Less then 100 days!!!!!!
by Charles @ The long road to Ironman
So anyone who looks to your left will notice somewhere over there is a new list of some of the blogs that I visit regularly. There is a very active community of "tri-bloggers" that are very supportive of each other and it is great to read about their journey and let it motivate me.
If you scroll down a bit from there, you may notice that the race countdown passed the 100 day mark several days ago... more then a little scary. It seems like only yesterday that I said with some pride "I am doing an Ironman next year!" Now I say with fear and trepidation "I am doing an Ironman in 3 months!?!?!"
After I got sick a few months back, my motivation just totally dropped away. It has been very difficult for me to maintain the intensity that I have needed and my attendance to the team training sessions has really dropped off. Part of that is that in the beginning it was fine for me do a 4 hour workout on Saturday, grab a nap, go to work for 12.5 hours, go to the Sunday workout for 4 hours, grab a nap and then go back for another 12.5 hour shift Sunday night. Now that those 4 hour sessions have changed to 6+ hours, I just can't do that anymore. Not good!
I have been told that a key attribute of an Ironman is adaptability. Enough with the complaining about the workouts that I cannot fit in! My new plan (as of a few weeks ago) is to focus on the workouts that I can fit in. That means that I need to refocus and lengthen the midweek workouts that do fit nicely in my schedule. Now that I rarely make the Sunday swims, I am joining a Masters swim group to help me get my training in. I need to turn my 30-40 mile weekly ride into a 60 miler on weeks that I cannot do the long ride with the team. The running that I have been totally ignoring to focus on my swimming and cycling needs to get bumped up and I need to focus on rebuilding the base (at least 2x 6 mile runs during the week every week). I am also looking at machine pilates (recommended by a friend) to work on my flexibility so maybe my back won't lock up on the bike.
My hope is that by focusing on what I can do and making the best of it, I can make up for what I can't. If i can actually follow through on everything above then I am confident that I can at least get to a point where I have a shot of making the midnight cut in Canada.
If you scroll down a bit from there, you may notice that the race countdown passed the 100 day mark several days ago... more then a little scary. It seems like only yesterday that I said with some pride "I am doing an Ironman next year!" Now I say with fear and trepidation "I am doing an Ironman in 3 months!?!?!"
After I got sick a few months back, my motivation just totally dropped away. It has been very difficult for me to maintain the intensity that I have needed and my attendance to the team training sessions has really dropped off. Part of that is that in the beginning it was fine for me do a 4 hour workout on Saturday, grab a nap, go to work for 12.5 hours, go to the Sunday workout for 4 hours, grab a nap and then go back for another 12.5 hour shift Sunday night. Now that those 4 hour sessions have changed to 6+ hours, I just can't do that anymore. Not good!
I have been told that a key attribute of an Ironman is adaptability. Enough with the complaining about the workouts that I cannot fit in! My new plan (as of a few weeks ago) is to focus on the workouts that I can fit in. That means that I need to refocus and lengthen the midweek workouts that do fit nicely in my schedule. Now that I rarely make the Sunday swims, I am joining a Masters swim group to help me get my training in. I need to turn my 30-40 mile weekly ride into a 60 miler on weeks that I cannot do the long ride with the team. The running that I have been totally ignoring to focus on my swimming and cycling needs to get bumped up and I need to focus on rebuilding the base (at least 2x 6 mile runs during the week every week). I am also looking at machine pilates (recommended by a friend) to work on my flexibility so maybe my back won't lock up on the bike.
My hope is that by focusing on what I can do and making the best of it, I can make up for what I can't. If i can actually follow through on everything above then I am confident that I can at least get to a point where I have a shot of making the midnight cut in Canada.