A little bit about the training

Taking a short break from discussing naked old men and the inevitability of aging, I thought I'd make a quick mention of some swim-bike-running.

The focus of training right now is really the New Orleans 70.3 in April. I am re-using a Mark Allen training plan, and so far I am pretty happy with the results.  It equates to around 10-12 hours of training per week.  One thing I was not quite ready for was the amount of swimming involved. Apparently Mark Allen's plans tend to have a focus on high swimming volume, which is okay - right now I am just trusting the system.

More important than the system, however, is my training partner.  It has been great starting off the year spending all of this time with Heidi.  There's something about having a best friend with you that makes a 4:30 am run or ride that much better.  She's been a great sport about letting this rookie tag along.

Text messaging when your wife is your training partner.

And just when I'm getting spoiled with my new swimbikerun buddy...I'll be heading out for deployment pretty soon.  I am trying a new and interesting training strategy in which I restrict my training to the confines of a 210 foot boat for an undisclosed amount of time.  My luxurious cruise ship will include a 34ft x 34ft flight deck which I can run around, and little to no workout equipment (space is a premium on these bad boys).  Needless to say, Half Ironman training will require a bit of creativity - but I'm always down for that.

Plenty of room to swim, though.

(Quick note for you math majors: A 5k = 212 laps around the flight deck.)

So, my posting in the near future may become a bit sparse due to secrecy and connectivity issues, but I promise to send out some updates on my at-sea training efforts and to keep track of ya'll's progress as well.

Thanks for the help with the upcoming relay - please keep the advice coming!