1 week down 35 to go

The thought of training for an Ironman can be a bit overwhelming. Eventually the soundtrack from last year's NBC coverage of Kona stops playing in your head and you actually have to lace up your shoes and go out for the first of your 100 or so upcoming hour-long training runs. The negative voice inside your head needs little encouragement, but nevertheless, continues to be fed. Whether it be through comparison with other more accomplished athletes who consistently perform better than you, non-athletes who insist that the distances you are attempting are unsafe (if not impossible), or setbacks when evaluating your own training expectations. I am quickly realizing the importance of racing your own personal race, and training accordingly.
One only need to visit slowtwitch.com and drop into the forum for a matter of minutes before getting a taste of training-geek-paradise. Anyone and everyone has an opinion about what YOU should be doing, and are more than willing to offer you their advise. If you have some serious questions, it's a great place to bounce some ideas around and hear some suggestions, but by no means should anyone automatically assume that what works for someone else will also work for them. At some point you must do the work for yourself and find out what will work for you. The good news is that there is a good little voice inside you as well, albeit much less boisterous at times than his evil twin, whispering a quiet truth.... "You CAN do it."
Here's a snapshot of the first week of training. I decided going up front that I did not want to miss out on my daughter being 3 yrs old, and I could not afford to miss out on sleep and have my job suffer, so my training needed to be the flexible variable in this IM equation. This was put to the test right at the beginning. My flexibility has never been an issue, or has it? The true test of an object's flexibility is the ability to bounce back. Otherwise the object is not really flexible is it? It's more malleable or pliable. So being willing to cancel my workouts for family events or other occasions is not the true test of my flexibility. The true test is my ability to re-arrange the rest of my week to achieve my training goals. My personal training goals for each week include 2 run days, 1 run/cross training/core strength day, two long multiple activity SBR workouts on the weekends. This would give me two rest days per week, which I have found that my larger frame responds quite well to when doing that much running. So what am I faced with the very first week of training? My favorite people in the world (my mom and dad) came into town on the very first day, and were able to spend two days with us. I am not going to miss out on quality family time like that for something as selfish in nature as Ironman. Nope, family comes first, and what an amazing time it was. My dad and I got to talk about the Bible, our faith in Christ, and all sorts of things more important (in the grand scheme of things) than triathlon. But nevertheless, I do have some training goals. If I am going to be truly flexible I needed to set a precedence in the first week of training and not simply cancel these two workouts, but fit them in somehow.
Day 1 Mon - rest
Day 2 Tue- rest
Day 3 Wed- 1 hour run
Day 4 Thur - Brick - 45 min bike - 15 min run
Day 5 Fri - 1 hour run
Day 6 Sat - 2 hr bike (40 miles) - 5 min run
Day 7 Sun - 30 min light run (easy day)
It was a little more difficult than i thought it would be to get motivated for each workout. I was a bit more sore than I expected. But it definitely started to prove itself worthwhile. On my two run days, i found out that i lose approximately 6 lbs. per hour running when it's hot and humid out at 10k pace. That's valuable information I did not know beforehand. This lets me know that I am on the high end as far as hydration needs are concerned in the IM. Gonna have to work on ways I can stayed fueled. This just might be the source of my cramping calf muscles.
Now go outside, exercise, and learn something about yourself, before it starts getting cold out there.
Soulrider