Singing The Off Season Blues!

Oh yeah, I got the off-season blues!

Beach 2 Battleship was almost a month ago and I seem to be becoming a big fat slob! I'm sure my  weight has probably pushed back up somewhere towards 200 lbs, but thankfully I haven't been stupid enough to look!   Via a combination of circumstances which include "budget time" at work; work travel; out-of-town visitors; general family stuff and pure laziness I have managed to do very little in the way of workouts over the past few weeks and now I'm struggling a little to get motivated.....

On the plus side, it has given me the chance to rest my knee for a while and I've enjoyed a little more red wine in the evenings! But now it's time to get real again, and this week I have at least managed to keep-up with the light workout schedule that The Coachman has prescribed (albeit not in the order he gave me - probably another demerit for me!).

Another positive to come out of this is that I've had the chance to slow down a little and think about my objectives for the off-season and next years racing calendar.

Along with the other "Mad Birds", Compass, Snort and Flipper, I have been thinking a lot about whether I want to do a full Ironman distance 140.6 mile race.  After a lot of thought and discussion (including, of course, with SWMBO and The Coachman) I have come to the conclusion that, yes, I would like to do a full Ironman, but that 2014 is not the best year.  We struggled to find a race that fits with our already crazy calendar and how I would fit in not only the race itself, but all of the training required.

A secondary consideration was a non-binding pact that was made with the Mad Birds to race a 140.6 together.  This appeals not only because they are a fun and crazy bunch, but because we could train together sometimes (riding 100+ miles up to Virginia and back on your own gets old quickly!).  Compass, of course, is preggers at the moment, so obviously nothing for her next year (it's cute that she still has absolutely no idea what she has coming to her!  :-)  ) but she's determined to do one in 2015.   Trying to get Snort to commit to anything (except food and alcohol) is like trying to nail jello to a wall, but we all know that she'll do one.  Flipper has taken a different approach and signed-up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene next year.  She states that it will probably be the only one she ever does, but we know that that's BS as well!

So....    if the longer term objective is a 140.6 in 2015 with an emotional new mother, an angry soccer mom and a broken distance athlete, what will next season hold?   :-)

I'm already signed-up for Ironman Raleigh 70.6 in June, so that will become my "A" race.   Beyond that, I currently have no commitments, so I have started to think about what my limiters are and what I can do in 2014 to prepare for the possibility of "going long" in 2015.  Here, in a nut shell, is what I came up with:

1. I can generally do the longer distances and have a good mind set for endurance, but I'm slooooow.   I need to work on speed before I start to pick-up endurance work again
2. My technique could be much better in all three disciplines.  Especially swim and run, but also on the bike.  I need to improve my technique.
3. Core strength and flexibility are definitely limiters for this Old Fart.   I can improve these.
4. I weigh too much.  If I'm serious, I should lose around 15 lbs or so.   

So, after chatting with The Coachman, we have an off-season plan that will include more drills, speedwork and core/strength training.  I also intend to do The OSB Power Stroke clinic in the spring and, hopefully, do some individual video swim sessions with The Coachman.   I would also like to see if there's somewhere I can get video gait analysis for my run.

On top of that, if I'm lucky enough to get a bonus this year, I may invest in a power meter for the bike - just one more thing for the geek in me to analyse and obsess over! 
As for losing 15 lbs, obviously once I start burning more calories again that will help, but I also intend to get serious about diet and "calories in".   I'm realistic though, and will try to be sensible over the holiday period without beating myself up before getting more focused in the New Year.  I'm so lucky that SWMBO is a truly fantastic cook and that we already use healthy indredients and eat very healthy food, but I can still cut down on snacking, make some substitutions, use "portion control" and go easy on the red wine! 

From the race point-of-view, it seems to me that Olympic distance races are perfectly suited to my objectives - I can keep distance/endurance in the swim and suffer like hell in the bike and run legs!  :-)   So I will be targeting Olympic distance and no doubt throw in a few sprints, road races and probably the Cary Duathlon at the start of the season.   I'll keep you posted as the race calendar develops.

Now I just need everyone to keep reminding me of these goals and to help me get there - thanks!