A Necessary Change

"Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change." 

--Confucius

Just before the World Championships, I made a significant change in my training life, and it's time to share that with you.

After working with CTS for more than three years, I've decided that it's time to move on.  This was a very difficult decision for me.  CTS, and Lindsay in particular, have taken me from a slow, overweight wannabe, to a multiple marathon finisher, a top age grouper, three-time Ironman finisher (twice finishing just outside the top 10% of the field), and helped me set PRs in almost every race distance that I compete in (both in running and triathlon).  Those are very satisfying results in only four years of serious, focused training.  Thank you, CTS, and especially Lindsay.

But sometimes change is necessary in order for an athlete to get to the next level.  So I am now working with Alan Couzens at Endurance Corner.  Alan lives in the Promised Land (i.e., Boulder, Colorado).  I promise that has nothing to do with this decision--although the fact that almost all future training camps will take place in Boulder might have helped me make up my mind.  Just sayin'. 

If you know me at all, take a quick look around his blog, and you'll quickly understand why I am so excited to be working with him.  I am a big believer in his methods and his apparent willingness to tell his athletes what they need to do to get better rather than just allowing them to do whatever they want.  As Chuckie V said today, "athletes who train how they need to always beat athletes who train how they want to." 

Looking forward to many years of training under you, Alan.  Let the chlorination begin!

A Typical Monday

Monday is usually a rest day for me. I'm usually pretty tired by Monday morning. As most age-groupers can appreciate, the weekend is when I train the longest. Not always the hardest, but definitely the longest. So by Monday morning, I'm usually tired, sore, and ready to rest.

I have a routine that I have done almost every Monday for the past several years. At lunch, I pull up my previous week's schedule on my CTS personal page. I take this time to reflect on the week. I download my power files, update my training log from the weekend, and reflect on how everything went, how I'm feeling, what questions/concerns I have or expect Lindsay to have, etc.

Then, I put that week away. No matter how good/bad it went, it's over. What's done is done. Time to move on and prepare my mind for the week ahead.

So I click the "next" button and pull up my schedule for the current week. I look at all my workouts for the week, specifically picking out the key workouts that I know are the most important ones to focus on that particular week. These are often my weekend workouts, and reminding myself what's in store helps me get my head around what's to come. The workouts are written out with lots of detail. Time, intensity, intervals, rest intervals, power, etc. There's even a section for coach's comments where Lindsay will fill in any details that might not be apparent from the listed workout. It's very descriptive, and I like it that way.

I like routines. There are almost never surprises when I check my weekly schedule. Monday at lunch is never the first time I've seen what's on tap for that particular week. But some Mondays the schedule looks a little different than usual. And some Mondays it puts a knot in my stomach that doesn't go away for hours.

Today was one of those Mondays.

Today, I put in my comments from the past weekend: ". . . went a little faster on this run than you wanted me to, but I felt fine afterwards. . . . Felt good on the bike today . . . . the heat index today was over 100 and I didn't get on my bike until after noon . . . . " Then I turned my focus to this week.

Immediately, I noticed Sunday. The only thing it says is: "Race-Ironman." No intervals. No prescribed workout duration. No coach's comments. Just "Race-Ironman." Not much else to say about that.

There's nothing else physically I can do to prepare for Sunday. But I have six more days to get prepared mentally. Time to get my head in the game.

Off to Colorado

Tonight, Krisha and I (and John) fly out to Denver. We're staying with our wonderful friends Ryan and Gayle (and Austin and Wyatt). We haven't met Wyatt yet, so we're excited for that. And we haven't seen Austin since last fall, so that's just as exciting.

Friday, I'll be at CTS to get the new road bike fitted, and to do some training with Lindsay. Then on Saturday, the real purpose of the trip. The Triple Bypass! No, not open heart surgery. I can do that in Dallas. What I can't do in Dallas is ride a bike over the Continental Divide. I talked a little about it in my last post. The ride climbs more than 10,000 feet over three climbs and 120 miles. It starts in Evergreen, and ends just outside of Vail. For those of you who have made the drive from Denver to Vail, this ride is not as easy as taking I-70. I-70 was built so that you don't have to drive the route we'll be riding. I can't wait!

If you're keeping up with Le Tour right now, check out this article by Chris Carmichael, which compares the Tour to the Triple Bypass.

See you next week . . .

These are the days I live for!

Wow, it was hot this weekend! My good friends at Rockwall Cycling fixed my wheel enough for me to ride on it until a new one came in. Then Joey (GREAT mechanic!) built me up a new rim around my Powertap hub so that I could ride on it this weekend. What a difference a trued wheel can make! That wheel hasn't run right since I did a header over a dog last year. It finally gave out in Colorado last weekend. Thanks to Rockwall Cycling for hooking me up!!!

