Google it!

Ok, hopefully you're off and running with your new Annual Training Plan. If not, I suspect you're waiting until the first of the year to get started. Regardless, you'll want to post all of your workouts on some kind of calendar or software program. I use Google Calendar for posting my workouts. In fact, I use Google Calendar for posting my athletes workouts too. (Shhh, don't tell Training Peaks I said that). It's just so easy to share workouts..and the best part..it's FREE! I also use Google Documents to store all of my workouts. I just cut/paste workouts from my huge database/library into my calendar. Oh, and you guessed it..I email my athletes with Gmail. But wait, there's more..if you have a GPS device like I do, you can save all of your rides in Google Earth. You can even upload FREE add-ons such as USGC Topo maps so you can see the elevations of your route/ride. No, I don't have any stock in GOOG (trading at $586/share), I just think they offer great programs for free. BTW, you want to see something cool. Go into Google Earth and click on View in the menu system, then click on Water Surface. Now, scroll over to the Atlantic Ocean and check out the canyons off the NJ coast. If you watch the elevation pointer it will show you the depth. There's one more thing I like about Google...all of their programs are supported on my Blackberry (or iPhone if you have one). So, you can see ALL of your programs on the road. And, you thought Google was just a search engine. Shame on you! http://www.google.com

As not to leave the other guys out...I want to give you a link to another FREE program called SportsTracks by ZoneFiveSoftware. You can download this great program at: http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/ It does EVERYTHING you could possibly want in one program.

And, last but not least..I can't leave my friend Hunter Allen out and the folks at Training Peaks. They have THE BEST cycling program for downloading and analyzing workouts on the market..especially if you own a Power Meter. I use Training Peaks WKO+ Unlimited edition ($149) for my coaching service and some of my athletes use the athlete edition ($99). They also offer the WKO+ Professional Edition. So, check em out on http://home.trainingpeaks.com/

Start planning, recording/tracking and analyzing now! Power ON! Coach Rob