Accountability

An important aspect about the SAFe framework, which I talked about a little last time, is accountability.  Namely, holding yourself accountable for accomplishing the things you have committed to.  This is done by defining clear acceptance criteria around that commitment.  The acceptance criteria describes why you are doing something, what you are doing, and what the end result of that will be.

Three weeks ago, I stated that the first thing I needed to correct was my bike fit and return me to a state where I am comfortable, confident, and that I have faith in my fit; all with a target date of the end of October.

Now that it’s November 4th, the important question is, did I do it?  Yes, thanks to Todd at TTbikefit, things are in a much better place.  I think there is still a bit of work to do in terms of me adapting to the position and revisiting it after some rides on the road, but we made a few surprisingly simple changes and things are now back to a position I feel comfortable and happy with.  It will be interesting to see how it progresses as I ramp things up over the next week or two after I end the break period this weekend with a 50k trail run.

So what’s the next step of action am I taking?  Much like last time, it’s pretty straight forward, primarily a return to normal training after a pretty relaxed 4 weeks post Kona.  So 3/4 swims per week, 6/7 runs per week, and 4 rides per week.  I am planning to focus pretty strongly on the bike with the goal of getting adapted to the position and making some gains in specific areas on the bike.  I’m going to focus on three key bike workouts most weeks, with running being nothing but easy running, and a typical swim program.

I am looking to judge myself not by absolute gains, but by my ability to execute those three key workouts each week, using the gains I’m looking for as not the success/failure point but as a light house guiding the way and using it and the calendar to tell me when it’s time to change focus.  Process, not outcome.

At this point there is not a need to do more than simply run, as while my running wasn’t “on” this year, it’s in my body, and a stronger bike will lead to a stronger run, regardless of absolute run fitness.  The primary target is 23 months away, so there is no pressing need to try to kill all the required birds with the first handful of stones.