Another Journey Begins

This past Sunday, I made a big decision to enlist the help of a triathlon coach. Joanna Zeiger (Shenk).  I'd been thinking about this for a few months (can't find the prior blog post where I said I was considering it), and I think it was because I believe I've licked the whole low back/hip/foot issue thing and feel healthy that I figured I was in position to actually EXECUTE on the training I had planned for myself, that I thought, hey, I might be aligned for a really stellar year.  But I also thought this might be the perfect time to seek outside help from someone who I believe would be able to understand the peculiar combination of my athletic history, past training style, results, lifestyle, goals for this year, blah, blah, blah, and maybe take me to another level.

It is odd to be 55 years old and thinking about an Ironman PR and another Ultraman.  I don't know too many other women like me.  After last year's time off (which despite how much I needed it caused me intense mental pain), I really wasn't sure I wanted to "keep this up," as is how some other people put it.  But I figured what the hell, I don't really suck that much, let's see what I can do, and I know I'm at a stage where I do need to employ some different training protocols to improve.

I can see the impact of aging year by year, mostly externally (skin, hair, where fat likes to go), but in terms of SBR, I haven't slowed down all that much.  It was time for a change on the training front, and I really don't have time to do a whole bunch of research and figure it out.  I have been training like a 40-something Crackhead, but now it's time to train like a 50-something Crackhead, and the outside view will be really helpful to me.  Now, I'm not your average 50-something Crackhead--I can still kick it and fully intend to do so this year, but I want to do it on the knife's edge with someone's guidance.

I wasn't even sure Joanna had bandwidth to coach me, whether she'd laugh at me and my goals, or as has been the case for some coaches in the past, not even bother to respond.  So I was so happy to get an email from her and then we talked on the phone Sunday, and we are going to start things up this week.

As per my sidebar, my "big" events are still Triple T, Ironman Canada and Ultraman Hawaii.  Those, in and of themselves, comprise a fairly big schedule, no?  Although I won't be so much racing Triple T, as testing my Ironman fitness (that statement was not coach approved!).  There are a few other things I've registered for that I hope are still good with her.  As performance/results oriented as I am, I still love, love, love training and need a dose of a few other non-race events to keep me mentally balanced (if there is such a thing!).  Those would include Horribly Hilly 200k followed by another 200k the next weekend, a silly half marathon in 2 weeks, and maybe a trail marathon in October.

The challenge here still remains how do I train for a PR at Ironman Canada while being prepared to train for Ultraman Hawaii.  Even though now I'm technically "just" training for an Ironman, the looming Ultraman cannot be ignored.  At least that's how I see it.  I've shared the ATP I made for myself with Joanna, and I hope we have some fun discussions about Ultraman training, because as I've already told her (and I am sure she was aware anyway), there is NO SUCH THING as a template for Ultraman training, at least not for a working stiff like me.  Sure, if you don't work full time and can train 25-30 hours a week, there are some best practices there (crap I need to find that Endurance Corner article), but the way I see it (if you aren't trying to go in and WIN Ultraman), you need to capitalize on your strengths (although biking can NOT be shorted) and just have a superior endurance capacity coupled with outstanding nutrition/pacing knowledge to get through it.  How one assembles a training plan to accomplish that is an art.  I learned a ton from doing it to myself 2 years ago, and will learn more this year.  I still get a chuckle at looking at what I initially THOUGHT I could do in training in 2010.  It was psycho.  I would have needed to quit my job and be 20 years younger to do it!  But I settled on something that ended up working, probably in large part to my overall endurance base and will to push myself for many hours.

There is still a bit of fear in turning over the reins to Joanna.  I would be lying if I didn't admit to that.  But what balances that out for me is that I suddenly feel like one element of self-induced stress has been removed--that of me being simultaneously the coach and athlete for once, especially with such high expectations.  Could I do this year without a coach?  Yes.  Might I do even better WITH a coach?  Definitely.  We get to see how things work as I ramp up for Triple T.  I am sure it will be OK.  I did my homework on Joanna--obviously she has a world-class athletic resume, but what settled me on her was when I started reading her blog, but then the clincher was actually talking to her.  She will be good for me.  I might hate her at times, but I've hated my former coach a lot more at times!

Oh and while I am embarking upon a coaching relationship, I am designing what I am doing with my family room.  Mostly the bar.  It is going to be awesome.  The hood is going to be covered with this, the bar top is going to be granite (haven't picked out that yet--probably copper-ish with flecks of gold and blue), and the front and side will be glass blocks.  There will be some LED lighting involved.  I think it's going to kick ass.  The storage behind it will be reconfigured, and I have already gone through all my bike and run stuff and organized it so it will be nicely put away when this is all finished.  I had my new 42" TV mounted on the wall yesterday, although it will be taken down when construction begins, my old TV is upstairs in my bedroom now, and next step is to find the replacement furnace, humidifier and water heater--those go in in a few weeks, and remodeling commences mid-April.

I am excited about SO many things right now, and I think that has been part of my issue with sleeping.  But it seems that settling on a coach has been one of the pieces of the puzzle, and I am beginning to sleep a bit more already.  All to the good.  2012 looks to be one helluva year for me!

It's a Sweep!

I did the 3rd and lst indoor tri today, and even though I haven't seen final results, I'm sure I won my AG which means I swept the series!  This is the 4th time in 8 years that I have won my AG for the series--2004, 2009 and 2010.  There were a few years in there where I didn't race at all or was still grieving for my parents and could not perform well.

Today's race had me with my highest ever score, due to the bike.  In talking to other athletes, some are able to spin at 140+rpm, which seems to give an advantage on the bikes we used, but it is physiologically impossible for me to spin that high.  I comfortable run at 100-105 during my typical warmups at home, and during the race I was mostly between 115 and 120.  I also saw some major heart rate!  But I do have this ability to push myself pretty hard on a bike, and was happy for how I did.

My swim was fine--1:54/100 pace, and I wasn't pushing it at all--I was just swimming steady, and I can swim several thousand yards at that pace.  My run was no better than 2 weeks ago, but this was a conscious decision.  I knew I'd left it all out there on the bike, so I decided to just run steady, and that was fine for today.  Considering I biked faster than 2 weeks ago and did not slow down on the run, I'm happy with it.  I think I just need to get back used to brick workouts, a la this article.

I had the most awesome massage, lomi lomi style (2 people working on me at once!), and was told I have very nice scapulae, but of course I already knew that.  Nah, we were just joking around, but my upper back is easy for someone to work on as it's pretty cut up and you can just grab any particular muscle.

After that, a great breakfast (or was it dessert???) at Moondance Diner with Kevin and Marla, and all is well.

My lower abs/psoas feel just fine, thanks, even though I biked 2:20 yesterday and almost an hour today.  The massage peeps commented on how great my muscles felt considering I'd just raced.  I've been giving them lots of loving care this week as is necessary while I pick up training volume and intensity.

Wow--I remember before the first of these races having trepidation that maybe I suck and this will be a horrible year, but I guess that is not how things will go!  12 weeks until American Triple T, which although a race, I am using mostly as big ole fun training weekend!  Still, I need to be in Ironman shape to get through it well, so here comes some big training!