When I entered crunch mode last year for IM Louisville I had 8 weeks to go when I started training. This year, just under 4 weeks. Here's the situation:
I'm already financially committed to the IM Canada race with condo rental and what nots. I'm also sort of obligated since I talked Liz and Justin into doing the race. If not for those 2 things, I would not toe the line Aug 28th. The situation being what it is, I will toe the line. I got 3 weeks of training to get ready, and I'm not starting from a high (or even medium) fitness level.
I'm 173 pounds, up nearly 20 pounds from my weigh in at IMLOU 1 year ago. That's not going to help. I won't have a lot of time to train during the day, that's already a known limitation. So I'm training from 4:30am to 6am every morning. Today I kicked it off with a 5.2 mile run. I was slow, like a 10:30 pace, but it was fairly easy and I had no body pains. Today at lunch I sketched a training plan on a napkin, to peak at a 100 mile bike ride and an 18 mile run by end of 3 weeks. No rest days, rest days are swimming. I'm going for nothing but long, slow miles – it is ALL about aerobic gains and endurance. Speed is off the table.
It is helpful for me in scenarios like this one to define what success will be before I start. So that I may continually reevaluate things and align them towards my success. Success = finishing, in 17 hours or less. I hope it doesn't take 17 hours because that his a hell of a long time to be on one's feet. A lot of people think I can finish without much trouble, since my recent triathlon and racing career has been totally composed of just winging it…and with reasonably good results. But the truth is - it is pretty far from a sure thing. 3 weeks to train for an ironman puts me unusually deep into the "just roll up and fake it" cave.
I'll post again once I get some more days/miles under my belt and let y'all know how things are progressing. Or not.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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2 comments:
I can't believe you're still going to do Canada. Stay safe, take it slow, and just worry about finishing! But based on your track record, I wouldn't be surprised if you finished much earlier than your 17 hour goal!
Go for it Joey and don't look back! I have used two "boot camp" tactics for me on my long bikes, runs and open water swims when I question why I signed up for this and am feeling tired; (1) When you feel tired just remember stopping is not an option, breath and push through it. (2) If you want to cry or complain do it while you continue what ever you are training on bc you will get to the finish of your workout/race finish line that much sooner. And we all know it is usually downhill once you stop! Good luck! I'll send some mojo your way!
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