familiar with the site.

Half the fun of digging up exercises is trying them out myself. I predict I’m going to be somewhat sore in the morning, but it’s worth it.

In knitting news I finished the heel and started the leg on the 2nd dreidel sock. It’s knitting up nicely, and I look forward to finishing up the pair. On the sweater, I’m going to have to frog it. I thought the gauge would be close enough, but it’s not even remotely close (too tight/small). Crap. So I bought the next couple sized needles up last night and I’ll do a proper gauge swatch this time to get it matched up. Annoying, but a learning experience.

Got kicked out of work even before the early dismissal time we got because of the storm here in DC. About half an hour before my 2 hour point da boss called and told us to get the heck outta dodge because the snow was worsening and traffic was starting to turn into a real clusterfuck. I managed to catch a bus, so rode home rather than walking (I was prepared to walk – duck boots and all – but glad for the ride). Traffic was definitely horked, but our driver was pushy and got us through without too much delay. Seeing the news reports from lots of friends without power tonight I am very, very glad I bought close to downtown where the power lines are all buried. And if I do ever buy in an area where the lines aren’t buried, the place had better have a working fireplace and room to stack some wood.

Our newbie program is coming together now, and I think it’s going to be a good one this year, certainly better than last year’s (which I think we let slip some, to be honest). Now that I’ve finally gotten more brain power back I’m putting together some of the training materials to supplement our plan, and liking how it’s coming together. Oh, and I got registered for the USAT coaching class in April, so I’ll be going out for coaching certification then. Not sure how long it’ll take once I take the course and turn in my test to get the results back, but I’m hopeful I’ll get certified and then we’ll have a coach for the newbies finally, like we’ve been adding coaches for the more “advanced” programs we’ve started.

The aforementioned planning has gone slightly more slowly than I expected, but I’m not terribly worried about it. I will be writing this weekend to try & get stuff done and out for review by the other co-leaders next week. For my own training, I’m delaying the formal start of my stuff in order to do some weight loss related stuff first. I’m a lot heavier than I need to be to race well, and that’s gotta change. The 10 lbs (and 3-4 percentage points of body fat) I gained post-IM haven’t helped, either. Yuck. So yes, I’m going to be a resolutioner this year, but if I want to gain speed this year, I need to help improve the ‘infrastructure’ needed for that.

2010 hasn’t been a bad year for me, and 2011 is shaping up to continue in the same vein.

Also been working on the training plan for our new triathletes this year. I have the times and most of the heart rates, it’s just plugging in extra stuff like swim workouts and the like now. Plus setting out the stuff for their weight workouts. No pressure. This year should be the most difficult, once this is laid out it’ll just be a matter of tweaking it here and there.

I hosted friends at my place for Thanksgiving this year. Just a couple of us, but I did the majority of the cooking. I enjoyed that, it was fun getting everything together and timing it all out to be ready approximately at the same time. May do the same for the christmas holiday if there are folks in town.