3 months later, a new beginning.

Three months later, finally a post. This will be a bit of a ramble, just trying to catch up. After my last post I spent all of November and December in SoCal giving assistance to my mother in Santa Monica. She has serious heart and lung issues and is getting on in years, 88 at her last birthday. There have been a couple of hospital stays recently and she is not able to live independently. Between me, my sister and a employed care-giver, she can stay home. While in California I was able to run and bike and had some very enjoyable training sessions in warm sunny weather. Maureen and I came home at the beginning of January. We took time to stop off in San Jose to see Emmy, BJ and Kaleo. Since then we've been home. Just had a week of snow at the end of January. Other than that, it has been fairly ordinary for Washington weather.

To review current goals I've signed up for three "A" races: San Diego ITU Sprint in May, Lake Stevens 70.3 in July, and IM Florida in November. I will also do a couple of local sprint distances and then we will see if I qualify for nationals. I finished with a rank of 658 for 2011 and I am confident to do much better this year. I am staying with my support team of Snohomish Bicycle Tri Team and H2Toe Chiropractic. I have added in Blue Fire Fitness as a resource.

My current program of training is from Endurance Nation (endurancenation.us). I am currently at week 14 of a 20 week out of season program. In March I'll start in on my short course training plan in preparation for the San Diego event. Endurance Nation provides a huge amount of resources specifically for triathlon training including training programs, race day plans, and much much more. I feel that by following this program this season I should see some significant gains based on their guidance and feedback. They are also very strong in race day on site support and have a number of training weekends for race specific training.

This week is a test week, to assess if my performance levels have increased as a result of training efforts. My earlier tests  were not consistent so I can't definitively identify how much gain I have experienced but I can say that I am going faster than before. There will be another test in 5 weeks so I'll have a better idea then.

"Go fast now, go far later" is the theme of my out season training and it has been difficult. Workouts have been high intensity pushing my speed. Also, there is only minimal swimming, in fact EN requires no swimming during the out season portion. I expect to be doing all three events with the beginning of the short course plan.

My weight and strength are up, carrying about 187 right now. I expect to drop to at least 180 or less by my first race in May. I've also changed my eating program following a Paleo style diet. That means lean meat proteins, fish, poultry, lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, some grains and dairy. I am particularly attempting to keep away from simple sugars and starches. Energy levels seem to be good and I have had plenty of it to complete my workouts. Also I am using Age-loc nutrients and anti-aging products which are excellent for the physical duress brought about with constant training. I am really looking forward to this season with the new nutritional focus.

Finally, in addition to all of this I've decided to become a certified personal trainer. I feel very fortunate to be able to have the time to pursue my avocation and thankful for those individuals who are helping me achieve my personal goals. Almost daily I have conversations with people I know or meet about the journey I'm on and their interest in doing something like it. I feel that my background in teaching and coaching is a plus and that the additional certification gives credibility to what I can do to aide others in their goals.

That completes the update and there will be more to come over the next few weeks leading up to the first race of the season. I welcome comments and contacts as more and more people find the rewards in multi-sport training and events.