It's official, my training for the 2009 season has started with the "trimming of the tree" I mean shaving of the legs. Once my season is over, I typically take a few weeks or months off from shaving the legs. I guess it signals my body that it's rest time and time to load up on empty carbs, saturated fat and hydrogenated oils.
Last year this time I was putting in 14 to 17 hour weeks on the bike to get ready for the bike racing season in April / May. In hindsight this was a big mistake as I was flying in April /May and dead in July /August. My season was over before it really got started. Switching to Tri's for 2009 - Sprint and long course - will be quite a bit different for me and doing a gradual build makes sense as my A race - Ironman 70.3 Augusta is in September.
I've been running and cycling several days a week with the majority of my bike work being at SST - getting the biggest return for the time put in. Still undecided about a training plan. Looking at Endurance Nation as I'm a power meter user and really like their approach of using the "out season" or off season to build speed on the bike and run. The race isn't won in the water so spending 5 days a week perfecting my swim stroke doesn't make sense to me. The only triathlon I did in 2008 had me coming out of the water 18th in my group and I only spent 5 days training for the swim 30 days before the event. I can hold my own and will get faster just by spending time on the discipline.
Tentative race schedule for 2009:
5/3/09 - Lake Murray Triathlon
6/20/09 - Tri the Midlands Triathlon
9/6/09 - Hartsville YMCA International Triathlon
9/27/09 - Ironman 70.3 Augusta
I'm sure I'll add a few 10K races throughout the year and will modify the schedule accordingly.
Ironman Cozumel, 2012 Review, Farewell
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Ironman Cozumel
Ironman Cozumel, and all that it encompassed was a true adventrue. We loved
it. The race didn't go as I hoped, but that is pretty much th...
11 years ago
3 comments:
Hey Scott, I'm glad to see the update...
Did you hear about the new race in downtown on the March 28th? - too convenient to pass up for me.
My only comments on your training approach (take it for what is worth) ... The race may not be over at the swim finish, but it absolutely can be lost in the water! All these guys can ride hard and run fast, but not all can swim. In that sense, the swim can win the race for you … has for me a few times! Your best bet is to make sure you’re in the lead pack coming out of the water, if you’re not you’re going to have to do something heroic on the bike or run to close the gap and hope your competition doesn’t bring their A game.
Scott -
thanks for considering EN. we have a season map you can look at for Augusta 70.3 -- ignore the wrong title, it's the right link! Should help you with planning. (http://www.endurancenation.us/en_coach/season09_Cancun_703.php)
As for the swim thing, it's really up to you. It's not whether you'll win/lose race in the swim, but the opportunity cost of swimming 3x right now in Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar/April when you could have been riding/running/recovering/stretching etc.
Good luck!
Patrick
Scott,
I've written a few more thoughts about Off-Season swimming here:
http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/2008/off-season-swimming-thoughts/
Hope this helps,
Rich Strauss
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