The Trip to Kona

It's been a few weeks since Coeur d'Alene and I've managed to get my travel arrangements nailed down which include a house on the beach with an ocean view.  It's my first trip to Kona, my birthday, and it's also our family vacation... I wanted to do it right. :)

The house we rented has a kitchen which means I'm finally traveling to a race where I won't feel the need to detox from all of the dining out.



I should be excited about going to Hawaii and I should be excited to go on a real vacation but instead, I am excited about being able to grocery shop and cook healthy meals.  There's seriously something wrong with me. :)

Since we have a house with a kitchen, I had this idea where I'd invite over a couple of interesting professional triathletes for dinner.  I think I can bait them in by offering them free food. :)

Room for Improvement

In these last few weeks, I've spent a great deal of time thinking about my training.  Over the past 6 months, the majority of my focus has been on my run form.  It's been a slow process but I feel like it's paid off.

Looking at the CdA results within my age group, I ranked 40th out of the water, 55th off the bike and 4th on the run.  I've been trying to interpret this and I've come up with several explanations.

The first scenario is that my fellow age groupers biked too hard and I paced my race well.  My ego likes this explanation.  The second scenario is that my biking needs improvement and I'm fortunate that I can pace my race and run well off the bike.

I accept the second scenario or even a combination of both scenarios but ultimately it boils down to a "need for speed" -- I need to get faster on the bike!  I've been thinking about that quite a bit and when I look at what I've been doing, it's not broken; I think it just needs some tweaking.

More with a Purpose

I am the self-proclaimed King of "junk miles" and while I'd like you to believe I log endless miles in Z1, the truth is that even I realize there is a point of diminishing returns on just volume alone.

[ Hold that thought ]

Something that Bugs Me

There are a few local roadies that ride with power and they've all latched on to common piece of advice as if somebody told somebody who told somebody.  It's something along the lines of... "When I'm out riding with my powermeter and I can no longer hit the prescribed numbers, I bag the rest of the workout and I go home.  That's the smart thing to do!"

Maybe that's what roadies are supposed to do but it seems like you just suck it up and finish the ride.  I want to ask... Do you stop in the middle of a race and go home because you went too hard?

I know there have been long rides where I've fallen apart in the middle and I've managed to pull it together later on.  That seems like a better lesson but maybe I'm just not that smart.

More with a Purpose (cont.)

Adding more bike volume was my initial kneejerk response.  More will fix it, I said.  But then I thought maybe I should revisit intensity.  And that's when I came up with "more with a purpose".

I'm at Point A. and I want to get to Point B.  A. and B. are wattage numbers which are irrelevant because our weights are not the same.  (I'm not telling you my weight because I'm an obsessed little girl.)

[ Hold that thought (again!) ]

Oh yeah... someone suggested I gain two kilograms.  The US educational system was remiss in that part of my learning process so I had to use Google to convert for me.  4.5 pounds!  Dude!  Seriously?  I'm sure it was a helpful suggestion for a way to build muscle mass but if I put on 4.5 pounds, I'll freak.

Actually, I'm not sure I could put on 4.5 pounds.  I'd have to eat sticks of butter or something similar.  Mmmm... bacon.  I'm starting to warm up to the idea. :)

I will finish this thought...

More with a Purpose (cont.(again!))

I've had wattage intervals in my program in the past but I believe those targets were much higher than I could handle and less specific to my overall goal... Ironman.  With that in mind, I think more reasonable targets will be better.  I've started incorporating those into my program and I think the level of intensity is appropriate but time will tell whether or not they will increase my overall speed.

The Swim and the Run

I feel like there is a direct relationship between my swim volume and a one hour swim for 2.4 miles.  I also think that's quite a bit of volume for a mediocre swim time.  I'm still in the process of thinking this one through; I'll get back to you. :)  I will say that intensity gets me hurt so maybe more volume to the point of one hour is the best I can get.

I took the video camera to the pool the other day and after reviewing my stroke, I discovered a flaw.  I'm correcting this issue and I've come to realize that I should probably video all three sports on a monthly basis to be certain that what my mind thinks is happening is the same as what's happening in reality.

With my run, I will continue doing what I'm doing which is to continue my education on run form and to model my form after those who run well.

Hotter than Hell

Kona is hard, hot and humid.  I think it's windy too. :)  I've done Silverman twice.  Silverman is hard and windy so that leaves me with hot and humid.  I wilt like a daisy in the heat so I've been doing a ton of reading on heat acclimatization (which is a heck of word to speak aloud in the middle of a sentence!).

There are tons of interesting ideas on heat training but one that I haven't seen posted anywhere came from a Wenzel Coaching newsletter which stated:  "Alan Lim, Lance's personal scientist, has recommended a 1/2 hour sit in a hot sauna after rides to maximize heat acclimatization."

I'll add that to my list. :)

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