2010 Plan

First up, here's the view from just outside the hotel my family stayed at out in Avon, CO, courtesy of Terry Seabass:

Wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere that one could see a view like this everyday?

2009 Recap
I didn't race too much, just four triathlons and a single running race that was basically a training run. I may fit in another traithlon and hopefully a few running races this fall, but otherwise the season is basically over.

Going back to May, I raced pretty well at the Triple-T, my first race of the season, showing improvement in my swim times and getting stronger relative to the field as the weekend went on. My swim is holding me back relative to top guys, and my bike is close to the top but still a bit slow. My running was good, fastest OA in one of the olympics and second fastest in the half. Overall, a great start to the season and an indication that I'm continuing to improve on all fronts.

Two weeks after the Triple-T I raced a half IM, the Race for Recovery. I had a 38 minute swim in the choppy waters of Lake Erie, though I can't chalk all the blame to the choppy waters because the top guys still had pretty good swim times. While spotting during the swim at the Triple-T was a piece of cake, it was more difficult here due to the waves. I partially made up for the swim with a race-best 2:18 bike split, a new PR by 5 minutes or so. Finally, I finished the race off with a solid 1:22 run, also a PR for the distance by 4 minutes. I'm happy with both my bike and run, which propelled me to a 4:20 final time, but my swim took me out of contention.

Next up was my first IM for the year, Lake Placid. I got off to a great start with a 31 minute first loop on the swim, but faded a bit to 34 minutes for the second loop. Still, an improvement of several minutes over LP '08. The bike was a bit draining, and I think my nutrition issues began on the bike. I need to drink enough that I have to pee a few times on the bike, but I don't think I went even once here. My bike time was an improvement of a few minutes of LP '08, but I finished the bike feeling too drained. My run time was not spectacular, but I consider it my biggest accomplishment because I ran every step. I finished the race in the med-tent after a new PR of 9:41. Pros: improving swim and bike, ran every step. Cons: messed up nutrition, swim needs to be sub-one hour, too depleted off the bike (likely related to bad nutrition).

Finally, I completed IM #2, Louisville, just a few weeks after IMLP. My swim was a god-awful 1:12, my bike a respectable 5:07 (IIRC), and my run a stellar 2:54. Pros: awesome run, good mental strength after getting off to a bad start. Cons: swim, swim, swim, and my bike needs some work as it's still about 20 minutes slower than the top guys.

To summarize the year, the clear theme is my sub-par swim. I have been making strides, but I simply cannot give up 10 minutes in a half and 20 minutes in a full-IM and still expect to finish high. My bike is very good relative to AGers, but I want it to be good relative to pros. I haven't been biking for too long, 5 years with minimal trianing the first half of that time, so I expect my bike to continue to improve merely by continuing to ride. My run is good, and I believe I can maintain it through the winter even if I place a greater focus on swimming.

2010 Goals
My primary goal is to qualify for Kona. I qualified at both IMLP and IMLou this year, but passed on both slots. In 2010 I would accept a slot. I've got two chances to qualify: Oceanside 70.3 in March and IMLou in August. Qualifying at Oceanside is going to require some swim improvement, as I don't have as much time to make up for a horrible swim as in a full IM. Qualifying at IMLou shouldn't be too tough assuming I don't have any disasters in training or during the race, as I've qualified comfortably at both IMs this year.

My secondary goal is to improve so that I can be competitive should I race as a pro in 2011. I'd be close now if my swim were substantially better, but I still have a lot of room to improve.

How am I going to acheive my 2010 goals? First, I'm going to swim a lot. I want to be in the pool 5 days a week. I will join a masters swim group, hopefully one with a good, hands-on coach. Another area of swimming that I need improvement on is open water swimming. My races where the course isn't easily visible and/or where the water has been choppy are much worse than my races where spotting is not challenge. I will do more open water swimming to work on spotting, swimming a good line, etc.

Second, I'm going to continue to develop my base on the bike and running. I can acheive my first 2010 goal, qualifying for Kona, without much improvement in either. I want to acheive long term development so that in 2011 I'm as good as I can be.

2010 Training Plan
Since IM Louisville a few weeks back I've remained very active, getting in a few
hikes, swims and good rides out in Colorado. Still, I feel pretty well recovered from Louisville and will get back into a regular training routine shortly.

