I've been thinking about finding a coach to help with my training for quite a while. As enthusiastic as I am about training, I just don't consider myself to be educated or experienced enough to put together a smart training plan or set realistic goals.
So, finally, I have done it. Mark van Akkeren, a fellow BTCer, friend from Boulder and he of the First-out-of-the-water at the Ironman World Championships in Kona this past August, had made the offer before and after talking to him about his philosophy on training recently, I decided to take him up on the offer.
I'm excited and a little bit nervous. I've never worked with a coach before. I was a member of my high school cross country team for about 1 day when I knew it wasn't for me and that's about the closest I've come to having a coach before.
The first thing to do, is give him as good an idea of where I am as possible. Mark has been following my blog so he has some familiarity with my training, particularly during the 30 days of swimming. Below is the email I sent him today, answering some of his questions about my training and goals.
---------------------------------------
Get comfortable, this could take a while...
Review of 2007:
I'm
not sure how in depth to get on this so I'll start off with the basics
and you can ask for any details you consider important.
Races
Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge (January) - Half marathon on
Saturday (2:45:35) followed by the full marathon on Sunday(4:48:42).
Took the half very easy because I was running with a friend (and the
full was the next day).
Bolder Boulder - 53:50
9 Stroke and Strides - best overall time of 43:30 (750m swim) 16:43swim, 25:05run
5430 Long Course Tri
- you've already heard about this one but to sum up... 47:11 Swim
(Breaststroke), 3:28:55 bike, 2:59:07 run. I imploded on the run, I
knew my HR was too high early on but I felt great and foolishly kept
pushing.
So not a lot of races. Training wise, I picked up freestyle
courtesy of an introductory lesson with Mike Ricci and have tried to
work a lot on the drills he gave me since I left Boulder (as you know
from the 30 days of swimming) and feel a lot more comfortable with it
than I would have expected to. I still need to work on my swimming a
lot, particularly the bi-lateral breathing (I don't breathe well on my
right side) and on pressing my chest. I also never learned flip-turns,
but I'm not sure that something I need to worry about or not.
As far as the Bike goes, until Summer 2006, I hadn't ridden a bike
in 10 years or more. I started biking to and from work in Boston
roughly 3 days a week (17 miles each way) which lasted about 6 weeks
before I broke my foot and sprained my ankle on a spill that August.
once I healed up I was back in cincinnati and was only riding
stationary bikes until I got to Boulder and started riding a bike
everywhere, every day.
As far as running, it was the event I was most comfortable with
and I kept it pretty simple. I did 3 basic dedicated workouts each
week. A long run, a speed/hill workout and a tempo run. I also followed
most bike rides of more than 40 minutes with a 20 minute easy brick
run. The biggest thing for me running wise was getting my Lactate
Threshold tested at BCSM and adjusting my long run effort down as a
result. I have been training by HR for several years and was doing my
long runs at around 155, much higher than the 125-135 range Neal
Henderson recommended (I can send you those results if you like).
Limiters
ha ha... you name it, I've probably got it.
let's see... Swimming experience, form, my endurance is pretty good I
think considering my experience though... bike power and form...
running form...
Mostly I think my biggest limiters are not knowing how to train
smart, a tendency to try to do too much too fast and not knowing what
goals are realistic to set (along with having just learned to swim
freestyle). The 5430 was my first triathlon. My first road race was the
NYC marathon, I like big goals and tend to overlook the small ones.
I've often said that I like long races because I feel like I've got
good endurance, but not good speed. But really, I've never trained to
be fast so I don't know that that's true.
2008 Goals
A big part of me, that part that likes big goals, wants to do an Ironman distance next fall. But given a
choice between completing an Ironman in 2008 or really racing one in 2009, I'll take 2009.
Flying Pig Marathon - May - I did this race once before and
finished in 4:44:10 with a pair of the worst blisters I've ever had.
I'd love to break 4 hours. I don't know if that's feasible or not.
5430 Long course - August - I feel like if I'd been smart during the run, I
could have finished in under 7 total. Like I said above, I'm not
entirely sure how to set realistic goals, but I'd like to think 6:30 is
feasible. If busting my backside meant I could do 6:00, then I'd bust
my backside.
Last 6 weeks
up until about 3 weeks ago, I felt like
I was at a great place in my training. I was finishing up the 30 days
of swimming, which meant 5-6 hours a week in the pool, and was also
doing 4 workouts a week on the bike and running. I'm not comfortable
riding my bike around here so have stuck to the trainer but was doing 2
spinerval workouts each week, along with a long ride of 1.5-2 hours and
a tempo ride. This meant about 4 hours a week on the bike.
Running
I was doing a speed workout, a long run of 90-120 minutes and an easy
30 minute brick run after the tempo bike ride. The speed workout was
with the university running club on thursday nights. This added up to
3.5-4 hours per week.
Then I had two weeks where I struggled to do
anything other than short runs. I had to go out of town twice during
that period for just over a week total and spent most of the time in
between and the week after, trying to catch up on my thesis work
(since, of course, that was when midterms were). Since last Monday I've
been pretty well caught up with classes and have been getting in closer
to my normal runs and rides, though I only got in the the pool twice
last week.
As far as time goes, I can dedicate 10-15 hours a week to training
which probably seems like a lot for being in graduate school, but
really, I have very little going on out here as far as a social life.
