Last week I got my 20 week workout schedule for the Ironman. So the countdown has begun. With one week behind me, I have 19 weeks to prepare for the big day.
This past week was actually a little lighter than I have been doing for a while but it ramps up pretty fast. Over the course of the training, there will be adjustments. Right now, I am doing more than it suggests because I signed up for a half marathon in 3 weeks. So tomorrow, I will probably run 10 to 12 miles to ramp up for the half marathon instead of the 5 miles on my training schedule. I also need to work in a few smaller triathlons as part of the training.
There is so much to learn about all of this. Last night I went to my second Louisville Landshark social (which was a blast.) Barry Stokes and Mike Jotautus of Barrys Coaching graciously offered some training tips. Mike's tips on swimming were particularly enlightening. Mike explained the beginning swimmers often take 20 - 24 strokes to swim 25 meters. However, elite swimmers swim that same distance with only 7 or 8 strokes! That was a huge revelation. I have been telling people that when I see good swimmers swim, it looks like they are barely even moving. It is almost as if the water is moving them. And they look like they could swim like that all day. At the end of last summer, I was able to swim about a mile and a half but it was not easy. It absolutely wore me out. After long swims like that, I would often come home and take a 2 or 3 hour nap.
A lot of the triathlon training information I see is geared toward people improving their times. That is great but at my level, I am not concerned about my time. I am concerned about my endurance. A lot of the swimming videos and tips prior to this were about swimming faster. I have largely been ignoring those because I am not sure that I need to swim any faster. At my current speed, (assuming I can maintain it for the entire distance) I will be out of the water in plenty of time to continue the race. However, I do not want to expend all of my energy in the water. So faster isnt really that imprortant to me. BUT if I can do the same distance with much less energy, that could be very important for me.
After the presentation, they had a PT test. When I saw it on the FB page, I thought that they were just joking around but I am learning that I should know better than that. We did a little test, as many sit-ups as possible in a minute, as many push-ups as possible in a minute, and finally a plank for as long as you could hold it. On the sit-ups and push-ups, I held my own, especially considering that I am one of the oldest guys there. I managed to do 42 sit-ups and 48 push-ups. But on the plank, I was completely outmatched. I did about 1:15 while the overall best plank was a whopping 6:00! Initially, I thought that the test was a little extreme but actually it was a lot of fun.
Today is my off day and I am really enjoying it. I am learning how important rest is. It is critical to take a day off and it is critical to get enough sleep. Like I said, there is a lot to learn.
Tomorrow 10 to 12 miles to run and about 25 miles to bike. Hoping for good weather.
Have a great weekend!
David
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