Actually, the 2012 Triathlon training season officially started for me at 1:30 on Friday afternoon when I stepped into the endless pool at The Sport Factory in Roswell, GA and began to work with my new swim coach, Tracy Palmer. I left the center after my evaluation with a list of drills and a commitment to work in the pool three times a week. We will meet to evaluate progress again in 4 weeks. Honestly, I'm looking forward to the work, but I am mostly looking forward to seeing my video after 4 weeks and looking at what I hope to be huge strides in lengthening my reach and bringing my legs together. I have to say I looked a little like a frog in the video taken Friday, and I had hoped for a much better view. That being said, the gift of video is probably going to be the single best tool I pack in my bag this season; I have great visuals of how this leg of the sport ought to look and now I know for sure what I need to work on.
So the new schedule is: M, W, F in the pool between 5:30 and 6:00 am. Period. That's not going to be negotiable for the next 4 weeks. The sessions will begin with 15 to 20 minutes of drills, followed by 15 minutes of laps. I'll then finish each session with a repeat of the 15 minutes of drills.
Monday and Wednesday evenings will be relaxed short runs in the neighborhood. On Wednesday I can finish with some hill work or intervals afterward. My intention is to keep these sessions pretty simple, especially on Monday after coming off a long run on Sunday; I may find myself axing the Monday night run, or walking instead. Regardless, I won't incorporate more than three to four miles these evenings. Since hill work and intervals would be incredibly frustrating for the dogs and demanding for me, I will most likely do a couple of miles with dogs and Dave and then wrap with the hills or intervals afterward on Wednesday's only.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings will be regularly scheduled spin classes. At this point I think I'm getting more out of spin class than I would be to take the bike out onto the road. I'll need to get road experience under my belt on weekends before competition begins in May; but for now the spin classes are giving me a huge bang for my time in endurance and strength. The fast improvements Dave and I both are seeing on the runs, and that which I'm seeing in the pool have got to be related to spin work. Many triathletes only take their bikes on the road for competition and focus their training on indoor trainers and spinning; if I had the road experience and confidence (still see those scars every time I shave my knee), I can definitely see the benefit in that. It just takes 99.9% of the danger out of the equation if you're not actually on the road.
My only training on Friday's will be the AM pool - otherwise, that is a day off. This is our regular "date night" and I live for that night out with Dave.
Saturday will be a run with Dave and the dogs, or a bike ride with Dave, depending on the weather. Sunday will be reserved for a long run with Mira as long as the weather stays cool enough that she can go the distance at pace. She's showing enough drive right now that I think I can count on her when the temps aren't much above 55 degrees. I'll need to do no less than 5.5 miles on these days, and I need to get that bumped up to 7 before the season begins.
Because I'm working on each race leg individually, rather than bricking on a routine basis, I will need to be able to work farther/longer than that leg calls for during an event. In example, the Sprint distance requires 13 miles (about 40 minutes of cycling) on the bike and a 5K run to finish. So the hour of spin class puts me in good shape for the sprint distance and a 5.5 or longer run will serve me well for the last leg of a sprint.
Well, there it is; that's the plan!
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