Well, my deepest apologies for not posting in a while. It's just been hard to post with the job, Christmas shopping, and the million other things in life that get in the way.
On the training front things are going well. I'm starting to get back into a routine. I'm averaging nearly 9-10k yards swimming per week. I'm trying to get back on to the trainer, likewise I'm running 2-3 times a week, although the sub freezing temperatures of the New England Winter have kept me limited so far. Wednesday I managed to do a pretty killer workout on the treadmill. It was 52 minutes long ( I was hoping for one hour but accidently hit the stop button.) I was doing it as an interval session. 4 minutes at 7.5mph or 8min/ mile pace followed by 4 minutes at 9.0 miles per hour of 6:40/mile pace. It felt good as it was the first speed work I had done since a 10k road race on Thanksgiving. Tomorrow I'm hoping to take advantage of warm temperatures to get a long run in, during a rain storm, because the temperatures are expected to go back into the frigid zone.
Throughout most of this year I have been thinking about the mindset and training I did when I was doing the Ironman in 2008 and 2009. Those years I trained like an animal through the cold, the darkness and the bad weather. I looked at my American Airlines frequent flier miles and I had a bunch I had to use up since my last trek to New Zealand. So I cashed them in for a one way flight to Louisville ( I will have to buy a return flight.) The goal is that I will hopefully have enough of my income tax check leftover and there will still be entry spots left over to get me into Ironman Kentucky. I've already been number crunching the flight would cost about $150, hotel and rental car would come to $606, I'm debating whether or not to use tri bike transport, but booked my flight out of LaGuardia on a larger plane in case I decide to hoof the bike with me. So my training will take an Ironman focus.
Likewise I've been trying to figure out what to do with myself. The Navy hasn't gotten back to me so I've started taking a look at what I want to do with my life. As much as I would like to go back to school part of me is wondering would it be worth the expense. A few people have told me to get into triathlon coaching. While part of me would be excited to do it, the other part of me is like am I skilled enough? Let's face it I train low tech, I race low tech, I'm not a pro, I've never won anything overall, I don't have degrees in biology, or exercise science. Part of me wonders am I qualified to be a coach? I mean people listen to me when I give little pieces of advice but would someone trust me if I'm asking for cash for it? Maybe I second guess myself too much, but despite my passion for the sport I just don't know if people would trust me to coach them without a pro card, or race win on my resume, but I haven't discounted it completely. For now I have holiday gifts to get and details to iron out, but more maybe coming on this coaching idea.
R.D.
Showing posts with label Coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coaching. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, February 27, 2009
That coaching gig in July....yeah...uh ..well...& Packing adventures...
Well I lost the coaching gig in July and August as there was not enough interest in the tri camp...stupid economy....the plus side from this is I can reclaim my vacation days...
Last night I decided to pack the bike myself...read Al was out of town and Dave was going to charge me to pack it. so after a late night of classes and budget crunching with Bjoern and Erik...Erik being the new President of the Central Tri Club, I got home at about 11PM and decided to pack the Stomper.
I managed to tackle the tricky business of getting the handlebars off, the front brakes, the seat post, derailleur hanger ( Dan told me to take this sucker off last year unless I wanted to risk cracking the frame.) But I almost had a Speedy Claire moment with the pedals. ( note this is an old post...she has since mastered the art of bike packing.) I managed to get one off relatively easy, the other took some torque. Turned it one way wouldn't budge, tried the other barely moved, finally contorted myself over the bike and got a cloth to grip my bike tool and after about five minutes of battle my pedal and crank parted company. Total bike dis assembly and packaging took about 15-20 minutes. Then began the 2 hour, epic of how do I make my pump, nutrition, water bottles, and spare parts, fit in the case and not go over the 25kg/ 50lbs. weight limit, as well as wrap and protect crucial exposed moving parts. Hence it was 2 hours of taping, wrapping, compressing, adjusting, and weighing by feel.
I also packed my carry-on. I remember the fiasco that awaited one poor guy last year when his luggage ended up on a different flight and his bike and wetsuit didn't show up until day of check in...hence everything I need to race but the bike ends up in my carry on...shoes, helmet, wetsuit, tri suit. If anything goes wrong it's a hell of a lot cheaper and relatively easier to have to try to rent/ borrow just a bike at the expo, than to have to buy/borrow/rent ALL of the necessities. I also bring about 2-3 days clothes, easy in a warm weather environment cargo shorts have atleast a 2 day lifespan, and basic toiletries.
