But to get there, I need to get ready. That means more laps in the pool, more miles on the road, and more intervals on the trainer. But this year I'm going in with a completely different mindset than I had last year.
Last year this journey was foreign to me. I had never swam 1.2 miles in a wetsuit in open water. I'd never ridden more than 50 miles at once. And I'd never contemplated running a half-marathon after a 50+ mile bike ride. I hired a coach to write my training plan. I put my trust in his experience to get me to the finish line, and felt like for a first 70.3 I had a really good race.
This year, I've opted to write my own plan. A friend of mine turned me on to "Run Less, Run Faster" and I've adapted a half-marathon plan from that book, combined with a bike training plan from Trainer Road and the Half-Ironman Swim Plan from Swim Smooth. My focus will be mainly on the bike where I feel I can pick up the most time from last year.
To do so means the bulk of my bike training will be on a trainer while staring at a green line on my iPhone instead of riding outside. 2-2.5 intense trainer hours will be more beneficial than a 2 hour ride with traffic, road hazards, and distractions. It's not going to be fun but it will make me faster. Which is all that matters at this point.
A friend of mine has referred to this point of training as "building the machine". And that's exactly what it feels like. Like I'm building a beastly diesel powered machine that can run all day long without breaking down or losing power.
Now to make that engine run faster...
