One thing I’ve always been big on during my running career is the importance of base mileage. Being a longer distance runner my coach would load me up on miles during the summer so come time for the season I was ready to run fast. I would consistently run 80 to 90 miles a week during my senior year and once or twice dipped into the 100 mile a week range. I can comfortably say that 80 to 90 is perfect for me and that little jump to the 100 mile mark was pretty painful. This was obvious my senior year when I had my best season in my A&M running career. I always took the offseason seriously but during the summer going into my senior year I took it to new heights. I was extremely through with my runs, drills, weights, and with what I ate. When the season came around I found myself at a lean 130lbs and ready to run fast. I found all this hard work pay off when I was running harder and faster than ever before. During races I found myself holding my top end speed for longer and not fading as hard toward the end of an 8k. Now that I’m doing the triathlon thing the 80 to 90 miles a week is a distant memory but is replaced with plenty of swim bike & run volume.

Fast forward to the present…

Since I still can’t swim yet (busted shoulder from accident) I’m getting in some solid biking and some decent running. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to get in a solid 4 hour or 75 mile ride in with a group of guys from the Ft. Worth area. When we started it was a good 33 degrees out and man was it cold! Come to find out I am not quite prepared for cold winter cycling but it was still fun regardless. I know I know not many people would look at 4 hours in the saddle as fun but when you’re out suffering with other athletes as well it somehow becomes fun. So 1 short sleeve shirt, 1 long sleeve shirt, a skull cap, my jersey, running gloves, and my new Hammer wind vest, leg and arm warmers later we start off for 4 hours of fun. Our trip took us from Bryant Irving in Ft. Worth through Benbrook around Lake Weatherford and back through Benbrook. Surprisingly the 4 hr ride wasn’t as bad as I had planned even with some hard efforts thrown in the mix and nothing more than some water and Hammer Perpetuem. Of course there was some complaining but it was all in good taste as we knew we were all getting better that day. Although it was quite frigid outside it’s important to get out and get that off season training in. Since I absolutely despise running and cycling indoors and don’t handle the cold well so usually the hardest part is getting my butt out the door. Once I’m outside and sufficiently frozen stiff I can start to enjoy whatever I have on the training plate that day.

I guess the moral of this story is to take the offseason seriously. A good solid couple months of base training will bring much more strength and fitness than you can imagine. If you read this blog post I want to know what YOU’RE doing to have your breakout season in 2011. Cookie training does not count.  I challenge all the Tri 4 Him athletes to take their offseason seriously and I promise the tri season will come much easier than you can imagine. Trust me….I’m a doctor.

-Montes