Ramble

I have a feeling my blog posts are going to be poorly edited for quite some time. Most of these are written on the train during my commute. Trouble is, I’ll write for 5 minutes, then fall asleep. I’ll apologize for the lack of flow in advance.

I now have the next 12 weeks of my workout schedule. Initially I only had 6 weeks. Just looking at those 6 made me realize that it’s going to get tough. As I looked at the 6 after that, I laughed out loud. Just like that, my feelings about it went from being a bit anxious about it, to thinking it’s somewhat absurd. (I’m so glad that I’m only doing half iron and not full iron this year).

Now that I’ve had some time to digest what lies ahead of me, I’m psyched up about it. In 8-12 weeks I should be able to manage those big workouts, I just have to stick to the plan and stay healthy.

I think the bike volume is what concerns me the most. I have never put enough time in on the bike. Simply proven by seeing that my longest rides ever have both been on the Timberman course. Once as a training ride and once during the race, which was in 2009. Obviously, that is going to change this year.

Biking has been my least favorite part of triathlon, here is why.

Lack of comfort: If I go long, I hate my saddle. Once you are uncomfortable on your saddle, you are done for. I haven’t found a way to make it better. So I am on a mission to find the right saddle. More on this soon.

The other comfort issue is that often my back/hip on my right side becomes problematic. I’m curious if my right side is doing more than it’s share of the work. I’ve been focusing on my left side, trying to make sure it stays involved.

I also have a tendency to push too hard at the beginning of every bike workout. I think these harder efforts are putting extra stress on that hip as well. I need to dial it back and find a better pace. The last few years I think I got through the bike using intensity in my training. This year will be more about volume. I need to learn how to pace for volume.

I’m really not sure what to think about Columbia and Mooseman tho’. I may have messed up by not giving myself more of a build into those races. I’m not saying that I’m not going to do well there. I’m just saying I’m learning how this system works along the way, and I might have done things differently now that I have a better understanding of it. I probably could have had a build into these 2 early races, then another schedule leading into Timberman, two peaks instead of just one. Not a big deal, just something to consider going forward.

I’ve been at the pool twice since my last lesson. I guess I’d forgotten how tough it is mentally to work on technique, rather than just hammering out the laps. I’m not swimming as hard as I had been because I’m so focused on trying to make the changes Coach Q gave me. I’m convinced that working on this is worth it, even during my build schedule. If I can change the rhythm of my recovery stroke and correct my right arm pull, I think that I’ll be headed towards the next level. Maybe not the next level in terms of speed right away but efficiency should improve and that alone is worth it.

I think I’ve made some progress with this already. I swam 3000 the other night and stayed focused on this the entire time. It took awhile to dial it in. At first I wasn’t able to manage the changes without messing up my body position. Which made it so I had zero glide time. I kept adjusting and eventually got into a decent rhythm and I felt that I had incorporated many of the fixes. Next lesson is Tuesday. I’ve got a couple more swim workouts before then. Hopefully I’ll have it dialed in by then so I can get some good feedback. Because you know this works, you change one thing and it affects everything else… I’m sure he will pick up on some of the new funkiness I’m feeling, if not I’ve got some questions. Fortunately, he will have answers.