Well as we're well into 2009 I though I should probably make a post.  Frankly I haven't posted anything lately as I didn't think there was too much going on that warranted a post.

So I've set my race schedule, identified my goals for the year and my coach and I have agreed on a plan. 

It's going going to be a good year.  Here' the race plan for the year.  Kick things off in late May in a local sprint triathlon just to get me in the racing frame of mind.  I'll be heading to Boise in mid June for Boise 70.3.  Then in mid July I'll be heading south for go at Vineman 70.3.  My "A" race is Ironman Canada at the end of August where I'll take my shot at qualifying again for Kona (in a new age group no less).  Assuming things go well at Canada I'll be in Kona in October for Ironman Hawaii.  The plan is round out the year in Vegas at The Silverman Triathlon (Ironman distance and very tough course).  The last race is more for the challenge than racing hard as it will be my 3rd IM in 3.5 months if the season goes to plan. 

So what is my plan to get ready for all those races?  At a high level we'll kick things off with a longer base phase this winter focused on the run.  Why the run? Well while I'm a strong runner both my coach and I agree there is time to be gained on the run.  So more volume this winter and early spring and more fast running (i.e. - I'll becoming cozy with the track again).

On the bike I'll also be focusing on shorter power building ride workouts as I've got really good endurance on the bike (and it comes quickly for me) so as we add in the overall power increase the logic would suggest I'm either faster or don't expend as much energy (saving more for the run) going similar speed. We'll start adding in long rides this spring as it's going to be a long season.

The swim.  Pretty simple the goal is to be about same speed or maybe a little faster but using much less energy.  So my volume probably won't change significantly but we'll continue to focus on the form and getting better at pacing.

We'll be doing things a little differently in appoaching the races this year.  Last year I didn't race either of my 70.3 races with any real taper which pretty much means I was hitting race day usually as part of a big volume or even a peak volume week so I still don't know if I've seen what I can do if I'm rested ready to rock a 70.3 race so I'll get that chance twice this year as both 70.3 races won't be part of a big training week. 

The other thing that will change is I won't be tapering as much leading into my IM races.  I came out flat at Kona and we believe a contributing factor was too much taper (more specifically not enough activity and intensity race week).  A taper needs to be build around the individual so there really isn't a cookie cutter taper.  For me I had more volume and intensity the week of IMCDA last year as opposed to Kona and I woke up fired up the morning of IMCDA with lots of energy and power and almost nothing at Kona.  I notice this in training as well if I take 1 day off a week the next day I usually feel pretty good in training.  If I take two days off I'm normally sluggish and slow in my next workout so we're going with keeping the activity and intensity higher race week.

I'm excited about the plan and am happy to have a reprive from the cold snap, two weeks of snow, slush and then rain and floods.  Although it isn't "sunny" just not having any wild weather and some milder temps is really nice.

I'll be back posting more frequently now that we're into the new season.