Ready for Kona

I am on the Big Island. The hard work is done and now my focus is on resting up and some fine tuning.

After a rough start at the end of July which included getting sick and breaking a rib, my build up to Kona was fantastic this year. Luckily,  I was able to recover to 100% heath just in time for my Kona build. This block of training was certainly my best yet in terms of balancing recovery with a high training load. I was able to successfully complete all of the key sessions and could feel myself getting fitter and fitter each week. This has not always been the case in past Ironman builds where some niggles or the need for more recovery led to certain key sessions becoming compromised or even left out for the greater good.

This brings me to one of my realizations about success in a coaching/athlete relationship and why I think this year’s build-up has been so successful - Patience.

Too many times athletes jump around from coach to coach without developing a constructive relationship with their coach founded on communication and/or without really giving a training plan time to take hold. The truth is success in triathlon takes patience, persistence, and consistency the type of qualities that are rewarded over years of training not months. Now, on the other hand, if the coaching style does not suit you or the “chemistry” does not seem to fit then it may be time to move on, but keep in mind that over time both you and your coach will develop a relationship that will further enhance your training.

I have been coached by Tim DeBoom for two seasons. During this time, Tim has learned what type of training load I can tolerate and absorb as well as where I need improvement. Since we first started working together, I have seen improvements from Tim’s plan. However, the ability to continue to keep improving at the same rate has been a result of Tim getting to know me as an athlete. This has come from over a season of working together which involves implementing different workouts, seeing how my body reacts, and, most importantly, from me giving Tim honest feedback on how I am feeling on a daily and weekly basis. Using this knowledge and some fine tuning, Tim constructed a build for Kona that was spot on for what I can tolerate and absorb at this stage in my athletic development.

The training this year has given me a deal of confidence and now I know the only things I left to do are to rest up and execute on race day.

Recently:

• Ironman Arizona 2010
• Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2009
• More Kona Pictures
• Hawaii 2008 Race Report
• Ready for Kona
• Welcome