10 Minutes

I’m two weeks into my training for 2011.  Foolishly I thought that as soon as I started training again the weight I’d gained would just drop off like magic.  No such luck!  My training schedule is too light, I’m still not strictly following my diet, and fat doesn’t melt off like that.

Coach is bringing me back gradually, which means I only train on one discipline a day, and at that the sessions aren’t that hard.  Looking ahead at the next couple of weeks I see more of the same.  Although she is “easing me back into it”, I’m pushing the limits of what she schedules.  If she says ride for 1.5 – 2 hours, rest assured I’m riding 2 hours.  If she says run a mile at 8-9 minute/mile pace I’m doing the fastest I can that is within the schedule range.

I’m not trying to ignore her directions, nor have I lost confidence in her.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  I figure she is giving me a range for a reason, and that is to allow my some flexibility to listen to my body.  As long as my body is holding up I’m going for the maximum she schedules.

I’ve had a couple of rides, all on club rides and on my road bike.  The average pace of those rides hasn’t been as blistering as it felt, probably because there are a lot of start and stops along the way.  I did better last weekend as my fitness gradually improves.  Although I was unable to stick with the breakaway group when we hit the sprint section, and again found myself in no man’s land, I beat half the group to the sprint finish.  I also had a better day than all but two of the group of 7, and those guys have been doing this ride for a long time.

The running is also going well.  I started off on a 6+ mile easy run only to discover when I was done that I was running negative splits for the entire time, with most of the run between 8 and 8:30 pace.  I also dropped down to 7:10 for a mile near the end.  That last mile seemed very fast.  Hopefully it won’t feel so fast as we get further into the season!

I’ve done a fit test on the bike and run, and both were better than last year.  My run speed was a full minute better than last year at this time, and the bike power was also higher.  In theory I should be at last year’s end of season speeds in a few months, and get better from there.  I hope so, my first real test is only 3 months away!

This year my goal is to be faster.  To be faster I have to work harder, and faster.  I’m approaching every workout with that mentality.  I’ve only had a few workouts, but when it has gotten hard to continue or go faster I remind myself that I need to shave 10 minutes.  That is my mantra:  10 minutes for 2011.