It's that time of year again - family, food, presents, more food, family fights and more food - Happy Holidays!  During this time, we all have to and try to balance family festivities and not behaving like a Type-A triathlon-geeks. It's also best not to try to break any records in the food-gorging department either. Both are tough to do, but here are some tips that may help:

• Don't be a scrooge! Holiday time is sometimes the one time of year for you to get together with your family to celebrate whatever you wish and make lasting memories. Don't blow off a family lunch cooked by grandma because you HAVE to get that 1.5hr run in. Be flexible and maybe even (gasp!) shorten your workout. It's important to keep your priorities in check, and during this time, that distant Ironman shouldn't be the very top of the list. A few short training days will be okay - and they will keep the family happy (which is probably priority #1!)
• On the other hand, don't just blow off every workout for the next two weeks because Coach Bri said it was okay and that I needed to spend time with my family! Like I said, be flexible, but don't write everything off. :) You will be a much happier triathlete if you get some workouts in. And believe me, you will be a very happy triathlete if you stay in active shape come January when you see your upcoming schedule to kick off the new year!
• Don't stuff yourself silly at every meal. There's nothing worse than holiday weight gain and we can all make better choices while still enjoying dinner every night. You don't always need seconds, and you don't have to skip the vegetables to 'save room for dessert.' (One of my favorite lines)
• On the other-other hand, don't pass on everything yummy so you can stick to your very strict athlete diet and become that weird triathloner family member :) Everything in moderation. But enjoy the goodies!
• Most of all, enjoy this time and make the most of the time you have with your family. We just never know what life will throw at us so make sure you make each day count and be thankful for the time you do have with your family. Besides, come January you'll be training hard for the season and wishing you had your coach telling you to eat goodies and shorten workouts!

• Three lectures on swim/triathlon training
• An hour long Powerstroke® swim skills practice session
• An individual swim analysis
• Lunch
• A DVD of each swimmer's technique analysis
  
• A CD of all camp materials presented