I've got a month of IMFL training under my belt and this year I'm actually tracking what I do on training peaks. The breakdown thus far:
- Bike: 17.73 hours
- Swim: 8.67 hours
- Run: 7.66 hours (not enough)
- Strength training: 6 hours (not enough but 6 hours more than last year!)
Anyone who has known me > 5 minutes knows that cycling is not my favorite! Last year, I had a love/hate relationship with the bike. I loved when I got off the damn thing and started running and pretty much hated every second I was on it. I'm happy to report that this has been remedied by the wise purchase of a new road bike!
BH Cristal Road Bike = much better for Mere than the old Cannondale! I'd never really heard of BH before this season. I went to see Shawn @ Blue Ridge Cyclery to try out some of the Trek Madone WSD but tried this one out first. It's safe to say it was love at first ride. Also safe to say that my crotch is now a carbon fiber snob and will not ride on anything else. I can ride over potholes and not feel a thing! yay for carbonfiber.
I may be the only person at IMFL on a roadie BUT at least I will be comfortable riding my new beloved BH. I shall name her Bruiser! We had a great bonding time during the Cap-to-Cap 100 miler. I rode 100 miles during my first month of IM training and ENJOYED it!! Huge progress!
So there is no question that the swim and run are my favorite! I'm feeling pretty decent in the water even though I haven't swam much since CDA last year. I'd like to MAYBE increase swimming from 2 x/week to 3x/week. That may change though as the weeks get harder.
My run doesn't feel quite as strong as it did at this point last year. I ran 2 marathons in the "off" season and felt pretty good but so far for IM training I haven't run much because of an medial ankle sprain. When it initially happened, I thought I'd fractured it and I'd kinda accepted that I may be doing a LOT of aqua-jogging this year. The x-rays looked good though except now I know that I have an extra bone in my foot. Cool, as long as it's not fractured.
I went on my first outside run this morning with the girls, took it easy and felt pretty good. The longest I've run so far was 13.1 for Monticello Man relay aka the hilliest half-marathon ever. Thank GOD I wasn't doing the bike on that too! The 54 mile bike ride the day before was more than enough for my quads which, by the way, are starting to get HUGE again! I blame Bruiser :)
Looking on to Month #2, my goals will be
1.) Continue to become more comfortable on the bike and descending/handling etc.
2.) Be Consistent with Track (actually go when not injured)
3.) Hit the gym and not just what I do at work with patients
4.) Be patient with my run, I'll get it back
Cheers!
a whole new Mere !! wow I love all the introspection you have done. well done - keep up the good work. no shame in the "it's all about me this time" train of thought. you have to believe in yourself before you can expect others to believe in you, and become what you expect of them. Forget the running - you can pull a marathon out of your ass, and especially during IMFL you will just love the run and have so many endorphins and CocaColas.....teehee. i would run trails and hills and track. forget the road. wait till your ankle is stable or get a lace up ankle brace. strength training is SOOOO impt. im not sure if you have space in your home (or the deck!) to buy the 10 Min solution videos but I LOVE THEM. that way you can feel proud that you did 10 min of strength/yoga/pilates/stretch/tone/core each day and not have to drive to gym or feel like it's a big time committment. so far the Pilates Perfect Body 10 minute Solutions is kicking my core/arms/legs/and i actually *like* the stretching 10 min segment. i do it at night and it totally releases me from my days work. LOVE YOU!!!
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