Lakes of the North and Christmas

This past Saturday I did a xc ski race at Lakes of the North. It was a shorter race...10k, but considering how little most people have been on snow so far this year it was just the right distance. My skiing technique isn't the best, but somehow I'm able to keep up with the top guys. I guess all the training I do for triathlon carries over nicely. I came 8th and was only a minute or so down from the podium. I'll take it though considering how little ski time I put in...usually once a week for 1-2 hours.

I never know what to wear for these ski races. You warm up quick so you don't want to be over dressed. I wore the Zoot Ultra long sleeve cycling jersey and then the wind vest over top. I also wore the Zoot winter beenie. That, with some cycling tights and I was dressed just about perfectly for a 30 degree morning in N. Michigan.

Training has been going well. I am taking an easier week this week before ramping things back up. I am itching to start in with a little more serious training, but it was important I be patient these past 4 weeks as my body just wasn't ready to start getting after it quite yet. I guess you could call it a transition month or just getting the body moving every day. It seems to have worked because I feel completely back to normal and ready to start making gains for 2013.

On another note, I've been inducted into the Otsego County Sports Hall of Fame. The article in the paper can be found here . It really is an honor and I feel very blessed to have received the award. I had a ton of support, mainly through my folks and siblings during my youth and really that support continues today. Rachel has been there for every step too since starting triathlon and it wouldn't be possible without her encouragement.

Christmas has come and gone for another year. As always my parents (really my Mom:) went overboard and got all of the grandkids way too much. Kennedy was awesome opening presents. She had a blast playing with some new toys and showing off her new clothes. The best thing about Christmas is being to spend time with my siblings as we don't get to do that a whole lot any more. It's also nice to catch up with extended family.

Back to reality a bit now (minus teaching so really I'm on vacation!). 3 workouts already today and I'm considering a short ski later if I feel good. It's amazing how much you can get in with not having to work. I wouldn't trade my life for anything though.

Thanks for reading.

And so it begins

And we're off! The first two weeks of training for the 2013 season have gone pretty well. The body is coming around ever so slowly, but I think by the end of the 3rd week or so I will feel right as rain. There is a fair amount of debate over incorporating recovery weeks into one's training program. I have done it both ways...3 weeks up and then one week down/recovery. Last year I didn't take recovery weeks, but incorporated a little more active recovery each week. This year I'll be reverting back to about 3 weeks on and one week off. This gets trickier once racing starts, but during my base and race prep phases I will be following that basic 4 week cycle. Lots of research backs the 21 days on and then needing some more rest than usual to fully utilize the concept of overcompensation. The key in my opinion is keeping some intensity just like you might in a taper during a recovery week. Otherwise, you tend to feel pretty rotten. You drop the volume to about half of whatever you did in the 3rd week of the cycle. I also make sure I take one day completely off during the rest week.

So far here are some examples of some swim, bike, run sessions. This morning I swam 2200 yds. I did a 500 IM order at an easy pace, 200k w/ fins at a moderate effort, 100 pull at steady state, 5 x 50 band only ON 1:00, hitting about 40-45 sec., 5 x 50 drill/swim, 700 paddles w/ the 2nd half using a pull buoy, 200 cd working on sighting and dolphin diving. Swim volume is pretty low right now, but that will gradually increase as we go to where most sessions will be in the 4k range with one longer swim each week since an IM swim is 4k itself. If you don't ever swim longer than that you will have no prayer of finishing the swim feeling fresh and ready for the bike. Yesterday's bike session was a 35 min. warm up as 10 min. EZ, 10 min. as 30 sec. big gear/30 sec. regular cadence, 10 min. of 20 sec. single leg/40 sec. regular cadence w/ both legs, 5 min. of spin ups, 40 min. of BIG gear work at IM effort+ (230w+) spending as much time in the aero bars as possible, and then a short cool down. Run sessions have been about 8-9 miles including in about 10 min. worth of hills. As you can see it's pretty basic base phase prep of lower end work, but very strength oriented. This is the most strength stuff I have probably ever done, but Ironman is all about strength and who slows down the least...you must be strong! There is a big difference between aerobic strength and true muscular strength, but they do tie together. I am a big believer and weight training. It seems a lot of people steer away from it, but the results don't lie. The stronger you get the more froce you can generate in all 3 disciplines and this raises your ceiling of how fast you are capable of going. If it's good enough for Alberto Salazar's Olympic medalists, Mark Allen, and Dave Scott not to mention several others it is good enough for me. So many athletes lose power after a long season and the quickest way to get that back is to hit the weights. If you don't know what you're doing in the weight room, this is the best article I've found on triathletes doing traditional weight training: http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Mark_Allen_s_12_Best_Strength_Exercises

Other things I've been focusing on is cleaning up the nutrition. I take a more relaxed approach in the off-season, but try to be pretty good about what I'm eating when training hard...lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, and limit the amount of processed foods. I don't get too crazy about things, but it's just about being conscious about what is going in. The 80/20 rule is good to go by...80% good stuff going in, 20% whatever else. Far too many people try to be super strict about diet and they can't sustain that for very long. The 80/20 rule is something you can sustain forever.

Lastly, chiropractic care and massage have played a big role for me in the past and they will continue to do so this year. I have been seeing my people once a week since starting back up training and it sure does make a difference.

Thanks for reading!

