Smells like team spirit...or maybe it's just the garlic...

Last night, Sue, Michele, and Erin came over for dinner and some IM planning (Jeremy had friends in town and couldn't join us). We decided a while ago that it would probably be best for us to sit down as a group and talk through training strategies, race schedules, weekend training options, etc., before we got too far along in our planning, so that's what we attempted to do.

We ended up chatting about darn near everything--stories from our past (collectively, we agreed the 80's can go away), current projects, a little bit about work, triathlons, marathon training, cooking, bodily functions--pretty much anything was fair game. It was kind of funny, though--we would start talking about IM, get distracted and change topics, come back to IM, change topics again, and so on...to the point where we didn't actually get around to talking specifics until about 9:30 or so (and they came over around 6:00). Nonetheless, it was a great excuse to get together and hang out--all three are incredible people and I very much enjoy spending time with them...which is definitely a good thing since it looks like we'll be spending a LOT of time together in the upcoming year.

Sue came prepared with copies of the program she and Michele followed for their 2004 training, so we used that as a starting point for our discussion. It's basically an IM program with a marathon training program dropped on top of it--my guess is we'll end up (or I'll end up, at least) backing off on the run mileage a bit, but I need to dig into it a little more to figure that out for sure. For the most part, it's in line with other programs I've seen and seems to be doable provided I can a) get enough sleep and b) get out of work on time.

We discussed the pros/cons of doing the long bike and long run back-to-back on the weekends...I think we're collectively leaning toward splitting them apart (as recommended in Going Long, too) and doing the long run mid-week with the long bike on the weekend. We also kicked around how many and what type of swim workouts to include--the program has 3 swim workouts/week, and we discussed using one of those for drills, one for intervals, and one for endurance--preferably in open water as much as possible. Erin brought up a good point, though...if a workout needs to be sacrificed during the week, one of the swim workouts seems the most likely as it is far and away the shortest component of the race (and given the fact that none of us are racing to qualify for Kona, we should be OK with that). Michele brought up her desire to do a speed session in each discipline each week--similar to the weekly pace runs we have in our marathon programs. Makes sense, and should be achievable provided we can find a good area to do mid-week rides without a lot of stop lights, etc.

We also started talking about race schedules and weekend stuff--I'm planning on four pre-IM tris at this point--one sprint (probably in Logansport, the site of my first tri ever), one international distance (in my hometown in Iowa), and two 1/2 IM's (Muncie and Steelhead). I've also got a 1/2 marathon in Indy in May and might sprinkle a few other road races in if they make sense in the training schedule. As for weekends, we talked primarily about weekends from May through August--I knew it would be a busy summer, but man did reality set it when we started laying stuff out. Between trips to WI to bike the course, centuries, and races, I think it's a good thing I just bought new tires for my car...I'm gonna need 'em for the miles.

We're going to try to get up to the IM course in late May to bike one loop--not because we think we'll be ready to tackle it yet, but because Erin and I both want to ride it to know what we're up against (and to keep our motivation centered on the end goal). We're also going to target a one loop ride (plus the out and back from Madison) in mid-June, then tackle the whole course (both loops plus the out and back) once in July and once in August before winding down with a two-loop ride in late August without the out and back portion. In between WI trips, there are several century rides to pick from...plus I'm hoping to train with Vardo on at least a couple of weekends as well. I need to find a spot to work on hill repeats...something tells me my quads will be screaming a lot this summer, but if I can get some hills in, I should be in better shape to tackle the course.

While we all still have some homework to do to get our plans pulled together, I'm glad we met and talked through some things (plus it was a very enjoyable way to spend a rainy Saturday night). I'm also very glad that I have people to train with as I'm quite certain I'm not strong enough to get through this on my own (at least not mentally). It's daunting--no doubt about it--but we'll all get through it. So, more to come...but I'm on my way!!