Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes....

...turn and face the strain!  You know the David Bowie song. Well, that song is the theme of my 2012 season. I have always, in the past, completed my last race of the year in September or October and then proceeded to take off the next 3 months, doing only some light running, some lifting and a few other things to generally keep my body and muscles from atrophying. I then decide in January what races to do for the year and then slowly ease into a training regime that peaks with my year ending race in the September/October time frame. Wash/rinse/repeat. Seems to get me by in the shorter races, but I have struggles in the longer ones.

Last year, I had my first DNF in a race at Louisville. Started vomiting on the bike and then muscles just quit working. I ended up in the med tent with some IV action going on. It sucked, but I am over that. In looking back, I have had issues in all my long races. In 2009 in Louisville, I had similar issues but finished, albeit, walking about 20 of the 26 miles of the run. I decided to analyze my overall training regime. Mind you, I don't train in hopes of winning or placing in any race, I train to challenge myself while still having a good time. I realized in my analysis, that I was taking it easy for the majority of the year and then kicking it in to overdrive around mid-July. Usually about that time, I started dropping a lot of weight in conjunction with the long rides and runs. While this may seem logical and normal to most, I have started wondering if my body never really gets acclimated to race correctly. In the offseason, I usually weigh in around 180lbs. The 140.6 races I have entered, I race at 160-165 lbs. But up until the end of July, I usually tip the scales around 170-175 lbs. Does the 10-15 pound weight loss in the final month seem right? Is that too much in the lead up to my A race and could that be a reason why my results have suffered? I hardly ever have issues during training.

This year I am going to try and change the way I go about training. I am going to up my run mileage over the next couple of months and go ahead and start my healthier (notice I said healthier and not all-inclusive healthy). I am going to get in some longer bike rides earlier in the season and will get into my normal swim routine earlier in the year than I normally would. I also , plan on using more data in training. i want to set some training benchmarks for use in races. While a ton of you guys already do this, this will be a big change to me. All in all, a lot of new and exciting things on tap for 2012.

I have my sights set on revenge in Louisville. Other that that, I am looking to do Rev3 Knoxville (awesome course), Memphis in May, a few local sprints, Germantown Half Marathon and Rev3 SC. If you haven't checked out any of the Rev3 events, do so. Great group that puts on a great race.

Lastly, please go to http://www.rev3tri.com/ and check out the link on their page for charities. They are doing a Run Across America to help raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund.  If you normally give money to charities during the year, please consider adding them to your donation list this year. If you can't give this year, see if they are running through or near your home city and consider donating your time to run some of the mileage.

Thanks and see you guys at the races!