TriDot: One Year Later

A half Iron Aquabike PR - cut 1h08 off my time!

It was exactly a year ago that I wrote about my experience with the TriDot Preseason Project (PSP) and how after seeing gains for the two month program, I become a paying customer. My gains did not stop with the PSP – in fact, at age 50, in my 7^thtriathlon season, I experienced my best year yet!  Besides the big accomplishments of completing my first 70.3, there were a lot of smaller wins along the way:

Philadelphia Triathlon Olympic PR– On a very hot June day, I had a 7 ½ minute Olympic PR, and my fastest bike and swim splits on that course.

Seaside Sprint PR– My third time doing this Bridgeport, CT race, I PR’d with my fastest swim and bike splits yet.

Martha’s Vineyard Half Iron Aquabike PR– A few years ago, I attempted a half Iron aquabike.  My times for both the swim and the bike would have given me a DNF in a branded Ironman race.  I used the race this year as practice for my Atlantic City 70.3 and cut 1h08 off my time, giving me huge confidence for my 70.3 a few weeks later.

10K women’s master division winner & PR– It took me a half century, but this was my first, first place ever in an athletic event and a 10K PR by 3 minutes at 55:40.  I actually had to fight for my award (a cuckcoo clock!) as a misinformed announcer thought that masters only meant women 40-49, rather than anyone 40+!

My first first place and 10K PR!
A cuckoo clock for the master's win!

5K PR & age group placements– After my first 10K win, I went on to take first place in my age group at a Thanksgiving trail run – and win a box of coveted Chilmark Chocolates to boot!  I had been moving up in my 5K rankings (and my TriDot Run score) this summer when I took 2^ndplace twice in my AG on the same course, first getting a course PR by :28 with a 26:24, and then 2 weeks later running a 26:06.  While not a podium finish, I was happy with my 4/56 age group placement in a San Diego New Years Eve 5K.  

But, the real story in the competition against myself was my all time 5K PR of 25:55 (vs 25:59 a few years ago) in May at the American Heart Association run in NYC, a crowded race I usually dislike for the inability to navigate the throngs and the cobble stone streets.  Somehow not caring, having no warm up and just walking up at the last minute and inserting myself with the fast runners produced that result!

TriDot normalizes your data for the environment.
My highest RunDot score came on a day that was not my
fastest 5K, but it was my hotest!

Numbers and awards are nice, but the real win for me has been the confidence TriDot has given me to take the leap and train for a full Ironman.  I remember in my early days being at a multisport conference where one topic was “Is this your year for an Ironman?”.  I couldn’t fathom it.  After I cheered my friend Diane on at her first Ironman in Lake Placid, I didn’t think I physically could do it since I was always getting injured.  And I didn't think I could ever find the time for training.  My belief changed in an instant – the day I crossed the 70.3 finish line feeling good and realizing how efficient TriDot training is, not requiring the volume and hours other plans call for.  Only 4 months earlier, I had made the decision to buy the Garmin 735xt because I couldn’t imagine I would need the 935 battery life for an Ironman.

It’s funny – I’m a marketer by profession who has proposed engaging brand advocates to my clients but I’ve never formally become a brand advocate until now.  In December I applied and was accepted to become a TriDot ambassador since the program has given me so much.  It’s a volunteer assignment, and I’m happy to spread the word and help the latest bunch of PSP participants learn the ins and outs of the program.