Mid Season Status Check

We are at the midway point in the tri-season and the end can't come soon enough. I can't recall who I was talking to at High Falls when I mentioned that I am very ready for this season to be done with. The ironic part was that High Falls was the person's first tri of the season. They were just getting started.

I thought I was take a look at the past six months and figure out what has been going well and where I feel like I need to make adjustments. Each year is different so it is hard to compare to year's past. In fact, the past two years were marred with BIG races by this point. Two years ago, I would be tapering for Ironman Coeur d'Alene. And last year, I had just finished Triple T on my way aboard the injury train.

Swim: B-. I don't know what my deal is here. I came back from Hawaii with some good speed but I have seemed to let it fade away. One of my problems is that I have a default comfort zone in the water so I spend too much time training there. All in all, I don't feel like I am swimming well or where I want to be right now. A lot of this is mental. One of the things I am working on is to cut down on my rest intervals. I have long cheated here...taking extra time to gather myself before launching into the next set. I need to cut those out so that I am force to work through some pain. I think this will be my last ditch effort at swimming before I decide that the only way I will break through the plateau is individual coaching or masters classes.

Bike: B+. I am pleased with the progress that I have experienced. Cutting back on the volume allows me to increase the intensity...and it shows. I am certainly riding better than I have in years past. This past weekend was the first race that I clearly broke through the 22 mph barrier. The downside is that I am seriously struggling with adapting to power. I love having the numbers and conducting real time analysis. However, I am often NOT keeping my watts during my workouts. I seem to be consistently 7-10 watts below where I should be.

Run: C. I am not running well at all this year. This is a major source of frustration for me. I felt really good about my run going into NOLA but since the race, I feel flat. Part of it is that I am probably scared to reinjure myself so I am apt to backoff. I am trying to work on understanding where that pain threshold is for me but it seems that I am not pushing it mentally enough to get there. Dan keeps telling me to be patient as we will wrap up the season with a run focus and my speed will be there. I guess we will see.

Training: A. I would say that I am training well. I am often unhappy with my workouts and not hitting my targets but I am getting them done. For reasons mentioned above, it is just a bit of an adjustment to focus on intensity. I miss those long rides where you could zone out and cruise at an aggressive pace. For the most part, I feel like I am making it through my workouts.

Racing: B-. Eh. The sprints have been good but I can't recall the last time where I had a bad sprint race. We will see what the next few weeks hold for me.

Recovery: B. I have lost sight of how to properly recover. In the past, I was the king of ice baths. The gas station guy knew I needed 3 bags of ice everytime I entered. Last night I took an ice bath woke up feeling much better. I have also stopped taking recovery drinks. I don't know why. It just seems to slip my mind. On the positive, I owe a lot of gratitude to my massage therapist. I am able to see her every 2-3 weeks now which helps a lot

Overall, I feel like I am having a subpar season. I set my sights really high going in and haven't quite lived up to my own expectations. I think there is still time to turn it around and that is where I need to focus all of my attention.