I am now ten weeks into my official training. I have either a bike, swim or run workout (sometimes more than one) six days a week. Right now my training plan calls for an average of 8-10 hours a week. That eases on up to 12-16 hours/week for this summer and crests at 18-20 hours week in September and the first of October. Then the blessed taper for the last couple of weeks in October before the race on November 1.
The YouTube video "Welcome to the Grind (Rise & Shine)" pretty much sums it up. I am pretty sure any athlete training for an endurance event has watched and/or memorized this:
Here are some training highlights from the past couple of month on my Ironman Training Blog if you're interested:
You Might Want to Unclip That Foot Before Getting Off Your Bike (There are a lot of rites-of-passage in Ironman training. Unfortunately, falling off your bike is one of them)
Training In My Wetsuit for the First Time (Claustrophobia is not my friend)
Race Report for the Smithfield Sprint Tri (I officially become a triathlete!)
Race Report for the Richmond Tri Club Sprint Triathlon (Sometimes my brain just doesn't work properly)
There's lots more on that blog if you're interested in weekly training and nutrition issues concerning Ironman, but I won't bore you with that here.
Yes, IM training is a lot of work. Yes, there are definitely days I wonder what the heck I'm doing. But like the video says: Sweat is for those who know that winning is a choice, not an accident.
For me, "winning" will be just completing the Ironman race in under the 17 allotted hours. I plan to win. And winning comes from putting in the hours now.
16:59 is still a win! You can do it!
ReplyDelete