Off-Season Updates

It is officially off-season around here. My days have consisted of very little swim, bike, run and lots of catching up on what I put off while training. I am in my last semester of undergrad so this means the majority of my time has been spent on schoolwork. I am really excited about my senior research project and even though it is a ton of work, it is also really rewarding. And somehow between wrapping up my triathlon season and diving back into school, it is already October. So here's what I've been up to and how I plan on spending the rest of my off-season.

Grad school. I went on my first grad school visit this past weekend and am even more sure now that grad school is the right decision for me. I loved the campus, the city and mostly the program. The other programs I am looking at are farther away so I probably won't be visiting them until I am accepted. Ever since I got back I have been geeking out about the school and finding everything I possibly can about what life is like. Fingers crossed!

Biking. Graduation came a little early around here. Kind of. I still don't graduate until December 18th but I went ahead and pulled the plug on a graduation gift: a new bike! I was looking for a tri bike and stumbled upon a Felt B12 in my size about an hour from campus. I checked it out a few times and loved it more and more every time I test rode it. I have been trying to take advantage of this last bit of warmer weather by getting outside whenever possible. I'm still getting used to being in aero but so far so good.

Running. I have not run or gotten in the pool yet since my half. That will be changing this week though. I am planning on swimming 1-2 times a week depending on my schoolwork. Running is going to be a priority for me. I am going to be taking this off-season to work on improving my run speed by training for the local Turkey Trot 5K. Hopefully this year I'll be able to throw down a time I'm actually proud of.

Nutrition. While I'm not an advocate of diets like Paleo or Whole30, I am taking these couple light months to cut out processed foods and focus on eating healthy and whole produce and fats. I have eliminated almost all grains from my diet mostly because I don't really need to be eating them so frequently. If I'm out with friends I try to eat healthy but don't worry about eating grains or dairy. Life is about balance and enjoying the process.