New trainer, new attitude

So I had been training for about a year with Felix Hinojosa, well-known and respected local coach. He started me out and I liked the way he brought me along - pushed enough to make progress, but not so hard that I got discouraged and crapped out. Had some complaints because it seemed like I dropped off his radar at times and that I very rarely got any one-on-me attention.

So I was in an airport in Albuquerque and ran into a lawyer whose wife is local triathlete legend Gretchen McElroy. He told me she was getting into the training business. I thought I'd see what a new coach might be like so we went to lunch. She agreed to look at my weekly workout schedule from Felix and give me some feedback. She also asked what my weakest sport was - no question, I freaking hate swimming!

Got Gretchen's feedback on my sked. The feedback was I'm a big ole tampon and not working nearly hard enough. Gretchen says she wants "quality not quantity" and proceeded to jack up my "quality" to unheard of levels. My quality swims with Felix? 1000 yards of drills twice a week. My first week of quality swims with Gretchen? Swim 5 times a freaking week for a total of 6300 (!) yards. Things changed.

I'm guardedly optimistic on the one-on-me front, because she's been out with me on the bike three times and once on the swim in the last 3 weeks of training. Swim doesn't count b/c I just ran into her at the pool but while there did a lot of good. She made 3 small changes and dropped my 100 yard time by 15 seconds. Unheard of! Mind you, this was on the first day. So I'm a little stoked!

Then came the hard part - how do I tell Felix? I kid you not when I say that I was scared. When you invest that much time in someone, in each other, it's almost like breaking up with a girlfriend. I even went so far as to ask the advice of others, which is pretty rare for me in itself in all my pig-headed stubbornness. Eventually I chickened out and sent a text. The response? Congratulations! Almost like I had graduated. Very cool.

Official snazzy triathlon bike

I finally convinced myself to invest in a time trial bike. For those of you who aren't tri nerds, a time trial bike has different geometric angles that allow the rider to get more aerodynamic by getting more vertical over the handlebars (or cockpit and aerobars, in tri-nerd speak).  When I first started training for tri's I immediately bought a Cannondale Synapse, 59 cm, carbon fiber bike. This was the first bike I tried. I got it on the advice of Rob who owns Crazy Cat Cyclery here in El Paso, a personal friend and extremely nice guy who is fair and honest in all his dealings (a pleasant surprise in what is increasingly a business owner friendly climate).  It was the only bike I tried out and I think Rob got it for me because I'm 6' 2" and over 200 pounds, and most of the road bikes seem to be designed for little skinny dudes, and this was the one that fit me.  I looked online for used bikes and every single one listed for guys was 56 centimeters. So I rode the Synapse and loved it.

When I went to triathlons, I would see guys riding the TT bikes and feel pangs of jealousy as they dusted my big ass.  I told myself, however, that I never wanted to be the guy that shows up on a fancy TT bike and proceed to get dusted by guys on lesser equipment. I didn't want to be the "all hat, no cattle" guy. Hate that guy. So I made a deal with myself that if I could average 20 miles per hour for a solid hour, I would consider myself "worthy" of a TT bike. I got there in September 2009.
Here's the proof. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/50146507?sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4d49a3505ab3dfc1%2C0. Yes, I'm that kind of guy.

Cannondale Slice TT Bike - 60 CM

Here it is. 4 months later I finally pulled the trigger. I'm glad I waited and not so glad either. I'm about 2 miles per hour faster on this bike at the same relative effort. Very impressed with the bike and don't feel like a big hat at all.

I even got one of those fancy bottles that sits between the aero bars and has a long straw so you don't even have to slow down to get a drink - just tilt your head down a bit.  I know, I know, it's a sick, obsessive hobby.