My Fitness Baseline

A lot of you might be wondering what kind of physical condition I'm in heading into this triathlon season. 2007 will be my fourth year of racing. I've competed in 17 triathlons over my first three years, including four half-ironman events. While this puts me in the category of a relative newcomer, I'm hardly a weekend warrior doing this on a dare. I'm going into this thing with eyes wide open.

I decided several months ago to seek professional coaching help. I figured a coach that's been through the Ironman experience would help me avoid common training mistakes and allow this first experience to be as good as possible. I was referred to Patrick McCrann of Performance Training Systems. Patrick just completed his 9th IM at the World Championships in Kona. He is a gifted communicator and truly understands how to develop sustainable training strategies for working parents. Check out his website... http://www.performancetrainingsystems.com/

I get a lot of questions about eating. The common answer is, "Yes, I follow a diet." My daily and workout recovery eating habits are based on advice I receive from Stacy Garonzyk, who has an office in Camp Hill. The "diet" (I use that term loosely) is not nearly as strict as most would think. My eating habits are aimed at retaining an appropriate amount of muscle while managing body fat percentage. We also keep an eye on eating for injury prevention and long-term health. Stacy's a whiz at applying strength training practices for injury prevention.

So there you have it - my triathlon baseline and coaching strategies. Late October is still considered my off season, so eating and training regimens are pretty lax right now! Take care...

Welcome to my blogspot

Welcome to my nine month journey toward Ironman USA in July of '07. It's going to be an exciting trip! I'm sure there will be a lot of mini-triumphs and losses along the way as I try to balance the demands of family, work, training, and fund-raising. Please feel free to follow along and participate in your own way. I'd love to hear your comments and respond to e-mails. I'm sure there will come a time (in the peak of training) that I'll need your prodding to hold me accountable!

For now, though, I must run off to Kyle's soccer game!