March Review

So as March comes to a close, it’s time for a quick reflect and celebrate a few minor milestones, before moving onto the most important weeks of my ironman preparation, the last month!

During March I complete the following Strava challenges:

• Gran Fondo – my best effort was 174km (10818th of 182131)
• Climbing Challenge – total elevation gain 7085m (54284th of 179458)
• Half Marathon – 21.2km at the Twilight Running Festival (20027th of 82035)
• 10K Race – Completed 3 times with a best pace of 4:55/km (28007th of 139255)

A brief summary of my totals for March compared to 2015 and my annual totals:

So compared to March 2015, I have swam further, ridden further but run less, which is expected due to the lingering issues with running related injuries.  I trained of 27 out of 31 days in March, which is very in-line with my consistency approach, only having 3 recovery days and Easter day off.  The following Strava Training Log gives a good visual of my approach to triathlon training, consistency first (something most days):

So now let’s have a look at my training volume and the goals I set for this ironman:

My swimming is the worse, however it’s also the leg I am least worried about, I am very confident that the volume I have done will get me out of the water in about the hour mark, similar to Cairns 2015.  I am also reasonably confident that the bike volume is solid; I will be well over the volume complete during my 2015 preparation for Cairns.  The past couple of big rides & weekends have given me confidence that I’ll be fine on the bike.  The run is my concern, my volume is down due to injury & I’m still reliant on anti-inflammatory after every decent run session.  In January I revised my run goal from 600km down to 450km it looks I may just get there, but for the grace of some great medication.  That said I am confident that I can finish, just maybe not as strong as I would have liked!

So with 4 weeks and 2 days to go the excitement is building, but this year is different, this year I know what ironman has in store for me….. Lots & lots of pain!  Just kidding, I know there will be highs, there will be lows, there will be pain, there will be lost toe nails, but reflecting on my training gives me confidence that the finish line will come and I just need to keep moving, 1 stroke, 1 pedal, 1 stride at a time.

Bring on April and Port Macquarie Ironman I am getting excited, nervous and scared all at the same time!

Till next time build consistency, keep smiling and live to Tri!