Solid start to IM training

Things are rolling here in PA despite the weather trying to keep me inside and unmotivated. Yes, we are covered with 6-8" of snow. Yes, the temps are frigid. Yes, the roads are icy and torn up from the salt and snow plows. And yes, the trails are covered with snow, extremely wet, and pretty much useless...

BUT I'm finding my groove. The motivation is back, and where there's a will, there's a way.

The training plan I'm using started on Feb. 11, and the first two weeks have been pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good.

It's all about developing a good base so I can handle the higher stress later. I skipped a swim last Friday and couldn't handle the 3hr trainer ride as planned on Saturday. This week I missed a strength session Thursday. If I can hit the weekend work planned (3hr ride Saturday, 1hr ride and 1.5hr run Sunday) I'll be good. It looks like it will warm up enough to get outside tomorrow. Now I just need to decide if I trash my road bike on the chewed up pavement or if I get on the mountain bike again (which I don't really like riding on the roads because I'm just wearing away tread on expensive mtb tires)... We shall see.

Looking back on my training log, I haven't done a 10+hr training week since 2011! Yikes! I'm feeling the fatigue, but I'll get used to it. Comparing this year to 2011, I had a little more time/miles in the bank going into Feb. 2011, but the training is about the same. I feel like my running and swimming are behind where I'd really like them to be, but there's still plenty of time. I'm happy to put in a good bike foundation first.

I've been thinking a lot about my goals for this race season lately, and I'll write something up in a future post. The teaser is that I really focused on goals that were out of my control in 2011, and I rolled those goals into this year without really thinking about them. I want to get away from that. I can't control whether or not I get a Kona slot. If there are 4 soon-to-be professionals in my age group, there's just nothing I can do. I don't want to put myself in a situation where I could end up disappointed, so I've got to adjust my goals to things that are within my control. More later.

Happy Friday and thanks for checking in.

PW