Back from vacation

The legs felt pretty good coming off 5 days of playing in the powder in Utah. The plan called for 3 x 8' on 2' off at 95-100% FTP. I actually increased the average wattage for each succeeding interval, saving the best for last. I then ran at an easy pace for 25 minutes to complete the day's scheduled workout.

I've been swimming for 45 minutes every M, W, and F in hopes of improving my stroke and building endurance and I'm starting to see a little improvement. I was active in swim team as a kid (numerous county and region breast stroke ribbons to prove it) but up until December 08, I only swam 5X in the past 28 years and the 5X were an attempt to get ready for my first sprint triathlon (6/08). I don't count wading in the pool with my kids as structured swimming nor do I count lounging in a chair watching the waves crash the beach at Holden. So, with little base to build on, the ROI is pretty high for me right now and the additional time has little effect on my other training.

The runs at HMP and TP are getting easier as I'm having to really focus on slowing down my pace when performing these intervals. I guess the 200 miles I did at 180 cadenece (listing to a metronome on my Ipod) are paying off by keeping my turnover high.

I have 2 solid weeks of training before I head to Disney with the family and hope this is the last major break in my training schedule.

5K TT - 17 second improvement

I decided to do my run testing a week early as I'll be heading out of town when my training plan calls for the test. My warm-up consisted of a 1.5 mile jog over to a local city park that has a dirt track that is rarely, if ever used as I thought this would be a great venue for doing these monthly tests.

I started out a pace that I thought I could hold the entire 5K. After 1.5 miles, I realized I was wrong. I ran the first mile in 6:38, second in 7:09, third in 7:13, and the final 0.10 in 6:36 for a grand total of 21:40. Nothing like a positive split!! Not bad considering I haven't done any speed work and I shaved 17 seconds off my 5K time I did in a race a little over a month ago. My vDot climbed 0.4 to 45.4 but still not where I want to be which is under 20'. Hopefully the next 16 weeks will get me closer to my goal - just in time for short course racing!

Next month I'll go out a little more conservative - 7' first mile and then try to drop 10 seconds on each of the remaining miles.

Time for some altitude training

Heading to Park City, UT in a few days to partake in the dry, white powder and hopefully boost my RBC's. Nothing like a little legal PED (performance enhancing drug) to get the 2009 season started off in the right direction!

Signed up with Endurance Nation

I decided to sign up with Endurance Nation for the 2009 season and have purchased my annual training plan for Ironman 70.3 Augusta. I decided to go the "self-coached" route next year as I'm planning for only 1 peak versus two this year and I'm sticking to triathlons in 2009 whereas I was doing road races, crits, and time trials in 2008. EN has been very prompt and "on the ball" with regards to sending you the plans, collateral training material, etc within minutes of sending payment. In addition, I received an answer to a question I posted on the forum in less than an hour.

Shaving legs = Start of new season

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.