Well I am halfway through my recovery week and feel completely like a slug.  Even to do my lighter workouts I have lost motivation.  At the same time, I do realize I need to have these easier weeks but am itching to get back to longer workouts to feel more like I am making gains.  I did also meet with Viktor on Monday to help me with technique stuff regarding lunges, squats and step ups.  For the longest time I thought I was doing them all correctly, I was sadly mistaken.  Now, I am focusing on no weights with these exercises and focusing on proper technique and am getting the same type of soreness which is good.

We are now roughly 73 days out until Madison and I'm slowly becoming a greater mixed bag of emotions.  The worries about not training enough are beginning to creep in, the concerns about race weight are worrying, and the worries about the possibility of a "breakdown" are always present.  At the same time, my excitement and anticipation levels are going up every day and I find myself checking the website daily for any new updates to the Madison page on Ironman to start planning out that entire week and weekend.  Everyone continues to be super supportive even if they don't really understand what I am going through during this preparation.  Just 73 more days.......73 more days......

The days seem to be flying by right now.  The past two weeks have been a blur with logging above 12 hours a week of training.  I am becoming physically spent.  I'm finding myself waking up only to think of all the training I have in front of me for that day.  On the upside, every time I have worked out these past two weeks I have felt amazing during and after them.  Am I sore? yes.  Do I crash the moment I get home? yes.  Am I getting more excited with each passing day? OH HELL YES!  Even with the longer hours I've been spending training, seeing the distances I am massing at the end of the each week is incredibly motivating.

Last week, I managed to log over 105 miles on the bike and nearly 17 miles running and 6000 yards swimming.  This week, my plan is to start surpassing the iron distance mileage for my total bike miles of the week and maintain my running distance and swimming distance.  This week will be another long week but I have the recovery week next week to look forward to and motivate me to really push hard this week to get to that nice easy recovery week.  With so much extra time I won't know what to do with myself!  Couple other training tidbits to note, the past few weeks I've begun a new weight training program and have noticed a huge difference in my run.  The emphasis has been on leg, butt, and low back and I'm noticing a lot more power being generated from my strides.  Beginning this week though, I am forcing myself to finally place some emphasis on core training hoping that will improve my run and swim even more.  It's a busy week and hopefully sleep will be involved!