3 months +

I had a bit of a jaw-dropping *yikes* moment the other day when I was looking through my training calendar and realized that we are just over 3 months away from IM CdA. Like 3 months and 17 days or something crazy like that.

That is really soon.

I guess having only trained for a late August Ironman in the past, I had fooled myself into thinking there was still tonnes and tonnes of time. There would be months upon months of sunny happy training weather to come… But yeah, unfortunately this is not the case when you are racing an early season IM. Who knew? ;)

Training has been interesting lately. My use of the word ‘interesting’ makes it sound bad, but it has not been bad, just a bit different than years past. 

There have been some good things and some not-so-good things. Days of great motivation and days with NO motivation.

I definitely feel I'm in a better place in relation to how training impacts the rest of my life outside of triathlon (not that there is much of one, but go with me here) and I feel like I have found a better balance and integration with work/family/friends, etc.

I don't live and die by my training calendar as much as I used to. This isn't to say I don't follow my workouts, because I definitely still do, I'm just not quite so anal about it. The first time I trained for an IM I followed the schedule almost exactly, worried that if I skipped or altered a workout, I would fail on the big day. Now, I have a better understanding of what needs to get done and where I can be a bit more liberal and flexible. Also, I've gotten much better about letting go of the odd workout when it just doesn't fit in with my life. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, I haven't felt guilty about it, I just 'X' it out and let it go. That is a big step for me.

That said, unfortunately, I definitely feel like there have been areas where I have slacked a little. I'm getting the majority of my workouts done each week, but I feel like the snowy and/or rainy weekends that plagued much of February and early March have hampered my biking and, admittedly, I've been a bit of a fair weather rider.

We were so spoiled through January with cool, sunny, dry days that getting in the long bikes on the weekend were not a problem. February and March however, I've been spending a lot of time on my trainer. I like the trainer, so this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just not logging the same hours I would/should as if I were outdoors (2.5-3hrs is about the max I can do indoors). I'm not the strongest biker, so getting out and getting that saddle imprinted in my nether regions for 5, 6, 6+ hours is something I really need. Hopefully in the coming weeks I can log a little extra mileage.

On a plus, I feel like I have been running very well lately. I've had some solid workouts and I feel strong and connected most of the time. I'm not necessarily feeling fast, but I do often feel I can go and go and go.

My swimming is somewhere between my bike and my run. It has been consistent. I don't know that I'm getting any faster in the pool, but I'm not getting any slower either, and at this point, I'll take it.

Other than swim/bike/run, I've actually been following my strength program about 100x better than I have in years past ~ and I've been enjoying it! Go figure eh? It only took me 6/7 years to realize just how important a little strength is, haha.

So, that got rambly quickly, but that's where I'm at… 3 months and 17-ish days to go until Ironman #3.