Confessions Of A Flabby Ironman

13 weeks... kind of an unlucky number, but just 13 weeks until the day that scares me quite a bit at the moment... Ironman Madison. I started a 13 week training program last week and this week was the first official day. From here on out, hopefully I'll get around to posting each workout journal entry every day. June 17, 2002 Training commences. Things have been up and downhill the past couple weeks. After a bad semester at Augsburg, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to come back. If I flunked out, no Ironman for me. I found out that I can get back in via a letter on saturday. All I need to do is get a letter from a professional counselor saying I'm ready to go back. My 13 week Ironman training program started Monday, thogh I kind of started a week early last week. My swimming is the weakest sport at the moment. I swam for about 40 minutes at the local community center today. I'm still struggling with my form. My upper body is strength is also exponentially disproportianately less than my lower body. I really need to keep reading Total Immersion to get more tips on form. After swimming, I drove home and got ready to run back to work/church. It's about 8 miles from point a to point b, and though my running schedule told me I needed to run 30 minutes at Endurance level 1, I decided to do the route to church because my long sunday route turned out to only be a half hour. Word of wisdom to the wise, always poop before you leave. If you go out for a nice long run without? Well, let's just say that spending your time searching for a portapotty isn't fun. I made the mistake of wearing my alternate running shorts instead of my lycra. 2 Miles into the run, I developed a wicked chafe on my right leg that burned like crazy for the next 6 miles. Heart rate on the run peaked around 184. Afterwards, heart rate still hasn't sunk below 100 3 hours later. Slightly concerned about that. Here's how this weeks training schedule shapes up. Monday - Off Tuesday - Swim 1 hour working on form, 30 minute run at Endurance Level2 Wednesday 1:00 of cycling working on form (this might be changed because I'm getting ready for the Paul Bunyan double century (202miles) ride on Saturday. Will probably do workout at a pace of at least E2-E3. Thursday - 1:00 swim Endurance Level 3, 30 Minutes of Running working on Form Friday - Bike :45 at E1. Will more than likely actually do 30-50 miles at E-1 to prepare for Saturday Saturday - Supposed to be 1hour swim at E2, 1:30 bike at e2 will actually be approximately 13hours of cycling at E2 for double century. Sunday - 1:30 of running at E-2. Might make rest day. so that's that for this week. Tomorrow? Cycling.