Monthly Summary – May 2008
Here’s May 2008:
Swim: 23,262 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 237 miles
Cycling (indoors): 8:58 (hours)
Run: 79.4 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 6 sessions
Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 44:40 hours
Weight: 163 pounds
Finally. A good training month. I mean a good Ironman training month. This was really the first month of 2008 that I was able to train as planned without really succumbing to knee or back/butt pain or emotional or psychological malaise. I compared my May 2008 training totals to those from 2007 and there’s almost no difference. I actually even spent more time training this May, but that’s because last May I didn’t do any strength training. Everything else is just about the same, with a slight edge to May 2007 in every category except indoor cycling. That’s great. Seeing that makes me feel confident about tackling the training volume for next month and about my preparation for the Ironman.
Something happened along the way during May that changed my whole attitude about my training and race plans. And I’m so glad that it did. Even though I’m still not 100% and am still pretty frustrated because I don’t know what’s going on with my back/butt, my training is going well and I’m excited about Lake Placid. I can’t believe that I was actually thinking about bagging it. I learned a really good lesson during March and April about the necessity of flexibility when I set difficult goals for myself. Assuming I keep with endurance sports, I highly doubt this will be the last time that something will “get in the way” of my original plans. Hopefully the lessons that I learned this spring will help me deal with those future bumps in the road.
Swim – May 30
Distance: 2,400 yards
Time: 45 minutes
Indoor Bike – May 31
Time: 35 minutes
Average heart rate: 124
Run – May 31
Distance: 5.75 miles
Time: 46 minutes
Average heart rate: 152
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Sun and clouds, humid, low 70s
(Bike and run were back-to-back but with about 15 minutes in between, so not a true “brick”)
Strength – May 31