30 Great Things About The Off-Season

1. Sleeping in.
2. Time.  Loads and loads of free time to do anything and nothing with.
3. Beer, margaritas, and mai tais. 
4. Going to hockey games without worrying about early morning workouts.
5. Not having to ride my bike in today’s incredibly gusty winds.
6. Gluttony (food).  At least for 1 week after Ironman, I will not feel guilty for this.
7. Energy.  For things OTHER than training.
8. Only having to take 1 shower a day, instead of 3 because of all the workouts.
9. Did I mention beer?
10. Nice soft skin that isn’t dry or scaly from chlorine exposure. If you ignore the parts that appear to be somehow contaminated by Tempe Town Lake.
11. I don’t even know what state my foam roller is in.
12. Significant smaller laundry volume due to non-usage of workout clothes
13. Catching up on new Pay-Per-View/DVD releases – Star Trek and Up (loved them as much as I did in the theater), Transformers 2 (possibly one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen), Hannah Montana: The Movie (just kidding!)
14. Having an off-season that overlaps with the holiday season = perfect timing for a holiday eating binge
15. No urgent need to go out and run in the cold weather
16. Spontaneity.  No scheduling of life outside of work, hockey, dog classes, shows and trials…OK, well *some* spontaneity.
17. I’m going to Hawaii in a few weeks!
18. Difficult decisions involve which article of IM AZ finisher gear to wear each day.
19. Duh. Beer.
20. Catching up with friends
21. Being excited about the next racing year but not feeling any rush to start training for it yet
22. Napping on the couch all afternoon can be justified as a “deep recovery” activity
23. Eating at Taco Bell and Mexico Lindo in the same day without having to worry about how that will affect the next day’s workout
24. I haven’t worn spandex in 7 days.
25. Wearing my wedding rings again.  I won’t wear them biking or swimming, so they spent more time in the box than on my hand during heavy training periods.
26. Seeing my husband outside of long bike rides and dog walks
27. Lucky Charms, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, Hostess Powdered Donuts…all these items are gracing my kitchen cabinet for the first time in months.  Only 24 more hours to enjoy such forbidden delights.
28. Lower grocery bills
29. Running the dogs on the high school field on a weekend morning instead of rushing the dogs through a short neighborhood walk so I can get a long workout started
30. Reflecting on the hard work put in this year and looking towards the next year with hope about how much harder I will train!