My thought is to break winter training up into two portions. The first portion is between now and January 24, 2010, nine weeks before Oceanside on March 27, 2010. The second poriton is from January 24 to March 27. During the first portion, I will work on base for runnning and biking while swimming as much as possible. I will do one long run of 1.5-2 hours per week and one long ride of 3-5 hours per week. Most of my running and biking sessions will have a low HR cap, maybe 145 while running (except any running races I do) and 140 while riding, though I will review the workouts I did this past winter and early spring to refine my approach. Once the weather forces me onto the trainer for my long rides, I will break long rides up by running 15-30 mintues after every hour or two of riding. I will take rest or recovery days when my body tells me to, when I have a very busy day, or when my motivation just isn't there (which doesn't happen often).

Come January 24, I have an eight week focused build toward Oceanside with a one week taper. I've never really tapered for a half before, but my guess is one week would be sufficient. During these eight weeks I will begin building toward HIM speed. Each will I will do a ride with portions at HIM effort, another ride getting in some threshold work, and a long ride. Depending on my recovery, I may get in a harder run each week, and that run would probably slowly build toward HIM speed without going much over it. If I'm too tired from biking to run hard during the first three weeks, I will bike easier on weeks 4 and 8 and do one or two harder runs each of those weeks.

After Oceanside, I will take some time off (a week, perhaps) to recuperate mentally and physically before beginning to build toward IMLou. I also want to race a lot more in 2010 than I did in 2009. One bad thing about a mid-season IM, such as LP, is that training gets in the way of racing. A late season IM (well, hopefully two late seaons IMs) should allow me to race a lot more.

Other Aspects of Improvement
There are a host of areas where little changes can make a big difference. Some of these are things that are good not just for training but my overall health and quality of life.
- Diet: I drastically improved my diet around June 2009. I'm going to continue refining the type of food I eat. Meat, fish, nuts, fruits, veggies, healthy oils, and good carbs (sweet potatos, fruit, processed items like Larabars) before/during/after workouts as necessary. "Worse" carbs, like sugar, after hard workouts. I hope to acheive steady body composition improvements, but by eating quality food and not by calorie counting or dieting. Also, I'm going to try to maintain a lazer-like focus on diet during the eight weeks before Oceanside and Louisville, my A-races.
- Sleep: I slept 7 or 7.5 hours most nights last year. I need to get another hour on most nights and another two hours after tough workouts.
- Stress: Having a job I did not find fulfilling was very stressful. I need to find a job that I enjoy more. Reducing my stress level will improve my athletic performance, but more importantly improve my overall happiness.
- Core strength: I am committing to five minutes of core work each weekday morning. I'll be using Josh Cox's routine (see the video at www.joshcox.com). I like his lower back stuff, too.
- Stretching: I should work on my lower back flexibility and opening my hips. This could allow me to keep or improve my current bike position, which is perfectly comfortable until the latter stages of an IM ride. I will try to find a quick routine I can do after workouts two or three times a week.
- Equipment: My bike is dated. It has a 2004 or 2005 aluminum frame. From what I've read, a top-end frame could save me five minutes or more, and I would expect most carbon frames to be more comfortable than my uber-stiff steed. While I'd like a new bike (or at least a new frame), I think my money could be better spent since long term development is a main goal of mine. I think I'd prioritize a Computrainer and Vasatrainer over a new frame. A Computrainer would hopefully improve my enjoyment of indoor riding, while a Vasatrainer may help me beat driftwood down the Ohio. Plus, I could probably get both pieces of equipment used for the price of a new frame. Really though, my equipment is plenty good to meet my goals for 2010.
- Group training: If possible, I'd like to work with a group for some workouts, just to change things up. Certainly swimming with a group will be one of my highest priorities for the year, but I'd also enjoy riding with others and maybe the occasional group run or track workout.
- Mental: I'm getting to the point where I cannot expect every split in every race to be a PR, even on the same course. Recognize that improvement is a slow and steady process and do not get discouraged if each race isn't better than the one before it. Remember, my goal is to be as good as possible for 2011.

And that's that. Lots of areas to improve, lots of work that can be done. One great thing about Ironman is there are so many things to improve upon. Executing a perfect race could take years and years of work.