IMFL Training Plan begins tomorrow

......or so my coach says. 6 months out or 26 weeks until IMFL. Is it too early to start counting down the weeks? I keep reminding myself to keep it fun and so far it has been.

I just got my training plan for next week and its a doozy. 11 sessions, approx. 15 hours with some hard efforts in there. My biggest challenge will be to get through these swimming sessions without cramping.

I just came off a recovery week but I snuck in a 2:45 unscheduled bike ride. It was slow and the weather was beautiful and my power was out for 24 hours......what else was I going to do?

I went to a benefit dinner tonight for a friend who is donating 75% of his liver to his brother. This guy is an inspiration. Oh, by the way, the procedure is one week after IM Lake Placid so he figures he'll give it a go and just try to finish since he's signed up anyway. Then, he's also signed up for IMFL so he plans to recover, train, then race in Florida......he's also a nut :-)

I was going to race the Bronx duathlon today but I bailed because the weather was iffy and I wasn't that into it anyway. Then I thought about doing the long sprint tri in NJ next weekend because a friend is going down to race the 1/2 but I'm going to bail on that too. Rumor is that it should be called swampman since the swim is in a nasty lake. There is a duathlon next Sunday in Greenwich which I will race instead (weather permitting). I have done this race a few times and I like it. It usually gets a lot of quality athletes and its a fun course.

The tax rebate checks are coming soon.....what should I do with it? Save it? Pay some bills? Buy a powermeter? Buy a laptop? Go to Mohegan Sun and try to double it?

Need to rest up for my double workout tomorrow :-)

A good week of training......

I just finished up a good, solid week of training. My swimming sessions continue to be a struggle due to severe cramping in my calves. My next test is to really work on my ankle flexibility to see if that will make a difference. I'm determined to figure it out and once I do, I think I might go for my doctorate in exercise physiology and do my dissertation on cramping.....just kidding. Actually, I came to find a woman at Indiana State University that did her disseration on cramping. She had a lot of ideas but no real solutions. I've come to find out by talking to a lot of people and reading a lot about the subject that it is a very mysterious bodily reaction.

The weather was gorgeous this week so I got outside 3 days and over 6 hours with a 3:15 ride on Saturday. My legs definitely felt tired but not terrible. I followed that up with a 1:45 solid run on Sunday, my fourth run of the week. My pace was approx. 8:30 and I got in 12 miles or so.

On to a recovery week. After 3 solid weeks of training, I'm due for some rest. I'll spend some more time in the pool in the coming week to do lots of drills.

A little update.....

Haven't had much to say so that is why I haven't written much. My training has been consistent, averaging approx. 12 hours per week. With this nicer weather I am enjoying getting outside and riding my bike. I have done a few rides of 3 hours which seems to be just fine. That would have been a bit of a struggle last year at this time. I am doing more sets and intervals at threshold pace which hurts but will make me stronger.

My swimming has gotten better as I'm swimming my 100's almost 5 seconds faster but my endurance isn't there yet. When I try to push it my form gets bad. So for now, I continue to drill a lot which I'm enjoying and I think it will really help me in the long run. I'm doing about 1,000 each workout of drill 25/ swim 25 which I like.

I have about 9-10 pounds to lose in the next 11 weeks, which is my race in RI. Shouldn't be a problem but I need to stay focused. At that weight, it should set me up for a good race. I'm excited about going home to race. I will know a lot of people racing so it will be fun too.

I might do the bronx duathlon next weekend which I hear is fun because they close a lane of the hutchinson parkway for the bike. This will be a good chance to test out my bike and give me a benchmark of where my fitness is.

I applied for the Kona lottery for the third year in a row and of course I didn't get in again. I'll keep plugging away. Its probably a good thing since I wouldn't have been able to compete at Florida but I would give up any race to go to hawaii to race.

Gotta go and get outside and enjoy this nice weather....ciao!

Back to Reality!

Back from my trip to Spain, it was tough getting back to reality. The first week was hard but now I'm back into my routine again. I have been reading a lot about core lately from 2 books I just purchased. It talks a lot about activating the core and specifically your glutes (by far the largest and strongest muscle group in the body). I'm finding out that often we don't activate our glutes enough so we rely on other muscles groups and put a lot of stress on our joints. I'm also experiencing this first hand in my training and in my practice. I have a few clients right now that are experiencing a lot of joint strain from overuse. I'm working with them on this concept of core/glute activation.

I'm heading outside on Sunday for 3+ hours so I'm excited to get on the road. I had some good run and bike workouts this week that consisted of beyond lactate threshold pacing.

My swimming has gotten better too. I have decided to slow things down. I am drilling a lot and focusing a lot on my balance. It is paying off.

I canceled my last few sessions with my nutritionist. I wasn't getting anymore out of him and it takes up 3 hours of my day and lots of gas. I know the program and now the trick and next challenge is to stop my sugar cravings........hypnosis is next :-)