The Journey Begins - Cycle 1

My "off season" officially came to an end today.  As I look back on it, my first thought is, "WOW!  That went quick!"  But it has been just about 2 months since I have been following a training program.  My down time from training was a nice physical and mental break.  I didn't have any strict plan to follow, there was no checking my plan before going to be to see what has to get done the next day.  There was no planning or making sacrifices to fit in 2+ hour workouts.  I took days off with no workouts - if I woke up and didn't feel like working out, I didn't.  My diet was sub par at best, splurging on unneeded sweets and unhealthy fats.  I also drank my fair share of craft beers most, if not all nights I had off from work.  I lived a care free life.  It was a good change of pace.  Granted, I still worked out on majority of the days during the past 2 months.  None of my workouts were stressful or long by any means.  They were long enough to keep my mind at ease and "get my fix."  I was able to spend some extra time in the pool working on my stroke technique, which was absolutely invaluable.  I even had the time to do things I don't normally do (if ever!) like inline skating and circuit training.  There was even time spent in the weight room, which has been an area of my training which gets neglected.

December 11th is the official start to my training plan for the 2013 Ironman Wisconsin.  As of December 11th, there are 272 days until the race.  Which is still a significant amount of time.  But, with the Green Bay Marathon on May 19th, a Half Ironman on June 15th, and the shear distance of the Ironman, I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Typically I like to structure my training plans to begin approximately 12-16 weeks prior to the race.  In this case, this program is starting 39 weeks out.  The training plan is structured into 30, 9 day cycles.  Which follows my work schedule of 6 work days and 3 off days.  It begins with 3 cycles of an Anatomical Adaptation phase.  The purpose of this phase is to ease back into a structured training plan and prepare the body for what lies ahead.  What I plan to do is write a post at the end of each cycle with a breakdown of what I did, how things went, and what I learned.  I will also post my plan for the upcoming week.  Below is the first cycle of my training plan.

The first week is nothing special really.  For the first 3 cycles, there are no specific distances that need to be completed, just a duration.  Its a simple, sort of a mindless, way to train.  There is no route that needs to be planed, no specific workout that needs to be set, just go out, or jump in the pool, and go until the times up.

It's really hard for me to explain how excited I am for this upcoming year.  There is so much to look forward to.  I have been wanting to get the opportunity to complete an Ironman triathlon since I first started endurance sports over 7 years ago.  Other than qualifying and racing in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, racing in Ironman Wisconsin has been at the top of my lifelong bucket list.  There's something about that race that has always been in the back of my mind.  Since registering for this race, not a single day has gone by where I haven't at least thought about the race and the challenge it poses.  On top of getting to race an Ironman this year, I am doing it as a sponsored athlete.  Words can't express my gratitude towards The Tri Shop for bringing me on board as a member of their Triathlon Team for the 2013 calendar year.  I am also doing the Green Bay Marathon and the High Cliff Half Ironman this year which are a couple of my more favorite races.  Its going to be a good year!

With all that said, I am fully responsible for how this upcoming year goes.  I am not just looking forward to doing these events, but I am wanted to be successful at them and have zero regrets at the end of the season. I want to leave it all on the table, so to say.  Having a sponsorship has been a complete new source of motivation for me as well.  I feel as though I have an obligation to The Tri Shop.  With the sponsorship, the monetary commitment to the Ironman, fulfilling my dream of doing an Ironman, and my pure desire to be the best I can be, I am putting everything I can into this season.  I am completely committing to being the best.  I will be following a strict diet, free of refined sugars, unhealthy fats, sweets, most dairy, most gluten, and focusing in on a high fat, unprocessed whole grain, "real" food diet.  I am dedicating time specifically to recovery (which I RARELY ever do) through strategically placed rest days in my training plan.  These days are not necessarily days where I do nothing, but days set aside to focus on stretching, self massaging with a foam roller, and getting necessary sleep. Tracking my body composition is another aspect I am paying closer attention to.  I stopped by the YMCA today to not only visit my old boss, Jill, (who also hired me at the Y several years ago) but to get my body fat estimated.  In the past I have always had Jill do my testing, so in consideration of keeping things consistent, I went back to her.  I was at 8.65%, which is nearly double what I used to be a couple years back, so I have some work in that area.  On top of the extra efforts in my diet, body composition, and recovery, I am also following a stricter supplement regimen including high quality protein, branch chain amino acids, and a greens supplement just to name a few.  I am also devoting time to the weight room.  I have noticed over the past couple years that strength has been a limiter for me to seeing better race times.  I have specific strength programs for each individual phase throughout training cycles (i.e. Anatomical Adaptation).  So, like I said, I have high expectations this year and a good feeling to go along with those expectations - its going to be a good year!  :)

With out much else to say, I'll close this out in the words of Bud Light's new ad campaign - Here We Go!

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!