| Dennis
Mueller Testimonial |
I
completed my 2nd Ironman Wisconsin this past weekend and
want to give some unsolicited endorsement to both Training
Bible and Lynda Wallenfels.
I came to the support with no background in Triathlons. I did a large number
of slow marathons over the past 10 years and was intrigued by the challenge.
In 2003 I self coached myself and worked hard for 11 months to prepare for Ironman
Wisconsin. I accomplished the race in 15:50 which given the heat and attrition
rate of the day felt very successful to me. However, I wanted to try it again
and try to improve on the process. The only negative for me in the buildup to
2003 was the stress of trying to make sure I did an intelligent training process.
I used the books and rewrote my training plan almost every week on scratch pieces
of paper. I did use Training Bible to record some information, but never fully
utilized the schedule. When deciding to how to approach 2004 I opted to utilize
a coach with hopes of taking the stress out of the training process.
After following various postings on the Training Bible message board, I contacted
Lynda and explained my situations. We talked about my goals and my need have
a degree of flexibility to allow me to blend training in with my family commitments.
It appeared that she understood that I wasn't an elite athlete and that the primary
goal was still to finish and to enjoy the process and event. She seemed like
someone that I could work with so I gave it a try.
I worked with Lynda from late February through Ironman Wisconsin. In the beginning
I would say that I did have doubts about the ultimate success. Over time, however,
I began to think that her approach might actually work. Through the process Lynda
kept adjusting my training based on changes in family commitments. I suddenly
lost a prime training week in June due to a trip to Alaska to visit my daughter.
July came and she planned a recovery week to coincide with me having to go to
Boy scout camp. When I returned and got sick due to exhaustion from Scout Camp,
she modified the schedule again to make sure I would peak at the right time.
Each week I would just go to Training Bible and see where she had me heading.
In the end, I completed Ironman Wisconsin and accomplished my
goals. I went into the event well rested but well prepared. I executed
most of my race
plan as I had trained and managed to cut almost an hour off of my time. I made
only one controllable mistake on race day that cost me 15 minutes (mental panic
on the swim) and had an unusual leg cramp that cost me another 35-40 minutes
that wasn't controllable. Other than that, the race day execution was perfect.
In retrospect, the other major goal I accomplished was to train without creating
undue stress that I had the prior year. I worked out 15% less for 2004 and probably
felt of created 50% less stress. Training still was an imposition but it became
a tolerable one. Enough so that my wife is interested in taking a family vacation
around one of the European IM's.
I will use Lynda again in 2005 but I will eliminate more of the mistakes. The
15lbs of extra weight that Lynda was tactfully trying to get me to lose will
come off before January. The recording of resting HR will be done diligently
without the e-mail reminders. The strength and core work will start yet this
fall as opposed to waiting until March when it was almost too late. And, I will
get 8 hours of sleep on a more consistent basis when I crank up the training
this time.
Thanks Lynda and TB Folks,
Dennis Mueller. |
