70.3 in 2014?

Quinn and I  post-CSG Triathlon 2012

Fall marathon training officially started on Monday with a 6 mile run. Well, wait.  Scratch that.  Our training plan begins with a 10 miler in the middle of June, BUT after doing about a month of "easy" running (other than my two races), I am easing back into long runs and workouts.  So Philip and I are doing a short build-up so we are good and ready for that 10 miler.  So far, so good.  I did not do a long run last week (unless you count 5 miles), nor speed work, but did all of my cross training and easy runs.

It looked like our summer was packed solid between marathon training and trying to stay sharp for shorter summer races with speed work.  That is, until I started watching more Ironman Triathlon videos on YouTube.  Then my husband and I watched the documentary "Fab Five" which portrays the journey that five Nebraska athletes went on to achieve the ultimate athletic achievement...2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, followed by 26.2 miles of running.  I'm not crazy enough to try to tackle a full Ironman THIS year, but what about the half?  I have been wanting to do a half iron for the last several years...I even signed up for one in 2011.  After doing the majority of the training, I chickened out the week before.  I'm not going to even pretend that it is convenient to do one this year, but really, when WILL it be?  And with things continuing to be extremely difficult with Anders, I need somewhere to put my mind sometimes so I am not always living in our family's very hard reality.

Philip and I threw around lots of different races, but between work and life commitments, we weren't left with many options.  Basically, we needed to do one in August so we'd have time to get at least a little quality work in.  And we want to be able to drive vs. fly.  This left us with two choices: the Ironman 70.3 Steelhead in Michigan on August 10 or the Pigman Long-Course Tri in Iowa on August 17.

We have the Omaha Triathlon on July 20th (1500m swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) and then the Cornhusker State Games Tri on July 27th (750 swim, 12.5 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run) so we will be able to get some practice in before the 70.3.  However, it is still going to be a huge undertaking.  We don't want to slip on our marathon training, so we are planning to do those very early in the mornings (think 4:30am).  This should be do-able as these runs shouldn't get really long until the end of August/beginning of September, and by then, we'll be done with the half-iron.

There are two big, big question marks as we explore this idea...the first is recovery. Are we going to be able to effectively marathon train AND train for the half iron?  I am going to have to be very diligent about taking an extra day off if I need it, ice baths, getting to bed early, making sure I'm getting enough protein and iron, etc.    The second is our kiddos.  We do not want to spend all of our time working out and take anything away from their care.  So, most of this work will take place before they wake up in the morning...at least the running part.  I am only planning on biking three times per week and can probably do two of those in the afternoons on the spin bike while Quinn is napping.  Several months ago, we moved the spin bike upstairs by Anders' area in the living room so I can workout while they are sleeping and still be in the same room.  Lately, Anders has been pretty content to play in his bouncy seat with a couple of toys (while sitting 5 feet away from me).

We're planning on doing a 30 mile ride followed by a 5 mile run this Friday and moving forward with more difficult bricks (a brick workout is when you stack more than one workout on top of another vs. a two-a-day when you do two workouts with several hours in between).  Basically, we're gonna hop off our bike, grab a quick drink, and head out for our run.  If you've never done a tri before, it feels SO weird on your legs to start running after a ride...yikes!

Hopefully your summer is off to a great start! Isn't it awesome that we're finally getting some warm weather?! Happy running!