A Triathlete's Journal

new moon

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:26:00 +0000

After 3 months off from triathlon, I think I'm finally ready to start back up. To say I was burned out from triathlons is a complete understatement. I didn't read, write or watch anything even remotely related to triathlons for most of the 3 months. I was so burned out that I almost sold my bike. I listed the bike on Craigslist, had a buyer lined up and I backed out at the last minute. Just couldn't do it. I couldn't sell the bike because I knew once I did that would be it. It would be years before I could talk my wife into letting me drop a couple of grand on a new bike.

What have I done for the last 3 months? Nothing too structured just tried to stay in decent shape. I lifted weights a lot and ran anywhere from 10-30 miles a week. I've probably worked out 5-7 hours a week and honestly it's been enjoyable to not have to schedule my life around workouts.

So what's next. IM is still out of the question at least for the next few years. Just don't have the time plus I think my wife would file for divorce if I signed up for an IM right now. I think for 2010 I'm just going to focus on Sprint & Olympic distance racing and just having fun.

I'm glad to be back. It's going to take me awhile to rebuild on the swim and the bike but I'm looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to getting back in touch with some of my tri buddies.

The End.... of Ironman

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:42:00 +0000

I did a lot of soul searching this past weekend and after a painful run on Sunday, I made the decision to pull of of IM Florida. It's still quite painful when I run and the Achilles needs some dedicated time off to heal up and unfortunately I'm out of "slack" time in my training schedule. So, it is what it is and I have to be smart and listen to my body and back off. Initially, I thought I could just tough it out and truth be told if this would have happened last year prior to AZ I probably would have toughed it out but I'm in a different place right now and with 3 kids the last thing my wife needs right now is a 4th kid that's hobbling around on crutches because he let his ego make all of his critical decisions. It's funny, because 3 weeks ago when I saw the podiatrist and he told me I would be out 2-3 weeks I was crushed but now I almost feel relieved. It's going to be strange not waking up at 4am on Saturday and Sunday to ride all morning.

So what's next? This was my last opportunity (at least for a few years) to do another Ironman. For whatever reason, perhaps the injury, I'm feeling a tremendous amount of burnout on the whole triathlon thing so I'll probably take a few weeks off/possibly a month and switch back over to lifting weights and possibly just focus on non competitive marathon training to stay in shape. I'm also planning on enrolling at a local Takewondo school with the goal of getting a black belt. I'll need something to fill the hole of IM :)...

Anyway, the purpose of this blog was to track my training for IM Florida so since I'm not doing that anymore this will be my last blog entry. I appreciate everyone's support during my IM Journey.

Thanks,

Put me in coach, I can do it....

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I went back to the podiatrist late last week and he gave me the green light to continue training. Since then I've had a pretty large training load (making up for lost time) and the Achilles is holding up okay. It still gets sore after running and long bike rides, so I don't think I'm quite out of the woods yet. I think this is going to be a nagging injury all the way through Florida and its going to require a lot of preventative maintenance type of stuff, like constant icing, etc which I SUCK at... My wife's chiropractor is an IM guy and he told her that he could help me so I'm going to go and see him later this week to see what voodoo magic he can do.

Other than that, things are going well. I've been like a caged tiger for the past few weeks so my motivation is high and I'm ready and willing to train, I just need my body to hold up for 11 more weeks. Wish me luck...

Achilles tendonosis

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Went to the podiatrist today and apparently I have "Achilles tendonosis". My Achilles has just not healed up the way I had expected/hoped. I've laid off from running but have continued cycling and swimming. Well, today I received some bad news of no running/cycling for at least one week and possibly more. The doctor thinks it will take 2-3 weeks of no activity to heal but I'm being optimistic and hoping it's better one week from now. So, I'm waddling around in an aircast for at least the next week.

This is new territory for me. I've been pretty fortunate the last 3 years in the sense that I haven't had any significant injuries/sicknesses that have resulted in significant time off from "tri" training. I've always at least been able to Run or Bike.

Not sure what this does for Florida. When he initially told me 2-3 weeks I was pretty upset because there is no way I can go for 4 weeks of not running and expect to meet my goals at IM Florida and that's the thing, I'm not willing to go to Florida knowing my fitness level will just get me across the finish line. I've done that with Arizona and I want more this go around. I want to push and see what I'm capable of and just crossing the finish line is not going to cut it this time around.

