Yep. The weekly training updates have gone by the wayside. After a killer December, I had my first big dip in motivation last month. I missed a few workouts and that was enough to throw me off for a little bit. I’ve gotten back on track since and have been pretty solid for the last three weeks. So no worries. This is a long process. It’s bound to happen every now and then.
My swimming is really coming along. My coach recommended I drop my paces again, which means that since October, I’ve gone from swimming my ’steady’ pace at 2:00/100 yards to 1:40/100 yards. That’s a pretty significant drop. I’m swimming faster and more easily than I was at my peak last year.
My cycling is… well… I don’t really know. Still banging out miles on the trainer. Coach Jorge keeps it interesting with the functional threshold intervals and tempo sets. But it’s still the trainer. I’m itching for it to warm up a little so I can get outside. Not only to ride, but to see where my fitness is relative to last year. This is the first time I’ve been consistently training on the bike through the winter months. I’m really looking forward to see how that’s affected me.
I also FINALLY got a bike fit the other day. On Coach Jorge’s recommendation, I went to Brian at Fast Splits. He told me I had dialed in an almost perfect road bike position. But once I got into the aerobars, I was way too stretched out… which I knew, but didn’t really know how to correct without making it worse.
Essentially, we needed to shorten up the distance between the seat and the handlebars without making the bike too unstable and me uncomfortable. He wound up putting on a 2cm shorter stem and a new seat post that brought me forward about 3.5cm closer. The end result is that a lot more weight is distributed onto my forearms when I’m in the aerobars, which means I don’t have to engage my abs as much to hold the position. This should help fight fatigue on the longer rides. It also changes where in the pedal stroke power is being generated, which will allow me to use less of my running muscles on the bike. End result - I’m way more comfortable and very happy with the new fit so far.
My running isn’t really getting much faster anymore. The focus is starting to shift from frequency to volume. I did another 73 miles last month with a couple of 9.5 milers that I actually felt pretty comfortable with. So something must be working! And my first race of the season, the New Bedford Half marathon, is quickly approaching. It should coincide well with where I’ll be in my schedule.
Overall, I’m feeling pretty good. And I’m getting really excited for this racing season.
In other news, I started watching “Into the Wild” on the trainer last night. Interesting movie so far. It’s loaded with quotes, but there’s one that immediately struck me.
“I read somewhere how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once… to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head.”
Of course, I haven’t finished watching it yet. So it’s possible the main character learns he’s been wrong about everything. But I’d like to think he’s not.
