A few years ago I wrote a blog post about how to get starting cycling on PCH based on my own experiences after several years of training. Since then, a lot of people have found it very helpful so I thought now might be a good time to expand on some of my other thoughts and observations.
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Striving, Seeking, and Finding
I finished Ironman Arizona in November 2017 at the peak of my physical fitness. Four days later, I was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life.
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Embracing the Pain
This might seem a little extreme for a blog post but I promise I have a good reason. Working with two coaches this season has resulted in a suddenly very noticeable increase in both volume and intensity over the past few months (as well as, you know, training for a half Ironman!). I’ve been working with Coach Gerry for years, but Coach Jim is a very recent addition. What’s great about working with the two of them together is the way that the workouts tend to work in tandem––Coach Jim is also a disciple of Gerry’s (along with several other high performing professional athletes), so he has insight into the full…
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Feeding The Good Wolf
I’m freaking out. I’ve got about 5 weeks to go until the first large scale test of my athletic abilities (Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa!). Too many thoughts are going through my mind. Do I remember how to transition? Should I go back to gels? I haven’t climbed enough. I need to climb more. How good is my run, really? My hydration system sucks. If you’re a close friend or family member, then I apologize for having blown up your phone at some point over the past couple days with my freak out texts. Strangely enough, I remember a similar period of freaking out ahead of Tahoe, but by then I was…
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Choosing a Coach
With the prospect of two (possibly 3) Ironman events looming on this year’s calendar, I spent a lot of time going back and forth on whether or not to use a coach this year. In theory, it’s easy to know what a race will consist of – my next race in Santa Rosa is a half-Ironman. And, in theory it’s simple to determine how your body will adapt in order to get you there. But in the end I decided that professional guidance was a bit like insurance––you might not need it, but you know you’ll be taken care of if you do.
