31 March 2012

Ironman Couer d'Alene: T-minus 12 weeks

My coach and I have a deal. All year long, she puts up with my crazy tendencies to run around the woods for hours at a time, and in return I give her 12 weeks of focused triathlon prep before my big race of the year. For 2012, the big race is Ironman Couer d'Alene. And Sunday (1-Apr) marks 12 weeks out. Not a joke! So you won't be seeing any adventure race reports in the next 12 weeks. The triathlon blinders have been firmly attached to this pony and it's time to focus.
http://www.kandmponies.com/fancy-rolled-leather-show-harness.html
I don't like to post training numbers up here because it's all relative. My fast is someone else's recovery pace. My easy jog is someone else's 5k dream goal. And in triathlon training, that's compounded by three sports. Not to mention your ability to transition quickly. Not to mention your mind's ability to focus and motivate and dig deep when you need to. Not to mention your stomach's ability to take in calories, digest, and fuel your body. Not to mention your diligence with recovery, active and passive, and your willingness to listen to your body and do what's best to keep it healthy. Really, numbers are just numbers and it doesn't do any good for me (or you!) to flap them all over this blog. The numbers game is one I play by myself. So you won't be seeing any of that in the next 12 weeks.
Numbers schmumbers.
But I do want to share some things I like reading about on other people's blogs...stories from training. The crazy things that happen when you're outside 5, 6, 7 hours a day. Like the time I downed a chocolate milkshake 80 miles into a hothothot training day last summer, and it was perfect and fueled the rest of the day. Or when I asked a cranky lap swimmer to circle swim and he proceeded to get in a fight with the other guy in the lane. Or when training-buddy Mike grabbed onto my bike during my last hill repeat at Babler and I freaked, sprinted, got really pissed, and then we joked about me wearing heels for the rest of the ride (had to be there..). We are a lucky bunch of people, able to swim and bike and run outside, and that is what I want to share here.
7am on a Saturday morning. Yup. Lucky.
But sometimes training isn't all group rides and fairy tails. It is putting the work in, day after day, sticking to the plan, and reducing other stress. For me, it often means training alone because no one has my schedule or my freakish need to execute exactly what shows up in the little colored boxes. Individual good workouts are one thing, but when you can back them up 7 days a week and stack them up 3 weeks in a row, you're building an engine. And that engine is what's gonna get me to the finish line on Sherman Avenue, twelve weeks from Sunday. Pin It

3 comments:

  1. I am completely convinced that in the next 12 weeks will be focused on your IMCdA goals. Dad and I are so excited to come and cheer you on!

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  2. thanks for the panic attack. only 12 more weeks? Eeeks!

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    Replies
    1. want even more panic? think of it as only 2 more rest weeks, then taper. that freaks me out.

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