Dave’s Triathlon Journal

Yesterday my training called for a one hour swim with my local masters group but a scheduling conflict meant I had to get my swim in at some other point in the day.

Here in NH it’s not fall yet but the hot days of summer have passed for the most part and many of the summer camps have ended.  Yesterday was comfortable, right around 70 degrees and a little overcast with a breeze making it feel a little colder.

The local outdoor pool had lanes available from 4 - 7:30 so I planned on arriving around 4:30, get my hour in and get to my evening commitment.  As I pulled up to the parking lot I saw a few less cars than I normally see which didn’t seem strange with the camps over and some schools already back in session.  What did seem strange is that when I got within sight of the pool there was no one in it.  There were four lifeguards chatting on the side but no one in the pool?

As I walked up to the gate I figured that I would be told of some chemical imbalance or mechanical problem which is why no one was there.  Not the case though.  There was just no one there.  I had never experienced this before, there was always at least one or two people either doing laps or kids playing.

The point of this entry which has gone one way too long is that the experience made me realize what triathlon has done for me in terms of the discipline I have developed over the past several years.  If most people were sitting at home and looked outside at the thermometer and checked out the skies I can see that most probably would not have said “let’s go and hang out at the pool for the afternoon”.  It had more of a feeling like leaves would start to be falling soon and one would start to dig out the fall clothing.  However, I didn’t give my pool visit a second thought.  It was Thursday, I needed to swim so I did, no questions asked.

I also stood in the rain for 8 hours last Sunday at the Timberman 70.3 race volunteering so maybe my mental reasoning isn’t a good measure to use….

So my taper has started. I’m going from 20+ hour training weeks to 1/2 that. That leaves 10 hours of additional time to obsess about nutrition, transitions, the weather, etc. etc. etc.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m pretty much useless at work. I’m realy trying to focus but I find myself on Accuweather’s 15-day forecast, the Ironamn Lake Placid website or the Ironman forum, mile141.com.

Or I’m thinking about my next training session and why it is taking so long to get here. There is 10 days to go and hopefully I don’t drive my office and family nuts over that seemingly extrememly long period!

If you have read early posts on my blog you probably saw that I’m participating in the Janus Charity Challenge in Lake Placid raising money for Southeast NH Habitat for Humanity.

As race day draws closer and we put the word out about the fundraiser, I’m amazed at how people are responding by being so generous.  If you ever get frustrated that society in general is all going down hill, hold a fundraiser, I can guarantee you it will rid you of any frustrations you have!

We have just crossed the $115,000 point thanks do a few large donations and a ton of smaller donations.  All important in helping an awesome cause!

Since I started working with a coach I’ve experienced a sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always a learning experience. That experience is the day the next training block comes from my coach.

She sends me a new one every four weeks. The first one was kind of exciting. I had never worked with a coach in triathlon before. My training experience in the sport up until that point had been a disjointed guess at what I should be doing next. I usually planned out the entire season in terms of weekly training hours but it didn’t get much more detailed than that. But, I figured if I was going to tackle Ironman I should get serious.

And serious it was, that first block had me doing things I never had before like bike intervals, hill work, weights and track workouts. It was early on and the volume was pretty reasonable. Then came the second block. It was still very manageable in terms of volume and the variety of workouts made the week interesting. I rarely got bored with a workout because they seemed to be either new or a variation on something I had done previously.

Then things started to get serious. My first five hour ride was in the next block and the 3000 and 3500 yard continuous swims started to show up. The giddy excitement of recieving the next block had moved to a nervous anticipation. My thoughts ranged from what new challenge would I have, to how many hours will it contain to how am I going to fit this into my and my family’s schedule?

This is particularly true for the one I just received. It is my last full block before I start to taper which means it is the most intense in terms of volume. I knew things would get serious when I got involved in this crazy race, but when I saw eight hours for a saturday ride duration with a note next to it by my coach that said it was not a typo, followed by a long run and swim the next day, that this was going to be a long four weeks.

Now I really can’t wait for the next one. For one it will have the Ironman race day on it, however, it was also say “day off” for more days than I’ve seen in a long time.

It has been a while since I checked in. I thought of plenty of things to write about over the course of the last week but between the workout schedule and the actual works schedule I haven’t been able to put my thoughts down. So I’ll apologize in advance for this entry probably being all over the place.

Last week was a recovery week after the Mooseman. That is at least until I got to the weekend after Mooseman. I think I mentioned that I’m working with a coach this year and it has been an awesome experience so far. To have a direction in training and a resource for questions has been very helpful for me. However, when I read last week was a recovery week I figured that the WHOLE week I would be recovering. The work week was a breeze, I did a couple of 30 - 45 minute swims, a 40 minute run and an easy bike. Well, then I got to last weekend.

Saturday was brick consisting of a 4 hour bike on what my coach said should be a rolling course and 30 minute run. Now, I must admit some of the pain and anguish I experienced on this ride was my own doing. First of all I did a bike route that I had never been on. I knew there were some hills but I didn’t realize how many or how steep they would be. I don’t think this is what the coach meant by rolling. To top that off I ended up missing a turn on the unfamiliar area and before I realized it the quickest route home would eventually make my total bike time 4:40 instead of 4 hours. I still trudged out there for the run but it was a struggle as I hadn’t planned on the extra 40 minutes on the bike nutritionally so I was starting to feel pretty weak.

Then Sunday rolls around and the schedule calls a 3,000 yard swim, which by itself wouldn’t be so bad but that was followed up by a 2 hour 30 minute run, in the rain, with a pretty stiff wind the whole way back on the out and back course. Needless to say I was happy to see Monday come as that is my typical day off.