After a successful 2013 season, I am super excited to build on my success and grow as an athlete in 2014. My plan is to be more strategic in 2014 so my spring build will be a little more conservative than last season and my big goal for the season is to complete my first 140.6 distance triathlon at the Rev3 Cedar Point! I am debating being coached again for the full distance this season. I am in talks with a few different coaches. I may also self coach so stay tuned for details.
Once again I am excited to represent the Rev3 Triathlon Age Group Team and will be planning a number of their races as well as some local running and multi-sport races.
My *tentative race calendar is as follows:
2/9/14 - Dirty Love Trail 10K - Willoughby Hills, OH
3/15/14 - St Malachi 5 Miler - Cleveland, OH - maybe
3/30/14 - Fools 25K Trail - Peninsula, OH
4/13/14 - 20 Mile Drop - Mentor, OH
5/10/14 - Nordonia Sprint Duathlon - Nordonia, OH - maybe
5/18/14 - Cleveland Marathon - Cleveland, OH
6/1/14 - Twinsburg Sprint Duathlon - Twinsburg, OH - maybe
6/15/14 - Rev3 Williamsburg 70.3 Half Triathlon - Williamsburg, VA
6/29/14 - Milton Man Sprint or Olympic Triathlon - Lake Milton, OH
7/27/14 - Fairport Harbor Sprint Triathlon - Fairport Harbor, OH
8/3/14 - Rev3 Morgantown Olympic Triathlon - Morgantown, WV - maybe
8/17/14 - Machinehead Sprint or Oly Triathlon - Ravenna, OH
9/7/14 - Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6 Full Triathlon - Sandusky, OH
Races below TBD based on recovery after the 140.6***
9/28/14 - Believe & Achieve 5K Trail - Kirtland, OH
10/12/14 - Northern OH Marathon or Half Marathon - Fairport Harbor OH
10/18/14 - Quick & Dirty 8K Trail - Kirtland, OH
11/2/14 - Autumn Leaves 5 Miler - Kirtland, OH
11/?/14 - Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 Miler - Twinsburg, OH
12/?/14 - Ohio Outside Trail Race #3 - Munroe Falls, OH
*race calendars are always tentative pending fitness level, injuries, family conflicts etc.
My Plan & Upgrades:
My old running coach (and good friend) Peter and I have been working together a lot to plan the season and in his view there is no such thing as the "off season" because at all times I must retain at least a base level of fitness. So, right now I am "conditioning" for the 2014 season.
I purchased a new Quintana Roo bike and have been enjoying riding it (albeit inside on my bike trainer). My running is going well and I have just one more 5 mile trail race left in 2 weeks. I am planning to start masters swimming with Liquid N'durance within the next four weeks to get to work on my mediocre swim. In addition I will be purchasing a new sleeveless Blueseventy wetsuit, which should help with race performance.
I also plan to upgrade my garmin this season to make it easier to track my workouts in all three sports. Finally, I will stay actively engaged in yoga as this has helped me tremendously with my strength and flexibility.
More details on the season to come soon but I am very excited about where I am now and where I want to go this season!
That's a busy schedule, should be a lot of fun in 2014! Regarding the 910XT, I don't know how it is now but I thought there were complaints about the pacing during the run, at least at some point the 310xt was the better watch for running. You may want to check if those problems are gone (I don't know, but my 310xt is gradually dying so I'd love to learn).
ReplyDeleteIf you are planning the self coached route, the book 'Be Ironfit' is great. I've used that plan to get ready for IMWI, and will be using it again in 2014 to work towards Triple T and IMWI.
Thanks for the heads up on the Garmin issue. I'll look into it! I will check out the book as well! Did you use a coach for your first full distance?
ReplyDeleteNo, never used a coach for any IM race. For my first IM in 2011, I just bought an Endurance Nation training plan and followed it as much as possible. In 2012 I just recycled it. This year I wanted to try something different and went with the Be Ironfit intermediate plan (it's part of the book), with a few minor adjustments and it worked very well. I like analyzing my workout data, keeping trends and monitoring fitness and fatigue levels and that helps me as a self coached athlete to maintain a high level picture of where I'm at and where I am going. Some people have more difficulty with that process and then a good coach will be a big help.
ReplyDeleteI also approach the 3 sports and my coaching needs separately. There is a lot of evidence I suck as a self coached swimmer, so I'm 'outsourcing' my swimming self-coaching to Liquid Lifestyles via the masters swimming. That has definitely worked well and masters swimming (and the days of the Mentor swimming) match perfectly with my training plan. For cycling, I have good expertise coaching myself (as a former bike racer) and a good understanding what helps me best so I feel I've got that under control. Running has worked quite well also because the concepts from cycling are the same. The only thing for me is finding that balance between hard work and not working too hard.
So for 2014 I'm definitely self coaching again and after that I'll see, depending on the level I'm at. Focus for me is on just getting faster and I have enough ideas for now, but once I feel I'm running out I'll definitely look into coaching.
I am basically where you are as far as needing help with the swim. My husband and I are going to start coming to Mentor Masters Swim. Glad to hear that has helped you! And see you there!
DeleteYou're going to rock it!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking into pursuing my coaching license this year and in doing so, am offering anyone and everyone (ha), free help on building 2014 training plans. My strength is in the pool and it sounds like you'll be getting some coaching help through masters but I'm happy to send along some drills and youtube videos that have helped me maintain my form.
I have no doubt you're going to kill cedar point next year girl!
Thanks Alisa. That's great! Congrats getting certified is def on my bucket list too. I guess that happens when you love the sport so much!
ReplyDeleteAny info you can share with the swim especially is welcome! Thanks for for the offer!
And thank you so much for the support! Hugs!