Halfway

It has now been five months since I started my formal training program for Ironman and I have five more months to go until the race.

My training encountered a few bumps along the way in the first few months but things have been much better since December, when I started working with my "gurus."

I keep a log of my workouts and a running total of what I've done. Here are my totals for the last five months:

Swimming 73,300 metres
Cycling 1275 kilometres
Running 377 kilometres
Weights 43 workouts (each about 45 minutes long)

In the first 3 months of my training, I had almost no cycling in my schedule and swimming was mainly technical instruction rather than distance. Now there is a better balance among the three sports. In the second half of my training program, I will be building even more and I will do much more than these distances in the next five months.

I do get tired sometimes but it's not all because of the training. My working life has been stressful and it's the dead of winter, which, at least for me, is not a high energy period. I am taking care of myself and carrying on.

I feel that things are going well and I am starting to have more confidence that I can do the race. I struggle with confidence so it's nice to feel a glimmer of hope every now and again.

To top it all off, I have lost 18 pounds since I started training and that feels awesome!