Monthly Totals - February 2011

SWIM
Time - 8:54:42
Meters - 19,850
Avg Pace - 0:01.6 / meter

BIKE
Time - 24:48:32
Miles - 389.39
Avg Pace - 03:49 / mile

RUN
Time - 11:45:58
Miles - 64.66
Avg Pace - 10:55 / mile

STRENGTH
Time - 4:00:00

EVENTS
Tour de Palm Springs Century Ride
Projected - 7:00:00     Actual - 6:18:43

Very pleased with this effort. My time was significantly better than my effort last year in Las Vegas and well ahead of projection. I managed to do this with my body coming through the effort in reasonably good shape. While I did have some cramping in the last part of the ride, it was no where near as severe as Las Vegas and didn't start until 25 miles later. If I can say this without sounding terrible, I am expecting these kinds of large improvements at this point in my fitness curve. Actually, I am counting on them if I am going to achieve my goals in the Ironman.

REVIEW
Overall it was a good month. I am using 2010 as a benchmark for this year. I began working with Coach Cyndee in the middle of January and I did track my numbers for the entirety of 2010. If people want to see those numbers, please comment to that effect and I will post them. The same is true of previous race performances.

My volume is up against the same month in 2010 and I was pleased with the Century ride, especially after being sick during the last build phase before the race. Weight has been an issue, but I received some wonderful comments this last month on this Blog and I will be formulating a strict plan on that front this week. I expect to see real improvement this month. I believe that dropping weight this year is not only critical to my health, but also toward a successful performance at Ironman Arizona.

My other criticism of myself in February is that I did not feel like I got the proper intesity level in many of the workouts. That is something that I plan to work on in this coming month as well.

Having said all that, I can definately see improvement in my overall fitness. Things are moving in the right direction and I believe in the program that Coach Cyndee has me following.