Saturday, March 10, 2012

Virtually an Ironman?

OK, so it isn't like Mike Reilly will be screaming out my name any time soon.  But I did just spend the last four weeks completing the iron distance triathlon and for that I'm extremely proud and very grateful to Jason of Cook, Train, Eat, Race.  He's been pretty quiet on his blog about the event so I hope he had good participation in this virtual event where for a modest donation to "Shape Up America" you could "compete" for prizes.   And maybe I earn a little extra luck by going over the distance a smidgen.

Today, I finished knocking it out after lunch.  I got on my new bike and headed out for a few hills and a fair bit of flats in the industrial area near my house.  I got in 11.3 miles for a one-week total of 66.4 miles (nothing like a deadline for motivation, eh?) and a four week total of 112.9 on the bike.  Then I headed to the Y to knock out 1000 yards for a four week total of 2.59 miles in the pool.  The Vegas trip had rounded out my three week run/walk total to 34.5 miles so I did no running this last week and am looking forward to having a better blend of the three disciplines in the coming week.  Already scheduled a run with Susan for Tue. :)

Still a very long way from being a real Ironman, but this event was a fantastic way of getting out of my own way and kickstarting my training for the upcoming season. 

Final Totals for CTER 140.6:

Swim: 2.59/2.4
Bike: 112.9/112
Run: 34.5/26.2 
 
Off to send everything to Jason!

11 comments:

  1. Congrats!!! That is a huge accomplishment! I am glad YOU feel proud...you should :)

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  2. 140.6 is 140.6, the rest is just timing :)

    Maybe a little more than timing but still a nice accomplishment. Be proud, you earned it.

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  3. Great job my dear! I knew you could knock out the miles!

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  4. This is a bigger step than you think. First you do it over 4 weeks. Then 2, then 1. (not consecutive weeks). Then you'll do an IM distance for one of the events in one day. That day, or those 3 days, are AMAZING. They are such confidence builders because on race day you will KNOW you can do the distance because you've done it before.

    Most people, when I tell them how far IM is, think it's nuts. They think it's impossible, and it is, for them. But once you've done some training those distances are surprisingly attainable, and go by surprisingly quickly.

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  5. Nice job! Specially getting it done in the winter when bike miles are tough to come by.

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  6. Keith is right. You break the IM down into steps over time and then when you get to the point of doing it in one day you look at the day with independent goals. Then doing the whole thing in one day is more palpable. As an engineer myself, I found these "mini" goals within the bigger daily goal much easier to achieve.

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  7. I knew you'd get it done. Awesome job...you SHOULD feel proud!

    It occurred to me how close I was to you as I was heading home, at which point I was so tired all I wanted to do was go home (and in fact took an extra 30 min to do so bc I got lost). We'll definitely have to hook up some time this summer!

    And while I don't have my own Virtus-wear yet, I'll be sporting a borrowed jersey at LBL in less than 2 weeks! :)

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  8. Nice work! You are doing a great job with it and I love that you are doing Jason's challenge!

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  9. pretty much agree with everyone here. One goal leads to another and then another...

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  10. THANKS EVERYONE! I really appreciate the support and encouragement. Not ready to sign up and hork out the big fee just yet, but the more I do - the less impossible it seems.

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