A little Monday motivation... Paul before and the Paul in progress version....
Well the first week of training with my real coach is finished. All went well, I think I nailed all of the workouts that she gave me to do.
It was interesting to say the least getting back in the pool after such a long break. Checking my Garmin app I noticed that the last time a swam was back in early summer. Yikes, I should not ever let that happen again!
The fist 100 meters felt great, then... then the arm fatigue started quickly. So I decided to slow it down a little and actually follow the plan.
I survived! I am about 15 seconds off from my standard 100 meter time, and there is plenty of time for me to improve and get my groove going again in the pool.
The bike is still feeling strong and the run is just the run... I am still too overweight to make a big jump in speed on running. Having experienced the IM marathon 5 times now, I really need to become proficient at walking really fast! I think in those 5 marathons, I have only felt good running once or twice and both times were not for any real length of time.
In both of my official stand alone marathons, my run was pretty consistent till around mile 18 or so. After mile 18 in those adventures, my quads cramped and it pretty much derailed a strong finish.
But as time goes on, my knowledge base grows and my 'real world' experience bank builds, I truly believe that I am more prepared for the marathon in the next IM event.
Right before the chaos of 2020 began, I got in a couple of long walks on the trace. 3 6 plus hours adventures out there. With one being at least 26 miles and the other two I believe around 22 miles. Give or take with my Garmin and my friends Apple watch tracking.
So I am ready, that is all I can say. I am not confident that I will have a IM race in April, almost zero chance of that actually happening, but I need to train like it will take place. So keep it coming Coach Lisa, keep putting those workouts in Training Peaks and I will do my best.