Off season break

One of the most challenging, yet enjoyable times of the year for me are the 4 or so weeks after my last race of the season. It's not easy for an endurance athlete to take time off, but it's very important if you're hoping to progress a bit further each year. Now, by taking time off I am not talking about 4 weeks or so of no training at all. Sure I'll take probably a total of 7-10 days completely off during that time, but I have found for me it's better if I don't take those days all at once. Doing it this way allows me to get back into things quicker and not feel so horrible those first 2-3 weeks of real training. This year it worked out nicely because I took 3 full days off at the start of deer season and then over Thanksgiving break. After the 2nd 3 days I finally feel completely ready both mentally and physically to get back to work. The mental component is huge so you avoid burnout. Triathlon has a bad burnout rate where people get into the sport for 2-3 years and then get burned out so they quit. The guys who are crushing it year after year typcially say it takes a good 10+ years in the sport to come even close to potential. Most say they hit their endurance peak in their mid 30s. I am very hopefuly this is the case because if it is I can plan on seeing more improvement for another 10 years or so.

From a physical standpoint it's important to take a good break each season. Even if you feel 100% there are always a couple of small niggling injuries that have been hidden throughout the year. If you train hard during the year, something is not 100% with your body. I very rarely get injured and have never actually had an overuse injury (touch wood) that has sidelined me. I firmly believe the break at the end of each year keeps my body happy. A smart thing to do during your break is to keep up on some recovery methods...chiro, massage, cold/hot baths, compression, foam rolling, eating well, etc.

A lot of people think I'm nuts starting my training for the next season the first week of December. Those are the same people that will be behind myself and any of the athletes I coach. You are not killing yourself in the winter. What you are doing is very gradually laying down a fitness base that will allow you to do the race specific training you need to do once March/April rolls around. These are flat out THE most important months of the year. If not done, you will be playing catch up all year and your race results will suffer. I probably only truly average 10-12 hours of training a week for the first few cycles, but I am consistent and do the correct work to set me up for the specific prep that follows. I typically will swim, bike, and run 3 times each during the winter. That, with 2-3 strength sessions plus 1-2 xc ski sessions a week and come March I'm ready to get after it. Most of the winter is spent indoors. I'll get outside to do most of my runs and every now and again if the roads are not icy I'll head out on the mtn. bike. I utilize a treadmill for my faster run sessions. For the strength work, I've gone back to traditonal weight training the last 2 years. I really find this to be huge as I go through the season. Gains are made until about March and then as the s, b, r training increases I just look to maintain that strength. I do one day of TRX work as well.

The fun part for me is putting the training puzzle together. Taking what has worked in the past and then adding in a couple of new things each year so I don't get stagnate. This year I plan to do a little more volume in all 3 disciplines and then dial back the intensity a bit. I will always do some fast stuff year round, but last year I skimped a bit too much on the run and cycling volume. This had me going very well on the shorter stuff, but I was a little undertrained for the half ironmans. With stepping up to Ironman this year, that volume cannot be missing. I have laid out a very solid program that I am confident will put me in the best shape of my life for Lake Placid. For now, it's all about easing the body back into some consistent work. I am pumped to start back up and I suggest you do the same if you want to have your best season yet!

Iceman, #2 on the way, and much more

I can't believe how long it's been since I've written a blog on this site. I am really going to try and be better about it in 2013. Things get busy when you're trying to be a good husband and father as well as teacher, coach, and athlete. Let's just say blogging hassn't been a priority. I have had a few people ask me recently to start it back up so I'm going to take another shot at it.

Where to start...it's been an awesome year watching my daughter Kennedy grow and mature (she's now 16 mo. old). It never ceases to amaze me how much of a personality such a little girl can have. We are also expecting #2 in May 2013 so we are prepping Kennedy to be a big sister. She was asking for a training partner more similar in size so we thought we'd deliver:)

Triathlon wise it really was a good year (All-American for the 4th time). I started off by winning the Starkermann in Gaylord. I got taken off course by the motorcycle while leading the Bayshore 10k, but was on sub 34 min. pace so I was happy with where the body was at. I won the Bass Festival 5k after riding 60 miles beforehand. Syracuse 70.3 went well. I was 6th age grouper overall and at one point in the race was in 1st. The run is still my achilles heel. I need to continue to find ways to drop time and get in that low 1:2x range off the bike if I'm ever going to be 1st amateur. I repeated at East Jordan and took 2nd at Mark Mellon to Aaron Bachman. I gave him a run for his money (literally as we brought some prize money to Mark Mellon this year...going up for next year so join us!) and led off the bike by a little over a minute. I had probably my best race of the year again at Petoskey Tri. I was firing on all cylinders and finally broke 36 min. off the bike for an Olympic distance race running a mid 35. Steelhead was another high age group finish, but ran 1:29 instead of the sub 1:25 I had planned on which would have had me top 3 overall amateurs. From there I pretty much called it a season and started prepping for the GR marathon and Iceman. Both of those races went well considering my lack of preparation, but it just gets to be a long season once school starts back up and now that we have Kennedy and with coaching and all. No complaints here thought as life is great! Rachel continues to be wife/mother of the year (not to mention her job as a funeral director) and I couldn't do anything I do without her support.

Basketball practice starts on Monday so I'm really looking forward to that. We have a very good shot at winning the league so it's going to be a fun year. I am doing some very light training at the moment and have been sprinkling in some roller skiing to get ready for the xc ski season. I'll also be playing a decent amount of basketball once we get rolling. I have decided my first day of 2013 training will be December 17th. That way I can get in some solid work over our 2 weeks of Xmas vacation and that should set me up for the real work to begin after that. The whole goal of 2013 is simple...Kona!!! I will be qualifying at Ironman Lake Placid the end of July and everything I do training and racing will have that race in mind. There is no doubt in my mind I can accomplish this task, but it is going to take a lot of work...work I'm prepared to do.

Lastly, I have a couple more open slots for coaching in 2013 so if interested please email me at dave@jrmtraining.com

Please follow along...it's going to be an exciting year!