I'm Back

Well it has been a while.

I would really like to think that there is a plethora of new stuff to discuss here. But, alas, there is not. I have generally been slacking both in life and in my training. Coach Brent Emery has had an exciting training program going all winter. But, in my slackfulness (That is a word. I declare it.), I have not made a single workout with him or the others of the group. I like I said, slacking has been the motif of the winter.

The image above is my “Training Plan for 2011”. I know, I know. Most of you, gentile readers, would have expected me to have graphs, charts, calendars, a bunch of flashing lights, a few dials, and of course one of those Frankenstein electric ball thingies around when I come up with my training plan for the year. Sorry to disappoint. This was done on a scrape sheet of paper (A child’s drawing of a boat is on the other side. Really) with a pencil on a Saturday afternoon. That piece of paper will be the skeleton for my training through the year.

Ben will be posting the race calendar here on the blog. So check the schedule out and come on out and join us. My calendar, as it sits now, is at the bottom of my training plan. Sorry for the lack of organization. This is, unfortunately, how my mind actually works. My race calendar is very tentative at this point. My wife is back in school and the kids have a bunch of stuff going on. So, racing will take a bit of a back seat for the year. Mainly, I intend to do some good training and enjoy it. I'll through a few races in just to keep a bit of an edge.

A couple of things an astute reader will note are that I am cutting my training for 2011 quite a bit. In the past (Actually for most of my life), I have been a more must always be better kind of guy. In 2011 I have embraced the idea of quality and intensity. Thus, a few new goals have entered my mind. I have promised my self to actually recover during recovery workouts and actually push my self during those other workouts. I will not workout just to workout this year. Well, we will see how that goes. For now, so far so good. I've been using this schedule since the beginning of January and have been quite consistent and I have seen some good improvements in my performances. Stay tuned.

To aid me in accomplishing the above goals I now have access to a power meter on the bike and will utilize my running pace as my "power" indicator while running. As noted at the end of last year, I actually started doing real swimming workouts again and will continue that. I will continue to collect heart rate data, but will not be displaying it while I train at all. By focusing on some different metrics, I hope to see some improvements.

So stay tuned for updates. I promise they will be more regular now.