52 weeks

I had the thought last night in bed that in 52 weeks, just one short year from now, I would be beginning my taper for Ironman Mont Tremblant.  Turns out I was likely wrong, I think it is 53 weeks from this coming Monday, assuming a three week taper, but that's not the point..........

I've forgotten how much Ironman can completely consume every thought you have.  Seems that every moment not completely consumed by something totally unrelated, Ironman thoughts creep in to fill the void.  I'm not nervous or anxious at this point by any stretch of the imagination, but I think about it, constantly.

Last weekend didn't help, spent it up in Door County watching triathlon, after triathlon, after triathlon.  I'm just about tri'd out.  Saturday morning it was the Door County sprint triathlon, Saturday afternoon both kids participated in a kid's tri at the local Y.  Sunday was the Door County half which G took a run at for the second year in a row.  Sunday was hot, stupid hot, and watching competitors struggle to deal with the heat and actually run only accelerated the thought processes on one critical topic, how do I get off the bike actually ready to run?

I don't have an answer yet, but I know on race day it has to do with the bike, pacing, and nutrition.  How exactly to train myself properly throughout the year to execute that on race day remains the big question.

a)  Bike more frequently?
b)  Bike longer (over distance)?
c)  Bike harder?
d)  Race more?
e)  All the above?

I'm leaning towards (e).  Thankfully I've got another 6 months or so to figure out a plan before training begins.  And if you're wondering why none of the options on how to improve my Ironman run have absolutely nothing to do with running , it stems from this simple belief of mine.  It doesn't matter how good of a runner you are, you could be an olympic medalist, but if you get off the bike physically unable to run, whether it's trashed legs or a digestive system in complete revolt, it just doesn't matter.

So my plan for IMMT, both for training and on race day, do everything possible to get off the bike as fresh as physically possible.  Simple as that.