Thursday, September 29, 2011

The big 3-0...



Oh My. Three more weekends of regular training before I go into taper mode. Thirty more days until I cross the line and someone announces that I am an Ironman (err, Iron Distance Finisher without the trademark…). Seriously, I wonder what they say when you cross at a non-branded iron race. I guess they just give some sort of congratulations and announce your name?

The Augusta race definitely has shielded me from too much worry about Beach2Battleship. I am thankful that it gave me a distraction from the big race looming in the not too distant future. Now that Augusta is in the books, B2B is becoming more real. I can feel some nervousness forming. I can feel that doubt about whether or not I have done enough training to make it to the end. I think that is normal though. Who hasn’t questioned whether a maximum distance training run of 20 miles was really good enough to get them to 26.2 before that first marathon? The same seems to hold true here. Triathlon is the first sport I have been involved in where you don’t really execute the whole thing (or the majority of it in practice). You swim on Tues/Thurs/Fri/Sat, bike on Tues/Wed/Sat/Sun, run on Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun but you never string the whole thing together until race day. You just trust that the science and methodology behind the training plans will work for you.

This weekend’s training appears to be some kind of step back which is fine with me. Suprisingly enough, I am not really sore or tight from the race on Sunday which I will take as a good sign of my preparedness. I am clinging to any sign that will give me a confidence boost at this point! I have a smallish Swim/Bike/Run brick on Saturday and on Sunday I am running the 13.1 Atlanta Half Marathon, riding for an hour and then playing a tennis match. Thirteen miles was the scheduled mileage this week so I thought the half marathon would be a good way to get it done. As for the tennis, well, I missed playing so… (It should be noted that after I wrote out my weekend’s plan in the previous sentences, I realized how crazy it is that I now think of this kind of mileage as a step back week… the things an ironman will do to your thought process).

Four more weeks and I will be headed to Wilmington, NC for the race of my lifetime. Here's to four weeks of positive experiences and great training sessions!

12 comments:

Jennifer said...

Karen, you have worked so hard and done miles of quality training, you will do great I know it. The taper will be crazy I bet but enjoy the rest and keep up that excellent attitude!

Kate Geisen said...

Enjoy stepping it back a little, enjoy tennis, and trust that training! You've put in the time, and you did awesome in your HIM. You've got this. :)

Suz and Allan said...

You're going to do great!

Meaghan said...

SHRIEK!!! So excited for you!!

fancy nancy said...

So close!!! Enjoy the time this week to step back! Then go to NC and rock it!!

Carolina John said...

The countdown is ON! So when you finished Augusta, did you feel like you could turn around and do it all again? right away? You're good then.

You've been putting all those miles in the bank, and in 30 days it's time to make a withdrawal. Enjoy it.

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

wow - what an exciting race calendar you have!!! GOOD LUCK!

Sarah Grecco said...

Wow! People like you absolutely amaze and inspire me! What an amazing accomplishment you will have done....GOOD LUCK!

xo
Sarah
Get Up & Go

ajh said...

Yes, here is to 4 positive weeks for you!

Amanda said...

Some step down weekend - that's still some pretty intense mileage! You'll handle it perfectly though - you've put in a lot of hard work and it is totally paying off!

You'll have a few good weeks of training and some taper than then it's on and you'll do amazing!

Jill said...

30 days.........wow!! WOW! I am thrilled for you, truly!! An "Ironman" or anything that equals the distance is truly one of the toughest endurance events out there....and you will BE ONE!! It's going to go great, keep your eye on the big picture and remember to smile tons in the next 30 days!! :)

The Original MAJ said...

YEAH! Glad to hear Augusta was a good experience!

You're going to ROCK this race!