Hi all –

I am writing you all from a BIG shiny new Apple screen, 27inches of High Def perfect picture quality. Ride files look amazing this big…:-)

THANK YOU – thank you all for your kind gift for my birthday – I really appreciate it. I am quite lucky to have a great coaching group – all of you are very supportive of me as a coach and of each other as athletes. Which brings me to another point: the 2012 AIMP group is full. We have a great group of athletes and I look forward to a great season with all of you. This does not mean to no longer send me athlete referrals. I always have athletes dropping off after their ‘A’ race, and some of those races are early in the season. For now though, the roster is full. Good timing too as my rates go up January 1. $295 per month for new AIMPers, $275 for returnees that have taken time off…Those of you that have remained on the plan continuously remain at $250/month.

How will 2012 be different? We are going to add a LOT more quality and intensity to the training plan for those of you that have been with my coaching for a while. If you have been handling the training I have been prescribing for the past year, then you are ready to add more load, intensity and take more risk. For those of you with more injuries and general fatigue, we will progress slower, but still progress!

Therefore don’t be surprised with some of the training this year: track, lots of Z3 & Z4 intervals, explosive power, hill repeats etc! I know – dangerous but fun! How can you best prepare yourself for that newer, more intense load? 1000 Z2 HR cycling miles and 250 Z2 running HR miles…! Its really that simple. Get those in, and we have a healthy platform to work from. Also – from those base miles we will have a great testing insight as the data post those miles will be very accurate and allow for great specificity in the quality workouts. So, it remains very important to a) ride & run the easy Z2 miles…b) test!

This new focus on quality in the coming season requires a big commitment on your behalf and a lot of trust on my behalf: we must be good about going ez – real ez = on the easy days & in active recovery…because on hard days I will really need you to dig, both physically and mentally. So try to make a New Years triathlon resolution: I will go easy on ez days and hard on hard days. This alone will separate you from most of the triathlon pack: all of them go a bit too hard on EZ days and don’t challenge themselves enough on hard days: don’t be that and you will see great results. Be like the others, and be stuck in a gray area of very little improvement in your results.

Remember – we all don’t want to be January champions…Those are the athletes that are crazy fit early in the year, think they will have a breakthrough season, only to fizzle out early in the summer: too much too early. Too focused, too committed at the wrong time of year. And, often ones that can no longer train th hours in the summer because they burnt their support network too early too!! Stick to your current plan, allow for the balance and we will gradually line things up quite well in order to have a monster 12 week push into your races. Avoid early season fatigue!

Have a great week, please let me know of any questions.

Chris