Getting down to business

July's Training Schedule...Busy!

 7 weeks until the Big Show!  Agh!  That seems like no time at all.  Isn't it amazing how 7 weeks feels different depending on what happens to lie at the end?  Seven weeks until the end of school, or a vacation, or a visit from a far-away friend...feels like forever!  The days and weeks drag by, you wonder if the time will ever pass.  Not so for me with this Ironman!  Normally at this point in marathon training I am ready for the race to get here, but I am not yet feeling that way for this race--more time, please!  I started on a 30 week training program in January...how did it get to be July so quickly?!?  And those of you who have trained for long distance events know that 7 weeks left of training isn't really 7 weeks, it's only 4 or 5 because of the taper.  For me, my taper begins 3 weeks out, where my training load drops from 20 hours a week, to 14 1/2, to 11, to race week. 


I knew at the start of this journey that I would have difficulty keeping up the commitment of my training in the middle, and I did.  I was 100% committed for the first 10-12 weeks, doing well, tired but not frustrated, though admittedly a little bored because of so many solo training sessions.  Then I had a great half ironman race in Clermont, and I think I needed a little mental and physical break at that point.  That break came a few weeks later, in mid-May.  Planning for vacation, going on vacation, my father's unexpected passing, going to Connecticut to handle his affairs...as they say, LIFE happens, and it definitely had an impact on my training commitment and nutrition.  At this point I look back and wish that I had focused on better nutrition a lot more during that time, but I didn't.  I ate poorly, ate too much, and all of that on a reduced exercise schedule translated into some unwanted weight gain and a little loss in fitness.  Luckily, I was able to climb out of the funk in mid-June, and have been mostly on track since then.  I still have eaten out at restaurants more than I should have, but I have also been doing well with preparing my foods and having healthy snacks available.  The damage has not been completely undone, however, and I am still carrying a little bit of extra weight that I should have gotten rid of by now (and by "extra" weight I just mean extra racing weight, not that I'm overweight).  My fitness has come back, though, and I'm feeling pretty good about that.

So here's the good, the bad and the ugly...in reverse.

The UGLY is what I just mentioned, that I'm carrying more weight than I would like to at this moment.  Can I do anything about that?  Yes and no.  I can move forward and focus on eating healthy, remembering that food is fuel and this IM-In-Training body needs fuel to perform!  So I will move forward by continuing to prepare healthy fuel so that I do not make impulsive bad choices for food.  No problem.  Moving on.

The Road to Success!

The BAD has to do with my cycling fitness.  I would like to be farther ahead than I am, and would have been if I didn't have the month or so of training interruptus.  The bike is a tough bird, since I do not have a bicycle trainer at home (except for the roller trainer, which doesn't provide a very good workout), the weather and travelling and blah, blah, blah...I basically missed too many long rides.  However, I have done well with the cycling for the past few weeks, so I will just focus on that.  Yesterday I did a 102 mile ride, the farthest I've ever gone on my tri bike, and I felt good.  My continued dilemma is my goal for the bike course at Louisville and my increasing skepticism that I may not hit that goal.  Now don't get me wrong or misunderstand--I am in no way being negative or feeling down about this--but I am trying to be realistic in my approach to this beast and my attempt to conquer it.  And I'm just not sure that I can hit a 6 hour time and still have the energy in my legs to run (not walk) the marathon.  I know I can hit that 6 hour mark if I hammer it, but that would sabotage the rest of the race.  So I will continue to train, continue to research the bike course and how to attack it, and come race day I will follow my plan of attack regardless of whether that puts me at 6 hours or 7 hours or somewhere in between.

The GOOD is everything else!  I have a renewed excitement for the event as it gets closer!  Yes, there is that throw-up-in-my-mouth a little bit every time I really think about it, but mostly I'm excited.  I know there will be fatigue, there will be pain, there will be "what the hell was I thinking?!"  There will be times where I want to quit, where stopping and curling up on the side of the road will be much more enticing than continuing on. But there will also be the sense of accomplishment to be had, the victory in knowing that I am capable of such a feat, the camaraderie with everyone else at the race.  Frequently during my training I envision myself crossing the finish line.  I will need to focus on that many times during the race, I am sure.  So here's to a renewed focus and energy, and the final stretch!  Woot woot!