Swim: Bring It On!

As I’ve said many times through my race reports over the past season, my swim needs some serious attention.  As an Age-Grouper, it was always my weakness, but it never really held me back.  A decent swim, followed by a strong bike and run, was often enough to get on the Age-Group or Overall Amateur Podium.  While you can fake your way as an AG’er to a good finish, there is no way this works in the Pro Field where everyone is strong all-around and a weak swim is quickly exposed in a few ways.  Most importantly when you miss swimming with the main pack you are working harder than necessary in the water without the draft.  This means time lost in the water and extra energy spent.  Next, you also miss biking with the main pack.  Not only does this eliminate the minor, but still noticeable benefit of the legal paceline, you also lose the psychological benefit of riding next to your competition.  Again, working harder and going slower.  This scenario always left me off the back pack starting the run, and I was left trying to run my way up a couple of places. 

It Begins!

After a few weeks of recovery, its time to get moving again!  I’ve really enjoyed the break from the regimented training schedule, but after a few weeks off, I am really getting the itch to start training again.  I’m ready to go!  It’s funny how the body reacts to a rest period.  First I felt tired all the time as my body recovered.  Then I felt better physically, but not really ready mentally.  Now it’s been just over 4 weeks, and I can’t wait to start training again.  I feel that once I get the motivation and drive back, then I am ready.  I pay a lot of attention to my motivation level throughout the year and feel that it is one of the most important ways our body uses to communicate what is going on in there…and now that I got it back, I know I’m ready.

Post-Season Training Update!

Well, since my off-season started after my last race in Pocono, there is not much to write about.  I ran….once….and I biked….once.  These first couple of weeks, I think it’s important to simply rest and recover, both physically and mentally.  It’s simple: I just listen to my body.  If I want to swim, bike or run, I will, but if things get in the way or I really don’t feel like it, I give myself a “free pass” this time of year.  Right or wrong, it’s just what I do.  To me there is no doubt about the importance of consistency in training, and long-term, consistent training is necessary to yield improvements and training gains.  However, as part of staying consistent (and healthy) over the long term, I also feel we all need a break to let our bodies recover.  Why is this break important?  For me at least, after many months of commitment, sacrifice and focused workouts, taking some time off gets that fire going again and sets me up to approach that next training block with the proper intensity and motivation.  Basically I take a small step back, in the short-term, in order to see bigger gains in the long term.  And since my next race is over 6 months away, I’d say that falls into the long-term category of training at this point.   Although it is about time to get back in the pool.  That’s it for now.

Ironman Pocono 70.3 Race Report

Ironman Pocono 70.3 was a pretty late addition to my race calendar in 2012.  After a strong finish at IM Louisville, I wasn’t ready to call it a season and really wanted to do one more race.  After considering some downtime for recovery, there were not many options, and a road trip to the Poconos seemed like a good idea.  I’ve already posted on my IM recovery and fitness was going into this race, so I’m not going to go into detail again, but here is the overview.  Overall, my swim and bike were very close to pre-IM levels, but my run was still a little off.  Given the how my runs were going, I know I was not hitting the same top-end pace I was easily doing before Louisville.  I’m sure my body still needed more recovery to run faster, but after 6 weeks with no speedwork, I felt I needed to run my intervals fast to get my speed back.  It was definitely a double-edged sword and a fine-line to balance.  Regardless, I held out hope my run would come around, but there was a good chance I would not be setting a personal best.  But it didn’t really matter to me.  Racing is fun.  Period.  Also, since this was my first season racing in the Pro Field, I wanted more experience so it is crystal clear where I stand and how I need to prepare for next year.  So off I went to the Poconos!

The Ironman Recovery Roller Coaster!

The weeks immediately after an Ironman are always a series of ups and down….kind of like a roller coaster.  While I haven’t done many Ironman Distance races, IM Louisville was my 5th, but it has been enough for me to notice some trends in my recovery and mental state.  Based on that, here is a summary of my past weeks between Ironman Louisville and Pocono 70.3….

Amy Gluck Needs Your Help!

Local SE Michigan Triathlete, Amy Gluck, was involved in a serious accident while training on September 15.  One of her partners, Soas Racing, has started the following program to help her on her road to recovery:

Here is the website for the sweatbands:

http://shop.soasracing.com/apparel/we-love-amy-sweatband/


As reported on the Soas Website:

Amy Gluck was in a horrible bike accident Sept. 15th. 

Buy this sweatband to help Amy on her Road to Recovery! 100% of proceeds go to Amy to help with on-going medical costs. SOAS will be sporting custom Amy sweatbands in Kona on raceday. Join us in showing support for this amazing lady and phenomenal athlete by wearing one too (whether you are training / racing / or cheering)! 

SOAS will be donating the cost of the sweatbands so all contributions will go directly to Amy to help her on her road to recovery. 

For information on other donation amounts please email us atinfo@soasracing.com

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/a-local-tri-athlete-is-in-the-race-for-her-life-after-a-horrific-accident-has-left-her-in-a-coma

Ironman Louisville Coverage

For the first time, I made the picture gallery in the media coverage.  The following picture was #3 in the Lava Magazine race photo gallery:

Photo courtesy of Lava Magazine

Here is the link:
http://lavamagazine.com/features/gallery-ironman-louisville/#axzz26Lj2fAQ1

Thanks Lava!