It’s almost remarkable to comprehend, but in the course of what felt like a few days, I’ve worked myself through the first major block of training for the 2007 season. Two weeks of preparation started things out, where I carefully blew the dust from the cover of my book of sport, shook the cobwebs off the machinery of me, and burrowed myself out from underneath the heavy blankets of down-time that concluded my 2006 racing season. During those two weeks, I ramped myself up to about 12 hours of exercise per week, split pretty evenly over the swim, the bike, the run, and the weights. Twelve hours is more than many put in, even during the throngs of race season… But that’s me. From there, it was straight into my first block of Base training. This year, with a pure focus on the Iron-length course, I built my plan around five, four-week blocks of Base training, essentially following a pretty standard periodization model. The core breakdown between Base and Build periods (in duration and timing) this year isn’t all that dissimilar to what I did last year as I entered into a season which targeted two half-Iron distance races, but this year there are a number of more subtle differences in the focus of my key workouts throughout these Base blocks.

Anyways, after the two weeks of preparation and preliminary adaptation to full-on structured training, I began the first four-week Base block which took me from 12 hours of volume per week, up to about 15 hours before beginning a week of recovery – this week – of about 10 hours. So… Inquiring minds want to know… How do I feel?

Fantastic, and stronger than ever. Over the course of the past five weeks, I’ve built my long runs back up to around about an hour and a half, my long bike back to the neighborhood of two and a half hours, and my long swim to over 70 minutes. For every swim workout, there’s been a weights workout, with plenty of focus on upper body and core, just as with every bike workout, there’s been a follow-on, or preceding run to keep those transition legs. This past week, the heaviest week of my first block of training, gave me a 3–hour swim/run/weights workout, a 3–hour run-bike workout, and a stellar 3–hour bike-run workout amongst the rest of the week’s targeted exercise sessions. To be racking up the volume, to be feeling so strong for this time of year, mentally and physically… It’s just a wonderful thing.

On the subject of time - I can’t count the number of times in my life I’ve been asked where I find the time to train. But in all reality, it’s never really been about finding the time, rather, it’s forever been about having the motivation… The determination. In school, my friends with whom I’d train and race with were always amazed at the enthusiasm I’d display for the simple act of exercising with a focused purpose. Peers, co-workers, family… So many have always just tossed their hands up, just finally accepting the simplest of answers: “it’s just Joe”. The truth is, I’ve just always loved doing the things that so many people choose not to do… Not in the broad view; I don’t race triathlons because people often choose not to… No. What I mean is, if it’s raining outside, if it’s inclement… I’ll train through it. If it’s a tough week, and I’m short on time, I thrive on “making it work” and getting all the pieces to fit. Prioritizing, shuffling, and re-stacking things to get it done, and to make me that much stronger. Reveling in the fact that if it’s 20 degrees and sleeting outside or five in the morning, every footstep, pedal circle or swim stroke that I take as part of a workout, will make me that much stronger than my competition who chose not to train that day. Often times (acknowledged: not always), the “constraints” of the days, weeks, and months that make up our lives, are self-imposed… And it’s never really a question of finding the time, but a task of keeping the determination aflame.

Heading into the holidays now, it’s one of my favorite times for reflection - and although I’ve often suggested that the New Year begins at the start of your annual training program, we all know in reality that this is the time of year to be wrapping things up (so to speak), taking a mental inventory of things accomplished and things left to do in our lives, and simply basking in the comfort of our existence. Because every day is all that we make of it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Thanks for reading.