Base Phase

This Sunday marks 24 weeks to go until Ironman Coeur D'Alene. Of recent my training has been kind of off and on for lack of a better description. I've been battling a cold and the cold - this is one of the harshest winters I can remember. With the extreme cold temps and lack of daylight, outdoor training time has been at a premium. I've been in the basement on the cycling trainer just about as much as I can stand in an attempt to maintain general fitness. Yes the indoor pool is an option, but when it's 15 degrees and dark out it is very very challenging to coerce yourself out of a nice warm bed to head to the pool alone and crank out laps while staring at a black line.

With that being said, it is definitely time to put up or shut up. I have all the resources to train through just about any weather or daylight constraints, it's just a matter of getting the ball rolling. Pulling a 24 week training plan from Triathlete Magazines Essential Week by Week training Guide, modifying it slightly by adding some more cycling volume and a bit more intensity here and there - I've created a plan that suits me pretty much to a T. This coming week I will begin the journey of a lifetime, my quest to finish an Ironman distance triathlon. 140.6 miles of swimming, biking and running - all in one day. It's going to be a lot of cold, long, lonely, and grueling workouts to get myself to June 27th, yet at this point I have no choice but to force myself to do it - the entry fee is paid, the travel plans are all set. To me there is no greater challenge than to be self coached and self motivated. It would be all to easy to pay someone to tell me what to do and when to do it. I'm a firm believer that going through the suffering alone with my thoughts will make me better on June 27th, because in the end nobody is going to help me go the distance on race day. I expect this adventure to come down to an intense mental battle with myself on the 26.2 mile run, so that is how most of my preparation will be done.

The plan itself is divided into three 8 week phases: Base, Build, and Peak. These first 8 weeks a far and away the most important aspect of he entire plan. This is because in order to develop the ability to go for 13 or so hours straight, I need to build my endurance steadily over a long period of time. If I don't allow myself time to build slowly and have to "cram" my training into to short a period to close to the race I will probably end up over trained or injured. This would also affect my performance on race day as I would not have adequate time to recover from training before the race. Also included is a small amount of high-intensity work to enhance my efficiency and prepare my body for the build phase.

Here are the first 8 weeks (Build Phase) laid out: Ironman CDA 2010 Build Phase
-The key workouts are my long efforts, they are highlighted in yellow.
-Every 4th week is a recovery week. Not as noticeable of a drop in this phase though.

My goal for this week is to simply get accustomed to my new workout routine and simply get into a good rhythm with my training.

So here goes nothing!