New Toy and Future Training

Today was supposed to be a 14-mile run but we needed to get some Christmas shopping in so Annie and I went to the mall this morning and will do the run tomorrow morning instead!

The reason for this post is to talk about my new training tool! Yesterday I found the CycleOps Fluid 2 Trainer on Amazon for a great price and Annie decided it would be a nice Christmas present for me:

The way this works is that I place the back wheel of my Quintana Roo Tri bike onto this device and it allows me to ride indoors. Think stationary bike but with my own bike. This will help me acquire the necessary volume required to do the upcoming Triathlon Training plan since I can ride while catching up with the Tivo. It should be here on Tuesday or Wednesday.

On Saturday, December 5th I am running in the 50K Texas Trail Run. This is 31 miles and I am pretty sure my butt is going to get completely destroyed - I can't wait!

The following Monday I am going to begin a 20 Week Triathlon Training program that will lead me up to the April 24th LoneStar Olympic Triathlon in Galveston. To view the training program click here.

This Tri is located in Galveston, TX, which is right on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. This means the swim portion will be in the ocean! Since swimming is my weakest of the three disciplines I am going to be using The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD from TriSwimCoach.com and will do a review of the DVD compared to my performance. From what I have watched it looks to be a great training tool and if I can follow it then my swimming should become a strength.

Good times to come and I can't wait to start the training but first I need to get in the 14 mile run tomorrow and focus on the 50K next week.

Also, I found a way to import my Garmin data online and then I can link it to the blog. So here are my Garmin Splits from the Turkey Trot: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19744514

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

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The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD

Ok, so if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I struggle with swimming. More specifically I struggle with the Open Water Swim. I can pound out lap after lap in the indoor pool but when it comes time to race in a lake my form and fitness seem to escape me! I have never had any formal lessons and everything I have learned about swimming is from the Total Immersion book or fellow Triathlete Bloggers. I am at a point where I need to either hire a coach or try a different approach. And since I really do not want to shell a bunch of cash on a swim coach I will go with the different approach!

So, I have decided to try an instructional DVD titled, "The Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD".

This is a Tri-specific swim video created by Kevin Koskella who has over 27 years experience coaching and competing in Triathlon. It was recommended on the BeginnerTriathlete.com forum and is one of the few instructional videos that I found geared strictly for Triathlon.

I have been emailing with Kevin and have agreed to review the DVD on the blog. So over the next couple of weeks I am going to set some baselines for my swim times at 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters ...etc. Then I will follow Kevin's program to the letter and do a review (P90X Style) after I complete each section. Then when it is all said and done I will go back and measure my performance against the previously set baselines. But the true indicator of success will be how I perform in the Olympic Tri I have scheduled in April.

I am pretty pumped to get started with Kevin's program and am looking forward to sharing it here on the Carrot!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff