Sunday, March 21, 2010

One full week of training down.

Well, I have now had one full week of my training done and I would have to say, things are going pretty well. I have stuck to the plan pretty much, but that might change when I head back to work in a week.

I did have one minor setback with the bike. When I was actually out onto the road, I noticed my avg. speed was WAY UP. I was usually doing between 11.5-12.5 mph and after 2 different rides, I was up to about 15.5 mph on average. Well I did a ride on Friday afternoon and decided to map it out when I got back home. My bike computer said the ride was about 9.75 miles and it was really only about 7.2 miles. How discouraging. I realized I had set up the wheel circumference correctly, but somehow over the winter, the bike computer switched over the "bike 2" which had a wheel setting of 26 inches instead of mine at 20 inches. A HUGE difference. I went out for a ride this morning for a little over an hour and when I got back and checked, all seemed in order. With a pretty strong headwind I still managed and average of 12.2 mph. I can't wait until I get new wheels in a couple of weeks. And with a change in gearing as well, I hope to get up to an average of 16 mph. Here's hoping.

Swimming this week went well. I was at the pool on Sunday and Tuesday. Both times, there we no problems and I was able to hit the prescribed swim times with no resting keeping my pace at about 4:20 for each 150 yards. I was at the Multisport Expo on Saturday and did a TI clinic. I came away with some good tips from the coach, but more importantly, he said my form was VERY RELAXED and smooth which as two important features of TI swimming. I need to work on rotating at my hips though and not my chest. I will work on that in the pool tomorrow. Using a snorkel will help for sure.

I did THREE runs this week. That is HUGE for me. I don't think I ever ran more than once a week all winter and most of the time it was once ever 2 weeks. The longest run of 45 minutes on Friday was great. I didn't get a chance to run until the evening so I decided to use the YMCA instead of running outside (Sue was real happy about that). I did a 5 minute warm-up walk and then started to run. I can now manage continual runs of 8 to 10 minutes. That is huge for me. When I first started I was happy to be able run for 2 min and then walk for 1 min. I was able to run for 40 minutes, by doing 8 min run, 2 min walk, 10 min run, 2 min walk, 8 min run, 2 min walk, and then 8 min run. I was able to increase the run speed for each section up to about 4.5 mph for the last section. Running continues to be my most challenging part and if I am able to one day do a 1/2 Ironman, it will all hinge on my running. Thirteen miles will not be an easy task. I am determined to keep plugging along.

There was so more news about the EXPO. First, I met up with Wendy from FIRM racing. They organized the Salem and TDD triathlons I did this summer. Wendy and Gail Vescio asked me to consider being the keynote speaker at the FIRMman race in Rhode Island at the end of the season. They have a banquet the night before and they have asked me to speak at the dinner. All I can say is, WOW. I said, "YES". What? Me, give up a chance to hold a microphone?

I also met with the guys from FITWERX in Peabody. They partner with a bike company from Montreal called GURU. Both companies are eager to consider designing a bike for me. The challenge is what interests both groups. Here's hoping some funding comes my way, because that is going to be a ton of $.

Monday, March 15, 2010

2 days down........and a long road to go.

Well, I am officially into my training and things are going well. Yesterday I did a 24min swim at the new Y on Leggs Hill and then a 48min ride on my trainer in the basement. For the swims, I will not use the snorkel or fins except for warm-up of cool down. I want to make sure I simulate real triathlon swimming as much as possible in a pool.

I had a 30min run this afternoon at the Salem Y. It would have to be my best run to date. I did a 3 min warm-up and then ran for 27 minutes. I only "walked" twice during the run. Once for 2 minutes and then again for a 1 minute. That is HUGE for me.

I never thought I would get much out of Eminem, but he sure has some motivational stuff to listen to. "Till I collapse" and "Lose Yourself".

"But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse."

Still my favorite quote for triathlon has got to be,

"Triathlon has become life in microcosm, a metaphor that gives truth to the wisdom passed from each generation to the next: work hard and you will be rewarded, have faith in yourself and you will excel; do not falter when an ill wind blows your way." Ashley Halsey

Tomorrow, it's a 40min swim back at the Y. Having 2 weeks off from school is going to help get me into a nice workout groove for sure. I have to make sure to get some things done around the house including doing the taxes and of course clean out the computer room/extra bedroom.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Starting my Official Prep Tomorrow

Well, here I am at the start of my 2 week spring vacation. I have spent the day with Sue and Owen up in Maine. We got to Tim Horton's in Scarborough after stopping at Tom's of Maine in Kennebunk. After that we got up to Freeport and hit LL BEAN and then the Nike store. I got an awesome bright orange fleece. Will go very well with my other Team Comp gear.

I have spent the evening working on my official 17 week plan to get me to the Black Fly Tri on July 10th. Along the way, I plan on doing the Patriot 1/2 Ironman Aquabike on June 20th.

I emailed Elaine Vescio on Team Comp in the hopes that she would look over my plan and give me any final pointers.

This is so exciting. To think, this time last year I didn't even have my bike and was still riding Sue's. And here I am now, a triathlete preparing for my first FULL season.

Off to bed soon since the clocks are moved ahead one hour.