Week 1 in the books

So I wrapped up my first week of training last week with a coach and an actual plan. James has my plan dialed in and even after only one week I can't believe how much LESS stress/anxiety I have towards training. I didn't realize how much pressure I put on myself on planning and executing workouts on my own along with all of other life's stresses. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and questioning my decisions along the way with my training plan. I'm finding out quickly that I really do need structure and balance in my life for me to be successful. All I have to do now is put all my trust in the plan he's laid out for me and just put in the work (which to me is the easy part). It's weird and hard to explain, but over the past year I've almost had this cloud of guilt over my head when it came to training. I always felt like I was either doing to much or too little. Taking that guilt away is like a huge monkey off my back and I'm excited to see what my body can do now that my head is right.

Right out of the gate I had my biggest volume week ever and my body feels like it had a rest week. It feels like my legs are responding better to the extra work load (with the right amount of effort) than it was before where I'd hammer hard then take like 1 or 2 days off during the week, feel flat, hammer and so on. I think the biggest thing is where my head is right now. I think the combination of getting humbled at Soma, taking a week off and now starting/executing the plan with a coach has me more motivated than I have ever been in my life for a sport. I know that sounds pretty intense, but I've never been so focused, patient and committed to a sport than I am right now. I'm a big believer in attitude with endurance sports. Put a thick shield around your goal and don't let anything penetrate it. If your mind believes, your body will follow and for 2012 I am "all in" and it will be exciting to see what I can do.

Here's my volume for the week:

Swim: 2hrs 22 mins (7,200 yards)

Bike: 8hr 30 mins (147 miles)

Run: 3hr 22 mins (26 miles)

Total: 14hr 15 mins

Sierra Nevada's "Celebration" providing
some motivation!

During this off season, I'm really trying to focus on my swim form. This was obviously my limiter this past year and kept me out of contention for most the races I did. James has me doing a lot of pulling and different drills and I'm checking out every youtube / book that I can get my hands on so I can fix the issue. I think it also starts with how you see yourself as a swimmer. Again, your attitude and feelings about how you swim can make a big difference in your performance. I'm starting to believe I'm a "swimmer" because I know it starts there and the body will follow. As far as the bike goes, I'm back to doing isolated leg drills. I did some of these last year, but nothing to the extent I'm doing now. I'm working on the dead spots in my stroke on and off the trainer. My running just needed some attention. I've gotten away with running 2-3 times a week with little structure, but upping the mileage and number of days I get out and run is really going to help raise my running fitness back to my true running potential. I'm really going to take my running serious again. Enough of this "over 30 PR" bullsh$t - that I've talked myself into. I truely believe you can be in your prime in your 30's. Although I won't be attacking the mile or 5k on the track, I will be shooting for PR's 10k - Half Marathon next year.

Actually, I will be racing a 10k this weekend. Since we ran 8k's in college, I never really was able to jump in a 10k and get a quality PR. Right now it stands at 33:13 which I did years ago. In 2010 I ran 35:50 at the Scripps Ranch 4th of July 10k and this year I didn't get a chance to race one. Well this weekend I'm going to jump in the Mission Inn 10k and although I probably won't crack 33, I'm excited to race. Since I went to school up there, I've always heard about this one - which apparently is huge now. This race is going to hurt though. The day before I'm scheduled to ride for 4 hours on a hilly course and then finish off with a 30 min run. So I'll have 4.5 hours of fatigue in my legs come Sunday morning, but regardless - I'm pumped to go out and compete. Ice bath!

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week, I need to get back on the ball!