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Uncoventional Training Methods

I was "flamed" on a discussion board last night when I posted about my new potential butt injury. Pretty much the sentiment was that it was stupid for me to go so hard yesterday and that all of the racing I have done leading up to IMAZ doesn't really make any sense and isn't conducive to having my best possible race at the ironman. It was suggested that I get a coach to help me understand both the "when" and "why." Here is what I posted in reply:

"At the risk of sounding dumb, stupid, and/or ignorant, I feel like I need to explain myself a little in light of recent happenings.

I am sure I could benefit from a coach, but it is not really the way I want to go about things. I truly enjoy figuring out a lot of this stuff for myself. I enjoy drawing from resources all over to structure a plan that I think best suits myself. Would this so-called "plan" be good for anyone else? Probably not. To say it isn't conventional would be an understatement, and I am totally aware of that.

I am not the kind of person who likes to put all my eggs in one basket and as cliche as it may sound, this really is all about the journey and not the destination for me. I'm not going to win IMAZ. I'm not going to qualify for Kona and I'm not even going to place in the top half. Am I going to have fun though? You betcha.

I really do love to race and not for the reasons most people love to race. I don't compete against anyone but myself. I'm not going to win any of them, but I can work on bettering myself or just surrounding myself with the people and things that I love.

Was it a good idea to go hard on the bike in an aquabike yesterday? Probably not the best idea, but I learned a few valuable lessons yesterday, one being that I am far stronger than I ever thought possible. I averaged 18.3mph while I was not even averaging 17mph in my sprint races last year. I have come so far in the past year, with at least 8 PRs along the way to IMAZ. Some people might not have one PR on the way to their IM because they do not race during training. They save themselves for the big day, and the big day only. What if the big day blows up? Was the whole year you spent training a total waste? If I am a total failure at IMAZ I will still be happy with how far I have come. Then again, I'm not sure I could even be a total failure at IMAZ - I'm not sure I have a definition for that. It would have to be something like I forgot my shoes and tried to run barefoot or something totally off the wall like that - not that I trained too hard and was tired or not that I went too hard on the bike and did not have much left for the run.

I do want this lifestyle to continue for many years to come, and for me personally, I think this is the way to do it. It may take me 4 years doing things my way to get to where I could get in 1 year doing things someone else's way (presumably a coach), but I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much.

So I guess call me stubborn, stupid, or dense, but I am fully aware there are other ways to do things and that I am not choosing those ways. So I might have hurt myself yesterday. Who is to say that same injury wouldn't have come amount on a slow training ride or halfway through the ironman when I didn't know what to do about it. I guess I may frustrate a few people around here by doing things they wouldn't advise and then coming back afterwards saying things didn't go exactly as I planned them to. I am sorry for that, but once again, it is all part of the learning process for me. We as triathletes are stubborn - each one of us. Most of us like learning things the hard way instead of just taking someone else's advice. I'm guilty as charged, but don't see that changing anytime soon!!"

Comments

Jane said…
Whatever you do, there are people who are going to criticize you. I'm glad you defended yourself, but you really didn't have to. People should mind their own business and everyone's body is different anyway. Some people do 100 milers every month; some people do 3 ironman's in a year. Don't let others get you down. And it seems that you raced this weekend for the fun aspect of it! And for a mental boost! and if that was your goal, I think you did a good job (looked like you were having fun - I heard you call me - did you see me wave?)
March 31, 2008 at 2:42 PM
greyhound said…
Flamers suck.

I may get a coach some day, but I like being self coached and training without someone telling me every little number to hit. I am an experiment of one.
March 31, 2008 at 5:51 PM
CoachLiz said…
K,

You are not dense. You have been doing what you enjoy and that is all that counts. Yeah, I have a coach and that was a personal choice, but I think that I might have to give him up after Switzerland just because I could use that money for something else. I have learned a ton from him and I think now that I am confident enought to know how to train on my own. You are that special breed that likes to experiment and really tunes in to what is right and wrong for you. I wish I had that "sixth sense".

Don't be hard on yourself. You are a kick-ass chick in my book no matter what.
April 2, 2008 at 10:46 PM
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