So we are exactly 1 month out from Ironman Eagleman in Maryland. I have been dedicating a lot of training for this race. I don't think I have spent this much time working out as I have in years. There has been a significant time on the trainer dialing in my power numbers and FTP settings, and since this course is pancake flat, I won't have to worry about rolling hills. This way, I can have a pretty steady race plan. It makes training a lot easier this way. I've been noticeable stronger, and able to hold a higher wattage for longer than ever before
As for my other training, it really has gone well. The interesting part is I feel I am not being as structured as I normally am every single year, but every workout is done with precision and a lot faster and easier than I normally train. My run splits are lightning fast. It's actually scaring me. My last long run was 12 miles, and I finished that in 1 hour and 14 minutes. That equates to about a 1:21 half marathon pace, which would be a PR for me if it was race day. I know I can't hold that pace for a half marathon after 56 miles on the bike, but even if I lose 4-5 minutes, that still would be about a 1:25 half. Not too shabby. I can't slow down even if I tried.
I have also found something in my swim that I am faster than in previous years. I don't know if I have improved my stroke or I'm just getting stronger, but when doing a time trial in the pool, I am well below my race pace which is pretty exciting. I still hate being in the pool for long periods of time, but at least when I'm in the pool, the workouts are faster and really spot on.
The one thing that could possibly derail me is that past few weeks. There has been a magnitude of things that have taken me away from having a nice solid training block. We had some health scares in the family which led to a few days of making sure everyone is ok. There was a ton of travel, where it rained constantly so I was only able to run on the treadmill for a few days straight with no swim or bike workouts. And apparently my weight went from dropping 7 lbs in one week the week of the health scare, to not being able to put any weight back on, to then all of a sudden, me gaining 8 lbs. Not exactly ideal for stabilizing weight and training. All this while trying to get down to race weight and see what is the best weight for me to stay at to be in optimal shape for the race.
In fact, I was supposed to have my first race of the season 2 weeks ago, but it rained so bad that I didn't feel comfortable being on a bike for 40 plus miles in those conditions, so I actually had my first DNS of my career. So going into Eagleman, I will have no way of knowing what I need to work on for race prep. I don't have anything to base it on. Looks like I'm flying blind here.
I know "life happens", and that everyone goes through things, but all this happened in about a 2-3 week span. Luckily, I still have exactly 1 month to dial everything back in. That means 3 weeks of one last hard training block, and 1 week of recovery/taper for the race.
Sometimes things go perfectly, and other times, life happens and you have to adjust. Here's to figuring out exactly how to adjust.
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