This week marks the start of my base phase in training. From now until September 11, I will be following a relatively strict workout schedule. Right now, I have the next three weeks scheduled: what I am doing everyday, for how long and at what intensity. Thanks to an excellent Christmas gift: Be Iron-Fit by Don Fink, I've got an idea of what to do every week. This week it's six hours total. Next week it's six and a half hours. Then seven, seven and half, then back down to 6 or so to recover. Then I go back up to eight and continue that trend (three up, one back) for the next thirty or so weeks. I'm psyched.
Up to this point, which I considered my "Pre" phase, (2005 only) I've swum 3.5 miles, ran for 18, and biked for another 105. In three weeks I managed nearly 127 miles in about 13.5 hours. On The Day, I have to cover 140.6 miles in less than 17 hours. I've got some work ahead of me, but am very eager to get it going. In the "Pre" phase, if I missed a workout I could move on without too much consequence. Now, a missed workout isn't so bad, but it's not so good either. With only so many hours to work, eat, sleep and train every week, each workout is precious, especially on the weekends. That's the domain of the long bike and run workouts. Right now it's under an hour for each, but the bike will grow to a six-hour ride, and 3 hours for a run during the peak week. Note that everything is based in hours. While on the bike and running, I'm using my heart rate monitor and stopwatch for my training, rather than miles. It allows me to train anywhere, and not have to worry about measuring it out before or after. And everyone's using their heart rate as a training indicator, so why not me?
I hope to update this space weekly if not more often. Each update will include training time and any thoughts. In the right column there's a countdown to the big day, as well as my event schedule as it stands. There's a couple more events that I'm thinking about, so there may be some additions.