Plans for 2019

I have reached that stage of life where all of my thoughts converge on a single focal point: retirement. It is one of the top three subjects that come up whenever I meet an old friend, right up there with "How are you doing?" and "How are your kids?" The funny thing is, I like my job and have no desire to stop doing it. I enjoy doing fitness training even more, so retiring from sports is not on my to-do list. I realize that most people my age are retired, but I just don't feel that old. My thought process goes like this: If I retire my schedule would be less rigid, and I would have more time to do fun stuff. But, when I retire I will make just enough to sit at home and watch TV -- retirement will mean giving up the hobbies I want to have more time to pursue. So, since I am healthy and able to work, keep working and enjoying life in all its dimensions the same way I have been.

My plans for 2019 look about the same as they did for 2018. Two "A" races, Honu in late spring and the Honolulu Marathon in late fall. The big difference between now and this time last year is that I am not committed to doing either one. Here is the year as it stands:

A = primary event, full taper

B = secondary event, small taper

C = train through

4/7  Lanikai Triathlon - C

4/14 Hapalua Half Marathon - B

4/28 Haleiwa Metric Century Ride - C

5/12 Honolulu Triathlon - B

6/1  Honu Ironman 70.3 - A

7/28 Tinman Triathlon - B (if it happens)

9/29 Honolulu Century Ride - C

12/8 Honolulu Marathon - A

I should probably add one or two of the Marathon Prep races. I have done the entire set several times and found that, because I am so slow, they take a lot out of my weekly training routine. On the other hand, I did not do any this year and I felt my marathon pacing could have been better had I done a few.

Even though I have not made up my mind to do Honu I went ahead and purchased a Half Ironman training Plan. In the past I used Joe Friel's plan, and while I found the quality to be excellent, it did not do enough to prepare me for Honu. A few years back I read Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 Running. I may have even followed one of his marathon plans. Earlier this year he published the Triathlon edition, which includes updated sections on what 80/20 is all about, and I found myself drawn to his argument.

What Fitzgerald has to say about long and slow training -- often referred to as Long and Slow Distance or LSD -- is pretty much the same as Friel. Currently the coaching universe is split between this, the traditional approach, and the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). The selling point for HIIT is time; a typical HIIT session last thirty minutes whereas most LSD weekday triathlon workouts last about an hour, and on weekends can easily consume three hours or more. Fitzgerald stresses the need for both, a large base of long and slow combined with just the right amount of high intensity work, the goal being 80% easy, 20% hard. In "Fast After 50," Friel observes that the primary reason senior athletes slow down is that they only do long and slow. I wonder if HIIT has formed a life-style image that distinguishes itself from the LSD crowd, a trandy, fad kind of thing that makes doing HIIT hip and cool. Again, I think the main appeal to triathletes is the promise of less time away from the family.

My half Ironman training plan begins January 28th. I am filling in the gap with a routine that touches all three disciplines, but with a slight emphasis on running. I see sports training to be a lot like music practice. To make progress you have to put in at least a little time, as often as possible. As one music teacher put it, "You don't need to practice every day. Only the days you eat." My goal at this time is to improve neuromuscular skills in order to run more efficiently. I have a run scheduled almost every day. Most are short, around thirty minutes, with one long run on Saturdays of about an hour and a half. Hopefully this six week program will improve my running skills.

The biggest challenge for me in adopting the 80/20 concept is the difference between Friel's training zones, which I have been using for years, and the 80/20 zones. I did a side by side comparison and discovered that they are not so different. Fitzgerald identifies two zones to be avoided, and labels them X and Y. Zone X is what Friel calls zone 3, only not as wide, and there is a lot of agreement among endurance coaches to avoid training in zone 3. There are some more subtleties that I will not go into here. Then there is the whole messy business of how Garmin devices display zones. Again, too much to cover in detail here. I already wrote about it in a recent blog, and may return to this theme in the future. The simple answer is the not use zone displays on the Garmin watch and head unit, and just go by the raw numbers. For example, if a run calls for 2Z I know to look for 130 watts give or take. Who knows, maybe having to remember all those numbers will help stave off memory loss. I'm not getting any younger.