The difference

This is going to be a few brief thoughts on what will make the difference between 2011 and 2014.

First is the goal - it's no longer about finishing an Ironman. It's about getting to the top of my AG and qualifying for Kona. But I can't just focus on outcome based goals. I need to instead focus on things I can control and let the outcome be what it may.

So, what will make the difference?

I hope it's just attention to detail. Simple as that. As a former co-worker who I really admired used to say, "take care of the little things and the big things take care of themselves."

What does that look like day-to-day?

- Going to the pool with a workout in hand rather than just winging it. And doing the whole workout! - which is a big problem of mine. In 2011 I did way too much "oh it's fine if I just do 2500 yards today, I'll make it up later in the week" and then I wouldn't make it up...

- Spending LOTS of time on the bike. I have 3 now, so there's really no excuse. I also cut a lot of rides short in the base phase of my training. The new training program is calling for a 3 hour ride as early as February 15. The bike is the "easiest" place to see major improvements and it's no secret that more time on the bike makes you faster.

- Adding striders to the end of my runs to focus on form and leg turnover. Just 5-10 short 20 second sprints with full rest have been shown to make runners more efficient without breaking down the muscles as much as a full track workout. Again, it's the little things.

- Strength sessions twice a week during my base phase. Not killing myself in the gym (or at least not all the time), but just adding some stability and core work. Hopefully this, as well, will pay dividends in my overall performance.

The underlining theme is focus on the little things. And as easy as it is to write down, I know it will be hard to put into practice. Especially when I get tired, things start to get cut short. And it could be my body trying to tell me that it's working too hard. But I hope I'll be able to tell the difference.

So bringing this into the New Year, I guess those are my resolutions... pay attention to the details. We shall see how it goes.

Happy New Year all! And thank you for reading.
DO GREAT WORK!

Santa was good to me!

Race wheels! (the other one is still in the box)

Ok it wasn't Santa, it was me... But some awesome family members helped fund these :) Thank you!! I actually got them for a screaming deal on active gear up. Less than $800 for the wheelset. 80mm carbon clinchers with aluminum braking surface. A little heavier than full carbon wheels, but I don't need new special brake pads, and I don't have to worry about heating them up on that Keene descent.

And I didn't forget where the rubber meets the road. Michelin Pro4 competition tires. Oooooh baby! And the red detailing is going to make people quiver in fear as I blow past them. They are going to look SOOO sweet on the Slice. Oh, and I'll probably go pretty fast on them too.

It's a shame I haven't been better to myself this break! I started off with a good week last week. Got a nice run in Friday and a ride outside in unseasonably warm weather Saturday, but I hit the holiday binge hard after that... Lots of beers, bourbon, and BIG meals. I'm talking about the heavy appetizer, lick-my-plate 2000 calorie entree, and then dessert, because why not? Right? Some people put a weighted vest on to train, but who wants a vest? I'll just pack on some extra pounds...

In all seriousness, I should be back in a routine by this weekend. No real harm will be done, and, frankly, I'm having fun with family and friends, so it's worth it. I also found a delicious and funky beer during my binge. It was called something like "Sweet baby Jesus Peanut Butter Porter". The name really tells you everything you need to know. Now go out and find one.

As I reel things back in I'll have some good reading to help me along. Some nutrition and cooking books as well as a book on tips how to get faster. I'll let you know what I think of these in a later post, but the cookbooks (at first glance) are pretty sweet.

OK - that's all for now. Happy holidays! Thanks for reading!

Putting the pen to paper

It's much easier for me to visualize the outline of a long training plan when I physically write things out. So, this morning (after getting some work done around the office) I got out some light reading materials and got to work!

I'm going to blend what I did last time I went to Lake Placid with Matt Fitzgerald's Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide (Level 7/8) 24 week IM plan. There were certain workouts from the last plan that I know (mentally at least) prepared me for the race. I will also use a longer than planned taper, which I took from the QT2 Systems website. I really like the things they do, and I almost signed up for coaching from them, but I couldn't justify the cost. I'll write about my thoughts on coaching some other time. Anywho - this is what I came up with!

24 weeks divided into 3 meso cycles - base phase, build phase, and peak phase. The way Fitzgerald builds his programs, you kind of cycle through a run, swim, and bike focus every few weeks, so I'm really going to just stick to the plan and let it work. From now until Feb. 11 is when I really need to prepare myself for the program. My fitness kind of sucks right now, but I'm relatively strong compared to past winters. More on that later.

 This will be the basic schedule week to week. The key workouts have boxes around them.
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - quality bike or run (they will alternate week to week) with a swim
Wednesday - the opposite of Tuesday also with a swim
Thursday - Brick and either a swim or weight session
Friday - quality swim session (LONG set! 1-2 hours). Maybe a shorter second session during the day.
Saturday - long bike and short run
Sunday - bike and then long run.