Tonight, I haven't trained in about 3 days, I would like to get a half hour run in this afternoon, but if I can't no biggie...I'm tapering, besides I have 5 days that I can do some light running, and cycling in a warm weather environment. I need to finish packing, and then I'm taking my sister out for her birthday.
Part of me is a little nervous heading into this, my run training is nowhere near where I would like it, but for as weak as I feel there I know my swim and bike are strong, hopefully the racing gods will smile on me and I'll be able to go a tad bit faster than last year. For months this has been a distant thing, and uncertainty, a maybe, as I packed last night the reality set in that this is really happening....I just hope the prep and the sacrifice was worth it.
Hoping re-packing in NZ will easy as it was last night.
R.D.
Last night I decided to pack the bike myself...read Al was out of town and Dave was going to charge me to pack it. so after a late night of classes and budget crunching with Bjoern and Erik...Erik being the new President of the Central Tri Club, I got home at about 11PM and decided to pack the Stomper.
I managed to tackle the tricky business of getting the handlebars off, the front brakes, the seat post, derailleur hanger ( Dan told me to take this sucker off last year unless I wanted to risk cracking the frame.) But I almost had a Speedy Claire moment with the pedals. ( note this is an old post...she has since mastered the art of bike packing.) I managed to get one off relatively easy, the other took some torque. Turned it one way wouldn't budge, tried the other barely moved, finally contorted myself over the bike and got a cloth to grip my bike tool and after about five minutes of battle my pedal and crank parted company. Total bike dis assembly and packaging took about 15-20 minutes. Then began the 2 hour, epic of how do I make my pump, nutrition, water bottles, and spare parts, fit in the case and not go over the 25kg/ 50lbs. weight limit, as well as wrap and protect crucial exposed moving parts. Hence it was 2 hours of taping, wrapping, compressing, adjusting, and weighing by feel.
I also packed my carry-on. I remember the fiasco that awaited one poor guy last year when his luggage ended up on a different flight and his bike and wetsuit didn't show up until day of check in...hence everything I need to race but the bike ends up in my carry on...shoes, helmet, wetsuit, tri suit. If anything goes wrong it's a hell of a lot cheaper and relatively easier to have to try to rent/ borrow just a bike at the expo, than to have to buy/borrow/rent ALL of the necessities. I also bring about 2-3 days clothes, easy in a warm weather environment cargo shorts have atleast a 2 day lifespan, and basic toiletries.
Tonight, I haven't trained in about 3 days, I would like to get a half hour run in this afternoon, but if I can't no biggie...I'm tapering, besides I have 5 days that I can do some light running, and cycling in a warm weather environment. I need to finish packing, and then I'm taking my sister out for her birthday.
Part of me is a little nervous heading into this, my run training is nowhere near where I would like it, but for as weak as I feel there I know my swim and bike are strong, hopefully the racing gods will smile on me and I'll be able to go a tad bit faster than last year. For months this has been a distant thing, and uncertainty, a maybe, as I packed last night the reality set in that this is really happening....I just hope the prep and the sacrifice was worth it.
Hoping re-packing in NZ will easy as it was last night.
R.D.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Bob's got a coaching gig.
Well upon talking to my contact for an open coaching position at a tri camp in Lake Placid I just have to get confirmation on my weeks off, and renew my lifeguard& CPR certs. RockOn Adventures runs the camp and I'll be working either one week in July and One week in August or two weeks in August but I just have to check which races I'm doing and what weeks my co-workers are taking so there's no conflict. The camp is pretty barebones by a like in the woods in tents... for the former readers of the Angry Runner prepare for tales from the wood,but maybe it's what I need this summer after a self induced / family econ induced Hell last summer. Just two solid weeks surrounded by tri geeks, no flashy equipment ( granted my equipment ain't that flashy), no worrying about keeping the heart rate @ X beats per min for Y min, on a Z hour run, So you don't die horrific death Alpha on the Queen K, just the basics, swimming in a lake, riding on the road, running on trails, sport not Rocket Science...which has sort of been my simplistic high school runner/ college swimmer approach to the sport all along. ( nothing against guys and gals who heart rate train it is effective but I really hate staring at my wrists for prolonged periods of time other than taking my mile splits.) Also this gig means essentially getting paid to train and hang out with athletes....I like it.
