Another Week Closer...

Week 8 of my training is complete!  This week was a recovery week, a welcome sight for me.  It is a time of less time training but still with sustained effort.

I need to get a photographer to go out and take pictures of when I am training, so I can post something other than words to my blog.  Here's a picture of something I have spent considerable time looking at lately, whether it be on my bike or on the run.  It has become an invaluable tool for me to track how I am doing. 

[I saved the picture the way it should look...for some reason, it did not come over that way]

I am going to have my daughter Katie put together a poster for me to put on my door, so that I can look at it to remind myself of the goal.  I had a poster on my door for Ironman Steelhead 70.3 last year that I looked at every day.  A good reminder, especially on days when I don't necessarily feel like getting up early or go do the second training session of the day.  I am going to put things on it to motivate and inspire me.

I recently moved my gym membership from the Y to LA Fitness.  It is less expensive, but, more importantly, it is closer to home.  Also, I rarely have to share a lane for swimming and they open early on Sunday.  It's all about timing and finding some of it to get a workout in.

I have enjoyed being able to ride a bike on a trainer this winter, as it is helping me get used to being on my bike and to get stronger.  I need to work on working the lactic acid out of my legs from running and biking.  I did a cool bath yesterday after my 10-mile run; it helped somewhat....can't do an ice bath...too cold for me and my heart.  I am considering getting compression tights to help me do this.  ...man, what an expensive sport! 

For those of you who want to see where and what I/we will be doing on August 26, here is a link to the IM Louisville website.

http://ironman.com/louisville#axzz1nWRXCbnL

While it is a long training period, I am glad for it, as it gives me time to get better and develop my endurance that I will need to successfully complete the race.

I am working on developing a calendar of races that I am going to do in preparation for the Ironman event.  Here's what I have so far:

April 15 Carmel Sprint Triathlon
May 5    500 Festival Mini Marathon
May 19  Geist Half Marathon
June 9    Muncie Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance
July 7    Muncie Ironman 70.3 - Half Ironman
Aug 26  Ironman Louisville

There are a few other events that I am considering, and will be working with Coach Sean to determine which ones are best to do.

One day at a time, one training session at a time, one week at a time...