Week In Review

We've come to the end of a terrific 3 week build. Mileage and volume is right on target. I even have been successful at taking a complete day of rest each week. Strangely I have come out of this build feeling incredibly fresh. But that's how this training stuff can work. You come to the end of a build fatigued, or fresh. It's when you are fatigued you question whether you did enough work. Its when you are fresh you want to do more.

My desire to want more will be met this week with a lot of testing. We are beginning a series of month long test sessions on the bike as I transition into training with power. My bike will be outfitted with an Ergomo in three weeks, which is going to help immensely as we collect data from races, planning the plan for Ironman Florida. Since I will be on the IMFL course in just two months it will be a terrific opportunity to collect necessary data. Perhaps when I signed up for Gulf Coast, that was my plan? I never know what's going on in this mind of mine.

I have come through my first 40 mile running week in over 2 years unscathed. At the beginning of the week during my long run my left hamstring was so tight that for every stride I felt it. 2 hours of Ow left hammie ow! Made me hyper-nervous. A complete day off on Wed and yoga yoga yoga....... completely gone. No tightness not even a hello. Whew.

So I am feeling very good about the upcoming running block. This week we will cover about 20 running miles through recovery and then it is into 3 X 40, rest and then we begin working up towards 50. All base training and during the subsequent block some hill work.

We attended the Hunter Allen seminar in Buffalo yesterday, and I have to admit that he completely organized my power training knowledge. It's like I had a whole alphabet of books and thoughts and plans, and he narrowed it down to A,B,C and D. I get it. I am relatively new to training with and coaching with power, and it can really become quite technical. I found myself fascinated by the ability to train, pace, plan, and test with power meter devices.

I decided on the Ergomo for a few different reasons. And I have been considering this purchase for months. I like that I can use different wheels. I train and race on different wheels, sometimes a disc, some times a Bontrager, so I like having that option. I like the durability of the Ergomo. I like that I can use it inside and outside.

I liked all of the other power meter devices as well, but the iBike seemed senseless for me to get. Among other reasons, most of the races that I do, your bike is in transition the night before without the ability to remove it until the race. That eliminates the option of calibration race morning.

The Power Tap limited me to just one wheel. I want to be able to train with and race with this thing, else why bother at all? For me the Ergomo was the natural choice. Plus it comes in a cool silver James Bond like briefcase. I am all about the cool factor.

I think that training with power is a very personal choice, can be incredibly beneficial, and needs to be completely understood by both the athlete and the coach. I really like how Hunter Allen called it the "You suck" meter, because it is very revealing about your talents and your weaknesses.

The bottom line of all of these things, all of the tri toys out there, is that they can impact your Fun-O-Meter.

Training and competing is fun. It is 100% fun. Adding toys and such to the mix for some people can pull from the fun. Toys are technical, and they come with a certain amount of Geek Stress. Geek Stress meaning they will fail at times, they will have to be repaired at times, software isn't always user friendly (ever see how many manuals as Computraienr comes with?) and they take a certain amount of knowledge. So be cautious as you add this stuff in, if it begins to impact your Fun-O-Meter, either causing you to spend too much time in front of the computer, or impacting the joy of riding.......

Then take it off the bike or place a piece of tape over the screen. After all, this is for fun, this is for fitness. I happen to enjoy all these technical things. I have a hunger for knowledge as an athlete and as a coach.

So.... on to rest week, and some testing!

:-) Mary Eggers