Doctor's appointment is 1 week from now. In the meantime, I'm going to follow his direction stay off the bike, no running but I'm going to swim my butt off for the next 7 days/lift weights and keep my fingers crossed that this works out.

little banged up right now

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:18:00 +0000

My Achilles tendon is still causing me issues. I laid off of running most of the week then tried again on Friday and it was very painful. I went to Run On today to see what types of wraps/suggestion they may have and of course I walked out of there with a very expensive new pair of shoes that are going to solve all my running problems :)...

Somehow during my bike ride on Saturday I managed to get some of the worst chaffing in some of the most uncomfortable areas you could imagine. Not sure what happened here, same shorts, same shirt, same everything but for whatever reason my skin did not like the clothing I had on that day. The chaffing was so bad that I could not even put on my cycling kit this am, thus no cycling today.

I've decided to write this past week off and pretty much treat it as a recovery week and try again next week. I missed a key run session and a secondary bike and that frustrates me to no end. I'm 12 weeks out from IM Florida and mentally I'm there. My motivation is high, I want to workout, I'm ready to do what I've got to do to meet my goals at Florida but unfortunately my body is not cooperating right now. I'm hoping I heal up quick so I can get back to it next week.

On the family side, the boys setup a lemonade stand at the end of our culdesac yesterday and within 1 hour they made $27. Not too bad for one hour of work. I'm going to talk to them about making this a daily "job" and donating their money to Dad's triathlon fund so I can pick up some race wheels prior to Florida :).

Training Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Got a little injury. My Achilles is acting up and I haven't been able to run for the past 2 days and I'm actually missing it. I've been pretty fortunate for the past 2 months in terms of injury so it was my time for an injury. I hope this injury heals up quick so I can get back to it.

Training is going pretty good. No real complaints. I'm a little concerned about the swim volume on my training plan. It's pretty low compared to what I did for IM AZ and compared to other training plan. I'm probably going to make some adjustments to crank that up within the next week or two. I feel pretty confident about the direction of the running and the cycling.

Not much else to report. Kids start back to school on August 24th and then baseball and soccer start up again so the after school activity vacation is almost over. I enjoy their practices and the games. I just have to remind myself that they are only 7 and 4 and that I'm not playing :)...

back to the grind

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Vacation is over and it's back to the grind tomorrow. I had a great time and so did the kids. Gulf Shores is one of my absolute favorite places to vacation. It was also a pretty good training location. Lot's of scenic rides and good places to run. The weather was pretty good. Not too hot but it was very humid and windy at times.

Last week was a recovery week on the training schedule so I had minimal running and swimming but lots of cycling. Training plan cranks back up this week and I feel good both mentally and physically. I made some pretty drastic changes to my training plan about a month ago and switched back over to the Endurance Nation training plan/methodology. Their programs and philosophy makes sense to me and they have a lot of "resources" for the self coached athlete. Anyway, the cycling workouts in EN plans are hard, much harder then anything I have done in the past. If I'm going to make any breakthroughs with my IM Time it will be on the bike so hopefully this hard cycling training will pay off.

I'm attaching a couple of pics from the Skyscraper swing at the "Track" in Gulf Shores. We initially went here to ride go-karts, etc but when we pulled up we saw the swing and I jokingly asked my oldest son (Age 7) if he wanted to do it and to my astonishment he said yes. Well, let me just say that thing was scary and I'm real proud of him for doing it. I may have a future X-Game participant on my hands.

vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:29:00 +0000

I'm on a 10 day vacation and loving life. Jennifer and I started off the vacation with a night in New Orleans at the Royal Sonesta with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. We enjoyed the evening and pretended like we were in college again. That night had some impact on the IM training schedule but hey you have to cut loose every now and then.

I'm currently in Gulf Shores, Alabama being a beach bum. I have stayed on track with the training and there are some great places to ride and run in this area. Very flat, humid and windy. I'm assuming very similar to the conditions at IM Florida. Kids are having a great time. We boogie boarded all day today and had some great waves in the 4'-6' range. I hope the ocean is calm on race day because I'm not convinced I could swim 2.4 miles in those type of conditions.

