From people who have never done such a race, you get a wide eyed look. They envision you fighting elements on a vast race course - stroking your way through open ocean and slamming the pedals on your bike into vicious headwinds and running long into the night - like the people they saw doing the Ironman on tv. And then they say something like, "Wow, that's awesome. That's a long way to swim!"
From Ironman veterans you get a different look. Their eyes squint a bit and they let out a mild smirk as they envision 3:30am wake-ups, six hour training rides in the rain, more laundry that anyone could ever imagine, and the semi-mindlessness that comes with the excess of miles and lack of sleep that lead up to race day. And then, with a unique mix of pity and envy they say something like "Have fun."
One month of IM training is down and here are the numbers:
Swim: 17, 987M
Bike: 288.35 miles
Run: 44.86 miles
Not quite as far as it seemed - especially on the bike. In general, I have to say that the training is pretty much what I expected. The toughest part is simply the life balance of squeezing workouts in among things like work, food and sleep. Organization and a cool wife/coach that has been through it are crucial.
I look forward to getting through the "base" (slow, steady, 155 bpm) phase and into some all-out-effort intervals soon, but for now I've found it best to just do whatever the workout tells me to. As Crash Davis said in Bull Durham, "Don't think - it can only hurt the ball club."
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment