God willing, my goals for next year are to hit two
milestones – my 50th 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.
