The end of April was very lacking in training volume. Not only was I struggling with my foot injuries, but I also spent 2 weeks in CA. I had plans of getting some great training in a great place to train, but one of the weeks was devoted to an Experimental Biology conference I attended, and the other week I happened to get sick and couldn't train at all because of fatigue. It was a great trip either way. I returned from my CA trip and immediately went to run a 5k race in Eagle River, WI. That was the race I had planned on doing the marathon, but decided to stick with the 5k. I did happen to PR the 5k, running a 20:21 or something like that. I say PR, but I think that was my first real 5k (road run) since I was a freshman in high school. I ended up taking 3rd place overall which was cool. Rick also ran and took 8th. Our friend Shannon took 3rd in the women's race as well, so it was a great time!
I came back from the 5k race and immediately started teaching my first full course for the Summer track here at MTU. Let's just say, that is probably the reason I have not posted in forever. I have been SWAMPED with teaching, research and training. Since I had a pretty bad month of April I entered May with extreme determination to hit my planned training volume. I was entering my Base 3 phase which included a big 18hr week (by far the most I've ever trained before in one week). With my class demanding so much time both during the day and in the evening, I had very little time to even breath. I am happy to say that I hit all my weekly volumes, including that 18hr week.
Within that first Base 3 phase I ramped my bike volume up each week and capped it off with my first Century ride of my life. It went really well! I felt strong through the whole thing. I was super excited when I hit the 100 mile mark (final ride ended up being 103 miles). I'm planning another for this upcoming Monday too! At the end of that phase I had a recovery week and then I had my first race week. I completed my first Half-Ironman distance race, and finished in a respectable time of 5:23:08. It was quite a learning experience too. I learned a lot about the importance of bike pacing and the pitfalls of poor nutrition timing. I have a good nutrition game plan, but I did not follow it very well at the end of the bike and in T2. I ended up running slow (10min/mi) the first 6 miles and feeling like I was going to puke. Fortunately I was able to calm the stomach down and finished the second half of the run very strong (8min/mi). It was a good race, and very informative on what I need to work on for the full Ironman.
That was a week and a half ago, and I am back trying to hit the high volume stuff again. This is my second Base 3 phase, and I am doing ok. After the half-iron I have been struggling with the long bikes. I am focusing more on running again. I still have problems with plantar fasciitis, but it has not been as debilitating as before. It seems to always be a little sore and tight, but it hasn't bothered me on the runs yet.
This upcoming 4th of July weekend, I am looking forward to my second Century of the year, and I am prepping for some upcoming running races, 25k trail run and 10 mile road run. Its been tough training through the half-iron race, but I'm sticking with the plan. I've been really proud of how much I've been able to stick with the plan. I've been feeling like I'm getting stronger and stronger each week. The Ironman race seems right around the corner even though its a whole 3 months away. I feel like I'm running out of time, and that I still have a ton of time to get better as well. Next triathlon will be either July 31st in Minnesota, or the Copperman August 7th. I'm looking forward to both as they are shorter races. I don't know how my long distance training has effected my speed in the sprints, but we'll see....
That was a very simplified summary, but at least you are caught up on my life in Ironman training ;)
Keep training!
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