December planning - take one...

Yesterday I ended up with a 1000 meter swim and another 30 minutes of "physio workouts". Combined with the yoga work, these strength workouts are part of my overall "triathlon conditioning" program as I set forward.

I realize as a newly "self-coached" athlete I am inherently more and more responsible for my own training and, furthermore, my own training schedule. I have to learn to be honest with myself about my ability, my progress, and my time.

In my own estimation, I averaged about 12-13 hrs/week of training over last year's training. This is based on lower numbers in January and February and higher numbers throughout the summer. It ALSO measures a 2 week reduction I faced due to my broken thumb. I take that all into account because I want to assess the amount of training I actually did in order to get the results I got (including the Osoyoos Half Ironman 5:23) and see if a realistic "bump" in training hours is appropriate.

Taking this into account, I can ask myself if a 5% increase in training hours from January 1-August 25th would lead to a better performance. Based on these numbers, my training hours from January to August were around 450. A 5% increase would bring it to around 475 hrs. That's about 1 hour more/week. On average, mind you.

When I think about adding an hour of training, I can definitely see that being a possibility. I can also, however, see that as school and work get moving, this will become a challenge. So going for 2 extra hours/week is definitely out of the question.

Ironman training is also a lot about time investment and your rate of return on the time spent. It is incumbent on me to get value out of the hours I spend. In a lot of my online research, I'm seeing the words "body composition" over and over again. This may be forcing me to look more and more at reducing weight and improving my body composition. It does make sense, after all. Improved flexibility and strength, and being lighter, will lead to more efficiency and a greater likelihood of gaining more from each session. Sooooo, more attention to detail in my diet will be a key focus here. It also stands to reason that I just need more energy to get through a school day with homework than I have for a typical workday.

The next stage is in recovery, and the more I can put into recovery the better my improvements will become. So, a 5% improvement in recovery could, theoretically, be the equivalent of a 5% increase in training volume...

I have started to warm to the idea of some early season "C" races to get me going. I've already signed up for the UBC triathlon in March, but an earlier half marathon and one in May (Vancouver Half Marathon perhaps?) would allow me to focus on some early training, and I can create a Half Marathon training program to get ready for it that will fit perfectly within the constraints of my other training, and school. If I could put together a sub 1:30 Half Ironman by May, I can foresee some stronger running improvements going into the summer.

Working towards a quick 40k time trial on the bike would be a good goal as well. In looking at my schedule, there are two places where this test could be performed. One would be the UBC triathlon, and the other would be the Bare Bones Duathlon in Penticton in May. The Bare Bones would be a good one if for no reason other than it could come right after a ride around the Ironman course in the morning.

The reason I think about a 40k time trial is to work on my "above-comfort" speed. I want to try to push my limit so that my comfort level is 1-2 miles/hour faster on the bike in time for Ironman, making a 20 mph bike split more of a realistic possibility while still doing a solid run.

Lastly for today, the swim. I've been working 3 days/week minimum on my swimming technique, foregoing endurance and going purely for technical gains. I can definitely feel an improvement. This is an aim to get around the 1:05 mark for the Ironman swim. Given a 1:14 this year with a gimped arm, I feel a healthy "me" can aim for that 1:05 mark with a certain realistic plan.