Doing tri's is bulk work--not in volume (unless you're training for IM or a half)--but in how I have always thought about training.
Training for a tri is swimbikerun.
It's not swim.
bike.
run.
Mentally, I've always grouped the 3 things together. That makes sense, right? Afterall, the key aspect of triathlon is the TRI piece.
My problem has been that I have allowed it to dictate my training. When I was training for Ironman, everything was about going long. When I train for a sprint, everything is about speed.
In 2010, I am taking a completely different approach.
Swimming (my greatest strength), my goal is maintenance. I am not going to try to get faster. Hopefully, I won't get slower. I just want to stay where I am.
For my new love (cycling), I want to build my endurance. I have one century planned this coming year. I'm also considering doing Elephant Rock again. After my great 70.3 bike performance in 2009, I really want to continue to improve in longer distances and in more hilly/mountain areas.
Because the last couple of years have been about going long, in 2010 my running will be short and hard this year. My goal is to improve my running speed. I have many races planned from 5k up to the half marathon in which I'm really going to push my comfort levels. Last year, I pr'd in the 5k. But I haven't PR'd in the half marathon since 2003. I don't think a PR is possible in 2010 (given my most recent half times), but I will get faster this year.
oops....this post will have to be continued later....
