Wow.
It has been too long. Waaaaaay too long without a post on the blog. I am chillin out on the couch watching Dane Cook on Comedy Central (kinda funny, not my favorite, though), in a reflection mode.
Coming in to the spring, I am finishing up a fairly tumultous winter, probably one of the roughest times of my life. I'll spare the details, but I've basically hit the "restart" button on life and am back to square one trying to decide my future and determine my next move.
In the meantime, I am putting in hours at the hardware store, and putting the hours training, too! Off-season training was fairly successful, I was able to tweak, modify, and improve my swim stroke (holding avg 1:30/100 pace for 2000-2500m), my pedal stroke (23-26 mph avg on no-wind flats), and my running gait (more of a mid-foot strike now, centered under the hips, 7:30 avg pace for 6-10 miles). The off-season focus turned into a more technical one, choosing to spend time analyzing video and focusing on drills to improve technique first, then laying down the base work on a good technical foundation to ingrain proper habits. On this note, this off season was a good one.
As a result, though, I was not able to lay down the "aerobic base" that I was hoping for, volume wise. Depending on who you talk to, that may not matter as much as you think. But, the undeniable fact remains, you do need volume to go long. In talking about half-iron and full-iron distance events, there is a certain threshold of volume that is critical to having a good race (ie, not blowing up and being able to finish without putting yourself in danger of injury). It takes a long time to build up this base, depending on who you are, your aerobic background, genetics, etc.
I'm not certain that I've reached that threshold. In my workouts, I am able to put forth a higher intensity for a shorter period of time (ride 50 miles in just over 2 hours), but that is my limit at the moment. I don't know if I am in need of more training, or if I just get bored too easily with a longer workout, or what. I would suspect that developing a nutrition plan for long training rides would help, too. At any rate, I feel I am stuck at a level of training volume and intensity that is between an Olympic distance race and a half-iron distance race.
I feel like I've run out of time to bump it up to that next level. Race season starts in a week for me. 2 sprints in a row, followed by an olympic, followed by a 100K bike ride, and then three weeks out from that is the Door County Half Iron, my projected "A" race. Do I have time? I don't know. Probably not.
Am I worried about my volume? Not necessarily. I think my main concern lies with my discipline. Triathlon is really my first venture into the world of endurance sports. Having the discipline to pace yourself over a long distance is hard. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out on what was supposed to be a "long easy run" only to be picking up the pace and going for an all-out PR effort, and blow up with 4-5 miles to go, and walking it in. Fortunately, it is happening less and less. I think I have a harder time on the bike. Biking is becoming my strength, far and away. Not distance, but intensity over distance. I am "fortunate" enought to live in southern Wisco, home of some great hill country.
These hills are where I go to do battle with me inner demons, and I pound relentlessly until those demons are crying for mercy.I can see myself going out hard in the half-iron race, having an amazing bike split, and then walking the run portion. Knowing this, what do I do? I have set some tentative goals for my bike splits.
The problem isn't that I'm a bad runner. Running alone I am actually fairly decent. I have some muscle mass to drop before I can be "really" good, but I am not too worried about that. The problem is my running off the bike, especially if I really put forth an intense effort.
This is most likely the single thing that separates the pros from the amateurs. Discipline. Knowing full well your capabilities and pushing right up to that limit, and having the strength to hold it right at that limit and not an ounce more.
Something to shoot for, anyways.
In the meantime, I will be re-evaluating my season goals, making sure to remember the MOST important one, HAVE FUN!!
In the meantime, stay tuned for upcoming race reports, training updates, and a new look to the race rig! I will be working with my good buddy and mechanic, Ian, to get the P2C smoothed out and set up for race day! There will be a couple of interesting changes to the bike and to the way I ride it. It is still in the experimental stage, especially of my riding style, but that is the way the season is starting to shape out. A time for experimentation and tinkering, and self-discovery.
Thanks for tuning in!!
-J