Not much else to report. Just enjoying the time off.

it's hot..

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:56:00 +0000

The heat has been kicking my butt. My nutrition/hydration plan seems to be a bit off because I consistently get "tight legs" around the 60 mile mark. I'm going to do a little research this week and try and take a different approach for next week's long ride and to do a little more work on my heat acclimatization.

Training front is going okay. I've made SIGNIFICANT changes to my training plan for Florida, mainly to aid in the recovery. I'm getting older and I don't heal the way I use to :) This was my first week with the new schedule/workouts and it went well. Hopefully I'll keep things going and stay focused for Florida.

It's been a lazy summer here at the Coco house. It's been so hot that it's been hard to do anything outside that doesn't involve a swimming pool. We are going on vacation from July 22nd - 31st. We will be heading back to Louisiana for a few days and then to Gulf Shores, Alabama. While in Gulf Shores I'm going to go to "surf school". I'm really excited because it's something I've always wanted to try out. Hopefully we will have decent waves while I'm there.

Not much else to report. Just looking forward to vacation and getting out of DFW for a few days.

A little time off...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:39:00 +0000

This week was scheduled as a recovery week and it couldn't have come at a better time. The previous week was no so great. I was tired, legs were beat and had to call a friend to come pick me up at sonic in celina because I bonked on a bike ride. My motivation and desire have been at an all time low. The bonk was particularly disturbing because I could have finished the bike ride I just chose not to finish.

I've spoken with a few good friends, got some good advice and also some straight talk (thanks Ryan). I decided to reduce my recovery training load this week and just take some time away from triathlon to figure things out and see if I can identify the issues and make the necessary changes to right the ship. The Ironman is a huge commitment and it can be a little overwhelming at times with everything else those goes on in your life. So... I'm in the process of making changes. I should have everything finalized by next week and will hopefully be ready to get the work in and get this Ironman going.

My wife and 2 older boys are in College Station this weekend so I'm at home with the baby. No PlayTri race this weekend which is fine as I don't get to spend much alone time with the baby and I'm really enjoying our alone time. We've got a big weekend planned. Today we hit Wal Mart, did a session of P90X and we might go swimming in a bit. Tomorrow we are going to hit the carousel at the Mall and go by REI to do a little window shopping.

That's it for now, best of luck to JT at Playtri. Go Seabiscuit.....

almost grinding...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:32:00 +0000

One of my favorite shows, is the The Deadliest Catch. The fisherman commonly use a term called grinding as they are going through 20 hour days trying to catch crabs (that didn't sound quite right). I'm not grinding quite yet on the training plan but I'm getting closer to it. I've got a 100 mile ride scheduled this weekend and I would expect that will be the norm from this point forward. I say bring it on, this is the time where you earn it.

Health wise, body is feeling pretty good except for a head cold that kept me out of work on Tuesday. My house is like a germ factory. At any given time at least one of us is sick so it's a daily roll of the dice to see if I'm going to pick up something.

I'm starting to feel confident on the bike again. The biggest part of the confidence is just remembering how to cycle smart. Pushing the correct gears, not trying to over power everything. Pacing over long distances. I've had 2 very painful rides this month that have reminded of my capabilities and my limits....

Still waiting on approval from my life manager (jennifer) to sign up for the playtri olympic distance race. The past few Saturdays Jennifer has had to "run" late in the day because of my long bike rides. I think Jennifer is starting to dislike Ironman training again :)..

Finally, I had several friends participate in IMCDA last weekend and it always gets me pumped to see friends do well in their Ironmans. All I can say is the bar has been set high for bragging rights. Congrats to Raul, Rodney, Trent & Kevin. Great Job!!!

Crank it up

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:52:00 +0000

My training plan is starting to crank up. I've got an 80 mile bike ride schedule this weekend and 100 next weekend, so the light volume weeks are just about over and it's time to "put in the work".

