Sorry it's been a while. I've been really busy getting the website for the Tri club updated and I know very little about computers. Amazing the whole thing hasn't crashed yet. This week was a very good week of training. My first real hard workouts in a while and I could tell while I was doing them. The surprising thing is that I don't feel it after the workout is over. Am I not going as hard as it feels like? Do I have it in me to go harder? Today was my long run and that is really going well. I've been able to start the last 2 weeks long runs with friends for a 10-11 mile loop and then go out alone for 6 more miles. The new part for me is picking up the pace for the last 6 miles to marathon pace + :25 and holding that steadily. It is going surprisingly well and I hope to push the pace even more as my tolerance picks up. The nice part is that I'm not really that tired at the end of these runs. I think the base mileage from Chicago is still in my legs and making it easier to go longer. Hopefully this holds true going from the marathon in the spring and into Ironman in September......

Last week was overall a good week of training. I had some good runs and swam once and rode the bike twice as well. It was a challenge to do anything outside with the avg. temp something like 10 degrees all week. It was -16 on Friday when I went to work. I was contemplating going with a coaching service for the season and looked at a few different possibilities. Overall though I feel that I have the knowledge to train properly. I have a degree in Kinesiology and have been running for over 20 years now. I'm not saying that I know it all but I definately feel confident in setting up a plan that will work for me. I think I was just looking for someone to be more accountable to, someone that says why didn't you do the intervals yesterday or should you maybe take a break? For now I'm not going to sign on with a coach.
It's definately time to make some solid decisions on races for the season besides Ironman Wisconsin. I would like to find something to race at every month. I've always said I would do this and then the first few months get away from me and then I get into full training and hate to take a day away from that. This year I'll try again and if I have to I'll add to the race to get a full training day in. Foolish? Maybe but it may be fun. Reading some posts over on Jog.Hard have me thinking that it's to easy to be a great trainer but a bad racer. I think if you race more often it helps develop that feel. That "killer instinct" that is needed to chase down competitors. I've felt that lacking a bit over the last 5 years. Am I getting soft? old? or am I just afraid to hurt like I used to? Hopefully more racing will rekindle that instinct. Time to find a race for January!!!

Well I managed to get to the pool twice this week. Yesterday I was at the end of my set doing some 100's and noticed that my arms were so ridiculously pumped that they didn't want to bend normally. I guess that months off will do that. Today was going to be a rest day but we got 3 inches of new snow. The new XC skis were just screaming to go out for a trip around the golf course. Oh how nice it must be to live in an area with groomed trails. At least here I can take Kona along and let him run free. We went out for a relaxed 45 minutes. I realized this is the kind of workout that a GPS would be nice to track. That's a lot of cash for an occasional off road workout though :) That's the nice thing about this time of year. Workouts are very relaxed and if I wander a bit it's okay. When the meat of the season gets here I get more concerned about hitting the workout as planned and hate to miss sessions. It is getting close to time to start building more base miles. I'm also considering finding a triathlon coach this year. The problem again being the cost. Why is it that this sport continues to get more and more expensive? I guess it always was but 20 years ago I had no money and just did what I had to so that I could race. Going to the bigger races like Ironman have their associated costs but it seems that the farther I go into this the more I think I "need". At least I continue remind myself that you can't "buy speed", that for every fancy gadget, I have to train that much harder to justify the expense by working even harder. I was lucky enough get a great deal from a friennd on a PowerTap. Sadly I have yet to really learn how to put it work. I had it for all of last year but with the limited training that was completed I really didn't learn how to use it. That is on of my goals this year to train with more purpose. Do what I need to do and not let the whims of others dictate my training.

Welcome

Welcome to my firtst attempt at blogging. I'm not entirely sure what the content of this site will be, but mostly it will follow my training for triathlons, running, cycling, and the many other hobbies in my life. Life is always about Balance. Balance between work and home. Balance between friends and family. Balance in training. Balance between wants and needs. There is always a struggle to find the "middle ground" and keep things in moderation. Life with a family and training for Ironman is a constant struggle to keep a balance. Some days it's more family and others it has to be about Ironman. Hopefully when it is all done and over with the balance between the two will be there and everyone is happy. Here's to the start of 2009 and my first blog... I hope you enjoy the trip.
Paul