Okay, maybe the pat is a bit premature. After all, I do have 17 more weeks to go until my race. No, I deserve it. This really is the most working out I have done in 10 years. The last time I worked out this much was when I was training for the San Diego Marathon in 2000. That was all running, strength training and Pilates. I was in the best shape of my life.
Fast-forward ten years, one move from San Diego to Colorado, a new job, a marriage, a now nearly four year old and other life moments and here I am. I like where I am but I can't wait to go where I want to be -completely fit, confident and ready to take on the world!
So I am still roughly following my tri training plan by Matt Fitzgerald. For any of you out there familiar with the book/plan I am following Level 4 of the 1/2 Ironman Plan. In part, I randomly decided to follow Level 4. I have always been the type of person that would sign up for and complete lots of races: 5Ks, 10Ks, sprint triathlons...but I never truly trained for them. Well, Level 1 of the plan is for those that want to be able to complete a 1/2 Ironman. I want to do more than just complete this race. I want to feel great doing it and establish a strong personal record. Based on these thoughts, I chose Level 4 since it falls right in the middle of Level 1-7.
To date I've been substituting my long weekend rides for a long, performance based spinning class at my gym. The spin class is awesome -very challenging and also quite educational. I'm lucky in that the instructors are both amazing and at least one of them has completed multiple Full Ironman races not to mention a plethora of many other races around the country. They are great resources and it nice to have access to such experienced athletes.
Speaking of spinning, the class is great because they talk about cadence and hill climbing and sitting in the saddle, getting out of the saddle and getting into aero position, throughout the class. Working on my cadence and even the awareness of my cadence and power is high on my list of things to focus on during my training. For previous races, I showed up with my bike, got on and biked. I never trained for the cycling portion. Sad, I know, but very true. I think I have the potential to be a pretty strong cyclist if I train right and put my mind to it as well. My goal is to maintain or exceed a 18.5 mph average. I'm hoping to beat this for my first 1/2 in May.
Today was an 1 hour 10 minute run at moderate intensity (I ran outside today on trails) and also got in around 1600 meters of swimming. Tomorrow will be another run -around an hour. I moved my plan around the past few days so we will see how I feel after doing a few days of back to back running for the first time.
Off to bed....we can't forget how valuable our sleep is, now, can we? Stay healthy!
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