Friday, January 18, 2008

100 days and counting....

Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Just 100 days to go. 100 days never seemed so short. After battling some adversity the first week or so of the year, not to mention a bad cold, I have had 2 solid weeks of training. I am happy with my progress in the pool, many thanks to the swim instructors at Montgomery aquatic center for the pointers, and my running is starting to come along. Since I had some time and some money, I took my 18 year old Kestrel (the original all carbon fiber bike I might add...) and added some time trial bars, aero bars, aero brake levers and created a time trial machine! I took it out for it's inaugural ride last Saturday and it felt pretty good. I need to tweak my riding position a bit, but other than that it should be good to go for April. No more standard rode bike for time trials!

Speaking of April, how do I know today leaves me exactly 100 days before the race? Well I stumbled upon the Polar personal trainer website. This website lets you track your workouts, heart rate related stats, fitness measure and, to some extent, your events. What makes the site even better is its FREE! Just go to site and register, enter some personal profile information and you are ready to use the site. You can even register your Polar heart rate monitor (which I highly recommend) if you have one . The site will also devise a program for you based on the information you provide. While not a foolproof way to plan your training, it will at least point you in the right direction. One limitation I found with the site is you can only enter 1 event. It would be nice to be able to enter your entire racing program, but I guess you can't have everything.

In my attempt to keep work from derailing my training, I have joined the free gym in my building. At least now on days I need to stay late, I can hit the treadmill and/or the weights at lunch or in the evening. This strategy has already paid dividends as deadlines approach. Although I don't exactly look forward to the treadmill, it sure beats running in the rain, snow, sleet and cold the area has been getting lately. I hope everyone else's training has taken a turn for the better so I leave you with this thought: Great fitness is just around the bend....

Peace

and keep training....

Rob

1 comment:

Melissa said...

So little time and so much to do... Like you, my training has been met with some adversity -- but I can tell it's beginning to come together. My running class started last week. My swimming class is starting in two weeks. And, I'm on the verge of buying a road bike that will be a huge improvement on the clunker I've been riding.

I'm off to Acapulco in the morning. I'm excited about training in the warm sun for the next few days because when I get back to NYC -- IT'S ON! Like the postal workers, no wind, nor sleet, nor dark of night will keep me from my 6am appointments with the pavement and pool. I am a triathlete. I am a triathlete. I am a triathlete. I am a triathlete. . .

Melissa