The post half-ironman hangover and plans for 2011

"Its important to have specific dreams. Dream Big. Dream without fear."
- Randy Pausch

Just like my running and training, my blogging took a long holiday since Canberra half ironman. Now that I'm finally back in some kind of training, I think it only makes sense to plan ahead.

In the last two years or so, I've had a good, solid plan to tick off my goals from my ever growing bucket list. The plan is simple – I assess my situation, plan my goals, put in the long hard yards, achieve the goal (or get very close it), Celebrate!
This plan has been working quite well and over time I've learnt that the 'celebrate' part of my plan is usually my strongest J The post-Canberra half ironman celebration kicked of with Christmas and New year lunch/dinners/parties, a great trip to Malaysia and Singapore with Shyamala and a lazy January which included one too many dinners and numerous days of zero training.
The 'celebrate' part was well executed and was fun. But the flipside was, when I started training at the end of Jan, I realised my fitness counter had been reset to zero and I am still lugging around a few of those dinners. At this point, you usually are not mentally motivated either and try to find excuses not to train. Some of my popular excuses were "I'll train when I get a faster bike", "I'll start training in Feb", "MX paper article says Running is not good", "I need a new shoes", "Got work tomorrow" (popular one on Sunday), "It's been a long week" etc. Etc.
In the rare occasion I did go for a run, I felt extremely unfit, my heart rate was high and it made absolutely perfect sense to walk for the next 2 minutes, then 3 mins, 4, 5 and eventually convert it to a casual walk in the park. Strangely, during that phase, it also makes perfect sense to eat whatever "because I'll start training soon anyway". In a nutshell, it is usually a downward spiral many of us experience at times..
Fortunately, I've been in the position many times in the past and know what it takes to push through and to get the engine started. Consistency is the key .. I had to force myself to get out for a run and stick to the training plan.. I had to keep track of each workout and realise the slow and steady progress and use that as motivation. I've started doing that since late Jan and I think I have already managed to get through the initial mental barrier of not wanting to train and I'm looking forward to tough training sessions already! I've also done my first race and have finally managed to plan out my race calendar for the year.
My only A Grade race for the year will be the Sydney marathon. But after 3 marathons and a couple of half marathons, I've now decided to shift my focus to shorter events and hope to aim for faster times which hopefully in return will help me with the longer races. My race plan for the year is:

This plan will obviously change along the way depending on injuries and other commitments but I'm relieved I've got my year planned out.. Now I'll just have to start training harder and work on having a fast(er) year! J

"You can always change your plan, but only if you have one."
— Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture)

My 2c on race planning

Last year, I refused to do City 2 Surf as it was too close to (one month before) my first marathon and despite being the same discipline (running), it was two completely different distances (42.2 vs 14 KMs) and didn’t think I could focus on two races at a time. This year, I’ve already done a (sprint) triathlon, two Duathlons , two half marathons and a marathon. I’ve still got many more races planned for the year..

This does look like a busy race calendar and (understandably) I’ve been told by many concerned friends that I’m doing too many races and I should just focus on one or two for the year or I’ll lose interest.. I thought I’ll try to explain my logic..

Thanks to tips from many triathletes I’ve met and info from various articles, I’ve used a grading technique to grade my races. The grading scales for my races is A to D (A being top priority).

Grading is my guide for the following:

· Amount of race specific training I’ll be doing in the leadup

· Tapering (Relaxing and cutting down on volume in the lead up to the race)

· Mental race planning in the leadup

· Pre-race diet

· How fast/hard I hope to push myself at the race*

· Recovery time after the race

*I usually try to push myself as hard as possible (within my abilities) on race day.. but the end result would vary depending on the preparation.

As a guide,
Grade D race will be more or less a tough training run with minimal preparation. I did the race 2 of the Duathlon series a week before my Marathon and with no cycling training. I also had a big night before the race but my sole aim was to simply have some fun and get one last tough training session prior to tapering for the marathon. I also wanted to get out early in the morning on a chilly winter day to get myself prepared for similar weather at the marathon..

Grade A race will be the key race for the year. This will be the Sydney marathon for me this year.

Based on the above, my race plan / calendar is as follows :


(may need to click on it to view it more clearly - HTML is not my strength!)

Entering races are usually not too cheap either.. but I still think I 'profit' mainly phyisically and financially by racing and not having a big night (or two) in town :)

I would have to change my plans if I was injured and/or have any other commitments.

This is my 2 cents on Race planning. Hopefully this will assist someone with their race plans! :)

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. "
— Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture)