Don Fink, author of the popular Be Ironfit, Mastering the Marathon, and IronFit Strength Training and Nutrition For Endurance Athletes, is a man who embraces my own philosophy toward training. A huge proponent of Heart Rate and Time based training, he understands the needs of the time-crunched professional. As a consequence, starting March 11, 2013, Don will begin coaching me toward my short and long term goals.

Although I have successfully finished some of the most famous races in the world, I haven’t finished them anywhere near the middle. Sure, I finished the Comrades Marathon and Vineman, but I did so at the far back of the pack. With Don’s help, I hope to change that and begin moving up in the flow of athletes. I still don’t expect to win, but I expect to finish faster, stronger, and happier. I know My Girl will be very happy to spend less time at events, and she’ll be more thrilled if I’m actually racing and not just finishing.

I’ve read all three of Don’s books so that I’ll be ready when we begin. He’ll definitely have his work cut out for him: My schedules vary wildly from month to month (I can’t do key workouts on consistent days – the downside of being a pilot), fatigue is a serious issue (another downside of being a pilot), my time is very limited, and I suck at swimming because I have swim anxiety and claustrophobia. Oh, and I can’t get on a bicycle that much since I only have one bike and I split my time between three cities. I’ve remained fairly injury free of late, my running base is good, my bike base is weaker, but my swimming is non-existent (that will change shortly!).

All this with my two “A” races looming this year: Vineman (Full Triathlon) in July, and Seattle’s Quadzilla (4 marathons in 4 days) at the end of November. I have a feeling Don will have my work cut out for me. If all goes well, however, not only will my times improve, but I’ve put two stickies on my Mirror. These notes are dreams, but without dreams, we have no direction. I may never achieve these dreams, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.

What do the stickies say? Each has only one word. I look at them every morning. The words are short, too.

• Kona
  
• Boston
  

Good luck with that, Don!

(From Amazon: Don Fink is an internationally known triathlon and running coach, and author. Through their business IronFit ® (www.IronFit.com), Don and his wife, Melanie, have trained hundreds of athletes on four continents to personal best times and breakthrough performances, utilizing their innovative training approaches.
In addition to being a coach, Don Fink is also an elite athlete. He has raced over 30 Iron-distance triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run) and has recorded many age group victories and course records. Don’s time of 9:08 at the 2004 Ironman Florida is still one of the fastest times recorded by an athlete in the 45-49 age group. Don also placed in the top three overall in the 2002 Ultra Man World Championships (6.2 mile swim, 262 mile bike, and 52.4 mile run) on the Big Island of Hawaii.)

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