Today I set out with two friends to do the unthinkable — have lunch at five different food trucks. Ok, it’s actually not that unthinkable, and it wasn’t even hard. And I didn’t even plan on it. Wow that was some pretty lame bragging, huh? Ok, let me explain.
It’s been awhile since we last spoke. I’ve had a bit of blogger’s block. Things at work have picked up, not to mention all that extra time put into training. But Ironman Arizona is getting close, so something had to give. A few weeks ago I mentioned training is ramping up (oh, and that I was going to give up reduce gratuitous, out-of-control face-stuffing. More on that in another post). For four weeks the training plan resembles a light form of torture, throwing everything at me to get me prepared for the Ironman. Here’s where things stand halfway through
brush alcaco.com cost of cialis going out and.
those four weeks.
Seeing how I’m drowning in numbers from all this training, I thought one more couldn’t hurt. And this one is pretty important. As of posting this, we’re just inside 87 days until the big day. That’s also 148 more workouts (yes,
I counted). That sounds so much worse. For comparison’s sake, I’ve already done 229 workouts. Actually, that just makes me tired.
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p>I’ve also added it to the sidebar so that it’s always ticking… ticking… ticking… … So keep checking back to see how much longer until the Facebook posts stop race day! And in case you missed it, here’s a look at my training calendar.
Today my Ironman training gets serious. I know, I’m thinking the same thing too: “What have you been doing for the last 5 months?” That training was all well and good (and hard), but that was all considered “base building”. Now is when the real fun begins. For the next three months I’m going to be pushed farther than anyone should be. There will be quite a few “triple” days, a couple 5+ hour days, and a handful weeks that resemble a part-time job of exercise.
I know what you’re thinking: “This is getting ridiculous. Another Cow Tipping Creamery post?” Well, yes. Yes it is. And is that a hint of jealousy I sense? It’s not my fault you haven’t gotten your own ice cream yet. You only have yourself to blame. So in the meantime, let me tell you about all the specials that you’re missing.
*Note: This post was a long time in the making just waiting to be published, so some references may be a bit old.
For every time I’ve heard “breakfast is the most important meal
of the day” I think I’ve met ten people who say “I don’t really eat breakfast.” It makes no sense to me! If I could only have one meal per day, breakfast would be my choice. I mean, I subsist on cereal and milk to the point that some might question if I’m getting kickbacks from Big Cereal. So why then are there so few places to get great breakfast? Enter: Proper Breakfast.
Ironman Arizona is so close I can taste it! Kinda. I mean, I’ve been busting my butt for 18 weeks, with no fewer than 10 workouts a week, mostly two-a-day workouts, all while the temperature in Central Texas found its triple-digit groove. So we must be getting close, right? Well… no. With Week 18 in the books, it marks the HALFWAY point of my 36-week training plan. I’m not sure why it sounded like a good idea to take on such a long, demanding regimen*, but it sure feels like the race should be coming up. For perspective, my go-to advanced marathon training plans are 18 weeks long. My body is ready to race! And yet we’re still in the “base building” phase of this thing.
*Oh, right, because it’s an Ironman…
Week 18 was a bit of a relief in training. Most of the workouts were relatively gentle, especially compared to the brutal week before. I know I”m making progress though when five hours of workouts on the weekend is “gentle”. These next 18 weeks are going to really push me to the limit. And I can’t wait.
Eighteen weeks down, eighteen weeks to go!
Well that was exhausting. Ironman training just got real. Last week saw the longest training week of my life, both in
terms of time and distance. 158 miles. Over 14 and a half hours. What made it so tough was half of those 14 hours were just Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday I completed my longest training ride ever! 53 miles around west Austin, with some beautiful scenery and probably the hardest hill
you’ll find within the city limits. So steep that I don’t think I could do it again. The only way I made it up was because I didn’t know it was there. Definitely proud of myself for riding all the way up, but I did have to stop and take a breather at the top before continuing on. With that huge ride behind me, I headed out for a fast 6.5 miles just as the sun was flexing its muscles. By the end I was dead and grateful to jump in the neighborhood pool to cool down.
Sunday started with a rough 14.5 mile run. My legs felt empty, and the humidity made sure any generally positive morale was sucked out of me. I got home, and with an hour bike ride scheduled, I had to respect the lack of energy and sat in the bathtub to cool down. It took the better part of the day to feel back to normal and I hopped on the bike trainer to crank out the ride inside. So I spent about 7 of the 48 weekend hours exercising.
One more week until I’m halfway to IMAZ! Yay! Ugh.
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p>Seventeen weeks down, nineteen to go!
National Doughnut Day: great day… or THE GREATEST DAY? Personally I think these “National ____ Days” are totally and absolutely ridiculous. But that’s because only one of them is “Doughnut” day. Here’s all you need to know: on this glorious day, the doughnut is celebrated*.
*Which I realize is normal for me, but I’ve learned that not everyone constantly thinks about doughnuts.
One nice bonus to doing the CapTexTri is that they give you all of the official race pictures for FREE! Here’s a visualization of what it was like to be me for a few hours on race day. I’ll curate the best I can, but let the pictures do the real talkin
Before the race got started, I was all nerves. You’ll recognize this picture from my race report, but I chose to stay out of sight from the official cameras before the race. Thanks Ev for putting this one together!