This training cycle for Florida feels so much different then the training for Arizona. I have a new coach, with new philosophies but it's also my attitude towards the race. Previously, I was sky high about the challenge of the Ironman; now I'm still excited but I also know that I've got a lot of work to do to be successful. I've read before that the second Ironman is the toughest because the "excitement" and the "challenge" are just the not the same as they were for the first, and I can say from my standpoint it's true. I'm currently not as motivated as I was for Arizona but hopefully that will change over the next couple of months.

On the family front, we are starting to settle into our summer routine. We just wrapped up baseball and currently have no extra curricular activities which is kind of nice so I'm hoping to make more of the group workouts over the next few weeks. The kids are having a good summer. We took them to Turner Falls on Sunday and they had a ball. Turner Falls is an interesting place because it's a complete throwback. They have a natural swim area with a diving board and a slide from a 10 foot cliff and a lot of slippery rocks and steep trails from the waterfall. In other words it's kind of dangerous and I'm really surprised they don't have you sign all kind of waivers prior to entry, but for 3 little boys it's an absolute playground and Dad likes it as well.

That's it for now, I'm going to sign up for PlayTri Olympic Distance race on July 5th. It's time to see where I'm at.....

Kind of Tired...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Had a fun/painful ride in ardmore on Saturday. In fact the pain of the ride carried over to Sunday which in turn caused my long run for the week to be quite painful as well... So I say thanks to Team Seabiscuit for kicking my butt all over Ardmore, OK. These types of rides are always quite humbling and it's a reminder that there's a lot of work to do. We ended up climbing around 5000 feet that day which is certainly the most I had ever done. I'm hoping this can become a monthly ride....

I was in Wenatchee, WA Sunday-Tuesday and I can honestly say I love that area. It's absolutely beautiful, unspoiled/undiscovered area and they have Cajuns there. What else could you ask for, Mountains, Great Weather and Cajuns. I felt like I was back home in Louisiana. I am however quite tired. The traveling and trying to squeeze in workouts at 9pm at night, eating crap have caught up with me. I decided to take today off from working out to try and recoup. I need to become smarter with my training. I've been trying to force workouts here recently and it's caught up with me (and my coach gave me a good talking to).

I'm having a little trouble with the "breathing" again so I went back to the asthma doctor and got some new medicine, so we will give this a shot and see if helps. Apparently you have to take this medicine consistently not just when you feel like it if you want it to work.

Family is back and I'm glad. I think the kids actually missed me, especially the baby..... Looking forward to the rest of the week.

Long Week...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:24:00 +0000

It's been a long week and I'm anxious for the weekend. I got tied up at work and missed my tempo run and some drills on the bike but other then that I'm staying on top of the workouts. In fact, I'm obsessing again with hitting everything on the training schedule which is good and bad. When I get in that mode it's hard to listen to the body and shut things down when I need to. The volume will start to pick up over the next few weeks and I feel like I'm mentally and physically ready for it.

Jennifer and the kids are in Baton Rouge for a few days so I'm a bachelor this weekend. I miss them, but I'm also going to enjoy my "free" time. I'm heading back to Ardmore tomorrow for a 70 mile bike ride with the Team Seabiscuit crew. These are the type of friends that 1o minutes into the workout you wished they wouldn't have shown up because they are already pushing the pace and kicking your butt!!! Should be painful but fun. Ardmore is really a great place to ride and it's a nice change of scenery from the McKinney area.

I've gotten a little lazy with the blog and I'm going to blame that on twitter. I did however promise my mother-in-law (my most loyal reader) that I would continue to update the blog.

Let me take the opportunity to congratulate my brother from another mother Ryan Brasher on completing his first triathlon. In fact in his first triathlon he placed 3rd in his age group. Who does that!!! This guy will be a beast once he gets the bike down.

That's all for now, at this time tomorrow I'll be in a lot of pain thanks to my good friends from Team Seabiscuit.....

San Antonio

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:20:00 +0000

I took off most of last week to head down to San Antonio to see my brother graduate from Air Force Basic Training. Week was well planned out. Drive down on Wednesday, Sea World on Thursday, Graduation on Friday. During that time frame I had mapped out all of my workouts in SA area and was ready to roll and stay on track.

