Well, every Sunday I've been counting down the weeks left until Ironman Arizona. 2 or 3 months ago I couldn't help but think how far away the race was still. My season has been long and at times exhausting. Continuing to put in 18 to 20+ hour weeks of training on top of my, more than full time job, was a tough pill to swallow a few months ago. Yet each week I had something else that I cherished with my training or racing. Sometimes it was something small, other times it was a major accomplishment. All these small and large items were sent to my memory, as well as muscle, banks for use later. To me triathlon, and especially long distance triathlon, is mostly about mental preparation and focus. Sure, you can't not train and expect to torch an Ironman course. Simply won't happen. They don't call it the toughest single day endurance event for fun. Yet, you take two equally fit individuals and put them on the same course...the athlete that is stronger mentally will win.
So today I had my last "long run" scheduled. Since I'm in the last day of my taper, this workout was 50% of the volume I would normally do but at no intensity. I was going to take a little more than 50% off the volume on this run as I've been averaging over 40+ miles a week running for a while so it was time to get the legs a break! This meant that I had to basically jog for 70 minutes. I couldn't allow my heart rate to get above 140 beats per minute. This is all done to help keep the volume somewhat up, but still allow the muscles and my body to rebuild and recover. During this run (jog!) I reflected on some of the season...
Long rides: I will never forget going for a century ride two weeks after the Eugene Marathon. My legs were mush! Yet I held together well for the first half of the ride. We then rode hard for about 20 miles and I was in serious "maintenance mode". Shotgun Creek ride will always have a special place in my heart. What a nightmare. I had 3 centuries that I did on my trainer...hope to never have to do another one!! And I'll always cherish the last long ride (112 miles) with a 7 mile run off the bike...I knew I was ready for Ironman after that workout. I remember yelling (in celebration) at nobody in particular as I ran back into my neighborhood...I was so happy.
Races: Eugene Marathon was epic. I didn't have the race I wanted due to illness, but I proposed to my soul mate at the finish line...the race didn't matter!! PCT half Iron. Apparently my airway was still recovering from EUG so it decided to shutdown and forced me to walk the entire half marathon course. That forced me to take some time off to recover. I was back at it a little over a month later at Hagg Lake. I had a great swim and led the race until midway through the bike. I ended up third overall, not in as fast of a time as I wanted, but very proud for rebounding after the debacle at PCT.
Despite all these happy episodes and found memories, the stuff that is so hard about training for long course triathlon is time away from loved ones. I will be thinking about all of you in one week. When I'm hurting really bad I will focus on the training and racing of this year to pull me through. When I'm hurting really, really bad...I'll focus on your love and support. Thanks for reading...the day is almost here!!
-T
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