All In
Anyone else losing sleep over the "shoulda / woulda / coulda's" from a recent race? Ok, maybe not losing sleep but it still has been on my mind alot lately since IMC.
Based on a review of my Ironman races:
1999 Ironman Florida 11:54:41
2000 Ironman California 12:02:51* Long swim
2001 Ironman California 10:55:51
2001 Ironman Canada 11:13:13
2002 Ironman Canada 10:41:29
2003 Ironman Canada 10:48:56
2003 Ironman Florida 10:22:41
2004 Ironman Canada 10:55:27
2006 Ironman Canada 11:15:05
2007 Ironman Canada 10:50:46
See a theme there?
"If you change nothing ... Nothing changes"
-unknown-
Except for the races where I blew up (reduced to walking alot of the marathon in 01 / 06 IMC), I seem to be stuck in a rut of finishing right around 10:50. Don't get me wrong, anytime you cross the line at an Ironman race, *regardless* of finish time, it is a victory in my opinion. BUT, *and it is a big but* you know deep down in the dark recesses of your brain, you have a certain goal or time that would validate all the sacrifice and struggle of the huge training volume over a season.
I guess you can't expect to get different results by following the same protocol season after season so I plan on mixing it up next year. If i'm going to put in the training hours, a given as always, why not push it? I don't necessarily mean an increase in hours because I think the law of diminishing returns applies here. I mean training smarter.
I have a computrainer that has been nothing more then an glorified trainer based on my usage. I plan on exploring more of its features such as using its ergo mode to train at a certain power / wattage level. I also plan on seriously considering the option of training with power (powermeter)- it almost seems like a necessity at this point to get to the next level. I will join the Nike Masters Swim program. They meet twice a week and it would definitely be a good idea based on my swim times going south lately. Finally, I am going to have a more balanced approach over the winter vs. strictly running. Granted, I plan on focusing on the run during the winter months but I will not eliminate or ignore the swim / bike stuff. I just want to have a SOLID aerobic base across all disciplines come April vs. playing catch-up and jumping right into my first 20hr week in Late April as I did this year.
Here's a link to some great training articles for anyone interested.
I know I've mentioned it before but if you have some time, pour a BIG cup of coffee and read the "Hadd's approach" article available through the link above. Yeah, none of the sexy fast stuff there ala track workouts, etc but long-course racing is an AEROBIC engine exercise and focus should be placed there. The ability to run 5 minute miles probably won't come into play during your race! ;-) Also, great stuff in the other articles.
That's it. Simple.
I'm all in for 2008.
Now excuse me while I head out for a run. :-)
*Peace*
Based on a review of my Ironman races:
1999 Ironman Florida 11:54:41
2000 Ironman California 12:02:51* Long swim
2001 Ironman California 10:55:51
2001 Ironman Canada 11:13:13
2002 Ironman Canada 10:41:29
2003 Ironman Canada 10:48:56
2003 Ironman Florida 10:22:41
2004 Ironman Canada 10:55:27
2006 Ironman Canada 11:15:05
2007 Ironman Canada 10:50:46
See a theme there?
"If you change nothing ... Nothing changes"
-unknown-
Except for the races where I blew up (reduced to walking alot of the marathon in 01 / 06 IMC), I seem to be stuck in a rut of finishing right around 10:50. Don't get me wrong, anytime you cross the line at an Ironman race, *regardless* of finish time, it is a victory in my opinion. BUT, *and it is a big but* you know deep down in the dark recesses of your brain, you have a certain goal or time that would validate all the sacrifice and struggle of the huge training volume over a season.
I guess you can't expect to get different results by following the same protocol season after season so I plan on mixing it up next year. If i'm going to put in the training hours, a given as always, why not push it? I don't necessarily mean an increase in hours because I think the law of diminishing returns applies here. I mean training smarter.
I have a computrainer that has been nothing more then an glorified trainer based on my usage. I plan on exploring more of its features such as using its ergo mode to train at a certain power / wattage level. I also plan on seriously considering the option of training with power (powermeter)- it almost seems like a necessity at this point to get to the next level. I will join the Nike Masters Swim program. They meet twice a week and it would definitely be a good idea based on my swim times going south lately. Finally, I am going to have a more balanced approach over the winter vs. strictly running. Granted, I plan on focusing on the run during the winter months but I will not eliminate or ignore the swim / bike stuff. I just want to have a SOLID aerobic base across all disciplines come April vs. playing catch-up and jumping right into my first 20hr week in Late April as I did this year.
Here's a link to some great training articles for anyone interested.
I know I've mentioned it before but if you have some time, pour a BIG cup of coffee and read the "Hadd's approach" article available through the link above. Yeah, none of the sexy fast stuff there ala track workouts, etc but long-course racing is an AEROBIC engine exercise and focus should be placed there. The ability to run 5 minute miles probably won't come into play during your race! ;-) Also, great stuff in the other articles.
That's it. Simple.
I'm all in for 2008.
Now excuse me while I head out for a run. :-)
*Peace*
posted by Mike at 9:36 AM
6 Comments:
I can't wait for the day when I can stack up the IMs I've done and work on going faster! You're awesome. I was impressed with your times too. Try not to be so hard on yourself. But we all do it. I constantly beat myself up that I'm not faster.
10:22 in 2003?! Dude, you're a beast!!! Congrats on your sub 11 finish this year again. As usual, awesome articles, thanks for posting them. Good luck mixing it up. I can't wait to see how it works out for you.
Thanks for the great link. I will be reading the article with interest.
With you fast and steady times, I am looking forward to see what next year brings you.
Yeah many of us play that shoulda/would/coulda game. I'm still doing it with IM WI from 07. Maybe that's what you need: a change in venue =)
Now matter how you look at it: sub 11 is still bad-ass in my book.
I'll b sure to check out that link - thanks for posting it.
Mike,
First off congratulations with your race. I was following you and Steve all day. Man that was a close finish between you guys.
I have a few ideas that I would like to bounce off you in terms of breaking through to another level and here is the first thought of the day.
Optimal IM training will always be sub optimal swim training, bike training and run training. How do you plan to overcome this????
fluro
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