Race Prep, Base Planning an iPod training...

Final Race instructions,

http://www.5430sports.com/final.htm

So we have our final instructions and wave starts. The transition area will open at 5am and close at 6:20. The first wave, the Elites/Pros, will start at 6:30. My wave, M25-29 and M45-49, will begin at 6:55, with two more waves behind us at 7:00 and 7:05. based on those start times, I’ll probably finish around 2pm.

Race Day Weather (Sunday August 12^th, 2007)

High: 88 (That’d be a break!)

chance of precipitation: 20%

Relative Humidity High: 35%

Sunrise 6:10am

It looks like the BTC will be doing a Bike Aid station, Aid Station #1, which looks like it will be the same spot as our Aid Station for the Sprint. Since it’s a two loop course, I’ll pass them twice, which means twice the motivation and uplift. It didn’t look like there would be a BTC Aid, but now it seems there will be.

Base Training Plan

I’m still working on developing a base training plan for once school starts. My biggest weakness is certainly my swimming and I’d like to make sure I swim every day and at least get a full set of drills in, all freestyle.

Swim: Daily drills per Mike Ricci (http://www.d3multisports.com) with additional swim sessions per scheduled plan developed between Going Long and BCSM material.

Strength training: 2-3 strength training sessions per week plus additional core work.

Cycling: Much of my cycling will probably end up being done on the stationary bike at the Rec Center. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The advantage is that it’s a controlled environment and I’ll have access to a power meter. The disadvantage is that it won’t be on an actual bicycle so the positioning won’t be correct and I won’t be able to do any bike handling.

Running: I’ll have more options when it comes to running. I can run outside in most weather and will also have access to the treadmills and indoor track at the Rec.

Periodization and Progress Testing: I’m going to work on four week periods with a little extra emphasis on each event in each of the first three weeks (i.e. swim wk 1, Bike wk 2, run wk 3) and week 4 as a rest week. I’ll do a standardized test from Going Long to test my progress during the rest week. After 12-16 weeks of Base Schedule I’ll move up to 4-8 weeks of Build, before returning to Base. I’m probably going to do the Cincinnati Flying pig Marathon next May so I’ll have to adjust my training plan to account for that as well.

iPods, Headphones and The Fools Who Race In Them…

The debate often arises among runners, and triathletes as well apparently,

Bike - First of all, in many areas, it's actually against the law to have headphones in while riding a bicycle. Much like it's illegal to wear them while operating a car, it's flat out dangerous and foolish and far too often foolish decisions result in other people getting injured, not just the person making the foolish decision.

Running - This is a conditional thing that should be a matter of common sense. if you're running on a road without a sidewalk or wide shoulder you're looking for an entry in the Darwin awards. If you're in a fairly isolated area on a trail, be my guest. If you're on a fairly heavily trafficked running or multi-use path, leave them at home. Especially on the multi-use path.

Swimming - *shrug* Go for it.

Racing - Most races ban them for insurance purposes, which should be reason enough to not wear them. Consideration for your fellow racers is another. I can't even count how many times I've been cut off or almost collided with fellow roadracers who were wearing headphones. This includes once during a Halloween costume race in the dark. Ok, you're racing in the dark, it had just rained, you're wearing a costume and HEADPHONES!?! I don’t know how I managed to keep my head after that guy tripped me up.

Ultimately though, it doesn’t matter. I used to post to the RunnersWorld forum a lot (before it changed) and this topic came up all the time and basically the attitude of people who do race with headphones is “It’s my race, I’ll run it how I want/have to”. That’s not necessarily all of them, but it was the predominant attitude and it’s not an attitude that is going to be open to the consideration or safety of others.