We made it to Sea World on Thursday and Open/Closed the place with 3 kids. Everyone had a great time no major blowups from kids or parents. We ate dinner that night at Buffalo Wild Wings and then Friday morning hit. I woke up around 4am and knew something wasn't quite right and by 5:00am I was throwing up. 645am rolled around I thought I was feeling better so I attempted to go to the graduation ceremony. We finally got on base around 7:30 and I threw up again in the parking lot. Being the Ironman that I am, I figured I could just tough it out. This will be great training for the IM Marathon. I'll save you all of the gory details but I made it to the ceremony but didn't get to see it. I was really disappointed because that's a special moment for a soldier after he completes graduation and gets to see his family but I was in no condition to talk/visit. All in all I probably saw my brother for 10-15 minutes the whole weekend but I promised him I would make it up to him this summer when we go visit him in Pensacola. My webmd degree tells me I had food poisoning.

Last week was somewhat of a wasted workout week but hopefully I'll be able to make up some ground this week and pick up where I left off. My training plan has this marked as a recovery week but I'm going to talk to Coach and see if we want to adjust based on last week since I barely did anything.

I'm feeling the itch to race in a 5K/10K/Sprint race. I'm going to check the local calendars and see what's coming up....

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Things are rolling and I'm getting in a pretty good routine. The workouts are fun and challenging and I'm enjoying things right now. Volume is minimal but the group workouts (track, interval bike, tempo run) are pretty intense and they are back to back to back, so by Friday I'm pretty tired but by the time the weekend rolls around I'm typically recovered and ready to roll.

This past weekend I drove up to Ardmore to ride in the Arbuckle Mountains (hills). The official ride of 70 miles was rained out but we stuck around until the rain lifted and rode about 30 miles mainly the hilly sections. The route is scenic and hilly and just all around awesome route. I'm going to go back with some of the old seabiscuit gang in early June. I'm hoping to make this a monthly ride, it's only an hour and half from McKinney and a nice little get away.

The training this week will be cut short a bit. I'm heading to San Antonio on Wednesday to take the kids to Seaworld and to see my younger brother graduate from Air Force Basic Training. Also, my sister (who I haven't seen in 2 years) is flying to Dallas tomorrow night and will drive to San Antonio with us. Coco Family Reunion, look out San Antonio....

It's way past my bedtime but I'm hooked on Michael Irving's "4th and long", I'm thinking Steven the DB is going to be the first one cut....

Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Inspiration is a funny thing. Sometimes, it watching movies like Rudy, Friday Night Lights, Rocky... Last year I spent countless hours scouring youtube looking for triathlon clips. I can't even tell you how many times I've watched videos on the Hoyts and Jon Blais. Those youtube clips got me out of bed many of mornings.

I found inspiration somewhere else on Saturday. I was riding on 289 (Preston Road) up in Grayson County when I ran across another cyclist. It was relatively early because we both had our bike lights on. As he got closer I recognized the guy. He is a friend of a friend and I've ridden with him a few times. His name is Kevin and he is currently training for his first Ironman, Coeur D'lane (sp?). So we stopped and chatted for a few minutes. He is currently in the hardest part of his training plan. 6-7 hour bike rides, back to back on the weekends, type of thing. Well to complicate things further Kevin's wife is pregnant and due in 1 week. Kevin had been on the road since 4am riding all over Collin and Grayson County. When I saw him he could barely turn his head because his neck hurt so bad from being in the aero position.

I think the reason I found this so inspiring is because you meet a lot of interesting people in this sport. People at different stages of life, different time commitments, etc. But the thing that always amazes me, is the level of hardship/sacrifice that people are willing to go through to finish an Ironman. In Kevin's case, he's got so many competing priorities - kids, wife, job, ironman, but he recognizes that and does what he has to do to try and balance it (ie Cycling at 4am) so that he can be a good dad, be a good husband and at the same time chase his Ironman. I think this type of effort/dedication is what makes the Ironman so special for so many folks and allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things...

_________

On the training front things are going pretty good. I just got over my bi-monthly calf injury and am starting to run again. The calf is just something I've got to learn to manage better. I know I've got issues with it and I have to get in the groove of preventative maintenance with it. This includes a lot of stretching, icing, etc... My coach educated me on the compression socks and I'm going to give that a shot to see if it helps.

