Back to the grind this week.  After a fun, relaxing, and yes lazy, 4th of July weekend it's time for me to get refocussed on the task at hand.  The plan this week is to hit all the disciplines harder then I have so far.  120+ miles of cycling, 6000m of swimming, and 18+ miles of running.  My body feels rested and I'm excited to go after it.  I've also been upping my core workouts to help compliment my running and help with protecting my low back during the cycling.  One big issue that I'm running into though is fueling during the bike.  Right around the 2:15 mark on the bike I begin to lose a significant amount of energy and power.  My hope is that Infinit will help cure that issue for me.  We will see come this weekend when I put in my first 4 hour ride.  I'm curious to see where that puts me distance wise but I have to be careful with getting overly excited about the mileage I'll clock.

The one big issue with training around the Northwest suburbs is its all FLAT!  I've been doing some modifying during my training rides to compensate such as riding in tougher gears, riding into headwinds more, etc.  But I know that won't make up for what I will face in Madison.  On the other hand,  With my constant grinding of the pedals on the pavement,  I am not getting the recovery downhills that I will get in Madison.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.  In just over 2 in a half months I will be getting my answer!  66 Days IMWI

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!

So much updating to get through so here it goes.....

We are now T-minus 4 months and counting to IMWI.  The excitement has finally started to build for me more now that the weather is getting nicer and I can move a few workouts outdoors.  The past few weeks have definitely been a struggle though.  For one, 3 weeks ago, I completely lost all motivation to work out at all.  I was cutting workouts short or skipping them outright or modifying them to ease up on them.  It was not a pretty sight and my attitude was definitely being affected.  In hindsight, it may have been that I was slowly starting to get sick and my illness didn't hit me hard until 2 weeks ago.  2 weeks ago I woke up Monday morning with an extremely terrible sore throat, felt groggy, sore, and my head felt like it was blowing up like a balloon.  I was miserable for about 3 days before things finally started to subside.  Things finally picked up the second half of the week but by then I was in full recovery mode.  So you can say that week was a total wash as well.

This all led to last week.  Last week I was able to finally get back into the swing of things but it was definitely a struggle.  I hadn't lost all my fitness but workouts I had been able to handle and go beyond were serious struggles for me.  By the end of last week I was too worn out to muster the energy to log my long ride and long run so I scratched those off the training plan.  Probably not something most triathletes would do but I was trying to be honest with myself and allowing my body to recover and get acclimated to heavy training loads that are coming.

So now this week so far has been outstanding with workouts.  My ankles are extremely sore from a pace variation work that I logged yesterday but I will say that my swim workout was better then I expected now that I am dedicated one of the swims to stroke work to mix it up.  My first bike of this week felt really good as well and am enjoying the greater structure of the rides more then just straight rides like some of them had been.  As for the rest of this week, my plan this afternoon is to do a full body TRX workout, coach, then head home and get about an hour bike ride in focusing on heavy hill work.  I figure 4 months out is about the right time to begin prepping specifically for the walls that IMWI course call hills.  So there you have it, time to get back to the grind.

So I have come to realize what annoys/frustrates me the most in prepping for the ironman.  Waking up every morning and physically limping and waddling around for the first few minutes when I wake up.  I know it has to do with my clubbed foot but both my ankles act as if they can't bear my body weight and move.  I get this whether it was a heavy training day the day before or if its a lighter day.  I don't mind the work loads just this one thing.  Ok, enough with the complaining because I did sign up to do this.

On a happier note, I've been experimenting with new nutrition meals and snacks.  The one I'm trying out now is a recipe I came across online; energy protein balls.  It's actually a really simple recipe and no baking involved, a win for this guy!  All the recipe asks for is peanut butter, rolled oats, a fruit (we used dehydrated strawberries), vanilla whey protein powder, dark chocolate morsels, and milk.  You just mix it all together and stick it in the fridge for a half hour then start forming the balls.  Today is my first day using them but haven't noticed a change in energy just yet.  Although it makes for a really good tasting and convenient snack.  We'll see how I feel today after a swim workout, and run workout.  Even debating doing a light bike workout tonight at home but we will see if time allows for it.

Now that swim season has officially come to an end and I am no longer coaching water polo at the high school, I am able to really knuckle down and make serious gains in my training, especially in the aerobic area.  Last week and this week have already been brutal.  I've managed to squeeze extra workouts in and my body is feeling it.  Today will be a little crazy as my schedule got mixed up a bit today but I'm working on trying to be adaptive with it today.

Feels like, now that swimming is over, that other work is piling up quickly.  There are just not enough hours in the day to workout and accomplish everything I need to accomplish.  This is a short one for me but need to get back to work.

A new week brings new opportunities to get closer to my goal, being an ironman.  Last week, I was pleased with my longer run, logging up to an hour and 10 minutes on the treadmill.  This week will definitely be a more challenging one, with me adding more hill style bike workouts and more hill oriented runs on the treadmill.  My hope is that I can get out and do a little running outside just to regain the feel of running outdoors again as well.  The best part though, is that swimming is back in the mix!  The pool is available on Mondays and Fridays during my lunch period so I can get in and log a couple thousand yards for each day I'm in.  Not the ideal volume but its better than nothing.

I've slacked off a ton with my lifting and strength work.  My hope is that on Tuesdays-Thursdays I will be getting up in the earlier hours to do some lifting then, opening up lunches and evenings to work on swimming, biking or running.  This is going to be a busy week but I'm going into it with a much more positive attitude then before.  Happy training!