Sometimes Change is Good

Well after a very busy week I finally have some time to blog again. The whole week was hectic and yesterday wasn't any easier but today was the first day I could really relax.

Well as I said in my previous post I am changing my Ironman training and racing.

I have decided to join Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) http://www.trainright.com/ to help me with my Ironman Training in future. I must just say that Mark Allen Online is awesome and helped me to go from a 11h55 to an 10h10 Ironman and also helped me qualified for Kona.

After Ironman South Africa I felt that I just need more guidance and personal interaction with a coach if I want to first of all become a podium finisher at Ironman events and secondly Qualify for Kona again.

I had a look at different coaching options online and in South Africa and after studying all the options I decided to go with CTS. I have signed a 12 month contract with them and will see after a year how did it go.

It's been now 2 weeks since I joined and during the first week I did a lot of Field tests to determine all the zones I need to train at. I also had all these questions to answer and had to submit a lot of answers to my new coach on what, how and when on all aspects of my Ironman training and racing.

Having a coach that email (and Skype if necessary) you constantly and comment on your workouts is great, something I am still getting use to but I love it.

Something I still need to get used to is my training schedule that can change daily (if necessary) on the outcome of my heart rate and power files that I submit to my coach after every workout. Now, I can't just decide to miss a session as the coach will want to know why I didn't do the session(some pressure, not that I missed a lot of sessions when I trained by myself).

I must say that the sessions I've done so far are very different to what I am used to and even the gym sessions have totally different routines to follow than previously.

After Tuesday's gym session my Hamstrings, Glute muscles and lower back muscles were so stiff I struggled to walk but Thursday's session was much better and I could train normal again.

I have also decided to enter Ironman New Zealand and was lucky enough to get one of the 1500 spots before the event was sold out. http://www.ironman.co.nz/main.cfm?id=74 Entered as per my passport (johan stemmett) with my surname ending on "tt". With Ironman South Africa this year there were 313 participants in the 40-44 age group with only 2 Kona slots.

Ironman New Zealand has 6 slots with less than 200 competitors in the age group. Not that it will be easy but the chances are just better. I also did the IMNZ bike course on the Computrainer a few times and I like it, think I can go fast.

I will still do Ironman South Africa next year as it is a month after IMNZ. And then I will do Ironman Lake Placid towards the end of July if I can get an entry. It seems that entries are very scares and current year participants have first option to enter. Online entries only open the day after that so it will be a tight call and I need to enter as soon as the online entries open.

IMLP will be my third chance at a Kona slot but it will be hard as it will be winter training again. The whole idea of doing IMLP came when Bryan http://www.trainingpayne.blogspot.com/ invited us to come and do the race and also visit them as they don't live that far from the race. I am really excited about this and hope I can qualify at one of the first two races, then I can have a relaxed IM with Bryan.

The picture right at the top was the chair me and DJ made this week for her school project. At first it didn't seem to be that tricky until we had a look at the instructions. They first had to submit a plan and then after that had to build the chair exactly according to the plan. The material, dimensions, colour, everything, even the measurements of the metal wires at the bottom, had to be the exact same size as the plan.

Below is some pictures of the Nampo Agricultural show I went to on Wednesday where we displayed the VW Amarok. One massive show and every and anything that have to do with farming. From little Ponies to Huge Cattle.

Training:

Friday:

Swim: 52min, 2km

Bike: 1h10, 40km

Saturday:

Swim: 52min, 2.5km

Run: 1hr, 13km

Sunday:

Bike: 2hrs, 65km.