Iron Guilt

You know, I've been feeling guilty as of late.

I see the results of my bloggie peep's toils - their training volumes posted in their buildup to Ironman, and mine sooooo pales in comparison. The first step in the "healing" process is to fess up, right? I started the whole process a bit earlier than some, but not all - I was 30 weeks of Ironman focused training. Yea, you can question the "focus" part. Here goes:

Average swim volume per week: 3,545 yards. Result: 2.4 mile swim in 1:34 for a 2:29 per 100 meter pace, which I think is a 2:13 per 100 yd pace. I have a hard time complaining about that. I didn't even average the length of the Ironman swim per week! I wouldn't recommend that to everyone. Or, maybe I would. I did do 3 swims of 2.4 miles or more leading up to the race, however.

Average bike volume per week: 77.1 miles. I know, I know - "its all about the bike" - right. Result: 112 mile bike at a 17.4 mph pace. I passed 679 people on that ride. I did 5 centuries in 9 weeks - I'm sure that helped my bike a lot. Of course my advise is to ride long...often.

Average run volume per week: 16.6 miles. That there was my downfall. Not that I didn't finish. Result: 14:18 min/mile "pace" - where 749 people passed me back on the run. It was ugly, partly due to my stomach issues, but more probably due to my lack of run volume leading up to the race. Most of that 16.6 mile volume took place MONTHS before the race during my marathon train up. If you were to see my volume for the last, say, 12 weeks leading to CdA...you'd laugh. Longest "long" run between Feb and June - 11 miles.

Average Total Training Time per week: 8.5 hrs. Result: 14:32:23 We'll do better next time. Not that I could have had more fun. Weight for Ironman: 254 lbs. I'd really like to get that down to 225 lbs for the next one. I just have to want it bad enough...that's the big question...do I?