Weekly Training Ramblings

Route 13 on my long Saturday ride

In an attempt to post regularly to my blog I've decided to start a weekly training post. The content will be training stuff, duh.

The big news in this post is that this is week one of training with a legit, certified triathlon coach from 207multisport. When I made the decision to train for an IRONMAN I realized that that was a far bigger commitment to take on by myself. I'd need some help!

I can see training with a coach having at least two huge benefits:

1. Feedback - They will review my workouts and tweak future ones, as well as give me advice on how to improve.

2. Accountability - I'm pretty good at solo training...but I occasionally skip workouts and that can easily snowball. Having a coach really motivates you to get all your workouts in every week.

My coaches are helping me train for the Louisiana Marathon in mid-January while building up a solid base of swimming and cycling. Once I finish Louisiana, I will kick over into full triathlon training and start preparing for my crazy year of two half Iron distance races and IMMD!

Week 1 Training:

Swim is in blue, bike in purple, and run in green

This week was a lot of fun. I swam in the mornings before work, tackling my runs and rides at night. All this week at the pool there was an older gentleman who decided he wanted to help me and he gave me advice on my front crawl form. The few things he taught me that made a huge difference were:

1. Don't push off the wall hard with your toes, it can give you crippling foot cramps - this happened to me a LOT on Monday (which is how we started talking). On Wednesday and Friday I focused on not pushing off as hard and trying to push more with my heels and I haven't had any cramps since!

2. Bend your arms in as they go underneath your body and angle your hands down. My arms were going straight down and that... isn't optimal.

3. Keep your head down. When you put your head under water make sure your line of sight is straight down to the bottom of the pool. This brings your legs up so they aren't dragging behind you as much and allows water to pass over your head more easily. This one is hard to remember every time but it is very noticeable when you get it right.

4. Timing and entry of your hands/arms into the water. I can't explain this one really... but you just KNOW when you've got it right. You just flow.

At first I was slightly bothered by the thought that this guy was watching me under water but he gave me really good advice so I am going to let it go. By Friday he said that I made huge improvements in just one week and he had nothing more to teach me! I'm just that good. :P

The runs and rides went mostly as they were supposed to with a few exceptions. I invited the Husband on my Saturday long ride and stupidly let him pick the route. We ended up riding up Mont Vernon around mile three - and I told my husband I hated him. I don't really but dude, seriously? The majority of the ride was on scenic route 13 and we had a nice time. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for a bike ride and the fall foliage is really popping here.

My long run was this morning in the rain. I kept thinking about putting it off or running on the treadmill but the forecast wasn't going to improve throughout the day and Evan is doing woodworking in the basement so I didn't really want to breathe that all in while running ten miles... not to mention ten miles on the treadmill would suuuuck. So outside I went and it turns out I love running in the rain, I was able to stick to the heart rate zones and felt really strong by the end of the run.

Overall I am really happy with this week of training and I am looking forward to what next week brings! Now I am going to eat everything I can find and cuddle with my pups while watching the rain.