Reflections on a Triathlon Season

Totals:

Swim: ~280 miles

Bike: 2500 miles

Run: 730 miles

Time: ~400 hours

Since January these are my accumulated training distances and times.  I have a training log from 2007, however, it was not kept in a conducive manner with which to derive these same statistics.  But in glancing over the 2008 season appears to be substantially longer in training distance and time than 2007.  I think this is due to my focus on two 70.3 races which framed my season (the FL 70.3 in May and Timbermanin August).  If you’ve read my previous race reports you might notice a trend - namely my disappointing run splits throughout.  A new thought for next year will be to place my long runs the day after long bikes, to ensure that my legs adapt to increased fatigue, yet not getting overworked.  The biggest postive lesson gained in running was developing a nutritional plan which could be tweaked for different race conditions.  Of course it can always be improved upon, but I feel that I’ve come a long way in developing triathlon’s ’4th discipline.’  A combination of Cytomax and CarboPro has done wonders to alleviate digestion problems in the longer races.  Racing in Flordia taught me a valuable lesson in sodium and electrolyte levels.  I’ve also learned I was incredibly spoiled racing and training in Northern CA last year.  Constant moderate temperatures make for excellent conditions.  It almost makes me want to head back (but then there’s the cost of living, which just about kills it for me…).

Other plusses for the year came in an increased swim fitness.  Last year I relied solely on my former life and conditioning in collegiate swimming (a career which ended 8 years ago – damn I’m getting old).  A renewed focus in the water, coupled with acutally completing workouts (go figure) led to a 27 minute swim over 1.2 miles, which would have been improved upon in August had I not been kicked in the head and swam in circles for 30 minutes.  My biking continued to steadily improve and this discipline has quickly become a training favorite. 

I owe much of my success this year to the training programs developed on Mark Allen Online (www.markallenonline.com).  Luis Vargas provided some much needed advice following my FL debacle and put the season and my training in perspective for me.  Short of hiring expensive personal coaching services, theirs is a great product for those looking for the happy medium between self coaching and personal attention.  Sharing experiences and results on the forums is also a great way to glean lessons learned from other like-minded athletes.  I’m excited to begin implementing his advice into next year’s training.

After so much improvement over the last two years, it’s really hard not to think about racing and training. Although the last few weeks of ‘nothingness’ have been enjoyable, my energies have been turned into finishing Department Head School and remodeling our new house.  Sadly, I’m off on another adventure and challenge as I will be reporting on board an U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG) as the Operations Officer in a few short days.  This new career step will not lend itself to the training and racing schedule I have become accustomed to, but that’s why they call these ‘life sports’ : I can easily get back into them when I get back!

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