Getting Back to Business

The 2012 triathlon season is getting underway, and I couldn't be more excited!  I registered for another race, the Playtri Festival in June.  It will be my first Olympic of the season. Last  year I did the sprint distance at that race. I made some nutrition mistakes on the bike and paid for it on the run, but my swim went pretty well.  The swim is actually in a nasty cannal, so I'll have to make sure I'm up to date on all my shots and don't have any open cuts. I still haven't decided on my first sprint of the season. Guess I should get on top of that.

Last year I spent the first few months of training without a coach.  I never knew if I was doing too little, too much, or just plain doing it wrong.  I didn't even know enough to question if I was on the right  track.  I just showed up to as many workouts as I could that my tri group was hosting.   That plan seemed to be working fine until I decided I wanted to do a half Ironman.  After talking with many fellow triathletes who obviously knew more than I, it was clear that I needed a coach.  It was the best decision I made last season.

My original plan was to start back with my coach in May to begin getting ready for the Ironman, but I've decided that I need to start in April instead.  To be honest, I'm kind of lost without my coach.  I miss having someone layout my weekly workout schedule.  When he puts it together, I follow it.  I also look at everything else I  need to squeeze into my week and plan accordingly.  I'm much better at time management when I'm not the manager of my time. Trying to figure out my own training schedule each week is for the birds. I know a lot of triathletes do just fine without a coach, but I'm not one of them.

It was nice not having a training plan to follow...for a little while...but it's time to get back to business.  I'm ready for 12, 14, and even 16 hour training weeks!  I still have one more month on my own, but I'm sure I'll survive.

I thought I'd throw in one of my favorite videos. It always makes me laugh...mostly because I know I sound like this sometimes.

"If God created marathons to keep people from doing anything more stupid, triathlon must have taken Him completely by surprise." ~ P.Z. Pearce

Wrenches in My Plan

Over the past two weeks a couple of wrenches were thrown into my training.  The first wrench came in the form of some nasty cold/sinus/upper respiratory crud.  It's been years I've been this sick.  I never get sick!  This made training very difficult.  I managed to keep up my swimming, but I wasn't able to get all my running in.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any biking in.

Early last week I was beginning to feel well enough to run again.  There were a few days after work when the sun was out and the temperatures were in the 70s.  I, and slew of fellow runners and triathletes, took to the running trails.  It was so nice to see so many others enjoying the beautiful training weather.  We weren't stuck indoors on treadmill!  You would think we had been cooped up for years by the way we were acting.  We were all smiling and waving and offering friendly  greeting to one another as we passed.  No, we didn't know each other (personally), but we were all sporting our accolades in the form of race shirts, hats, and visors so we knew we were with "our kind."  I even had the privilege of exchanging pleasantries with a fellow Ironman Arizona competitor.  When I ran by him I knew he was an Ironman by the M-dot tattoo (accolade)on his calf.  I wanted to stop and chat with him with, but I had some running to do.  Later, when I turned around, I found myself coming face to face with this Ironman.  Before I could ask him what Ironman he had done he asked me what Ironman I was training for.  I'm pretty sure the Ironman 70.3 visor (accolade) I was sporting gave me away.  He told me he done Hawaii and Arizona numerous times and would be back in Arizona this year.  Hopefully I'll see this man again.  My friend, Iron Dave, told me that that guy I encountered was his buddy, George.

Just as I was feeling like I could resume my full training, the second wrench reared it's ugly head.  As I left work on Friday I wasn't feeling great.  Within minutes of getting home I knew I was the victim of food poisoning or the stomach bug.  I'm almost 100% sure it was the latter.  I spent the next 24 hours feeling horrible, but I'll spare you the details!  It's been five days and I'm just starting to feel somewhat normal.  My appetite isn't completely back, but it's getting there.  I even managed to work out for the first time today.  I swam this morning and got a short run in this evening.  My swim was good, but my run felt great.  It was only two miles, but my pace was faster than normal.  I guess this means I'm back in business! This past weekend I was supposed to get my 7 mile long run in, but I guess it will have to wait until this weekend.

My immune system has been really good to me for the past few years.  It took some time off about 5 years ago, so I can't really blame it for wanting a break now.  I hope it understands that the first race of the season, The Rock-n-Roll half marathon, is coming up next month so it's time to get back to work.  While I haven't signed up for any spring triathlons, I'm still hoping to get my first one in by late April or early May.  That's also the time that I'll officially begin my Ironman training with my coach.  I can't wait!

I'm pretty sure that life with throw more wrenches my way this season, but I'll just deal with them and move on. No one said this was going to be easy, but they did say it would be worth it.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. ~ Winston Churchill