Time to Get Down to Business

So it has been a month already since I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2010. I have fully enjoyed this month off from strict training and doing what I want when I want, eating what I want, and drinking what I want. I have been able to catch up with friends, see alot of my family, and of course rest my body. In this time I have started to think about the upcoming year and how I want to approach training, what my goals are going to be, etc. This is what I have come up with.

While I am a firm believer that you are constantly in training for Ironman no matter how far out you are, once you sign that paper at registration you are in training. I plan to do a 24 week specific training schedule that will start on March 28th, and culminate at race day next September. But I have sooo much to do before I get to March 28th believe it or not. Everyone's view of the offseason is different, and for me it is all about working on my weaknesses and preparing for the upcoming year. With that said I have divided my offseason into 3 segments. The first will start on Monday and I will begin an 8 week speed intensive training program. The idea here is to increase my swim pace and run pace with high intensity low volume workouts. While I want to overall increase my pace in both disciplines I want to also, and more importantly. improve my form and hope that in turns increases my pace. This program will lead me into the begining of December. After I will take a week off and enjoy myself with my friends on the mountains in Colorado carving up some fresh powder. The second session of my offseason will focus on the weight room and gaining some strength for next year. I will still swim, bike, run but it will ramp down severaly probably only doing each discipline once a week. Once the snow starts to melt I will start to put on some base miles and prepare myself for the season ahead. I am still putting all these plans together and preparing myself but I am very excited to start up again and already cannot wait for my next workout!

While I am preparing myself for the upcoming year I have established me goals early for Ironman Wisconsin. There are a few reasons that I have established my goals now and not closer to the day of the race. First and foremost, knowing what I want to accomplish in the race now lets me train specific to those goals. Secondly I have broken down what I want to finish each discipline in. Knowing the times that I want to finish in I can monitor my training for each discipline and see if I am on track fitness wise to reach those goals. With that said these are my goals for Ironman Wisconsin

1. Finish!
2. Enjoy the day!
3. Finish a sub 11 hour Ironman
4. Split times Swim 1:10, Bike 6:00, Run 3:40 T1+T2 10:00
5. Have a STRONG marathon

I feel that working towards these goals will ultimately set me up for a very successful race. Of course the goals are in order so if I do not finish under 11 hours I just want to finish the race and enjoy the day. I am a very competitive person but I will not win this race and with my time goals set very high I must remind myself finishing this race is an incredible accomplishment in of itself and to enjoy every moment of the day.