26 weeks out

Monday marks 26 weeks to raceday. It's a bit of a turning of the corner, as I'm starting the Ironman training plan by coach Gale Bernhardt.

Since the start of the year, I've steadily built my fitness base, and am actually a bit ahead of the first week of the plan. So I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks of lower volume as the plan "catches up" with my fitness.

Training for the first 10 weeks of the year went as well as I'd hoped.

I've dropped about 15 pounds, which is good; in fact, I'm just about at the weight I'd want to race at. I've maintained my strength (squats, presses, deadlifts, bench press) while losing weight.

My running and swimming results (threshold run) have steadily improved since the beginning of the year. I haven't retested cycling (threshold watts / kg) since the first week of January, but I do sense my fitness has increased there as well. Once I get my Computrainer back--supposedly this week--I'll re-test.

Sunday: Run 9.3 mi (zon 1-2)

Mon: Weights; run 5 mi (fartlek, zone 2-3)

Tues: Bike 65 minutes (spinups, zone 3)

Wed: Swim 2800 yd; run 5 mi (zone 1-2)

Thu: Weights

Fri: Swim 2700 yd; run 4.5 mi (zone 1)

Sat: Bike 2:15 (zone 1-2)