Hi all –

Many things to get to this week. We have a lot of new athletes starting Dec. 1, and a bunch of returnees. It’s great to have you all aboard (again) and I look forward to an exciting 2012 season.

Last week we had some great Marathon results. We had an AIMPer just miss US Olympic qualifying cut by 4 minutes (but he PR’ed by 20, so we didn’t know!) and other drop 30+ minutes from their PR. As I tweeted, a big group of Boston qualified runners this year! By the way – nobody ran more than 18 miles in their prep for the 26.2: no need for that fatigue. Good clean running instead of slogging away for miles.

That brings up some training observations in general: as we look into the 2012 season, know that we want to train with purpose and integrity, not just exercise. Purpose means that IF we train, let’s make it specific, with a outcome in mind. Why is this workout going to help us and what do YOU want to feel like after? What is the intended outcome by me..? Ask me if this is not clear. And integrity means let make the time we train count. If we are going to sacrifice our time that could be spent with family or other personal time, or even work (!), lets do it right – with desire, focus and…again, purpose.

Too many athletes spend their days training for triathlon with the ‘exercising’ mindset – I must train every day! This is not a weight loss program – its a training program – and part of training is knowing rest and its benefits. Besides the mental break to keep hungry for the next good workout, the body must absorb and adapt. Daily training will not allow the body to absorb, and therefore we quickly fall into the hidden fatigue: flat – unexciting – boring – lethargic workouts. This is NOT the time of year to train tired!

Important is to also remember we don’t get ahead of ourselves and the training phase we are in. Many of you might be excited to get going, start a new season and train! But rev the engine too hard now, and it will be tired come the ‘heart’ of the season. Add to that the family & personal stress NOW, then by the time we NEED the big training, your goodwill with family and work and life might be gone. Be good to yourself and those around you at this time of year (duh) but also in this training phase.

So, don’t add training time, don’t look for more – don’t try to come up with some crazy additional training ideas. Just do the work, stay within yourself and the process.

Many of you have heard me say: Big training days are coming, don’t lose the support for them now!

And finally – we all have big plans in 2012. You would not be working with a coach (yup, me!) if you didn’t have serious goals. Big endeavors, big achievements all start small, with specific steps. We will move mountains, but we must move it one small rock at a time – there is no other way to begin!

As always, let me know of any questions. The roster for 2012 is almost set. I’ve had a few on radio silence, so their loss. If you know of anybody who wants/needs coaching – send ’em my way…but remember – no hugs, hand holding or high fives…:-)

Talk to you all next week.

Chris