Less than a month to Austin

It's been a while since I've written a post, and even a longer while since that post has been about any of my training or racing. But now, I'm less than a month out from Austin, so I figured an update was in order. Things have been feeling pretty good on average, but there are definitely some workouts that feel miserable usually due to some combination of fatigue/lack of sleep/work. But for every crappy training day, or unplanned day off, there are a few really great workouts, where I hit my stride and feel improvements. So all in all, its going ok I guess.

I will say that I miss my team swim workouts with the Well Fit Elite team- don't get me wrong, the masters team here is great. The workouts are awesome, and I get great tips on my swim form, but since the team meets at so many different times during the week, there is a lack on consistency with who shows up when I'm there. I need someone in my lane that is going to push me ( aka, that is a lot faster than me) so I don't get lazy. But, sometimes, I end up in a lane all by myself ( great for the curmudgeonly me that doesn't like to share, but not great for triathlete me). Last night I swam with a lane buddy who kicked my ass, and I woke up sore and exhausted. Mission accomplished. 

Cycling is where I have been feeling the most improvement. Between my commitment to strength training, a new bike (Thor, I love you) , and a solid group of people to push the pace down here in Houston, I have really seen myself getting faster ( and even managed a 23 mph split at my last Olympic, which for me is huge). In anticipation of starting with a new coach and new training program ( more on that to come in a future blog post) I decided it was time to train with data ( power, heart rate etc) and this is where I seem to be struggling. 

Those of you that know me and my style know that for the past 9 years I stuck by the "perceived effort" method of training, and honestly, its worked great for me. I've continued to see improvements year to year and I think the most valuable thing I have learned from this method is to listen to my body and to understand when I need to pull back and to know when I can give just a little more, without blowing the rest of my race/ride/workout. This kind of information, to me, is priceless. I see so many people out there that completely CEASE to function if their garmin dies ("HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PACE THE REST OF MY RUN? MY GARMIN DIIIEEEEED") that it has occurred to me if you enter this sport with disposable income (NOT how i entered the sport), its really easy to buy all the gadgets up front, and completely miss out on this part of the learning process. Sure, the point of the numbers is to give you an "objective" viewpoint of how you are doing and how you are feeling- and without getting into a dissertation length novel about why I feel like its not always the best way to go- sometimes, i feel like you just gotta go with your gut and trust your training. 

ALL that said- I'm making the change and I am open to it. But so far, I've found it a little frustrating. I've only ever "tested" on an indoor computrainer and there are huge discrepancies between my powertap numbers and my old computrainer numbers, and not in the way I would have expected. I am told this is normal, but the inconsistency in the "objective" measures is frustrating. But these are all things I will get used to and will learn, and I am confident that in order for me to get to the level that I want to get to as an athlete, I have to get a little more scientific with the way I do things. But for now, I am going to keep things as consistent as possible until Austin and see where that gets me. But training and racing in 2014 will definitely bring some new and exciting challenges :)