What I'm up to this "Off season" & Moving Into the Season

Well it's the off season for the next 4-6 weeks or so. From there it's time to build up the endurance for an exciting and tough season starting off in February and March with some trail racing, a half marathon in April, marathon in May and diving into the triathlon season with a 70.3 in June, some other races and the big 140.6 in September! I'm looking forward to moving ahead because I am not really a huge fan of the off season and I am super excited to finish my first 140.6!!

So what am I up to now? Strength work including TRX, yoga, kickboxing and lifting as well as masters swimming with Liquid Lifestyles Liquid N'durance. My typical weeks now consist of a couple short 45-60 minute runs and a long run of 90-120 mins, a couple shorter 45-60 min bike sessions and a weekly long ride of 90-120 mins along with a 90 minute swim session and 2 or 3 45-75 minute strength sessions for a total of around 8-10 hours a week.

I plan to add a second day of coached swim practice after the holidays so I can maximize the gains here since this is really where I need the most help. Additionally I am working on some dietary changes and trying to get my weight and body composition in the right place for a successful 2014 season.

As the early season approaches I will add in more running in prep for the early season races and the marathon. I expect to be running at least 5-7 x weekly during this phase as well as maintaining 3-4 sessions with the bike, 2 swims and 1 or more core sessions. This is lots of hours of training, which means I can drink more tasty IPAs and Stouts of course ;)

So, lots of fun stuff going on now and working on my strength and swim and excited to ramp up as we head into 2014! What are you up to now and what are you goals for next year?

Two out of Three Ain't Bad - New Coach & Trainer Moving Along

The last time I posted I described the start of my journey to my first 140.6 triathlon. Well, I am happy to say that I am off and running with my new coach & personal trainer! So two of the three things I need to do to be successful for this goal are in place. Now I just need to work on that third item...the nutritionist.

Last week I had my first meeting with my coach Sean Gilbert, a very nice guy from the Cleveland/Akron area that coaches some very capable and accomplished athletes. Sean has a very laid-back personality and I am excited to work with him this season to meet my goal of completing the 140.6 as well as other 2012 season goals including increased performance all-around. Sunday night Sean sent me my weekly schedule of training through Training Peaks and we talked about the workouts and schedule. Inevitably there were some things that wouldn't work into my schedule this week but I am doing my best to follow the training. Nevertheless, I am excited to move ahead week to week and progress in my running, biking, swimming and overall core strength as I prepare for the 2012 season with Team Rev3, Revolution3 Triathlon's national age group team.

Tuesday night this week I met with my new personal trainer Will Hanson. Will owns a great studio in Beachwood called Aspire Fitness. He is a very nice guy and a good athlete as well. I can tell he really knows his stuff and is passionate about what he does. My  husband Steve will be training with me over the next several months so we are both jazzed about making strides in our fitness as we work with Will on enhancing our power.

Next up is this whole nutrition piece. I've never done a full iron-distance race before but I know nutrition is key to training and having a successful race day performance. My goals are to be lean and mean. I will be working on this some with my coach, trainer and others. I just ordered a couple of books on Vegan eating and weight management for triathletes. I will be sure to write a post in the next few weeks on this topic alone with what I have learned and am leaning towards. When I brought up the nutrition topic on Facebook this week, I was shocked at the amount of response people had. Clearly nutrition is on the minds of many people, not just triathletes.

That's where I am right now in the journey. Stay tuned for the nutrition update!

The Journey To 140.6 Begins This Week!

2012 is shaping up to be a revolutionary year for me. As I enter my third triathlon season, I realize I have learned a lot, yet still have so much to learn. Perhaps that old adage "The more I think I know the less I really know" applies here.

While I've been lucky enough to receive lots of valuable advice for triathlon from coaches and fellow athletes, I have just been winging it. Last year I finished my first 70.3 at Rev3 Cedar Point and realized a couple of things. First, that I love long-distance triathlon. The sheer challenge of it is exciting! Second, that I need to get a lot more technical at this sport to be faster. I could always wing it when I was just running. With the goal of completing a full 140.6 iron-distance race this summer I do not think it is ideal to wing it anymore. Sure I can probably finish the race on my own. I think I am driven enough or stubborn enough to accomplish that. But I would like to finish in a reasonable time and know that I've given it my all. I want to know that my swim stroke was efficient. I want to know that my bike cadence was good. And I want to know confidently that I can run the marathon at the end without feeling like I am dying a slow death.

So, as of Thursday this week I will  have a new triathlon coach. Yay! He is local, so will be present at many of my local races. He has worked with other athletes that I know and he seems to have a good personality fit for me. I am looking forward to having a training plan for next week that is not created by me! Time to get busy on the workouts and not stressing on what workouts I need to do.

I've also decided to work with a personal trainer and nutritionist at least for a little while so that I can look, feel and perform the way I want and need to so that I can be a confident triathlete. I hope they don't make me entirely give up IPAs!

Being part of Team Rev3 is going to be a blast and was in part the catalyst for me going to this next level. I want to be able to hang with all my amazing teammates. I want to make my team proud.

I will be writing blog posts throughout 2012 to share my new knowledge of the triathlon sport. I'll describe what I am eating, how I am training, feeling and of course performing. I hope you'll come along with me on this journey. It's going to be a long and winding road and I am ready to take on the challenge of becoming an ironwoman! Off I go!