The Start

Each February, for the last four years, I have done the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics. This year, our team raised about $1800. Than's not a huge number, but it's also nothing to sneeze at.  Anyhoo, the end of Polar Plunge fund raising also signals the start of my training season.

I feel that I do my best work when I obsess about something. For the last decade, that obsession has largely been directed towards union work, and before that it was college studies. It's been gradual over the last few years, but now my obsession is now completely focused on triathlon. In particular, I want to be an Ironman.

I want to be an Ironman; I dream about Ironman; I train for Ironman; I'm not sure my body will allow me to do Ironman.

Each of the last three years, I've put a longer race on the schedule in the spring (I've only been running since August 2013). And, each of the last few years, I've ended up injuring myself and missing that spring race (10k in 2014 and marathons in 2015/2016). This year, the spring schedule is empty and I'm hoping I can increase distances without my annual injury (2014 hip/knee, 2015 broken foot, 2016 foot).

To this point, I've been doing about 3 hours a week. I've been trying to tick up the time on everything a bit each week so that my joints don't exploded, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Yellow = Swim
Dark Blue = Bike
Blue = Run
Black = Strength Training

At the start of the year I bought new shoes (Mizuno Wave 12, $80) that murdered my feet. It felt like my little toes were being rolled under on each step. I suppose the pain could also be due to treadmill running, but I blame the shoes. So, I bought another pair (Brooks Adrenaline 16, $80) and we'll see if that helps the foot pain. 

I did a four mile run on the treadmill a couple weeks back and my knees have hurt ever since. I took most of a week off from running to see if that would help, but not so much. At this point, I'm just gunna run through it, and hope it improves.

I hurt my right shoulder and elbow a couple weeks back. I'm not sure if that came from swimming, throwing with my boys or sleeping wrong. Whatever it was, my arm pain has cut out strength training for a bit. 

My hips are giving me trouble on the bike. I use the stationary bike at the Y and my trainer at home, and both are giving me troubles. 

So yeah, I'm lighting it up. All of this isn't helped by being 15 pounds over race weight. Everything you read says that you can't out train your diet. That's certainly true, but when I'm training seven or nine hours a week I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight. Right now I'm eating like a nine hour week and training three. I guess it's time to lock it up. I'm gunna go for losing five pounds in each of the next three months.  That seems like a modest and reasonable goal. 

Ironman is 28 weeks away, so there is plenty of time to get in shape. Right now it just seems a long ways off.