Other than that, cycling and swimming are coming along. I made it back to the weekly Negative Split Interval Ride and that was a beat down. I've lost a lot of "power" since last year but it will come back as my cycling gets more consistent. Swimming is going okay, I'm consistently in the pool and I can honestly say that I don't hate it. I'm heading up to Ardmore, OK on Saturday to do a 70 mile ride in the Ardmore hills. I'm really looking forward to it. The largest hill I have ever ridden on is the Windhaven Hill in Plano so this should be an interesting experience. So no complaints, I'm having fun and enjoying this initial stage of training... Ask me again in a few months and you might get a different answer.

Here we go...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:34:00 +0000

Got back from San Jose, CA on Friday night. I was there for work all week, so my workouts were not so great. I mainly just ran, did P90x a few times, ate and ate again... I missed my bike and San Jose/San Francisco area has so many great places to ride. We drove up to San Francisco one evening and I was amazed at all of the people on the bikes and the great places they had to ride. Bike paths, bike lanes and plenty of quad busting hills. People even cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. I may be spending a lot of time in San Jose over the next year and if I do I'm bringing my bike.

Ironman training officially started this weekend. I'm still a little worn out from all of the travel last week but I'm motivated to get into a routine and be consistent. I'm proud to report that I skipped a crawfish boil on Saturday to get my bike ride in. For a guy who is a Louisiana native and loves crawfish that was not an easy decision. So perhaps my motivation and will is coming back.

I did a legit swim workout today. This is first decent swim workout I have done in a while. Needless to say I've got a lot of work to do in the pool.

Just checked my schedule from my coach. Looks like I've got a full week of workouts. Nothing crazy just consistent workouts. I think the biggest adjustment will just be making myself go to the pool. I need to learn to "like" the pool again. :)

I'm still on Pacific time right now. Can't seem to go to sleep at a decent time and/or wake up. That has to change tomorrow. Not much to report this week. Things should pick up this upcoming week...

Vacation is almost over....

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:07:00 +0000

I've got 4 days before IM training officially starts. JT and I started a bike ride at 5am this morning got a few miles down the road and it started raining so we bagged the ride. It wasn't raining hard but I just didn't feel like it was necessary to be hardcore yet. Plus I had to leave the house at 10am to catch a flight and I wanted to spend a bit more time with the family, so it worked out. But after May1st that workout has to get done...

I was a little under the weather at the beginning of the week. I haven't been eating/resting as well as I should and that's something I've got to get under control. I've been sick too much over the last 2-3 weeks. My "sickness" delayed my HR test but I finally got them done towards the tail end of the week. The tests are actually pretty tough workouts. The results were interesting. As I expected my run & bike Lactate Threshold is pretty high so consequently my HR zones are very high as compared to most. I'm glad that I finally got this "professionally" done and it confirmed what my "raw" test had indicated in the past. When I first got a heart rate monitor I would do the 220- your age thing and try to establish the zones. I could barely jog before I was in zone 3. Anyway, I feel the zones will help me train smarter this year and hopefully produce better results.

I'm in San Jose this week for work so I'll mainly run and do P90x. I'm hoping to get out tomorrow and scope the area for good run routes and maybe find a pool...

Not to much on tap this week workout wise, just enjoying my last few days of triathlon vacation...

The calm before the storm...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:21:00 +0000

I officially start Ironman Training on May 1st. I've hired Gerald Jackson of www.negativesplitracing.com to be my coach. I'm excited about getting the training started but I'm also enjoying the "in between" time of not feeling the pressure to get out and ride my bike for 5-6 hours at a time. I stated in a previous entry that my first Ironman was just about finishing and my training plan was structured that way. Essentially, I lived on the bike and 97% of the bike rides were LSD types of rides. Just grinding miles out, trying to build an engine that could travel 140.6 miles (yes, it was a slow engine) This go around has a time goal associated with it, thus the training will be taken up a notch or two. My main focus right now, is getting my mind & body prepared for the training and getting back in the mode of organizing/streamlining the other aspects of my life. Organization is key for me, in order to put in the required training. I'm excited about the journey but not quite ready to flip the switch to IM training mode. I've got 11 days to get ready!!!