Also if I come back refusing to drive, with long hair, a beard, munching granola, writing transcendentalist poetry, contemplating moving to Vermont and claiming I'm a level 5 vegan please do the following, drive my ass to SuperCuts and then the nearest decent steakhouse in the area, remind me how cold it gets in Vermont in winter ,and talk me into selling the poetry while making me watch Bloodsport, Chopper Reid, Wall Street and The Devil's Advocate, to get intouch with my violent capitalist roots. Or buy me a beret and a few copies of the communist manifesto and run me against Obama in the 2012 Democratic Primary.*
My job interview yesterday also snapped my ass out of a negative funk I'd been in for the last 2 days. Sunday night as I looked at the weather and my bills, my school circulum and it just seemed to be emotional overload... too cold to train out doors, bills well are bills, school well part of me is dreading the semester but the other part of me is like if I'm cramming knowlegde in my head maybe that will keep me form craming in doubt, anger, self pity, and other crap. Time is counting down stuff has to be gotten into order, my parents are preaching how I should have saved more for this, shouldn't have done this that and the other thing, and at the same time they're hesitiant to change their own position... I guess that's the thing that frustrates me most about my parents we're both hesitant to change... I need to cut back on spending settle my bills, become more independent, and get more streams of income, hopefully I'll graduate college and be able to find a better paying gig or at least fill the time I was in class with another job. The coaching gig was quick cash and maybe it's a sign of things to come..the coaching not living in a tent by a lake... So that's where I stand at the moment things are looking up, things are starting to fall in to place, granted I wish they would fall into place a little faster.
I managed to run for an hour and forty-five minutes, my Achilles hurts,but less than it did, definitely feels like IT band because my gastroc tightened before the tendon flared up. On the run it wasn't too bad considering I was decked out in more reflective clothing than any one person should own...if I got hit by a car and the driver exclaims they couldn't see me they need an eye exam,because my reflective crap is loud and obnoxious. Now I've got to mapmy run to see distance and pace as I try to work up to a 20 miler so I know my legs will survive this show on March 7.
The Artic Warrior.
R.D.
* Note I do not beleive that Obama or Democrats such as myself are Communists....but with the way the global economy is going...also my canidacy would be illegal until 2020.
Also if I come back refusing to drive, with long hair, a beard, munching granola, writing transcendentalist poetry, contemplating moving to Vermont and claiming I'm a level 5 vegan please do the following, drive my ass to SuperCuts and then the nearest decent steakhouse in the area, remind me how cold it gets in Vermont in winter ,and talk me into selling the poetry while making me watch Bloodsport, Chopper Reid, Wall Street and The Devil's Advocate, to get intouch with my violent capitalist roots. Or buy me a beret and a few copies of the communist manifesto and run me against Obama in the 2012 Democratic Primary.*
My job interview yesterday also snapped my ass out of a negative funk I'd been in for the last 2 days. Sunday night as I looked at the weather and my bills, my school circulum and it just seemed to be emotional overload... too cold to train out doors, bills well are bills, school well part of me is dreading the semester but the other part of me is like if I'm cramming knowlegde in my head maybe that will keep me form craming in doubt, anger, self pity, and other crap. Time is counting down stuff has to be gotten into order, my parents are preaching how I should have saved more for this, shouldn't have done this that and the other thing, and at the same time they're hesitiant to change their own position... I guess that's the thing that frustrates me most about my parents we're both hesitant to change... I need to cut back on spending settle my bills, become more independent, and get more streams of income, hopefully I'll graduate college and be able to find a better paying gig or at least fill the time I was in class with another job. The coaching gig was quick cash and maybe it's a sign of things to come..the coaching not living in a tent by a lake... So that's where I stand at the moment things are looking up, things are starting to fall in to place, granted I wish they would fall into place a little faster.
I managed to run for an hour and forty-five minutes, my Achilles hurts,but less than it did, definitely feels like IT band because my gastroc tightened before the tendon flared up. On the run it wasn't too bad considering I was decked out in more reflective clothing than any one person should own...if I got hit by a car and the driver exclaims they couldn't see me they need an eye exam,because my reflective crap is loud and obnoxious. Now I've got to mapmy run to see distance and pace as I try to work up to a 20 miler so I know my legs will survive this show on March 7.
The Artic Warrior.
R.D.
* Note I do not beleive that Obama or Democrats such as myself are Communists....but with the way the global economy is going...also my canidacy would be illegal until 2020.
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