Downtime...

So it is just about 2 weeks out from IM lake Placid and I have been “laying low” as far as training is concerned. Instead of dragging myself to the pool early in the morning, or getting psyched up for a hard ride or a long run, I have been going out on the boat with George; getting together with friends and family; and enjoying some “non structured” riding, open water swimming, and short easy running (when I want to). It’s funny, but something as simple as going on a leisurely group ride (like I did last weekend) or meeting a couple of friends for an open water swim and staying in as long or short as I want to, is liberating to me! I have really been enjoying the lack of a schedule and trying to take in as much of the summer as I can (before I am back to “work”). It’s been really nice…summer on Long Island is so great and I am almost sad to see the end of the “carefree days on the water and at the beach”. By next Monday (August 11th), I will be back to training, starting “Phase II” of my 2008 season. While the weather will still be nice and there will still be some opportunity to get out on the boat or to the beach and enjoy it, my “vacation” as I like to refer to it, will be over.

I have officially decided on my race schedule for the remainder of the season. So far, I will be competing in the new “Austin 70.3” race on October 5th and Ironman Arizona on November 23rd. I have just about four months to really train hard and make some gains in my training before I race my next Ironman. It’s a long time! 2008 has so far been an interesting year for me. It started with a lot of travel in the colder months. I got to meet some fantastic people that have become great friends, while escaping the cold New York weather. I had some injuries that forced me to make many changes in my racing schedule, which was frustrating at times, but in the end worked out OK. I started my 2nd pro season in a non-impressive way, with my first race being a total flop and my second race being “mediocre”. Then I found myself in a situation of being 6 weeks from IM Lake Placid with no runs longer that 14 miles under my belt (due to injury), a lack of enthusiasm and confidence, and the daunting task of coaching myself going into the race!

I see athletes leaving and changing coaches so often in professional sports, but the prospect of it was a bit intimidating…after being coached for almost 4 years by the same person (and being training partners and friends as well), I found that, while it seemed clear that the decision was best for both of us, it left me in a somewhat scary situation. Going into Lake Placid, I decided to coach myself, but quickly realized that I have had a coach for almost 20 years of my life! From 7th grade swimming, throughout high school and college and then into my triathlon career I have always had a coach to turn to for my training. Soon, I recruited help from Bobby McGee for my running and Matt Dixon for overall guidance, but it was more of a “hands off” approach. This ended up being good for me, as it helped provide guidance and feedback, while enabling me to still make a transition from the last few years and keeping myself in control of what I would ultimately be doing. I have been very used to constant communication and feedback with regards to my training. Going into Lake Placid, it was basically up to me…and it went OK!

After Lake Placid, I decided to go ahead and “sign on” with a new official coach. I will be working with Matt Dixon, who is based in San Francisco. I am excited about Part II of the season and feel that I have a lot more in me as an athlete. I want to thank Mike Monastero for working with me for the past 3 and a half years and wish him luck in his new endeavors (a growing coaching business, training camps, etc…) You can check out his blog at: http://mikemonastero.blogspot.com. As for myself, I will be really enjoying this last week “off” hopefully getting out on the boat some more, enjoying the sun and the water, while completing modest “workouts” when I want to. I want to be totally recovered and refreshed to start off the next 4 months of what seems like very focused and hard training before heading to Arizona!