Eat, tell my wife I love her, sleep, repeat for 6 months...

Fitzgerald called for a swim then run on Sunday, but I really liked biking and then running long. It really prepared me, I think, for the IM marathon. And I want to go faster than my 3:23 from 2011... Fitzgerald also had a hard bike session on Friday, which I switched to Tuesday. I want to make sure I'm relatively fresh for my Saturday ride. This time around I want to make sure I'm really focused during key sessions. It becomes very difficult when heavy fatigue sets in, but digging a little deeper and really finishing those workouts will, I believe, get me where I want to go.

Despite my mojo being up, the weather is trying to hold me down! We've had a lot of snowfall (for PA) this time of year. I'm doing my best to work through it with strength sessions and pool sets. I tried to ride my mountain bike through the snow covered fields the other day and wow was it hard! I'll be on the trainer until this stuff clears (which might be soon bc it's supposed to hit 65 this weekend!). 

It's a little messy... but I could spend the early morning cleaning OR on the bike. Guess which one I chose? And guess which one Maddy wishes I chose? (Just kidding - kind of).

Last note - coaching winter track has kept me pretty strong. I do a dynamic warm up with the kids everyday, and we do a lot of shorter sprint sets. With the snow covering the track, we've run A LOT of stairs in the academic buildings and we even hit the gym a little bit. Strength seems to be there, but, as I alluded to earlier, my aerobic fitness is way down. I know that I just need to be able to handle the training in February, so, for now, it's going to be kind of unstructured. I'll need to be able to run an hour, swim 3k, and ride 3 hours by Feb. 10. I'm not too worried.

Thanks for reading!

Happy holidays!

Finally feeling it

For the past few months (and I think I could probably go as far back as last year) I haven't really felt the mojo for training and thus racing. Maybe it was burnout, maybe it was just all the other things that I've had going on, but I really struggled to get motivated. I hoped that I would just snap out of it, but it didn't happen... Until now! I'm excited to start ramping things up and get into shape again. I don't know what changed, but I'm finally ready mentally to start getting after it. It feels good. I'll put the pen to paper today to build my plan through July 2014. I hope the energy and motivation stay. I'm sure it will waver at times, but I think I'm finally ready to commit to something again. We shall see how my body holds up. I feel pretty strong actually, but I don't think I have the aerobic endurance that I should. The biggest change will be getting back into the habit of going long on the weekends. Ideally I'll be riding 2+ hours on Saturdays and running 1.5+ on Sundays... I'm also going to try to swim 5x a week. MWF mornings I'll get in for about 3k, and TR I'll do something shorter during my lunch break. Then my running and biking will be done after school. Ideally 2 runs and 2 trainer rides M-F. I'll only get outside on the bike (mountain bike) on the weekends because of daylight. Then I'll run long on Sundays... Week one begins today! Had a good morning swim, and I'm planning a nice easy run this afternoon.

Onward and upward!

Thanksgiving and MTB

What a wonderful time of year! Spent this Thanksgiving mostly with the in-laws, and it was a blast. Managed to squeak out a 3rd AG in a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning (more on that below) and then stuffed my face until my stomach hurt through the evening. Friday I took out my brand spankin new mountain bike on Friday before filling myself with copious amounts of pasta and alcohol. Saturday we made it out to see my parents and grandparents, and then Sunday I relaxed (after getting in another mtb ride...). There is a lot to be thankful for.

I'll do a brief description of the turkey trot and then give some specs on my new wheels because, after all, this is a sport-centric blog.

The Nazareth Pumpkin Pie 5k was Thanksgiving morning. This is the third year we've done it, and it's a blast every time. It's a pretty hilly 5k course, all on roads, and close to Maddy's parents' house. This year we had her sister and bro-in-law (the same guy who has built 2 bikes for me now - check him and my bikes out at royalhcycles.com), Maddy, her aunt (who placed 4th AG in her first 5k ever!), and me. Top 3 finishers in each age group win a pumpkin pie and I had been second the previous two years running 17:42, and 17:39. This year I knew I was in no shape to run sub 18 since I haven't been running with my old cross country team, and I really just haven't been running... Nevertheless, I got home this year in 18:22, and managed to get 3rd and a pie. Maddy also PR'ed (!) which is even more impressive because she's been battling a fiery IT band for the past few weeks. She wasn't sure she'd even make it because of the pain she'd been having. It was a great start to the day all in all.

Now the good stuff...

Went out on Friday for an 1:15 ride through some muck and mud. The Royal H MTB delivered on all my expectations! What a ride!

Only problem is going to be finding a hose near my house! We don't have a hook up outside and I think I'll need it if riding is going to be anything like it was Friday...

More later this week. I'm getting back in the swing of things.

1500 tt in the pool some time this week as a benchmark. I'm having a competition to see who can shave the most off in the month of Dec. with 2 guys I work with.