This past week, I went back to the track and did a tempo workout with the Negative Split group. Got my butt handed to me. I told Gerald that I'm not in Negative Split Shape yet. I also got in the pool 3 times, but only rode once (45 miles). I've been hitting the weights pretty hard the past 2 weeks trying to rebuild some strength/muscle that I had lost. Once I start IM training I'll probably only lift 1-2 per week and it will be very specific lifts.

This week, I've got HR test planned for both the bike and the run. This will be my first official test. I've done the LTHR method and traditionally my HR zones are VERY high so I'm curious to see how this plays out. I'll also pick up the biking and running a bit. I'm going to try and get 110-120 miles on the bike, 20-25 miles on the run and then 6-7K of swimming. Should be a fun week...

Ironman Florida -

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:47:00 +0000

I had a nice recovery week. Didn't do to much. I swam once, biked once and ran once and they were all low key efforts. I mainly focused on recovery and recharging the batteries. As a result I'm feeling pretty good right now and ready to start planning/training for my next A priority race (Ironman Florida).

After much negotiation, my wife has signed off on me hiring a coach. I was initially going to fly solo but I think my best opportunity for success at this stage in my triathlon career involves a coach. I should have that complete later this week. My official training for Florida will probably start around May 1st. In the meantime, I'm going to do some group workouts with the negative split racing group for the next few weeks and ride with Tidwell on the weekends.

This next dance with the Ironman is going to be a bit different. Ironman Arizona was all about finishing. Florida is of course about finishing but it will also have a time goal attached to it. It should be a lot of fun. I'll have a lot of family there and we can hopefully turn it into a mini-vacation after the race.

So, I think I'm ready. I've got 2 weeks to find the Eye of the Tiger....

Pics from New Orleans....

IM New Orleans 70.3 - Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:03:00 +0000

I have had 7 hours in the car with 3 kids to think about this so here goes...

The venue itself was great. It was exciting to be in New Orleans and the course covered interesting parts of the city. You could definitely see the effects of Katrina throughout the city. Abandoned homes, boats in trees, jacked up streets but at the same time you saw progress. I talked to several native New Orleanians and the tri community in that area was very excited to have a 70.3 race in their backyard. In fact this was the first race that was held on UNO side of the lake since Katrina. The locals indicated that people were coming out of the woodwork for this race which explains why this was one of the largest 70.3's ever. So I'm glad I was part of the inaugural race and I made a nice financial contribution to the city over the past weekend :)

As far as my race goes, I would sum it up as plenty of effort but poor execution of loose race plan.

The swim was interesting. I was anxious before the start of the swim because quite frankly I haven't swam a lot in the past 3 months and the swim was in Lake Pontchartrain which is not exactly the cleanest lake to swim in. (I should probably be on antibiotics right now) The swim was okay but I was a bit tired towards the end and I swallowed a lot of the water and all I could think of the whole time is I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick... but I didn't and I came out of the water around 34 minutes.

When I started the bike my HR was sky high... I should have backed off and let it get back to normal but I just kept going and it took a good 30-35 minutes before my HR got to where I wanted it to be. The bike was pancake flat except a few overpasses but it was windy. Not unbearable windy but around the 15-17 mph mark so it was a factor. The route went around the lake and then it crossed over into some marshland. I made 2 significant mistakes on the bike. First I never really followed my nutrition/hydration plan and I made a tactical error around mile 35. I knew there would be a strong head wind from mile 35-45 but I thought there would be a nice tailwind from 45 on so I decided that I would push from 35-45 and then rest from 45 on so I would be nice and refreshed for the run. Well mile 45-47 did have a tailwind but 47-56 had a nice headwind and I continued to push because I wanted a decent bike split. This 47-56 section of the bike sealed my fate on the run. I ended up with a 2:41 bike split.

The run sucked from the very beginning. I was hurting from the start and I never really got my running legs. I was on about a 9:00 pace up until mile 10 and then I really started to hurt and had to slow down significantly. Despite the fact that I was in pain, the run course was my favorite part. It went through some great parts of New Orleans and it was very scenic and quite shady except for the first 6 miles on the lake. The actual running part sucked and I ended with a 2:04 run split.

