Back to Training (and posting)

It has been two months since my last post and boy have things changed. During this time, Christmas and New Year's have come and gone, Sara and I have had to deal with some pretty overwhelming family issues, I have regulated my training schedule, I have become a Certified PGA Professional, and can now say that I am doing an Ironman this year. Since this is mostly about training and triathlon, I will stick with that.

Over the past six weeks, I have been able to get in my base workouts on a more regular basis. Just as with my half ironman training, they are always before or after work.

My swim has been great. I have worked on my stroke mechanics and have really been able to pick up some speed and strength without using anymore effort. My distances have ranged from 1500 meters up to 3000 meters in the pool. The Ironman swim distance is around 3800 meters, so I am almost there. I don't plan on going too much higher than the 3000 until I begin my plan in April.

The bike has been okay. The weather in the upstate has been unseasonably cold and wet. This means, not very good riding conditions. I have spent a good amount of time on the trainer watching movies and Ironman videos from Coeur D'alene, China, and World Championships from 2008 and 2009. This occupies my time pretty well. My longest trainer ride is still only 1.5 hours. I need to get this up into the 2 hour range soon. I truly believe riding on a trainer is much more difficult than riding on the road. I can only seem to average around 16.4 mph on the trainer whereas on the road, my lowest is typically around 17.0, and even getting up to 20 mph. The trainer doesn't allow for any rest. There is virtually no coasting and obviously no downhills sections to catch your breath or let your legs recover. Instead, it's just nonstop pedaling.

My running has been pretty good. I am trying to follow the 10% rule and not increase my mileage too quickly. My current runs right now are averaging around 6 miles. I am getting them in around 3 days per week. All have been outside. This coming week will be around 6.5-7 miles. I have just been trying to keep a very slow pace, not pushing anything. I have thrown in a few hills for good measure and mix it up a bit.

2010 should be a very exciting year. It is the year I will become an Ironman. It's about the journey, not the destination.