Well, it's going to be an exciting year. Early January I experienced the best running form I've ever had. At that point I was running 9min/mi @ a very aerobic (for me) HR of 137 which is smack dab in my Zone 2. Obviously that doesn't put me anywhere near the top of my class, but for someone who stagnated as a runner all year last year, this was exciting. I ran a 2hr half marathon (again GREAT for me) on a VERY hilly course all while it was snowing in Oregon a couple weeks before, and felt GREAT! Of course one week before the Marathon I sprained my ankle which was terrible timing!
So I did a proper couple weeks of going easy. It was tough to properly rest up my ankle, but I immediately gave up on running the marathon a week later. I thought I was well and jumped into training, though not to hard (or so I thought) after getting an "amazing recovery" from the doc on 3 weeks of Pool PT & Biking only. Then came the flu! Wow was I sick! I went from riding a super hilly 60 miles one day to delirious fevers the next. I couldn't even exercise in any capacity for over 2 weeks. Then it was almost 1.5 weeks of piddly little 20-30 min Z1 workouts. Seriously. FINALLY I started getting well and ramped up for the Death Valley century.
I think I've executed well since then, but the Superfrog Triathlon will no longer be an A race. It will be a nice training session just like this weekends up coming Solvang double century. I had one run in with a cold, but bounced back to full (flu diminished) form with 2 days of rest. This time I caught it EARLY in addition to it being a much milder virus, so I headed it off at the proverbial pass.
So, what's to look forward to this year? It looks like I'll have 2 "A" races this year. I will try to perform Wildflower as a B+ race at the beginning of may if I'm feeling it. I think my base is solid, and if I handle business I should be in good form by then. Here we go:
3/29/08 - Solvang Double Century. C Race. Good long training ride. 13:00?
4/6/08 - Superfrog Triathlon. B- Race. 5:45 => 35 + 3 + 2:30 + 3 + 2:20
4/27/08 - La Jolla Half Marathon. C Race. 2:00 = 9:10/mi.
5/4/08 - Wildflower. B+ Race. 3:00 => 25 + 3 + 1:20 + 3 + 1:03
That should be a nice early season peak. Wildflower will only take 3 hours so I should be able to bounce back pretty quick. My plan was to then back off for May to 1x a week Intervals to maintain my higher end, and do a big base/build 4 weeks with some nice ultra distance events on the weekends for fun. A little "intermission" to some fun stuff if you will. I will give myself a week of R&R (Race and Recovery) total then steadily ramp big volume for 2 weeks. I will call this the "Over"base phase if you will.
5/17/2008 - Davis Double Century. C Race. 12:00?
5/31/2008 - B2B 10K Swim - C Race. 2:00
6/1/2008 - Rock and Roll Marathon. C Race. 4:00.
I will take some time a solid rest week before launching into a peak progression for the Vineman 70.3 Triathlon up north. I will use the SD International Triathlon and possibly the Carlsbad Sprint Triathlon as HARD Peaking events to prepare for Vineman and the do a full 2 week taper up to the race and try for a good result. I also expect to way 180 or less by then which should help on the hilly course.
6/29/08 - SD International Triathlon - B Race - 2:15
7/20/08 - Vineman 70.3 - A Race - 5:40 = 34 + 2 + 2:48 + 2 + 2:12. I will shoot for 5:10 if I'm 180lbs. or less as this is a HILLY course!
So my goal for Vineman depends on my weight. but I think 5:12 - 5:15 is reasonable. I'm learning a lot about mental aspects and gameplans. I don't think I've really come close to my fitness abilities yet, and this will be my first real opportunity to tell this year since Superfrog is OUT as an A race. Going forward I will try for sub 5hr. 70.3 at the Longhorn 70.3 in Austin. I think the easier course, and 2.5 months of focused training will result in my plans coming to fruition. Imagine cutting over 1.5 hours of my 70.3 time in a year. Now THAT is meticulous execution. Of course Cancun was a disaster, so it's not as amazing as it sounds!
8/23/08 - SB Long Course Triathlon - B race. I'd like to take a good 30 minutes of my time from last year an break 4 hours.
10/5/08 - Longhorn 70.3 - A+ Race - 32 + 2 + 2:30 + 2 + 1:54! If I do 4 minutes in transition, 22.5mph on the bike, and an 8:40 mile on the run it will leave me 1:45 of leeway for whatever.
Ahhh then vacation. Unless I qualify for Clearwater, I will then plan on spending at least 2 weeks of traveling with now workouts followed by a couple of months of nothing structured.
But we'll see how all that goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment