So I had my fun pretending to be a long course athlete for the past 4 months and traveling to an unforgettable race, now it's time to get serious. The last two weeks have been spent transitioning from base/strength training to prepping for the equally insane world of short course and my debut in elite racing.
As with most high-intensity training blocks, I felt superhuman for the first 10 days...until the residual fatigue sets in and all confidence is shattered. But after a few days of heavy legs and sluggish training I'm moving along well again. I was lucky enough to get a few workouts in with RTC Guelph (new name, same great squad) before they flew off to Ixtapa Mexico for Junior Patco/Cont. Cup. Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow!
In preparation for draft-legal racing I had a 400m swim time trial this week and learned two things: #1 I am getting faster, #2 I still suck. But I'm riding well and running is getting there too. Today's training was 2hr ride with 15k hard, then straight into 3km at 10k goal run pace, 10k easy. I negative split each km for a pretty effortless 9:48 3k...faster than my 10k pace but I'll take it!
Training alone for draft-legal racing can be quite tedious, but has forced me to develop a higher level of focus and accountability. And every new training block I start with Coach James forces me to rethink my idea of smart training and proper recovery. If triathlon incorporated recovery into competition I would be nationally carded. I've got my routine down to a science, it looks something like this:
1. Don't have a job
2. After every PM workout - stretch+core stability, ice bath, compression socks + Crocs recovery sandals, roll out the calves (some people spend money on TriggerPoint, "The Stick" and the like, I'm sure they work but due to step #1 I have no money, thus use a Nalgene bottle)
3. Eat a crapload of yummy food
There you have it, my recovery secrets. And so far its working well. Tomorrow is a well deserved day off after a solid week and my next race is Woodstock in two weeks.
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