And So It Begins......

Tomorrow marks the first day of training with my new coach.  I've already received my schedule for the next two weeks and while it doesn't look all that different from my previous schedules, the one major difference will be doing bricks at this time of the year.  Normally, I don't start doing bricks until May but coach says that we do them all year around.  No big deal except I wonder what it will be like to do a two hour trainer session and then run outside when its like -20 degrees?  We'll soon find out.

It certainly has been an interesting last two months trying to find a new coach.  Working in the "service industry" myself, I'm quite shocked on the lack of service that is in triathlon coaching.  I contacted several coaches out of the blue but was referred by friends who knew and recommend them.  The first coach never responded to my emails while I traded emails with another coach, upon trying to confirm our meeting, she never responded.  I find this attitude totally bizarre.  Either they are full up and don't want anymore athletes or I don't fit their profile (maybe they looked up my race results).

I toyed with the idea of self coaching as I know lots of athletes who have completed Ironmans that I could rely on for information but while I have completed two Half Ironmans, moving up to a full Ironman is like moving into the unknown.  Triathlon training isn't exactly rocket scientist stuff, however I don't want to risk a DNF on my first Ironman simply because I was trying to save a couple of bucks.

Why I picked my current coach was due to several reasons
1.  My two brothers who used to do Ironmans had said good things about the coach
2.  I know two other guys up here that are currently working with coach and have said good things
3.  I met them at Muskoka 70.3 and saw the interaction they had with their athletes
4.  I met with my coach and liked the game plan she laid out and this is the key.

Like most people, training for triathlons is like juggling balls.  Its a constant shuffling of priorities around and trying to jam in workouts and some do it better than others.  With a young family (8, 6 and 4.5 years old kids) and a sometimes demanding job (come February, I usually work 6 days a week and have evening meetings) its almost impossible to squeeze in 15-20 hours of training.  And if I did, the impact of my "tiredness" would fall upon the kids.  Its not fair to them or my wife.  Coach offered what I thought was a reasonable and doable plan for Ironman Mont Tremblant and that's what it came down to.  While it would be nice to qualify for Kona, right now that level of training is simply not possible.

Here's to a great 2012 race season for everyone!