I went out and had a little shopping splurge; I was after a heartrate monitor (HRM) to assist further with my training and who doesn't want to know if your HR rises after Z-Girl leaves a strong deposit in the down stairs department, or the potential that slow walking tourists in the city do actually make my blood boil.
It was a mighty big purchase, a Garmin 910xt it was more dollars than I thought I was going to spend but I saw it as a gift to me, I like gifts! And calling it a gift can justify the purchase to the family financial planner (super wife) Quick product review if you ever wanted to know information about your training you never knew, then this the watch for you! It has settings for riding, running and swimming can be set to give data updates for all 3 during a triathlon and your transition time along with I am hoping it may also feed the cat and take out the bins if I press the right buttons.
In short by measuring my HR and coupling this with the Training-peaks program I am entering the murky waters of being a serious triathlete not some old guy that dusts off his bike for 3 months a year, my limited training can now be measured so when I get my window of opportunity I don't waste it. And I think deep down I am a quality of quantity type guy, and with a little one you don't get more time you get less.
I will admit, I was a record everything guy, you name it I put it on strava, short run to pick up the car, made sure I had it on Strava. Commute ride at a leisurely pace, yep make sure it was on strava. I measured my training success on the kilometers per week rather than the effort. Don't get me wrong I think if you're looking to get fit clocking KMs is the order of the day, but my competitive mindset has now been stoked and I want more than just to finish, I want to finish well, I want to finish in front of that guy!
I rode home the other day, at a good pace taking roads I didn't normally take. And this time I didn't wait in the work carpark for my gps to locate the satellite before setting off, I just clipped in and rode. And you know what it took the time that it took, Z-girl smiled even without knowing my max speed down Wellington Pde. We have schedules for everything in my house, meal plans, sleep plans (Z-Girl don't like to sleep to much) training plans, weekend plans. Numbers and data tell us where to be and when to eat, which is a must when trying to keep a house level and pretend to a be normal (what's normal anyway?) family in the community, I mean don't all Dad's do the daycare drop off in lycra?
In 2016 I am going to worry about the data that matters, and let that infiltrate my lifestyle, treating the data like people and experiences. Going to fill the basket with the numbers that mean something family, friends and good times. Count the numbers that count for me and hopefully by the end of this summer I can look back and see the improvements.
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