Journey 70.3: Getting Started

God willing, my goals for next year are to hit two milestones – my 50^th birthday in February and my first half Ironman in September.  Not having achieved either milestone before, there are a lot of unknowns as to how I will feel but suffice it to say that the first milestone prompted the goal for the second one.  Not achieving the birthday milestone didn’t sound appealing so I decided to go for it.  Not going for the half Ironman milestone had its appeal, but I needed a new challenge and new birthday wish list full of gear to milk this milestone birthday.

Here’s what I’m doing to get started:

Selecting my race – I want to have the experience of an Ironman branded race for my first (and only?) half Ironman.  Not being the fastest athlete on the planet I need an “easier” race to hopefully meet the cut off times.  I also prefer a race I can drive to, and want a later season race to insure enough summertime training.  The bay swim and flat course of Atlantic City meets the criteria so I signed up as soon as the race opened up – now I have no excuse!

Launching my training – I know I need to train differently (more intervals) and smartly (not overdo the mileage and get injured).  I found a great program, TriDot, that I’m trying out as part of their pre-season program.  Essentially, I get 2 free months of training in exchange for following their program and providing them with my data as they optimize their training program, which includes a dynamic, customized training plan.  In my professional world, I’m interested in how big data and predictive analytics can be applied in health and wellness so I’m my own living experiment!  I took an assessment at the beginning of the program and then a few weeks into my training and had already improved my 200 and 400 yard swims by 24 and 31 seconds respectively and my 5K run by 31 seconds.  My bike assessment is apples to oranges comparison as I had to do my second assessment indoors but I’m inclined to believe the 4 minute improvement on a 15 mile time trial since my other disciplines improved.  Over the next month I’ll be deciding what training program to move forward with as I think I will want some live coaching, but this program has motivated me to go from 3 hours / week to 6-8 hours / week and is yielding results.

Getting social – We’ve enjoyed being part of the Martha’s Vineyard cycling club and meeting fellow triathletes.  As I searched for a tri club in the CT / NYC area, I realized that my long commutes were going to make group training events a challenge.  I also tend to do more races in PA and places where the metro NY clubs don’t go.  So when our triathlon friend Diane recommended the Philadelphia Triathlon Club, we thought, why not?  After all, Philadelphia was my birthplace 50 years ago and we got a discounted and early entry into the Atlantic City race, where we’ll also have onsite race support.  They also have a great active Facebook community which is already giving me great advice.

Shopping for new gear – I read an article that reminded me that the time you need to put into race preparation extends beyond just training time.  To get faster on the bike, I’ve finally decided to get a triathlon bike.  I’ve been using my holiday break to get my bike fitting (a must before you begin shopping), research the brands that align to my fitting, and begin shopping.  My goal is to get my new bike in January so I can begin training in an aero position early in my training.  Stay tuned for what I ultimately choose.

The great thing about getting older is that we learn how to just enjoy the journey, which is what I’m doing.  I’ve never run past 10K without getting injured so we’ll see if I can train in a new way that gets me to a half marathon.  Learning to ride a tri bike is going to be a new (and maybe a little scary) experience, and I’m hoping it will give me the speed I need to make the bike cut off time.  My race goal is simply to finish, but even if I don’t I’m going to enjoy the journey.