New Toys, New Training...

               I thought last year was a big year for me-moving to Tyler, TX to work at Cobb Cycling, my first full-time job since graduating college and making big progress in my training as I moved my focus towards the Half Ironman distance. As it turns out, 2016 will be an even bigger and better year. This year has already started off in a big way and proving to be a great building block for the year and my career as a whole. I’m learning more in my job to help women in the sport of triathlon and cycling, and traveling with my job to work with some of the greatest in the industry. A priceless investment for my career. On the triathlon training side of things, I’m doing things much different this year than last year. Last year was all about distance, volume, go hard all the time… but not really much focus as it turns out. This year, I’m training smarter and much more efficiently than I ever have before, and with clear goals in mind. No more useless mileage (or what we used to say in competitive swimming-garbage yardage). And while I am still doing necessary base mileage, I’m doing more workouts with a big focus on intensity based on power, pace, etc. to build up my speed for the 70.3 distance. And I’m paying attention to what my body is telling me when it comes to rest and nutrition (I gained a few pounds last year…). So far, all my smart training and eating is paying off!

 

Heads or Tails 40k TT-2nd Place

               But this year hasn’t just been about training and working. In February, I made my first (and second) grown up purchases on my own, thanks to diligently putting money into my savings! I have been making some huge strides in my cycling, and to reward that, I bought a beautiful new tri bike as a Valentine’s gift to myself. I had been looking at bikes for a long while, making sure I knew exactly what brands and sizes matched my measurements taken by John Cobb. I landed on the Felt IA 14, purchased from a dealer of ours, Tri Shop in Plano, TX, who helped me graciously through the whole process! I chose the 14 because I do not want to make the jump up to electronic shifting as I have heard far too many horror stories about race-day problems with the shifting mechanisms. While I know it’s not all about the bike you ride (someone’s gotta pedal the thing!), I wanted to update my ride to a more aerodynamic, more responsive, and more sturdy ride. And I absolutely LOVE it. So far, I have gotten a 1^st and 2^nd place finish in two different time trials. I feel much more confident, and much more comfortable on the bike, something very important to improve performance!

               And to match my new bike, I purchased my first car in a beautiful “Caribbean Blue” (and yes, it actually does match some of the color in my bike). I had been driving a 2005 Honda Civic coupe…I don’t think I have to tell you how difficult it was to get a bike in and out of the backseat of that car. So, I went a little bigger this time! I got a Hyundai Tucson, complete with a hands-free power lift gate, so I can easily get my bike in and out of the car without having to even open a door! The car is amazing, and I know it will see plenty of miles driving to races this year, and I plan to drive this car until it can go no longer!

Love <3

Look at all that space!

               But enough of bragging on my new toys. As I mentioned before, I am training smarter and more efficient this year-but what does that even mean? It means I am working very closely to improve my bike performance to be on par with my swim performance. So I am now working with a power meter on my bike. My first power test, a 20 minute test of all-out effort to give a guideline for workouts, ended at a “functional threshold power” (what you could hold for an hour of work, also abbreviated FTP) of about 180 watts. About a month ago it was obvious I needed to re-test my abilities because it became very easy to complete what should be difficult workouts. I re-tested at a new FTP of about 215 watts. A very considerable jump! Basically, that means my workouts got a lot harder. I have never worked with power before this year, so focusing on a certain power number for a workout was different, but not much different than trying to hold a certain pace in the pool. And all that intensity on the bike has proved to be much more difficult than just going and riding miles. And as much as I complain about how the suck, following those power numbers has made me stronger than ever on the bike, and it will only get better and stronger from here. I will also know how to pace myself better on the bike to come off and run even faster. I hope to see some big results this year. My first race is Texas 70.3 on April 10^th, so you can definitely expect a write-up for that!

Mid-FTP Test..the struggle.

               Thanks for taking the time to read! I will soon be writing about my experience with the Slowtwitch Road Show at TriMania Boston! Check back every Wednesday-Friday for new blogs as myself, John Cobb, and Kat Hammers have officially started our “Blogger Wednesdays”! 

We're all excited to blog, obviously!