First Race of Season: How's Training Plan Working?

So I just did my first race of the season. It's a good point to check in on the new things I've been doing from a training perspective. Here they are:

- More focus on whole body (pilates, yoga, weights)
- Weight loss/nutrition control
- Slowly increase mileage
- Take it easy, don't peak too soon

Overall, the new things are doing what they're supposed to. For the first time in a long time I'm injury-free. At the race I felt strong. By not pushing too hard at any point on the course I was able to finish strong. Not carrying around the extra 20 pounds is nice.

I was worried that while I lost weight I was losing muscle. This race was the first time I saw that I am gaining performance.

I used a new carboloading technique at the race too. For the four days leading up to the race I deprived myself of carbs. Not all carbs. I just moved the breakdown from 65% carbs to 50% carbs. This made my body want them. Then, the day before the race at about 3:00PM I started eating tons of carbs. Pizza for dinner. Lots of carbs. The research says that the depravation of carbs is just as important as the high carb meal the night before because it causes the body to overcompensate and store more glycogen than it normally would. This puts the glycogen per pound higher than normal. On race day I didn't have to eat much on the course.

What else is new? No taper. I worked out hard up until the day before the race. In the past I've tried tapers and my body doesn't seem to like them.

Well, this entry sucks. It's kind of all over the place and doesn't draw any real conclusions. I guess I'm just trying to tell myself that I need to continue to have a balanced approach to training. I don't want to worry about speed yet. I want to focus on full training weeks where I slowly add volume in a way that doesn't hurt my knees. And I want to continue to do the pilates, plyometrics and weights.

One thing I've failed at is the swim. Not enough hours in the pool. I really felt it on the swim. And the only part of my body that got sore after the race: triceps. And a neck muscle from turning to breathe.

Overall things are progressing properly. I just need to prevent myself from getting carried away. I have a lot of races scheduled and I have to remember that on many of them I'm not going to push it too hard... I have to see them more as training days than races. Otherwise I'll want to peak for each and I'll hose my entire progress.