So this weekend was my last long ride before Coeur d'Alene. My usual training partner, Brian, was out of town so I went solo for 112 miles and a short, 3 mile transition run. I went with the group ride that leaves from Rockwall Cycling every Saturday at 7:00 for the first couple of hours. Then I did my intervals. That took me to about 4 hours in, which is where I really started feeling the heat. It was pretty miserable for a while. I ran out of water about 40 minutes from home. I was really confused at that point because I always plan my routes so that I don't run out. Anyway, after a quick phone call, my lovely wife was more than willing to bring me some bottles of cold water. That seriously saved my day! However, when I started refilling my bottles, I realized that I had been riding along with a full bottle of water the whole time! Like I said, it was hot, and I was delirious!

After Krisha left me again, I started feeling much better. I hammered away for the last hour of the ride. I can honestly say that was the strongest sixth hour of a ride that I have ever had! It was also one of the most encouraging training rides I have ever done. Perfect timing since it was my last long ride before this year's big event!

Lindsay had me do a short, 20 minute run after the ride. I felt exceptionally good considering the heat (not to mention the fact that I had just ridden 112 miles!), and averaged right at 7:00 pace. I finished feeling strong and could have gone a lot longer at that pace. That was very encouraging going into an Ironman. What an awesome day of training!

I want to end this post by saying how AWESOME my wife, Krisha, is. I would hope that most spouses would have brought their significant other some cold water if they were in need. But I doubt very many of them would do it with the same loving attitude that Krisha does day in and day out. She is the most supportive spouse anyone could have! I mean, think about it . . . . I'm off riding my bike for 6+ hours while she's taking care of our 10-month old. She's at a soccer game with one of her best friends, Dee, when I call asking her to drop everything because I didn't plan properly. Less than 30 minutes later, and without as much as a sigh, she shows up smiling, with lots of cold bottles of water. We could all learn a lot from Krisha. There is NO WAY I could do what I do without her support. Thanks, Baby!! I did sign her up recently for a coach at CTS (since they are the best coaches on the planet!), so I'm sure that I'll be able to pay her back before long! I just hope I can be as selflessly supportive when I get that call from her!

HOLY CRAP! A BEAR!!!!

Just got back from beautiful Colorado. What an AWESOME weekend of training! Without a doubt, the highlight of the trip was about 10 minutes up Left Hand Canyon when I heard Ryan yell "HOLY CRAP! A BEAR!!!" It was without a doubt the coolest thing I have ever seen on a ride. We were just climbing along and all of sudden he (or she, I didn't stop to check!) went running across the road about 20 yards in front of us. We both slammed on our brakes and watched as an American Black Bear walked along the river to our right, pausing to check us out about every 5 steps. What an awesome creature! It really is a shame that we as a human race don't care more about preserving this wonderful planet that God has provided for us . . . .

Anyway, I went to Colorado this weekend for a camp with CTS and to do some training with my very good friend Ryan. After a day with my coach, Lindsay, at CTS doing Lactate Threshold, VO2 Max, a bike fit, swim analysis, and a running analysis, I was pretty worn out. By the way, getting your finger pricked every three minutes, working as hard as you can, on a bike that goes nowhere, with a tube in your mouth, a clamp on your nose, and people yelling at you is not most fun workout I've ever done! Regardless, the camp was great. They really know how to do it right at CTS! Thanks, Lindsay!

Ryan is doing his first half-ironman (actually, it's his first triathlon -- that's how he rolls -- Go big or go home!) this August at the 5430 Long Course in Boulder (you could have picked an easier race, Ryno!). We ran on Saturday in Boulder and found an awesome route that we will definitely be running again as soon as I can get back up there! We were only running for an hour and twenty minutes, so we actually had to turn around long before we were ready. We were just gradually climbing on a nice trail with a mountain to our right and a river to our left. It was beautiful, and honestly one of the most fun runs I have ever done.

Sunday, we rode the 5430 bike course just to check it out. It seemed like it could be fast, but the first several miles were gradually uphill, almost a false flat, which could make you feel slow coming out of T1. We'll have to be patient on race day. After that, we climbed up Left Hand Canyon to Ward, had a delicious cookie, rode back down the mountain, and then up Stage Hill. Stage Hill was much shorter and felt like a small rolling hill after having climbed the hour twenty minutes that it took us to get up Left Hand Canyon. I was having some mechanical trouble so we headed back to the Res and called it a day. It was a great day, and I was not happy to be heading back to the airport to return to Dallas! Thanks for the EPIC weekend, Ryno!!

Note to self, next time you're doing that much climbing, bring something besides a P3C with an 11-23 cassette!