After developing an addiction to triathlon last year and competing in a Sprint and Olympic distance events (still haven’t quite been brave enough to click the enter button on the Half Iron distance) I decided it was time to set a goal time to hit this year. So the next logical question was how do I actually achieve this time?

Do I spend hours reading through training books? Which guides are best? Or which is best for me? What if I get it wrong? Do I then have to go through it all again in 2013 to try and hit the goal time? Will it kill my motivation levels if I don’t hit the goal time this year? And most importantly of all, when do I find all the time to do the research the right training plan, train, work full time, complete a distance learning course in sports nutrition, and still have a social life?

Currently the answers to these questions for me are:
• Train after work and at weekends.
• Negotiate different start and finish time at work to make the training after work a little easier.
• Study on my lunch break (and when my boss at work isn’t looking)
• Social life; well having a group of friends that are also slightly fitness and sports mad helps and also basically forcing my boyfriend (who hates swimming) to complete a couple of triathlons also means we at least spend some time together training.
• As for which training plan to follow … I opted for Coach Fi! This way I can concentrate on training over figuring out what I should be doing, and learn from someone who has been there and done that so to speak.

Since starting with Coach Fi in January a couple of things have had to change in my mind set:
• Ideally doing other sports that are more prone to injury are not to be done, there goes my other addiction, Military Fitness. (Also sorry Fi, just one off-road adventure race to get through in March that is technically on your naughty list).
• High intensity work outs all the time are not the way forward; this has been the hardest for me to get out my head. I’m used to thinking if I don’t feel knackered afterwards then the workout has not been beneficial, which of course is not the case.
• As well as trusting that the plan I’m following is going to get me to that goal time.

Giving up Military Fitness for a while was tough at first, it’s where I have met a lot of my like minded sports friends (by like minded I mean willing to give most sports events a try, not keys in a bowl), everyone pushes each other to run a bit faster, keep those push-ups off the knees and hold that plank position for longer. The advanced classes do create a ‘go hard or go home’ attitude which of course is not always for everyone but it is for me, I guess that’s my competitive nature coming out.

However what I haven’t missed about giving it up is the cold night and early morning classes spent rolling around on wet muddy ground, doing this in the dark in winter, accidently placing your hand in deer poo (or worse) and the amount of washing this creates! Even more importantly what I haven’t missed is dealing with the muscle soreness that I normally got over the next day or two and walking like an old lady needing a Zimmer frame every time I got up from my chair at work because my muscles have seized up again. Which leads nicely to my next mind set change; ‘go hard or go home’ is not always the way forward.

The first month or so of the new training plan focuses on long low intensity (Zone 2-3) base training and getting rid of an achilles niggle. Being new to heart rate zone training and heading out for my first ever zone 2 run in January it felt slow and dragged on, I had to resist the urge to pass the runners in the park that were passing me (who really looked like they shouldn’t be – you know what I’m talking about) I just wanted to tell them I don’t normally run this slow this is my zone 2 I’ve got 3 more gears (zones) to go – gladly I resisted this urge as I’m sure they might think I was a slightly bonkers. It was hard for me to resist the need for speed and not to push harder – the mind set ingrained into me after 2 years of solidly attending Military Fitness classes.

Luckily I’ve actually learned to enjoy these runs by occupying myself with seeing how fast I can go while keeping the heart rate down and dragging along anyone I can to entertain me on the run. Coming to think of it now I think Coach Fi is going to have a hard time getting me to run out of Zone 2 the further we get into the training year. It’s great not having muscle soreness after a session!

With the loss of my fitness safety net (Military Fitness) and the drastic change in workout intensity it does mean I need to put a lot of trust into the training plan Coach Fi puts in front of me, and with a wealth of experience behind her I have no reason not to. The fortnightly catch-ups are also reassuring and help a lot for someone who has spent for the most part a year going it alone in the world of triathlon. I’m really looking forward to the Triathlon year ahead and so far, managing to keep on top of Coach Fi’s training regime.

Unfortunately the only disappointment I’ve had since starting the training plan is I’m told the only way to improve my cycling (my weakest discipline by some margin) is too actually go cycling, who would have thought it! This may explain last year’s cycle times. So if anyone discovers a miracle cure for cycling faster, without having to go cycling please let me know ;)