West Coast weekend
We flew to LA this morning for my sister’s 30th birthday party. Her surprise party is in a few hours. My parents picked us up at LAX this morning and we’ve spent the day relaxing. Well, Elizabeth actually worked all day, but the rest of us relaxed.
We’re staying at the W Hotel and there’s an Equinox with a lap pool right down the street. So, I was able to get my regularly planned swim in, which felt good. I swam about 1800 yards. It was a good swim – I felt pretty fast and strong and could have gone much further, but I wanted to also get in a little core work and stretching and get back to see Elizabeth and my folks. Tomorrow, I’ll try to get in a good medium-long run; maybe 10-12 miles. How far I go sorta depends on what time we get up and moving. I’d like to get in at least 90 minutes. Next weekend will be my long run of the season – hopefully 20-22 miles.
Yesterday I had a good long talk with my new coach. He was recommended by a friend who’s training for Kona. He’s a USAT certified coach and a very experienced triathlete. Most of what he’ll do for me is provide me with weekly workout schedules and training advice, but I’ll probably also do a few swim lessons with him to improve my technique. The nice thing about him vs. some of the other on-line coaches is that he’s located in New York, so I can get the in-person swim lessons and he goes to some of the local races. I’m pretty excited to work with him over the course of the next year. I’ve been getting by on my own for the last two years, but I know that (a) I can do better with a little structure and guidance and (b) the Ironman is a totally different beast. He’s going to help me with the last few weeks of my marathon preparation and then get me going for the big race. Already in just the first real conversation with him I got some good information and advice about nutrition and hydration and he made me start thinking more analytically about my running. He helped me think about why I broke down last Sunday on my run – probably a combination of dehydration and not getting enough calories in during the run. I’m pretty excited to do this.
Swim – September 29
Distance: 1800 yards