Dave’s Triathlon Journal

After my post yesterday of how happy I was with my training thus far, I decided to go back and see what exactly I had done since I started in January to prepare. It made me realize what I thought might be the case going into it, preparing for an Ironman is a part time job!

In the last 3 1/2 months I have logged 114 hours of training, swam 71,350 yards of swimming (40.5 miles), 585 miles on the bike, and 193 miles of running.

Thank goodness for a loving and understanding wife and son!

The training plan called for a busy weekend. Friday was 1 1/2 hours of hill workouts on the bike. Saturday was a 5 hour ride. Sunday was a swim workout followed by a 2 hour 15 minute run.

The thing that I'm most amazed with is that not only did I do it all but I felt strong on the last workout of the weekend, a 2+ hour run. While I was running I kept reflecting back to how much I hated to run while in high school. I would only do it in conjuction with some other activity such as basketball or soccer. Now I was doing 14 miles the day after a 5 hour bike ride?!

As I was finishing up my run I came to appreciate the building process that my coach has been taking me through. I must admit that the thought of completing an Ironman was (and sometimes still is) a little daunting. But, it becomes less so as I become more comfortable on these long weekend workouts. I'm getting more and more comfortable anyway that come July 23rd, I'll be ready.

Today marks 100 days to go before Ironman Lake Placid. I'm not sure why this seems like a big deal to me but it hit me when I saw it on the countdown timer I put on my computer desktop.

This week is a recovery week so my training volume is way down nad providing a nice repreive from the last three weeks of 14 - 16 hours a week.

With the nice weather apparently here to stay, I'm actually looking forward to the longer training weeks with more time outside on the bike and run. We'll see if I'm still saying this at my next recovery week!

Monday, I completed my longest ride to date - 80 miles followed by a short 15 minute run.

As with any new distance I was a little apprehensive about it but once I got out there and focused on a nice all-day pace it felt really good. I did have a headwind for the last 25 miles which made for a frustratingly slow pace but I suppose that is good practice for race day situations. What surprised me the most was how good I felt during the run. Granted it was only 15 minutes but I felt like I could have kept going. Now I just have to build up to four hours off the bike for race day!

When I first looked at my scheduled workouts for the day I must admit that I was not looking forward to them. I had a late night last night and woke up exhausted. I had a weight session on the schedule plus a continuous 2500 yard swim with a little over half at 85% effort. I had done a swim on Wednesday night and Thursday morning so the prospect of a continuous swim for 40 minutes wasn't getting me excited.

Today I was pleasantly surprised. The workout was broken into 500 easy, 1500 at 85%, 500 easy and 500 at 85%. Things are pretty busy at work so as I started the swim my mind immediately wandered to work, then back to trying to keep track of what lap I was on and soon I had an odd experience.

I realized that I didn't know what direction I was swimming. Usually I know the first lap I can see the lap clock on my right and on the way back is the lifeguard station. I don't remember what lap I was on but I do remember thinking that I should be seeing the lap clock on my right but on my first breath I saw the lifeguard station.

It was at this point that I had been swimming in some kind of zone. While I did know what lap I was on, I didn't have any recollection of the last several laps. This happened a couple of more times and the session went by much faster than I anticipated.

Now, if I can just figure out what I did to get in that zone and use it on race day!

I have any where from 10 to 12 workouts over the course of the week and after getting through Thursday of this week I realize what a feat it is to factor in all of the outside forces and still complete the workouts.

It's really a miracle when you think about it. Between work, family, weather and health, it is an art form to arrange and rearrange a schedule. The fact that we as triathletes can bring the kids to school, make that meeting for work, volunteer our time, have an occassional meal with our families, have enough energy to spend quality time with our families AND fit in the workouts we do while trying to avoid freezing weather, driving rain or windy conditions. It really is a miracle.

Can anyone relate?!

I had an absolutely fantastic 3 1/2 hour ride on Saturday in sunny and high 60's, short sleeve weather (first time of the year!) and and swim-run brick on Sunday. This capped off my longest training week to date this year of 14 hours.

Today is a much needed rest day before an even longer week capped off by a 4 hour ride next weekend. Hopefully, 1 day of rest will be enough!