Experior and Slornow's Spring/Summer Mentor Group-CLOSED (Page 97)

A pretty lazy post Thanksgiving day for me. I am at work for 24 hours but not much going on. I am going to get in another short, easy, run eventually but I am having a little motivational problem. It is awfully cold and windy outside right now..... Wah, wah wah

Congratulations! I think the 10k is one of the hardest distances to run. Well deserved food coma after your performance yesterday.

Hey gang, just checking in. I've had a pretty mild Thanksgiving; I've been nursing some minor wounds I haven't wanted to become major (sore knees, sore achilles) so I've taken it easy over the break...all except for a 48 mile ride on Saturday that was a little brutal at times. We went through the foothills, so there were a couple nasty climbs, also it was freezing at first! However, I felt pretty good the whole time and am no worse for the wear today! Good times Now, if I could just manage to ever get in the pool...

Hello, hello! Thanksgiving week has been pretty active. Ran 3 miles before turkey dinner. Didn't eat a ton, so didn't feel miserable at the end of the day. Friday I ran a 3 mile Turkey Trot, Saturday I played on the MTB in the hills with some friends training for Xterra, and Sunday was a lovely, lovely 4 mile race running through trails.

Training has been going well. Lots of work in the pool with the swim team, been averaging 20ish miles a week for running, and getting out on the bike when I can. Riding groups are starting to come together, so I'll be getting more time in the hills soon. Crashed hard the other day, which was my first day back in the hills, and have some lovely beef jerky going on up and down my left arm. Bruised hip and legs. Pretty sure it'll be better.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Edited by Blanda 2012-11-25 6:49 PM

Wow, Randy. Sounds like a great weekend. I would be all over something like that. Have a great time.

On the training front: probably doing too much too soon. I feel awesome but the guy who writes my training plan wants me to take it a little easier for another week or two. I pay him to do this and he hasn't steered me wrong yet so I guess I had better listen (I still will run six more miles to get over 100 for the month--keeping the streak alive). It is funny how I don't have any (psychological, not physical) problem following the plan when it says do 18 hours in a week but when it says to do four hours I am selective in my ability to take instruction......

Michael

Great to hear from you. I wondered how things were going. I am sure that you are more tired than I am at this point.

Yes. I need to slow down a little bit . The training cycle becomes so much a part of what "you" do that it is hard to shift gears sometimes. I am trying.

Booo! I replied earlier but it's not showing. 

Randy: Hope your issues are resolved soon so you can hit the road again!

Michael: You are an angel. That is all.

As for me, I've had an amazing month of consistency. A funny about my last attempt at Xterra 2011, I've become the go-to for how to deal with now making the cut-off time to finish it, haha! OK, not really haha, but I do like being able to help others.

I'm loving swimming lately. Training is super hard, but I'm hanging and "getting it".  My butterflies are pretty fly even if I'll never use them in a triathlon!

Hope you're all having a great start to your week. Happy training! 

This is basically the text of an email that I sent to my coach this week. It is a wrap up of the 2012 season and how I think it went. It also hits on my goals and dreams for next year (or beyond--I really see the whole triathlon adventure as a long-term, lifestyle thing that requires patience and perserverance).

It really is not that interesting but I am just putting my goals out in the public realm--sometimes that helps with external motivation when the internal motivation is weaker.

So... the year in review

Boston Marathon and prep: disappointed in my time but that is what I was able to do on that day. The heat of the race really destroyed me but I was not alone. I did not pace this one well. Live and learn. Somehow I feel like I fell down a little bit in my prep. I dreaded the 16-20 mile runs at marathon pace. I don't know why but these really hurt me and I had some motivational problems. On the up side, I really liked the run prep for AZ with long, moderate pace runs with the mile repeats during the runs. I felt good about the AZ prep runs overall but also felt really good when I would hit the repeats. I felt like this later season training made me faster and did not tax me as much motivationally/mentally.

Eagleman 70.3: two months later I had a really good race. Swim was what I could do. Bike, I feel like I left a little bit out there but the run was pure suffering, again because of the heat. PR for me and I think I can go faster still with some real focus on the bike and swim, not losing track of the run either.

HM a week later. Evidence I was getting stronger with a HM PR on really, still, very tired legs.

A couple Olympics and a sprint: Each consecutive race a PR. Again, I am stronger but still a lot of room to improve. 2:04 for an Olympic was a bit of an aberration. I'll take it, but it was a current aided swim, slightly short bike, slightly long run so it played to my strong suit.

