to morgan hill and back

I met up with Jeff and Irfan this morning for a little base training ride to Morgan Hill and back on Santa Teresa--not too fast, not many hills, just as steady as we could at a comfy, conversational pace.

I tried to keep my cadence up to 90+, but it's hard when you're on a group ride and none of the group is very experienced at riding with groups--or has superior bike handling skills. It was fun, though. We all enjoyed ourselves and agreed to try to meet up every Saturday for a ride until training starts up for Wildflower.

I think it was about 30 miles, give or take a mile or two. Gonna have to research some other routes around here; the pavement on Santa Teresa sucks!

Yesterday I managed a nice swim, went for 4x500 at L1-2, with 50m of breast stroke thrown in for recovery here and there. I spent a lot of time working on getting my head down a bit more, and gliding longer between strokes.

I'm feeling very confident and strong after this week. I'm glad I sat down and set up the next 12 weeks worth of training; just having a structured plan has given me a great boost in motivation. I'd like to start the season with more strength and power than last year--strength and power built specifically for biking and running up hills.

I would also love to start off a bit leaner. I know I'm not built much like a triathlete; to experience any measure of great success at this sport you pretty much have to be whippet thin AND have nothing to do but train. I don't fit the bill on either of those counts. I feel, however, that if I can optimize my training and my food intake, I'll be able to lose a few pounds of dead weight and move up the ranks a bit. Sigh...the offseason just HAS to include the holidays, doesn't it?

I didn't start triathlon off last January expecting to get so into it. Now, here I am--I've dropped more cash than I should have on a road bike, when I used to spit out "spandex" like it was a dirty word. I've designed the best training program that I've ever designed for myself so I can go longer and stronger. I haven't felt this much like an athlete in years...and I've never been able to do so much of it on my own--I've always needed an external force, like a coach, to help drive me in the past. Now I feel like I can find the drive within--at least, more than ever before. Don't get me wrong, I still like gettting coaching and the occasional team workout.

I'll admit, I dream of picking up some age-group hardware someday. It could happen, too-probably not at a big race like Wildflower or anything--but maybe somewhere else...