The Rut.

Well every winter we all hit it. That week or so where the training goes to hell in a hand bag, as the weather is bad or other obligations get in the way. This year I've hit the rut early with Christmas and a massive blizzard shutting down my Workouts and then New Years then this week a head cold and car troubles tonight kept me from the pool. So I haven't worked out in a week which has me feeling a little worried and a little down. I need to get my bike to the shop and replace rear cassette and chain so I can ride my trainer when all else fails. Essentially I have racing goals that I need to take care of this season and I want to be in better shape than I was last season. This week I was hoping to come out of the gate like a raging bull but I came down with a head cold which kept me laid up yesterday. Then today as I was making my way to the Y my car suddenly lost power on the highway and began making a loud clanking sound. In my head I ran through the check list of what could have let go. It wasn't a tire or anything in the suspension because it wouldn't effect the engine A belt? No The car sounded like it was misfiring but I just replaced the plugs and wires in the summer. I crept into a rest stop and called for my dad to come take a look at the car with me. I figured worst case I could use the roadside assistance plan I have through my wireless plan to get a tow. Upon opening the hood I noticed nothing was wrong with the belt. I turned the car on again and heard a misfire. My dad came down and noticed the spark inlet in the side of the block and the plug hanging by a wire. Apparently it had blown clean out of the block. After a trip to Auto Zone and then a trip back home for tools. We replaced the plug and wire, but not in enough time to get to the gym. But the most important thing my car is operational, and thankfully my dad was able to help me get it back up and running. Tomorrow I will have to set time in the morning to try to do doubles.

My run sessions haven't been as long as I've wanted but I have been getting some quality speed work on the treadmill and I have been using the spin bikes at the Y to try to get my cycling strength and cadence up. They are talking more snow this weekend, but I'm hoping that it won't be as heavy as the foot that received two weeks ago, so hopefully the shoulders of the road will be clear enough to run on.

On the professional side I'm seriously looking at coaching. I was talking to one of my friend Alex who is a trainer at the Waterbury Y and one of the head honchos of the Y tri club. I ran the idea of tri coaching past him and he told my to get in touch with the head of the tri club to see if they would give me a shot. Part of me is scarred in that I'm a low tech, hodge podge rag tag triathlete that won't be taken seriously. I have decent results but let's face it I'm not Mark Allen or Dave Scott. I never won a race overall, and haven't won my age group in a race in nearly four years. I don't use a heart rate monitor myself, I eat what ever nutrition I can find on the sale rack essentially I'm not sure if my Clyde Crashcup school of training will work for everybody. I know the basics, I know how to coach swimmers and runners, I'm learning more on training in cycling. I've done two ironmans, three stand alone marathons, seven half ironmans 4 of those in under 5:05. According to some people I have something to offer, I'm just hoping my results have been by doing something right on the training front and not from being a freak. So I'll run it by the Y honchos either this or next week, figure the worst that anyone can say to me is no.

Well that's all from me
Happy Training.
R.D.