Getting Stronger!

You all know how it happens. It's by doing this, right?
"Harder, longer, faster, tougher, repeat."
--Crackhead

There really is no other way. I've been on my plan now since December 1, 2014. 5 weeks in, and I'm lifting heavier again while increasing my FTP, my VDOT and my swim T-pace (all of which were in the toilet for well over a year). I would consider this week a marker of just how well I'm doing, because on Tuesday this week I:

• Shoveled snow for an hour (used the snowblower, too, but I like a really clean driveway), then
• Warmed up for :30 followed by a 1-hour Sufferfest video, The Downward Spiral, on the bike. While I wouldn't say it felt "easy," and I may regret saying this in 2 weeks, I enjoyed it. The video is basically a descending ladder of FTP efforts, starting at 2:00 (same rest as the interval) down to 15" by 15" decrease each one. And you do it twice.
• Lifted for :43. Mostly core and upper body
• Had my first MAT session, which did require me to move around a bit and do a bunch of isometric contractions. Received a compliment from the practitioner that I am quite limber in my hips for someone my age. NO SHIT!

Now, I should have been completely waxed after all that, but I ate well, and got up yesterday and did this:

• Swam 2500 (I'm doing shorter swims but am building them up again) with some fast intervals in there (for me) that I didn't feel like I was dying.The last 600 was pulling with paddles.
• Did my 2x10 press outs in the pool before leaving. Got a compliment from a guy who has previously scorned me for how much training I do--he called me Iron Girl and said he hoped some of my strength would rub off on him. He said maybe he could be Plastic Man! I smiled and tried not to laugh too much at that, as I was thinking of my Barbie dolls when he said it:

 

• Headed to the indoor track for my track workout. On my last 400, I went faster than I've gone in years. Maybe it is faster than I've ever gone doing intervals.  But on the LAST ONE! I pumped my fist in the air then stopped my watch. There was a young couple there that I'd seen on the track the last couple weeks. The guy (who looks like your typical sprinter--what a physique on him!) said I must have hit a PR. I told him I did, and he told me what great shape I'm in! I mean the dude knows nothing about me, he runs like a bullet (he ran track in college and also for Nike for a time), and he's telling ME I'm in great shape? I think I was blushing, and he said it a few more times as we continued to talk. I'd been feeling out of shape and a bit on the plump side. Maybe I've been hallucinating.
• Later in the day, I did another :30 of strength training, this time attacking my upper body but also getting some of my leg work in there. This week is week 2 of 2 sets of 8 reps at higher weight than I was at 4 weeks ago.

Today I just need to lift for maybe :30 and do a 1:30 bike workout, and I feel G-R-E-A-T. Sure I have some soreness here and there (I stretch :15-:25/day), but I could be a whole lot more fatigued. Last week, I was pretty rough, but knew I would adapt to the load. It's tough when I'm going through an increase in weight/sets/reps strength-wise, but I expect it and love when I can feel the results of everything coming together. Sure we all have our on and off days, but you don't put together what I've been doing randomly or without planning and purpose.

Today I might have shit for watts on the bike, but the overall trend is UP. And that is a great feeling. Only 3 weeks until my first "real" race (a supersprint), and only 10 weeks until a 1/2 Ironman, so this is all good. I am so happy to be back in the swing of "normal" winter training! It's been 3 years since I've been at this level at this time of year, and it is just an awesome feeling. Now is when I get faster and stronger, and then beginning in April I add the "far" so I am faster at farther. I wish everyone could feel this great. It's a shit ton of hard work, but I am happy to do it!

2015 is My Time to be Great

It's that time when people summarize their training data for the prior calendar year. I've been tracking my training for years, and in fact, I scrounged up back to 2000, and I can see it in all its glory:

I highlighted the cumulative total through 2013, because that's when I went over 10,000 total hours of triathlon training. I assume that most readers have heard that it takes 10,000 hours of practice at something to become good at it. At least at sports. Read this for variations by pursuit.

Now, based on my attainment of the magic 10,000 in 2013, one would think that 2014 would have been a banner year for me. But it wasn't. It turned out to be a "rest year." What I can now see by looking at this view of my training, and knowing my race performances, is that on the macro scale I need to take entire REST YEARS in addition to scheduling rest days and weeks. Cool, huh? This is what you can figure out when you keep the data on yourself! This is why I tell people it's important to track your training if you are in this game for serious performance goals, OR to get a high-level view of why your performance might be declining or you keep getting injured. From my own data, I can deduce that I should take a rest year every 3 years. This is great, because 2014 was rest, then I will build into 2015 and do an Ironman, build more and do Ultraman Hawaii in 2016, and then 2017 will be a rest year.

So 2014 was a rest year, which means that 2015 should be awesome! I have my "final" lineup of races/events through IMLOU:

Holy shit! Looks like a fucking shitload of fun! To say I'm excited to get on this (and I have been since 12/1/2014), would be the understatement of the century! My 2015 ATP has me at 680 hours through IMLOU. I will take some rest after that, and then begin training for Ultraman Hawaii, so I expect I will close out 2015 at around 825 hours. That's a big jump from 2014, but I've done that much before, so it should be no problem. Plus, it's highly likely that I won't bike as much as I've scheduled this year. I will still get in probably 13 century+ rides, which should do the trick. Still, this is an aggressive schedule, but I've got my 10k training hours in so all should be good!

It is hard to describe how great the above analysis (which I just did on the fly while writing this post) makes me feel. Turns out that all along there has been a method to my madness, and while some people think I'm totally fucking nuts, it all makes perfect sense to me.

Here we come, 2015, and as usual, the Crackhead Motto shall reign supreme:

"Harder, longer, faster, tougher, repeat."
--Crackhead