Week 1 Complete

Weekly Totals:
Swim: 5,600 yards
Bike: 5.0 hours (trainer)
Run:  15.5 miles
Overall Time: 8:20:55

This week started my legit training program with the beginning of the base-building phase.  I’ve been in the midst of my “pre-training” since the beginning of the year, but this week started the gradual build in time and distance.  Funny…I needed to build a base before I could start to build a base…

I also re-learned how to cut my middle toenails.  Thursday’s run ended with blood-stained socks, which I have learned (but don’t show it…) means that my 4th toenail is cutting into my 3rd toe on every stride.  It’s not really painful so I don’t notice it, but definitely noticeable afterwards.  In the interest of saving money on socks, I went ahead and fixed the issue.

Also trying to figure out what to do with my tri-specific strength class on Monday nights.  It’s great and I can already see improvement in a few areas, but man, it KILLS the 2 days afterwards from extreme muscle fatigue.  I’m hoping I just get used to it over time and get those days back, but not how that’s going to end since as I get deeper into training I can’t just lose 2 days each week as I work to build more and more.

And I FINALLY got my bike fit with Mike Sherry at Performance Labs HC on Saturday.  The GW bridge was strangely closed to foot traffic over the weekend, so Mike had to come get me in his car on the other side of the bridge and drop me off when he was done.  Good to know for future evacuations – if the GW is down, there’s NO WAY to get off this island and to Jersey without swimming!  Anyways, after a 2-hour trainer ride today my legs felt fresh, which is unusual, though I have to get used to the much higher and altogether different saddle.  Either way, it’s nice to finally get into a position that feels good and is structured to make me more effective on the bike – my weakest discipline.

The new saddle is the V-Flow Plus by Cobb Cycling.  Here’s a link to the product page at Cobb’s website – http://cobbcycling.com/cart/V-Flow_Plus_White_C1P3.cfm.

On another positive note, I ended the week with friends over a five-glass scotch tasting.  Hey, can’t be pumping empty beer calories into the system, so what better way to end the week?!

End of the week treat.

Back at it!!

After a rather long hiatus from writing, time to get back to the blog.  Here’s what’s happened since I finished my year last year with a disappointing and painful DNS for the Hartford Marathon:

– cleared by the doc for stress fractures in my shins
– learned a lot about balancing training days and scheduling workouts (read: injury prevention)
– bought a brand spankin’ new bike (Felt B14 – see pic below)
– completed pre-training to build back some lost base prior to kicking off training for IMKY
– oh yeah, I registered for Ironman Louisville!!
– registered for IM 70.3 Mooseman in NH, and convinced my sister-in-law to race, as well! (praying she doesn’t crush me…)
– got serious about planning my training and nutrition
– joined a triathlon club (www.agtri.com)
– realized I have SO MUCH to learn about triathlon

Damn, isn't she beautiful!?

My target race for 2011 is Ironman Louisville on August 28th, with Ironman 70.3 Mooseman coming in a preparatory 2nd place.  I’m throwing a few olys in the mix to keep things fun, and maybe a few local road races to keep my racing legs fresh (“racing” is, of course, very relative).

Here’s to an awesome year ahead!  Will update weekly with training volumes and reports, and occasionally in between so you can help me figure out arising issues as they come up.