Actually, training usually IS my social life/relaxation time since I
can run with the running club or watch a movie or the news while I ride
the trainer.
So, finally, I have done it. Mark van Akkeren, a fellow BTCer, friend from Boulder and he of the First-out-of-the-water at the Ironman World Championships in Kona this past August, had made the offer before and after talking to him about his philosophy on training recently, I decided to take him up on the offer.
I'm excited and a little bit nervous. I've never worked with a coach before. I was a member of my high school cross country team for about 1 day when I knew it wasn't for me and that's about the closest I've come to having a coach before.
The first thing to do, is give him as good an idea of where I am as possible. Mark has been following my blog so he has some familiarity with my training, particularly during the 30 days of swimming. Below is the email I sent him today, answering some of his questions about my training and goals.
---------------------------------------
Get comfortable, this could take a while...
Review of 2007:
I'm
not sure how in depth to get on this so I'll start off with the basics
and you can ask for any details you consider important.
Races
Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge (January) - Half marathon on
Saturday (2:45:35) followed by the full marathon on Sunday(4:48:42).
Took the half very easy because I was running with a friend (and the
full was the next day).
Bolder Boulder - 53:50
9 Stroke and Strides - best overall time of 43:30 (750m swim) 16:43swim, 25:05run
5430 Long Course Tri
- you've already heard about this one but to sum up... 47:11 Swim
(Breaststroke), 3:28:55 bike, 2:59:07 run. I imploded on the run, I
knew my HR was too high early on but I felt great and foolishly kept
pushing.
So not a lot of races. Training wise, I picked up freestyle
courtesy of an introductory lesson with Mike Ricci and have tried to
work a lot on the drills he gave me since I left Boulder (as you know
from the 30 days of swimming) and feel a lot more comfortable with it
than I would have expected to. I still need to work on my swimming a
lot, particularly the bi-lateral breathing (I don't breathe well on my
right side) and on pressing my chest. I also never learned flip-turns,
but I'm not sure that something I need to worry about or not.
As far as the Bike goes, until Summer 2006, I hadn't ridden a bike
in 10 years or more. I started biking to and from work in Boston
roughly 3 days a week (17 miles each way) which lasted about 6 weeks
before I broke my foot and sprained my ankle on a spill that August.
once I healed up I was back in cincinnati and was only riding
stationary bikes until I got to Boulder and started riding a bike
everywhere, every day.
As far as running, it was the event I was most comfortable with
and I kept it pretty simple. I did 3 basic dedicated workouts each
week. A long run, a speed/hill workout and a tempo run. I also followed
most bike rides of more than 40 minutes with a 20 minute easy brick
run. The biggest thing for me running wise was getting my Lactate
Threshold tested at BCSM and adjusting my long run effort down as a
result. I have been training by HR for several years and was doing my
long runs at around 155, much higher than the 125-135 range Neal
Henderson recommended (I can send you those results if you like).
Limiters
ha ha... you name it, I've probably got it.
let's see... Swimming experience, form, my endurance is pretty good I
think considering my experience though... bike power and form...
running form...
Mostly I think my biggest limiters are not knowing how to train
smart, a tendency to try to do too much too fast and not knowing what
goals are realistic to set (along with having just learned to swim
freestyle). The 5430 was my first triathlon. My first road race was the
NYC marathon, I like big goals and tend to overlook the small ones.
I've often said that I like long races because I feel like I've got
good endurance, but not good speed. But really, I've never trained to
be fast so I don't know that that's true.
2008 Goals
A big part of me, that part that likes big goals, wants to do an Ironman distance next fall. But given a
choice between completing an Ironman in 2008 or really racing one in 2009, I'll take 2009.
Flying Pig Marathon - May - I did this race once before and
finished in 4:44:10 with a pair of the worst blisters I've ever had.
I'd love to break 4 hours. I don't know if that's feasible or not.
5430 Long course - August - I feel like if I'd been smart during the run, I
could have finished in under 7 total. Like I said above, I'm not
entirely sure how to set realistic goals, but I'd like to think 6:30 is
feasible. If busting my backside meant I could do 6:00, then I'd bust
my backside.
Last 6 weeks
up until about 3 weeks ago, I felt like
I was at a great place in my training. I was finishing up the 30 days
of swimming, which meant 5-6 hours a week in the pool, and was also
doing 4 workouts a week on the bike and running. I'm not comfortable
riding my bike around here so have stuck to the trainer but was doing 2
spinerval workouts each week, along with a long ride of 1.5-2 hours and
a tempo ride. This meant about 4 hours a week on the bike.
Running
I was doing a speed workout, a long run of 90-120 minutes and an easy
30 minute brick run after the tempo bike ride. The speed workout was
with the university running club on thursday nights. This added up to
3.5-4 hours per week.
Then I had two weeks where I struggled to do
anything other than short runs. I had to go out of town twice during
that period for just over a week total and spent most of the time in
between and the week after, trying to catch up on my thesis work
(since, of course, that was when midterms were). Since last Monday I've
been pretty well caught up with classes and have been getting in closer
to my normal runs and rides, though I only got in the the pool twice
last week.
As far as time goes, I can dedicate 10-15 hours a week to training
which probably seems like a lot for being in graduate school, but
really, I have very little going on out here as far as a social life.
Actually, training usually IS my social life/relaxation time since I
can run with the running club or watch a movie or the news while I ride
the trainer.
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