Detroit HM: Surprised myself a little. This hurt, but again, showed me that the training is making me better slowly but surely.

IMAZ: Damn the swim. I was sure I would be significantly faster (looking for 1:10??) but I was not. Forty minutes faster on the bike than Kona and I felt much better, although on an easier course. Run, four minutes faster than Kona and I might have had a couple more minutes in me...... maybe. 49 minute overall improvement but it left me wanting more. The training for this went really well. I basically hit every workout in prep and felt really confident going in to this race. Not really that nervous at all. I felt ready. I want to feel this way every time I do a major goal race.

Overall very satisfied with this season. My ego kept having me believing that I could go faster than my fitness could support. I would really like to get to the upper levels of competing in this sport but I realize that I have a ways to go.

For next season:

I want to continue to improve. This year I was consistently in the top 5-10% of the big goal races (I think). I want to get faster and improve to be top 5% or better with the goal to keep improving versus my peers at each race. I would like to get back to Kona one day but I realize that the difference between where I am, which is a very good AG triathlete, and a Kona qualifier, an elite AG triathlete, is a long way. I am close but not that close. However, I am willing to keep putting in the work to get there. Regardless of whether I get back, or how long it takes me, I am having fun and enjoying the experience. Part of the enjoyment is seeing myself improve, both against my prior performances, and against other's performances at the same race.

Swim: As much (more) about technique than it is about volume. There are a lot of people out there who swim a lot less than I do and go a lot faster. I would like to up my volume marginally, but more importantly, really work on technique over this winter. I have a swim clinic with Sheila Taormina that will, I'm sure (note sarcasm) unlock all of the secrets I need to swim fast. I also have a swim coach around that I will be visiting periodically to clean things up.

Bike: I am counting on improveing my FTP with some focused, intense, bike training. A lot of trainer rides this winter on my schedule I hope. I will likely try to get out and mountain bike some as well. I am willing to do the work. I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

Run: The only part of Tri that I think I am any good at. I feel comfortable with my running but I would still very much like to continue to improve my pace. I have a several year streak of greater than 100 miles/month going and I would like to continue this but would sacrifice it if I really needed to. At least 25 miles/week more or less. I would still be interested in keeping up a long run on the weekends if it fits in to the schedule to keep up the ability to 'drop-in' to a longer race if the opportunity arises.

Races on the horizon: I would like to do some running races over the winter, 5, 10, 15 k races as the opportunity arises just to keep sharp and have some fun. 2013 schedule: April 13--HM, about 40 minutes from home. Flat and fast. June 2-Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon. June 23--HIM Mont Tremblant. August 4--HIM Boulder. September 22--IM Tahoe. This one is interesting because all of the Kona qualifiers will be busy prepping for something else in October. I am sure that there will be a large number of people who were just behind those qualifiers racing here with a 2014 goal in mind. I would love to have the kind of year and prep that I could at least think about this being a possiblity. November 2, Iceman Cometh point to point 30 mile Mountain bike race for some end of season fun.

It felt like a pretty narcissistic, me, me, me post, but I wanted to put the goals out there.

I am still having a lot of fun with triathlon. I enjoy the training and racing but the racing really just gives me an excuse to train like I want to. I would do this even if there were no competitions to do.

So I went for a run tonight and....... Next weeks plan calls for some running intervals at 5:40-45 pace and I haven't run that fast in a long, long time. I decided to throw in a couple of 1/4 mile repeats at 5:45 just to get an idea what it will feel like. It is really fast but will be doable. As they stretch out to 1/2 mile and mile it will get interesting. One thing I noticed is that after finishing a 1/4 mile at 5:45 it is amazing how slow and easy 6:30 pace feels by comparison. If I just went out and ran at 6:30 it would feel fast and hard but much less so after an even faster interval.

The last two weeks of very little training has my batteries recharged and I feel ready to get back at it.

No training for me lately, just getting over what I'm guessing was the flu. High fever and all-around crappy feeling for the past few days. Hopefully, I can ease back into things next week. 

Here is a link to the MI forum where her clinic was announced.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

I am pretty sure that it is full but it filled so quickly that I suspect that they may decide to do another. If I see anything in the future I will make sure you know about it. She is apparently pretty amazing in person.

My stats for November. Getting back into the swing of things.

Bike:	3h 54m 36s  - 54.3 Mi
Run:	12h 10m 41s  - 81.31 Mi
Swim:	10h 15m  - 15951.44 Yd
Elliptical Training:	36m
Soccer:	45m
Walking:	49m 17s