Calling One's Shot

After the copious drama of 2008 (brain injury, divorce, etc.), I am plowing the bulk of my effort into getting our winery going and preparing myself for a self-fulfilling race season.

What excites me about the 2009 calendar is that it will be my first opportunity to reap the benefits of an uninterrupted off-season. During the winter months, I routinely ran 50 mile weeks (note that I do not include much biking or swimming in there) due to my fear of forever being an average runner in triathlon. Running became a release in a time when a blowing off steam was necessary, and I learned to truly enjoy it. Currently, my long runs are topping out at 18 miles.

I found it interesting to monitor the physical changes the human body makes when I changed my training regimen. During the triathlon season, the cross-training of swimming, biking, and running gave my body a very specific shape (wide shoulders from swimming, large quads from big-gear cycling). Within two weeks of focusing purely upon running, my weight began to plummet and I was noticeably leaner. I surmised that this was due to the need to be lighter to endure the high mileage weeks and maintain efficiency. No longer were my deltoids and quadriceps important to my physical pursuits, I was a one-trick pony.

With the New Year came a reintroduction to three-sport training. My running had improved immensely, but my wattage on the bike and 100 meter time in the pool had been neglected. Via the guidance of Coach Ciaverella, and no medical issues to impede my progress, I was able to then begin my build phase. Initially this was not going well. Mind you, I was completing all of my workouts to the letter of my prescribed schedule…but the effort I was having expend was huge. It seemed to be all for not until I raced the Jack Frost 20k Time Trial and was able to average 311 watts for the 30 minutes. While my time was probably a minute longer than I had hoped (due to a need to refit my aero position), the nearly 10% increase in my power year-over-year was encouraging.

So this leads me to what are my goals for 2009. I find that if I call my shots, I am accountable for my results. In the spirit of being honest, I want to go 5:10 or faster at the California 70.3 (it would be a PR for me) in April and 10:30 at Ironman Coeur d’Alene. My goal for IM CdA is bold, but that is what I’m being trained to achieve, so I have no reason not to do it. Anything over a 10:30 is on me and me alone.

I find the measurability of triathlon beautiful. There is very little room for subjectivity: the clock doesn’t lie.

Increased Fitness and a Sunday Bonk

Every week that I am training for this marathon, I am setting new personal bests for mileage and pace. This week was no different, with a 45 mile week and my pace beginning to become respectable...dropping into the 7:30's at my longest distances.

This week I completed two solid interval/tempo runs, one stellar track workout (running my eight 200m intervals at 38 seconds each), and one ugly and painful Sunday distance run.

Sunday started out like any other long-run-Sunday. I met up with the Ironheads at Leif Erickson at 9 AM, but something was missing...namely my watch and heart rate monitor. Being that I was the only one going long on a lonely forested out and back, to not have my HRM was a bit much. I decided to take it out to six miles, turn around, and then log four more after the finish. This was a great plan, except for my knee and achilles being brutalized by the rocks on the trail. Some days, you seem to find all of the smooth patches at Forest Park, and others...well...you end up risking your health with every stride. Sunday turned out to be the latter.

After finish my 12 miler at a leisurely 7 minute 29 second pace, I cruised home for a quick four miler with Dash the Dog. As we took off, I felt a bit weak, but just attributed it to my earlier run. At mile 1.5, I began to sweat like none other, and looked down at my shoes and said to myself, "Huh, I don't remember red sparkles on my shoes". Well, I then realized I was potentially headed for my first bonk of my marathon training. After arriving home, I was in a full-fledged shutdown, and ended up on the living room floor, sweating, light headed, peeling my clothes off to cool down. Melissa kindly brought me a recovery bottle and some egos with syrup. After about 30 minutes of sweating out every ounce of moisture I had in my body, I was able to stand up and resume my day. A shitty way to end a great week...yes. Good experience and a much needed reminder to each properly prior to half marathon distance running and longer...yes.