Building the Base

 Another full week of training in the books.  This phase that will last for a fair amount of time is known as the base building phase.  Ironman training is not all that different than building a house or a business, you have to start with a strong and solid foundation or base.  After not really exercising at all for all of September and half of October  because of the cluster headaches it feels good to be headache free and in a groove.  

Last year while training for my first Ironman I got in the habit of writing down all of my workouts on a calendar.  I’m not a pen and paper guy by any stretch of the imagination and my workouts are all in an app on my phone called TrainingPeaks, but I got in the habit last year of writing them down as well.  Something about seeing them in my handwriting every day and subsequently checking the box every day was even more satisfying than turning the “boxes” green on the app.  It has become my Sunday evening ritual along with updating this blog.

The other Sunday ritual that has started, working out with Jordan.  It is great to be able to go to the gym, lift with him and then head for the sauna or steam room.  Being able to spend that time with him is something that I try not to take for granted.  We play golf together and run together, but he’s so much faster than me right now that he doesn’t want to run slow with his old man so I’ll settle for the gym for now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right Where I’m Supposed to Be

 Hard to believe that January is behind us.  Less than 200 days until Ironman Mont Tremblant or the first annual Bergen County 140.6.  This first week of February also marked my biggest week of training volume since starting training in November.  The cool thing about these bigger weeks is that they not only push me, but they give me a good indication of how I’m progressing.  Last week was my first real test, it was my FTP, functional threshold test, on the bike.  I went in with no real expectations, after all I hadn’t “tested” in a long time.  I also started working with a group of like minded athletes focusing on mindset, just another layer of accountability.  They made me realize that whatever the number was on the test is right where I’m supposed to be now!  This way of thinking definitely helped and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  More importantly, the first week of workouts with my new FTP was challenging, but not imp...
Read more

Cautious Optimism Waning

Those of you who know me know that I have been nothing but optimistic since my journey started in December of 2012.  Double vision and can’t play golf, no big deal I’ll start running.  May need brain surgery a second time, no big deal, control what I can control.  Actually need second brain surgery, no big deal, set big goal and focus and attack it.  Brain aneurysm, no big deal, start training for a full Ironman. Even when this pandemic began almost 6 weeks ago, I stayed laser focused.  When the country basically shut down through the end of April I knew in the back of my mind that my first 2 races of the season were likely in jeopardy and I was ok with that because they were not my “A” races so when I got the email last week that Connecticut 70.3 was canceled, I was ok with it.  After all, it wasn’t my goal race.  No, my goal race is not until the end of August.  However, that may now be in jeopardy as a Montreal newspaper reported late last wee...
Read more

The Hills are alive……

 This week brought the return of something that I’ve missed tremendously…..HILLS!   Those of you that know me know that I hate running and riding on flat areas and paths.  We have an incredible 6 mile path that goes through three or four different towns.  It’s always well maintained regardless of weather and it’s safe from traffic, but it’s FLAT!  I also hate the treadmill or as I call it the dreadmill.  Living in Bergen County there is no shortage of hills, short steep hills, rolling hills, long hills, you name it and we’ve got it. In the past my training regularly included hills and there were three areas that I frequented.  First was Akers, it was a quarter mile steep hill that was great for hill repeats.  Then there was Ridge Rd which is approximately one mile from bottom to top also good for longer repeats and lastly there is The Wegman’s Loop.  I would park my car at Lifetime and run over to Wegman’s.  The half mile run was the per...
Read more