Managing the fatigue: fight the mind

It has been a long season. I'm sure that I've said it before, but I'll say it again: starting your training in November and ending in October makes for a long season of big training. Sure there was the month after Ironman Arizona that I didn't do too much, but with the World Championships looming in the future it's hard not to sneak in a 3 or 4 hour ride here and there.

Mentally, I'm ready for Kona, physically, there are still gains to be made in the pool, on the bike, on the run, and in nutrition. There is a lot of work to be done, and only 6 weeks and 5 days (counting today) to get it done. What that translates to is a week of recovery, 2 more weeks of hard running, 3 more weeks of hard riding, and 4 weeks of hard swimming to get through. The reason for varying weeks from sport to sport is that I tier my taper depending on the sport. This is a method that 6-time Ironman World Champion (Kona) Mark Allen used and a method that I've been practicing for me and all of my Ironman clients the past few years - it works.

I am getting a little nervous. Leading up to Ironman Arizona I never had an issue with nutrition during my long rides. This time around I've had maybe 2 rides that have gone without a hitch. I'm not sure why this is happening; I haven't changed any aspect of my nutrition. It could be that I've been riding a bit harder during my long rides, it could be my taste buds getting angry, or it could be something else. All I know is that I have a backup plan if all goes wrong; slow down and start boozin'...High Life anyone? On a very positive note, my shoulder has been holding up to some of the longest swim workouts that I've completed since training for Ironman...Lake Placid...8 years ago. So that's a big plus and I'm just hoping that it can make it through the last month of hard swimming. Once that taper hits, I'm cleared for a fast swim. On the running front, everything is holding up. My foot constantly hurts, but it hasn't been getting worse. I've been running a few 1.5hr runs here and there, so now the test is going to come with the slightly longer runs. I'm hoping to tag one 2 hour run prior to the beginning of the run taper (in 2 weeks). I won't be too upset if that doesn't happen as I've ran marathons on much less training, although it would be nice to have some additional miles in the legs.

Overall, I'm excited about racing in Kona. Besides being a life goal of mine, I've been training at altitude, riding longer and harder rides at a faster tempo, and my shoulder is tolerating some yardage. Also, I have a huge support group joining me in Kona: my mother, my uncle Bob, my uncle Frank, my aunt Mary Ann, my cousin Michelle, and my Phoenix friends Sandie and JT. Luisa's parents are also joining the crew, which brings the support crew to nine; that's huge. There's nothing like being shit deep in pain and hearing your family and friends cheering you on, it's great.

Back to training.
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