Slog Fest

This week has been a slog fest. Really. I have not wanted to do a single workout. I've managed to force myself to get up every morning but not without lying in bed mentally going through my list of excuses and "plan b's" (i.e, when else could I do this workout??). I think I need to have a more tangible goal than just "doing" this Ironman. I need a time goal. I haven't really thought about what sort of time I could do this in, I just figure I'd be faster this time around. The bike course is easier and the run is pancake flat so logically, I *should* be faster. How much is up to me I suppose. I don't think they have change tents at this Ironman so I should be able to slice my 15 minute picnic in transition to about 5-7 minutes. Gary says I should race this one but I'm not sure what that means for me in terms of heart rate etc. I have my old training plan and will have to look at that. I'm sure Richard gave me some guidance. I'm hoping that I can take at least half an hour off of my bike time. I know I am capable of faster than 7 hours on the bike leg!! Richard figured I should have ridden 6:20 in Placid. Had I not made 3 stops on the bike (2 bathroom & one food stop), I probably would have been a bit closer. I think I spent about 10 minutes waiting for a porta potty. If I can take 45 minutes to an hour off of my previous time, I'll be thrilled. That would mean I need to do the following: 1:15 swim (totally possible as I swam 1:19 last time, felt I could have gone faster but got stuck in the slow pack) 10 minute T1, 6:30 bike (gotta learn to pee on the bike--nasty), 5 minute T2 and a 4:15 marathon(which should be TOTALLY possible as long as I don't walk too much--last time I walked for a LONG time and ran just under 4:30 for the marathon) That puts me at exactly 12:15. I'd be happy with that. The bike is the biggest thing. I really have to work on that since I've taken a long hiatus from it. As soon as the weather got nice this year, I opted to spend my time gardening rather than riding on Saturday mornings. Oh well, at least the backyard looks good.

So, 12:15 will be my goal. Not sure how to get there but I'll figure it out.