Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Here we go again

Its December and that is usually the month where things start to get a bit more focused. After a number of emails and a phone call with Coach Alan I feel very comfortable and excited about the next steps. This "offseason" has begun like no other with life best swimming based on a series of 500yd TTs. My first 500yd TT was a 6:40 effort and then six weeks later I was able to best that time by 9 seconds on a day where I would have been happy with a time 9 seconds slower than my first TT. I tend to swim best when I swim with a masters group but I also need to really listen to my body as it is very easy to get caught up racing your lane buddies.

I also got a new bike fit at the end of last season (at Exclusive Cycles here in Madison) which has somehow produced an extra 20-30 watts. I still don't really believe it. I probably need to go hit a good TT on the bike to get a better idea of my hour of power.

For the winter, the plan is more or less 17hr weeks with 12hr recovery weeks. The goal is to beat the metrics ever so slightly that I set last year mainly with regards to volume. Even though volume, especially on the bike, is our primary goal we are looking at a very balanced plan with more upper zone work...training, not touring...although touring in the basement probably isn't considered touring.

I will continue to share my plan and my key workouts in the next few posts.

1 comment:

Gordo Byrn said...

Bro J,

Greetings -- can you turn on your RSS feed option? Make it easier for me to read you.

gDaddy