Tuesday, September 11, 2012

They Said It Would Happen (But I Didn't Believe Them)

I remember awhile back talking to some Locos about workout duration and one in particular (who shall remain nameless) scoffed at talk of any bike ride 1 hour or less. In my mind an hour ride is still exercise and though I was assured that the time would come when I'd feel similarly, I found it hard to believe that there'd be a time when I too would dismiss short workouts.  

It's not too long ago that running for 30 minutes straight or biking more than 1.5 hours was a big deal. How quickly things have changed. As I made the transition from budding triathlete to an aspiring Ironman finisher my workouts have become both more frequent and more significant (in intensity and duration). In turn, I have become so much fitter and stronger and my perception of what's considered a daunting workout (or race distance) has shifted significantly.  I'm grateful for where I've come as a triathlete and for those who've helped shepherd me along the way.  I say all this to qualify what comes next and hopefully prevent myself from sounding snobby or elitist.

As last weekend approached and I checked my workout schedule I was surprised to see Sunday's typical long ride replaced by a shorter than expected one. Of course the logic in our overall training make sense (in Coach I trust); last week we had the longest ride yet and Saturday's run was 2 hours and 20 minutes (I ran just short of 16 miles). Nonetheless, when I saw Sunday's brick workout on the schedule (a 2.5 hour ride followed by a 20 minute run) I actually thought to myself that I was in for an easy day of training.  Almost 3 hours of training is by no means a walk in the park, it was just less that I had been training on most Sundays.  On the heels of Saturday's run the workout was still challenging and I totally understand why we didn't have a 5 hour ride planned instead.

I've got a few more weeks of increasingly challenging workouts before things begin to taper for the big day.  I'll do my best not to look past any workout (no matter the length) because you never know how you're going to feel on a given day. 

4 comments:

  1. Ha... I'm sure it doesn't take long but I'm still in the mode of sub 1 hour bike workouts and 30-45 minute run workouts.

    I bet if you think back to your first couple of weeks of tri training the thought of having 3 hour brick workouts seemed like a long ways away. It sure does for me.

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  2. No doubt Bob. "Seemed like a long ways away" is an understatement; I could never have imagined doing more than a Sprint.

    I remember vividly my first ride over 2 hours and how I felt like it would never end! I also recall wondering how I would ever complete 18 lengths in a pool (the equivalent of a Sprint swim).

    Looking forward to tracking your progress.



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  3. You are not allowed to become an Ironman snob until you complete the 140.6 miles (and install the emdot tat). But you shall do exactly that, in 60 days.

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