Setting the Table

I know there are a few people looking in that don't know the history of how I got here or where I am so I thought I would set the table a little. I am entering the most crucial period of time before an Ironman and this will be a good chance to explain my thoughts.

For those who don't know I have been at this journey since Sept of 2004 so a little under 3 years. In Ironman terms this is not a long time. It takes 3-5 years of consistent training just to make it to the "big person table". In 2005 I did one sprint Duathlon (run, bike, run) 1 sprint triathlon (1/4 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 3.1 mile run) 1 Olympic Distance triathlon (1KM swim, 40km bike, 10km run) and 1 1/2 Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run). In 2006 I did 2 1/2 marathons (13.1 mile runs) 1 1/2 Ironman and Ironman Wisconsin. My time at IMWI was 14 hours and 23 minutes; I started at 7 am and finished at 9:23 PM. Not great but for a first one I will take it.

Following IMWI (Ironman Wisconsin) I immediately signed up for the '07 race (registration is the next day and it fills in about an hour so you have to make a decision after destroying yourself a full 364 days ahead of time; and you have to front the $450 race fee!!).

I then took the rest of September (3 weeks) completely off from workouts.

I then messed around in October doing whatever I felt like doing (4 weeks of swim here run there etc etc). No structure to my plan at all.

Starting Nov 1 I did some tests with Mike at Your Training Zone (I will post a whole thread realated to this in next couple days) and spent November trying to consistently get in to 1-2 hours per day of anything. You would be surprised how easy it easy to fall out of this and how hard it is to get back in.............

So that is 7 weeks off or unstructured (Sept and Oct) followed by 4 weeks of getting back into things.

Then Dec 1-today has been a "base" period. This is a "two hours a day everyday" kind of thing. Again, consistency is the key here. I had a basic week of 13.5 hours set up (repeat each week the same week after week from Dec 1-May 31) of which I did well and not so well. My swimming and running and weights have been very consistent. For whatever reason (including having to ride inside) has been tough to stay consistent this off season.

Most people then do a 10 week "build" period followed by a 3 week "taper" and then the big day. I will modify this a little. I will stay in "base" phase a little longer this year (in part because I have not reached that 5 year period yet).

Anyway that may be a lot of "blah blah blah" but the point for those looking for the "how does one go about this" is that it is very possible under the "slow and steady wins the race" mode. Most anyone can accomplish an Ironman if they are willing to put in 2 hours a day for 2-3 years.

Now getting faster at one.................stay tuned..................