Before the race I predicted a 5:20-5:30 time and I ended up with a 5:27. I think I could have hit 5:15-5:17 if I had executed correctly. Could of, should of, would of...

This was my first significant race in a year and it was a good measuring stick to determine my current fitness levels and it was a painful reminder of why nutrition and pacing are so important but I had a great time and this is really a great race. I'll definitely be back for 2010 race.

Let me take this opportunity to thank my in-laws (Ron & Martha) and sister-in-law (Julie) for coming out to the race and helping Jennifer with the kids and cheering me on. It was great having you there and I appreciate your hospitality and patience over the past 3 days... Looking forward to Gulf Shores :)

it's almost here..

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Weekend is right around the corner and I'm ready to just get things going and get this party started. I really have no clue how I'll perform this weekend. My training plan has been pretty low key the past 1.5 weeks and I'm feeling pretty healthy. Breathing is good right now, calf is little tight but very manageable so we will shall see. I just looked at the weather for New Orleans area and it is currently calling for 70% chance of rain. That would suck....

I'm a little concerned right now because I am without my bike. It's currently at a bike shop getting ready for the show; however, my bike is not at my normal shop (plano cycle) because they were all booked up so I brought it to performance bike. I've bought a lot of nutritional products at performance over the years but have never used their service department so I'm a little anxious. Probably should have planned for this.

I'm currently working through my race strategy for Sunday. I'm not in good enough shape to just go for it, so I'll probably hold back most of the race until about mile 6 of the run and then I'll just let it fly. I have a history of blowing it out on the bike and then severely suffering on the run so hopefully I'll keep it together during the race and not get caught up trying to beat/keep up with others around me. Keep the ego in check on the bike. That's my motto for the day.

Got a few last minute things to pick up tomorrow and then pack and then we head to God's country on Thursday morning...

weather

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:39:00 +0000

Just looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow morning. Temps should be right around 32 with 25 mph winds and a chance of snow. I think I'll be on my trainer tomorrow. Only in Texas can you be in shorts one day and snow clothes the next...

Week has been pretty low key. The workouts have been easier and not as long, and I'm not complaining. For some reason I've been paranoid about my lack of swimming so I've been in the pool for 3 days straight. I guess that will make up for all my missed swim sessions over the last 4 months.

Tomorrow is Ben's birthday (turning 7) and I'm taking him, 2 friends and Reed to the Great Wolfe Lodge for his birthday party. Kids are growing up so fast. Couple of more years and they won't have time for Dad anymore. Gotta enjoy the time while Dad is still an okay dude.

Still very excited about next weekend. Looking forward to going back to God's country (Louisiana)... Might have to eat some Crawfish after the race.

things are getting better...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Coco) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:24:00 +0000

Week started out rough, but it gradually got better. I ended the week with 4 solid days of workouts. I did a larger brick on Saturday (56 mile bike, 6 mile run) and I felt really good. My training plan, is slowing down and the hours (specifically the running) are reducing. For the week I ended up with:

Cycling - 6:05
Running - 2:49
Swimming - 2:00
Weights - 00:30

I hit all of my "plan" workouts for the week but I feel as though I should be doing so much more to catch up on all of the "missed" work over the past couple of weeks...

Lot of family stuff going on this past week (Six Flags on Wednesday, Camping on Saturday) Six Flags was nuts and that's a workout in itself fighting the crowd and hauling the kids around the park but it was fun and I'm happy to report that we conquered the shockwave. Camping was also a lot of fun but that wore me out. I got a total of 3 hours of sleep last night which included Reed throwing up on me at 1:00am in the morning. Reed ate an entire bag of cheetos (big bag) by himself and that's what he threw up. :) Super Dad should probably regulate the snacks next time we go camping. I'm always amazed at how much fun the kids have when we do simple things like camping. I forget how much fun it is for little boys to play with worms, try to catch fish and to tell ghost stories.

I'm officially 2 weeks out from New Orleans and I'm getting excited to head home and see family and to actually "compete" in something. It will also be interesting to see how New Orleans is recovering from the hurricane.

It's 7:15pm in McKinney, Tx and I'm going to bed. The kids have officially beat Dad down this weekend :)