Winter Update 2014

It’ been a while, here’s an update.

After a nice long break after Ironman Hawaii, I've set my sights on 2014.  I’ve thought long and hard about the focus for the year.  After a shift in lifestyle over the past 10 years, triathlon isn’t just something I do.  My former sedentary lifestyle has been transformed by my training and racing.  My daily schedule is amiss without some form of exercise.  My sleeping patterns and eating habit revolve around being active.  I’ve tried going cold turkey with zero racing after an Ironman season and it doesn’t work.

Ironman Hawaii last year will be my last Ironman for quite some time.  My kids activities are picking up speed and will likely take priority over the next many years.  If I want to continue racing, I’ll be left with trying to figure our how to coordinate things amongst the 3-ring circus my wife and I run.

For 2014, I’m planning a few early spring running races.  A 5 and a 10k should continue to give me focus through this horrendous Michigan winter and it'll hopefully allow me to regain some speed after years and years of “slowtwitching”.   Keep reading...

Racing in 2014

There's something about the American TTT that won’t allow me to escape it’s grasp.  I’ll be using it to kick off my season again.  It’s a May race so that’ll force some early fitness and rather than approaching it with iron distance endurance, I’ll be going with Olympic distance speed with a high focus on pacing and recovery.  We’ll see how that strategy works with such a difficult race.

Following the TTT, I should be able to roll into the Grand Rapids ½ Ironman race with a high fitness level and then continue to taper off for the rest of the season with a few Olympic distance races. I'll be forcing myself to cut my training load this summer and will be replacing much of my volume with intensity.  My final race of the season will be the USAT Championships in Milwaukee, WI with the goal of being competitive in the AG and qualifying for the ITU World Championships the following year in Chicago.

This plan should be a drastic reduction in commitment, allowing me to be a fun soccer/swim dad/husband and still be able to workout and race without the monstrous burden iron distance training puts on the daily and family schedule.

That’s all for now.  More next time.

Train smart.