Fear of getting sick

I caught a cold this week. It's not really that bad, but every time I get sick, I worry that it could happen during the critical training period right before Ironman, or even worse, I could be sick on race day.

But with two school age kids, I'm not sure I can really do anything to guarantee I don't get sick. I guess I'll just continue to make sure I'm getting enough rest between training sessions, wash my hands often, keep eating right, and keep my fingers crossed.

Motivational Movie Monday

These guys are so unbelievably fast!

T Minus Ten

Thanks to a reminder from my friend Don, I realized two months have already gone by and it's ONLY Ten months until Ironman Arizona. Time keeps ticking away.

On a more current and pressing note, there's only two weeks until the Rosebowl 1/2 Marathon, and three weeks until my first Century of 2010.

The 1/2 marathon will be more like a training day, not a race for me. My plan is to take it out slow and try to negative split the run. The century on the other hand has PR potential with relatively little climbing, and a large number of participants to draft behind. So I plan to push it a little bit on the ride and see how it goes.

Motivational Movie Monday

Fast before Long

I spent quite a bit of time researching and studying different Ironman training methods and training plans in 2009 to prepare for the training I'd have to do this year. After a lot of reading, listening, and watching, I settled on a 20 week training plan from Endurance Nation.

There are several things I like about EN, but there are two main reasons I selected the plan from EN:

1. I agreed with and liked the way the coaches at EN break down their "Four Keys" to Ironman

• Success on race day is about Execution, not Fitness
• A successful race = a good run. Nothing on race day really mattters until you reach The Line which is normally around mile 18 on the run
• Race within a Box defined by what you CAN control
• At some point your body will want to quit. Be ready to convince your body to keep going with The One Thing that brought you to Ironman - whatever that might be.

2. I also like their idea of going Fast before going Long. The typical outseason guidance is to go long and slow during the off season so you can build a bigger engine—then make that engine faster when it matters: closer to the race. The coaches at EN turn that upside down and suggest spending the winter working on speed, so when you slow down, that "slow" pace is not as slow as it was last year. I like this idea since it's hard for me to do long training during the winter when it's colder and it gets dark so early. But it's pretty easy to make time for interval workouts and shorter, high-intensity work.

So here's how my year is broken down at a very high level:

Nov 23 - March 14 - 16 weeks of Fast training

March 15 - July 4 - 16 weeks of Long training

July 5 - November 20 - 20 week Training plan/General Race Prep

November 21 - Ironman Arizona!

Motivational Movie Monday

Updated Events

I decided NOT to sign up for the 13.1 Los Angeles half marathon, instead I'm signed up to do the Rose Bowl Half Marathon on February 7th.

I'm also confirmed for the Tour de Palm Springs on February 13th and the San Diego Century on May 22.

I am also seriously considering Student run LA 18-mile Friendship run on February 21, and a return to the Cruisin' the Conejo century again this year on May 8, 2010 and the

Motivational Movie Monday