Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But it passes quickly. From where I’m standing now, it’s hard to imagine being ready. I am comfortably swimming around 3k, riding about 60k and running 12-14k. And not all in one day. Which means I have a loooong way to go.
But it always seems impossible to imagine doing one of these races. You never actually think you can do it—until you’re doing it. The key to the training is: slow but steady. Don’t panic. Keep the increases gradual and take rest when it’s scheduled.
I’ve had some developments on the maturity front (haha, who would have thought?). A few weeks ago, I felt a twinge of something during a strength workout and stopped right away. The next day was a run day which, if you know me at all, you’ll know I DO NOT want to miss. But I decided not to run so that I wouldn’t make things worse. I ended up missing two run days and was back on my feet shortly afterwards—no harm done.
This is extremely uncharacteristic for me. Normally I would push through, run anyway, and then suffer through weeks of injury. I have finally learned that nipping things in the bud is far more effective and causes much less suffering overall.
One of the things that’s important right now is mental training. I find swim workouts and strength are particularly good for that. I can negotiate my way into a pair of fins in seconds, which of course makes the workout easier but doesn’t benefit me. I have not allowed myself to succumb to those moments. Same with strength. It’s so tempting sometimes to just… skip those last few exercises and call it a day. But I force myself to finish the workout regardless of how I feel about it.
These things may seem small but they accrue over time. The more willing you are to cut corners, the easier it becomes to talk yourself out of doing hard things. And now, as I move into these next six months, things are only going to get harder. Building that inner mental strength is key to being able to last through the long workouts—in fact, to not mind doing them. To (dare I say it) like them. Yes, that happens.
My main challenge now is to stay healthy—COVID-wise, injury-wise, fatigue-wise. I’ll start posting more often about the training as it progresses. Up to now, there hasn’t been much to report. I’m doing speed work in the pool and have just started actual workouts on the bike. Club rides start next weekend, which is great. Masters is almost over, which is sad. It passed too quickly. I’ve also started brick runs—little ones, so they’re easy. Hopefully that will mean that when they get longer, they’ll still feel easy.
But maybe that’s too much to hope for.
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