I love MN winters!!!

Here is a quick little chart to help you calculate windchills in your area. Just to give you an idea of what I am dealing with here, it was -15F with 20 MPH winds when I left for work this morning. That puts the windchill right around 42 degrees below freakin' zero. I can handle cold. I have spent many days at a time on winter camping is these conditions, but it's not as much fun when I only get to drive to work in it. My car just starts to feel a little bit warm when I get to work, and I have a forty minute drive!

All Outdoor Activities Cancelled!!!

Stay Warm, Drink Whiskey!!!

Large Base vs. Small Base + Speed

I am looking for some feed back on training. I am admittedly very stubborn and not really good at taking advice if I don't agree with it. But, there comes a time when even I have to admit that I don't know it all. So here is my question. I have been reading a lot about short and olympic course training and it seems there is a good debate about large base and build vs small base and increasing speed for the shorter events. What I need to know is if anyone out there has experience with the smaller base and more speed approach to training for short races.

Right now I am going with the faster approach and mainly focusing on my run, but the season is still a long way off, so there is time for a change if needed.

Here is an example of current training:

Saturday Jan 19th long run: 7 miles @ 8:08 pace
Sunday Jan 20th Off
Monday Jan 21st bike: wu 5min main 2x5min tempo 5min recovery, 5x30sec big gear drills, 30sec rest.
cd 5min easy spin
Tuesday Jan 22nd short run: 3 miles @ 7:28 pace
Wednesday Jan 23rd run/swim brick: Run 3 miles 6:40 pace Swim 1000 yards of Drills.
Thursday Jan 24th easy run: 4-6 miles at 8:00 pace.
Friday Jan 25th Off:

The general plan is to do a long run over the weekend followed by shorter runs of increasing intensity throughout the week, and ending with an easier mid distance run. I will be including 2 bikes and 2 swims starting next week. These will mostly focus on form in the pool and base on the bike.

Can this plan work?

Base Training Sucks!!!

Base training sucks!!! I'm just starting to do some real training now and this base stuff is really boring this year. Why can't I just go fast. Last year I had much more patience for this because I was training for an IM. Now, this year, all I am racing are short course events so long and slow is not fitting in with my mentality right now. I know I need to do it, but it's hard to go slow. I know, I know, have patience, fast workouts are just around the corner. Before I know it I will begging for mercy on the track, on the roads and in the pool. It just seems so far away right.

Kind of Returning.

So, I have not posted in about six months or so. I have been content lurking in the background, reading others blogs and being entertained. This post is just a short update on what's been going on in my life since Ironman Switzerland.

I pretty much shut down my training after Zurich and turned to riding and racing my mountain bike for fun. I didn't really train for it, I would just show up and ride. I crashed a lot and had a lot of fun in the process. The really big news is that we expecting a baby girl in May. We have been spending a lot of time getting the house ready and acquiring many of the things that we will need when she arrives. We have been remodeling the basement bedroom for our boy to move into. He is pretty excited to have the entire basement to himself. He is also a little bit scared of it at the same time. He is 10 now and a little tentative to actually make the move, but he will be really happy to have his own space in a few years.

That's really about all that's going on here. My wife is pregnant and healthy, I am fat and slow, and now the training must begin. I am looking forward to another fun year.