Rescheduling... Base period extended

I've changed my schedule a bit.

My original schedule:

• Preparation - 5 weeks - Starts Dec 1
• Base (1,2,3) - 12 weeks - Jan 5
• Build (1,2) - 8 weeks - March 30
• Peak - 2 weeks - May 25
• Race - 1 week - June 8 (Muskoka Long Course Tri)
• Transition - 1 week - June 15
• Base (2,3) - 7 weeks - June 22
• Peak - 2 weeks - Aug 10
• Race - 1 week - Aug 24 (Ironman Canada)
• Transition - Aug 31

Revised Schedule:

• Preparation - 5 weeks - Starts Dec 1
• Base 1 - 8 weeks - Jan 5
  
• Base 2 - 7 weeks - March 2
• Base 3 - 8 weeks - April 20
  
• Build (1,2) - 8 weeks - June 15
• Peak - 2 weeks - Aug 10
• Race - 1 week - Aug 24 (Ironman Canada)
• Transition - Aug 31

Gone is my June "A" race, I'll still do it but won't build specifically to it. This frees up January and February to ease into Base training, rather than rushing into Base 2 and 3, where long trainer sessions would have been required. And I've doubled up each of the 3 Base periods to give myself a lot of time building up that basic endurance and speed, rather than using time to peak and recover from an early race.

Preparation Period Review

My goals for the Preparation period were:

• Get into the habit of training daily - this went OK, although between Christmas and being sick for a few weeks, I ended up resting more than I planned.

• Improve swim speed skills - I feel a lot more efficient in the water, and went from 800m consecutive to 1900m. I'm following the Total Immersion program and that's paying dividends.
  

• Maintain a reasonable long run - I've kept up a 10K run for most of the time, and even did a 16K at one point. So I'm comfortable with where my running is at, I shouldn't have too much trouble building back up.
  

• Become comfortable on the bike trainer - This went well, I bought a new saddle and seatpost, and today was on the bike for 2 hours without too much discomfort. It's still not my favourite thing, I'd rather be on the road, but I feel like my set-up is right and I can put in some decent miles.

Base 1 Period Goals

The goals in Base 1 are Endurance and Speed skills, basically an extension of what was being worked on in Preparation with increased duration.

• Cycling - build a decent endurance base with weekly long rides (2 hours or more)
• Running - build to 30k for the Around the Bay race at the end of March
• Swimming - continue to work on technique to gain speed/efficiency

A typical Base 1 week for me will look something like this:

	M	T	W	R	F	Sa	Su
Swim		Speed	-	Class	-	-	Long
Bike	30-45 mins		-	30-45 mins (optional)	-	2hr	-
Run	-	-	Long Run	-	5-7K	-	5-7K easy

The goal is 2-3 workouts in each sport. Cycling is my strength and I'm doing a 30K run in March, so I'll most likely do 2 bikes per week, 3 runs, 3 swims.

For the next few months, I've signed up for a spin class for triathletes, where you bring your own bike and trainer. It's 2 hours long... so that will be my long ride for the week. I went for the first time today, it was pretty rough!

I will also continue my triathlon group swim classes, they've been great so far.

Races

There are two running races coming up:

• YMCA Peterborough 1/2 Marathon (Feb) - I haven't signed up yet, but probably will
• Around the Bay 30k (March) - Signed up, can't wait.
  

A few weeks after the base period is a mountain bike race, Paris to Ancaster. I can't wait, by then I'll have a lot more bike focus, and should be able to improve my last year's result significantly.

Wish me luck!